Ross Hutchinson
This November The Black Order will find themselves as the protagonists as “Thanos’s children” are set a task by The Grandmaster that will show you them in a whole new way in a five-issue limited series
In a recent interview with Marvel.com writer of the series, Derek Landy gave some insight into how this deadly group of villainy will become the heroes of their own tale:
Marvel.com: How did you turn this group into the “heroes” of the story?
Derek Landy: This was an interesting one. The immediate challenge was that all of these characters had already been properly established. There weren’t a whole lot of details about them, but we, as readers, knew who they were. We knew how they sounded, how they interacted. We knew they were out-and-out bad guys.
So I had to take these bad guys and feature them in a way that would get the readers on their side, while also maintaining their integrity. I couldn’t just have them wake up one morning and decide to be nice. They had to remain villains. Of course, the best way to showcase this is to have them go up against an even worse villain, with a far-reaching agenda—in this case, an emperor keen to expand his empire.
Marvel.com: With members like Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight, you’ve got a built-in marriage component. But in what ways did you explore the relationships between the other members, as well as Glaive and Midnight?
Derek Landy: I’ve got five issues in which to tell this story, and each issue is told from a different member’s perspective, so I get to explore their personalities in a very concise way. We’re going to get to see how they relate to each other and how they rationalize the horrible things they do, and then we’re going to see them try to figure out who they are in the grand scheme of things.
Corvus and Proxima are still very much in love, by the way. There will be some conflict rearing its head, but there was never any danger of me breaking up such a power couple. Truly, they are a testament to the myriad wonders of marriage. (I’m not married, myself, but I imagine all marriages involve decapitations. Right?)
Marvel.com: How does Thanos impact this narrative?
Derek Landy: You can never escape Thanos, so while he doesn’t feature in this series, his presence is still felt. There are a few reasons I didn’t use him, but the main one is that Thanos tends to overshadow everyone else once he’s in a story, and I wanted a new villain and a chance for the Black Order to establish themselves in their own right.
Also, to be perfectly honest, I’m still new to Marvel, and it never occurred to me to inquire as to his availability…!
The series is being drawn by Philip Tan, inked by Marc Deering, and colors by Jay David Ramos
