Joss Whedon

There’ve been promises, there’ve been rumors, and fans had been teased. And at Marvel’s Civil War and Remembrance panel on Saturday, it was announced that Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s new project will be the Marvel Universe Fantastic Four.

The panel was hosted by Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada, who was joined on the dias by Jim McCann, and Mark Millar. McCann opened up the capacity panel by saying, “I know this is the Civil War panel, but I think we’ll get started on time” to laughter.

Quesada then began to talk about the American Civil War, joking that it would be the topic of the panel. After introducing Millar, Quesada skipped the standard slide show and instead chose to go straight to a question and answer session.

The first fan asked if we’d see the international reaction to the Civil War storyline, which Millar said would just be boring for some reason. He asked if there was anything he wanted to do and left out, next. Mark said Joe’s Marvel is “the wild west, anything goes” and he didn’t have a big problem getting anything in that he wanted.

Millar said that he did however feel a slight error in having a “Norse, Teutonic god kill a black guy,” though “four guys in Kentucky were like, “yeah!””

And as for Spider-Man’s actions throughout the storyline, Millar explained that Spider-Man is all about doing the right thing, and that’s why he was “duped” so easily into being pro-registration at first.

Two Black Goliath fans told the panelists that they wanted him to come back. Mark Millar joked that Hulk should dig him up and just punch his dead body as part of World War Hulk.

The question was posed, as it was yesterday, of when Marvel had planned to kill Captain America, and it was re-iterated that it was from early in the Civil War planning, but they didn’t know whether they’d do it in Civil War or in Captain America until Whedon’s intervention. Mark Millar was amazed that it was kept completely under wraps until the issue came out.

Did the Registration Act come first, or all the big things that they wanted to happen inside it? Millar said that he and Bendis were talking, and said World War Hulk had to wait, that it wasn’t right for summer ’06. The next day, Bendis talked about the Superhuman Registration Act with Millar, and they brought it to the Summit and all the major Marvel writers and editors jumped on it together. It re-invigorated their room conversation. Millar said the moment they started talking about it, someone at DC had a chill down their spine as their market share plummeted, to much laughter from the crowd. Quesada made sure Tom Brevoort got credit for his co-ordination of Civil War and all the tie-ins, and Millar chimed in with the same.

In terms of the crossovers it was again stressed that Civil War proper was the spine of the story, and everyone else’s ancillary books were built off of that by those books’ writers and editors own creation.

Front Line books will continue when it’s appropriate to what’s going on in the Marvel Universe from a different perspective than what can be offered in the superhero titles.

The sides were not chosen haphazardly, but discussed at length amongst most of Marvel.

As many vocal internet fans believed, a fan in the crowd felt that the Anti-Registration side was pushed as the “good guys,” but Millar explained he tried to keep it very, very balanced, and he truly believes pro-registration is the right way to go. Joe asked how people would feel if you didn’t need a license to drive a car or fly a plane? “The reality of it is…you kinda have to see Tony’s point.”

The catalyst for Registration was thrown around quite a bit, according to Quesada and Millar, with everything from an entire state being wiped out o a single person being killed. Jeph Loeb suggested they destroy Stamford, CT, where he went to school. Nitro was chosen based on Tom’s suggestion of a “good exploding guy” which is all Millar asked for.

A fan said that they appreciated the slow build into Civil War, and her compliment was Millar’s “favorite question of the day.”

When asked, Quesada said that there are either no plans for a new Captain America yet.

In talking about Joss Whedon, Millar likened the “bloody “Buffy” guy” to the Lone Ranger that appears when people need something. In terms of Civil War, the summit members pitched the possible endings to Whedon, and he told them which one to go on, what to change, and that’s how it ended.

Quesada went on to say that the day he found out Grant Morrison was signing an exclusive contract with DC, which was the same day he announced it at San Diego a few years back, Joss Whedon appeared in front of him, and he just said “Hey Joss, would you like to write X-Men?” and Joss said “Yeah, I’d like to do that.” Mark said he then put on his hat, rode off on his horse, which was amazing because they were 40 feet up.

Will there be more Luke Cage stories coming up? Quesada: “Brian Bendis wishes he was Luke Cage” Millar: “Brian wishes he was getting shagged by Luke Cage.” Joe continued to say the push for Cage was all Brian and his love for the character.

Millar, in answering a question, said he hopes someday Tony Stark and Steve Rogers can be friends again, a response which was largely brushed over.

We will start seeing these registered teams taking on villains and fighting on behalf of governments soon, and no longer just fighting amongst themselves, Quesada said.

At that point, Millar announced that he and Hitch have been working on this for nearly a year on Fantastic Four. A trailer was shown of the book before they said the title - their origin was briefly told as their involvement on Fantastic Four was officially announced. January is when it starts. They started around Christmas of last year. Millar is working on the 10th issue, Hitch is working on the 5th.

Following the announcement, 1985 pages were shown, as Millar talked about it’s story as a sequel of sorts to Secret Wars and said it should be out around the time of the 25th anniversary of that story.

Millar mentioned that he loves what Matt Fraction is doing with Frank Castle and the Captain America mask in Punisher: War Journal. Quesada talked about similarities between the characters, and how they both came out of their wars feeling the effects. Frank idolizes Steve Rogers and wishes that’s who he could’ve been in a way.

The Young Avengers separation during Civil War will be resolved when the book eventually comes back. It won’t just sit by the wayside, Quesada said.

Throughout the panel, captions appeared on screen as Millar talked, courtesy of McCann, including “Blah Blah Civil War Blah Sheep Blah Blah” to much laughter, including some from Millar himself.

He said that Rod Sterling’s Twilight Zone is their biggest information for their run on Fantastic Four, and that it will absolutely be the main book, completely rooted in regular Marvel continuity. Millar and Hitch will be on for a minimum of 12 issues, and Millar is enjoying it so much, he doesn’t want to give it up that soon.

1985 is the project Millar said that he is most proud of at Marvel, and he feels it will propel artist Tommy Lee Edwards to superstardom.

Dr. Doom is definitely in this Fantastic Four run, he couldn’t do it without Hitch drawing the mega villain. He also really wants the book to evolve consistently like it did in its first ten years.

In talking about the release of the news of Cap’s death, Quesada told a fan that the media has to get the news out the same day something big happens, like Cap’s death. Even the day after is something media wouldn’t want. Both Quesada and McCann admitted that they were startled by how quickly and widely it spread in this case. It was covered by more news outlets faster than Spider-Man unmasking, and even trumped stories of Scooter Libby being indicted.

Back on FF, Millar said that he had gone to Stan Lee for advice on the series when he started the Ultimate version, and will continue to follow his advice of “do anything in this book. Nothing is too crazy.”

The Thunderbolts shift was always part of the Civil War plan it was mentioned by Quesada.

The gift of the Captain America Shield to Stephen Colbert was the shield that was in Tom Brevoort’s office and used to belong to Mark Gruenwald. Gruenwald’s widow felt it was a big honor to have that shield given to Colbert as she’s a huge fan.

Tony Stark is not viewed in the Marvel camp as a war profiteer, a point which had Millar suggesting that the fan who suggested as much should be seized.

Fantastic Four offers a great combination of big things and small everyday life, Millar said, adding that that he’s shooting for “a soap opera with a 500 million dollar budget.” The opening of the book will be Reed Richards buying opening day Disneyland tickets on eBay, then taking the family back in time to attend. The book, for him, is all about this family who loves each other, and he’s had enough of them being broken up.

“Anything’s possible in the Marvel Universe” greeted a joking question about Cap’s return.

X-Men Messiah Complex was teased as the next step for the mutants after registration.

A fan loved the change of Speedball to Penance, and asked how he was decided upon as the scapegoat. Joe said it was primarily because of how happy and bouncy of a character that he was.

The Initiative banner will come off of most titles after the first arc, but the post-Civil War universe will not go away, as there is no definitive end to the repercussions of Civil War.

Marvel has always been about rehabilitating villains. Hawkeye was the example given in that instance, with McCann reminding people that Tony Stark has no control over the Thunderbolts team.

Millar said that he hasn’t seen Ultimate Avengers - he has had region issues with his NTSC copy.

Thor will in fact be upset about his cloning, though Mark Millar said he wouldn’t mind if a friend cloned him and used the clone for their own means.

Captain America absolutely won’t be cancelled just because the title character is dead.

Norman Osborn and Red Skull were given as examples of villains that did in fact take advantage of all the in-fighting of the heroes.

Millar said that he loved the freedom of writing a book that was supported by other stories, like not having to worry about someone hunting down Nitro since it was happening in Wolverine.

Marvel cannot reveal when Nick Fury will return as Director of SHIELD. Coincidentally, a fan dressed as Iron Man asked the question, which Joe thought was funny.

Millar and Hitch may come back to their idea for X-Men, and he doesn’t want to spill the beans yet.

In the bigger Civil War picture Millar said that he feels lucky having been a part of a book that sold so well and reached so many people. Quesada added that he liked that he could explain the premise to anyone, not just comic fans. He has had a lot of new readers tell him the book is why they’re reading now. He also felt the whole line did some of their best work and “stepped up” because of it. McCann added that he loves the growth of the market that can be seen with the book, and he likes the post-Civil War world, and how many great new books and new stories have come out of it.

Civil War hit at just the right time, and really had a greater impact because of what is/was going on in our country at the time. “The zeitgeist was very important to” the book’s success, said Quesada.

Some media outlets wanted to do fake burials or memorials for Captain America, which Joe and Marvel nixed, because real people are dying in real wars, and this is still a comic book character.

There will be new villains in Millar/Hitch’s run on FF, and only classic ones if there’s a way to do it how it hasn’t been done before.

Civil War was meant to be a more thinking story, and World War Hulk is meant to be about “fisticuffs” or, as Millar said, “Smashing shit up!”

Tony Stark is always ready for the future, and that’s why he was so ready with the Registration Act and The Initiative.

The panel wrapped with a fan making Mark Millar “cry” because she asked what the major panel announcement was, before they then played the F4 promo video again.