Ross Hutchinson
What If? Marvel’s series which explores the realms of possibility outside of the normal 616 continuity returns as a series of one shot in October this year. Some of the more popular yarns of the series have always been about Marvel’s merry mutants the X-men so its no surprise that that one of the one shot’s will be WHAT IF? X-MEN #1
Writer Bryan Edward Hill (Postal, Batman) is teaming up with artists Neil Edwards (Spider-Man Season 1) and Giannis Milonogiannis (Old City Blues, Prophet) to bring us a tale of the X-Men as we have never seen them before…
According to the article on Marvel.com:
Within the world of this story, humanity has embraced the EXE/scape, a fusion of tech and bio-modifications. However, Charles Xavier and his .EXE/men were born with the ability to interface with the EXE/scape without technology. Now, Xavier is calling upon Free-roamers Domino and Cable to save the life of Erik Lehnsherr from a threat to their very existence.
“Imagine a future where cyberspace and human interactions with it have evolved certain humans. These evolved humans have the nicknamed “EXE” gene, which results in mutant-style abilities in the real world, but even more so in the world of cyberspace. This sudden change in human evolution has created a crisis-point in the world, with the EXEs being feared and hunted. That’s the background in which this story takes place, familiar to the classic concepts of the X-Men, but also rendered with the realities of transhumanism and cyberspace.”
Hill Also revealed that there are direct parallels between this story and classic Mamoru Oshii’s GHOST IN THE SHELL OVA which he is a huge fan of and that editor Chris Robinson who has worked with Hill before was aware of when he and Hill discussed how they could pitch this story with the same type of aesthetic feel. This is carried through as Hill expands to say that the use of Domino and Cable in this story has an intentional correlation to the relationship between Batou and Motoko Kusanagi from GHOST IN THE SHELL.
The interview further reveals that the Erik Lensherr that Domino and Cable are sent to protect in this story is Hill’s amalgamated take on all the men who have changed the world as he puts it such as Elon Musk, Edison and others.
When asked if he would like to expand the story of the world he has created beyond this one-shot story, Hill reveals he has developed the details of this world well beyond the confines of the single issue and that he would return to expand on it where if he were asked to and that expansion could see characters like Dazzler and Psylocke which Hill counts as some of his favorites added into the mix. Who knows… should the WHAT IF? series do well, that, like the stories these books tell, is a possibility.
As always we will be watching…
For the full interview visit marvel.com