Joss Whedon

Marvel held their third panel of the con weekend, X-Men X-Changes, and Newsarama was on hand.

And ccheck out these recent X-Men stories:

# Chris Claremont’s X-Future

# Ed Brubaker Talks His Uncanny X-Men Line-up

# Mike Carey on Adjectives X-Men

Joe Quesada opened with word that the show had sold out already. A few minutes into the panel, the room as "standing room only".

Panelists present included Quesada, Jim McCann, Senior Editor Mike Marts, editors Andy Schmidt and Sean Ryan, and writers John Layman and Chris Claremont.

# Marts reiterated the bi-monthly schedule of Astonishing X-Men through September, to accommodate the schedule of Joss Whedon. It will then be monthly thereafter.

# Quesada announced painter John Watson signed an exclusive with Marvel, and along with Son of M and Civil War, will be doing covers for Uncanny X-Men.

# Marts mentioned June’s Uncanny X-Men Annual deals primarily with Storm and the decisions she’ll be making in the months to come. Chris Claremont writes, Clayton Henry is the artist.

# In talking about New Excalibur, Claremont noted that, while looking a the cover to issue #7, that there is life after being a villain, adding, "House of M was very good for Black Tom Cassidy."

# According to Schmidt, Dennis Callero will be the artist on X-Factor through issue #12. This will keep the series on schedule.

# In speaking of his upcoming new limited series GeNext, Claremont said this is the title the fans chose for him to write. He explained the basic premise is "what if the X-Men aged in real time?" The series will feature the fourth generation removed from the original X-Men...the children from the Morrison era and younger. "And some of the children have decided that it’s time to move on."

# When showing a Wolverine cover by Simone Bianchi, Quesada paused to announce that the Italian artist has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel. Along with some upcoming covers, Bianchi has a major work coming that will be announced this summer.

# Reiterating the identity of the upcoming new creative teams for Uncanny (Brubaker/Tan) and X-Men (Carey/Bachalo), Marvel showed character designs from each respective artist.

# In speaking of Wolverine and the changes the character has seen recently, Claremont advised people looking for a Wolverine they haven’t seen for a while should check out Exiles #84-#86, where they’ll see "A Wolverine doing things that will curl your hair," and things that he hasn’t done for a while.

# Asked if the effects of Civil War will see schisms within the X-Men. Marts said the mutants will be affected by it, but have had their own problems recently. The editor also added that a four issue X-Men: Civil War will run during the main event, and will explore how the Civil War affects the team and the mutant population. Additionally, Schmidt added that X-Factor #8-#9 will be the series Civil War issues, and will deal with the return of Quicksilver.

# Asked if Marvel felt they were incontrovertibly changing the character of Professor Xavier with the changes he’s been put through in Astonishing X-Men and Deadly Genesis, Marts said rather than changing him, those particular storylines are showing that he is human, and has made mistakes in his past that have unfortunately come back to haunt him.

# As for Gambit’s future, Marts said there are plans for the character after the Apocalypse arc, "Blood of Apocalypse." "We’ll be seeing him into the future," he said.

# When asked if Fantomex will ever return, Marts said that Quesada doesn’t like the character ("He’s French" Quesada said to chuckles from the crowd), and has turned down a few pitches that Marts has thrown his way.

# In talking about the Sentinel’s role in the Marvel Universe, Quesada rhetorically asked Marts, "Could you imagine if Sentinels had to watch more than mutants? Like something more across the country?"

# Asked to vote, the room voted in majority for a return of the ape-like Beast, over the “cat” and human versions of Hank McCoy.

# Speaking about the role of Layla Miller in X-Factor , Schmidt said that there are huge plans for the character coming, which will have relevance throughout the entire Marvel Universe.

# Speaking more on GeNext , Claremont revealed that "Peter Jr." is a new kid in town, relative to the Westchester mutants, and is one of the group of young mutants that heads out to see the world. And by "new kid in town," yes, Claremont means that he’s Peter Jr. from the Savage Land.

# Asked if people would be interested in seeing Peter David write Deadpool into X-Factor, the room voted overwhelmingly “yes” on the idea.

# Asked about the future of the NYX characters, Quesada said there will be another X-23 mini-series coming in the future that will fill in some of the gaps left in the character’s history.

# As for what Tony Bedard will doing since he will be off Exiles soon (to be replaced by Claremont), Marts said that the writer is working with Marvel on a number of possibilities, but nothing is ready to be announced yet. # When asked, Quesada reiterated plans are for Astonishing X-Men to continue after Whedon and Cassaday’s upcoming second and final run wraps. It will become the third ongoing X-Men series.

# Responding to the final question of the panel before the room was cleared for the next program, Marts said that to date, the X-office and Ed Brubaker have mapped out a year of Uncanny X-Men.