NRAMA: This wont be characters going back and trying to figure out how things worked the way they did?
BB: No we actually rewind the clock and show the story. So if theres a character on the team whos a Skrull, we will rewind from when they got on that team, or from before they got on that team, so when they infiltrated, how they became who they became and the affects of their actions from their point of view.
Also, certain other characters will be returning to the Marvel Universe.
NRAMA: Nick Fury?
BB: A huge return. Well show exactly where hes been and what hes been doing since Secret Wars. Im really excited about that it will be a little similar to the character-focused issues that we did in New Avengers during Civil War, but these will be very specific characters and elements in rgards to whats being showcased. Instead of character pieces, well be showing pieces of the puzzle. Its not going to be like, No, you figure it out. Ive planned this for years, and were going to show it all.
NRAMA: How old is the oldest piece in this? How far does this particular storyline go back?
BB: I had approval of this, not knowing what shape it would end up in its own mini or an Avengers storyline during Avengers: Disassembled. Thats how long its been going. The first piece of the puzzle shows itself in New Avengers #1. One of the issues of Avengers during the miniseries will show you that scene from the other angle.
For those whove held in here for this, and its been a few years, and people have been very, very supportive of this, its something that I owe them. I have the material, so it would be arrogant not to show it. I hated when the X-Files movie came out, and they said that it would answer everything, and it didnt. I watched that movie and thought, You dont know what your story is, do you? They had some interesting pieces, but even they didnt have any kind of larger story to put them all together, so it was just a stupid shell game for the audience. I learned that lesson thats not what I want to do here. Weve got to show everything, and weve got so many stories to tell afterwards that theres no reason to rag things out. If were doing this, we have to say, This is it - Secret Invasion, beginning, middle and end. Done. And its a hell of an end.
NRAMA: And youve got stories planned for the Marvel Universe afterwards?
BB: Oh yeah.
NRAMA: The scope of the change that the Marvel Universe will see by the end of Secret Invasion - another fundamental shift like before and after Civil War?
BB: Yep. Civil War was its own thing it was definitely lightning in a bottle, and it would be ridiculous not to acknowledge that. I was thrilled to be a part of it, but you knew that was its own thing. This is of the same scope, but its a very different type of story with a different agenda and a different tone. I love that its completely different from House of M and Civil War. Some people who worry about fatigue from stuff like this its up to us that, if were going to do these, we need to make them all very unique. I like that theres no Civil War 2. It would have sold, and its a no-brainer to do sequels, but everyones looking forward to new ideas and moving things ahead, not revisiting the past. Its totally and dramatically its own thing.
The other thing that I like about it is that it is completely about the Marvel Universe. Its historically about the Marvel Universe, its modern to the Marvel Universe its both things at once. The Skrulls have been around since the earliest days of the Fantastic Four, so to take them and put them in such a modern context and have it feel like the world we live in now is interesting, and damn challenging to write. For three years now. |