THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2006
PRESS CONFERENCE: ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR'S MIKE CAREY
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At a telephone press conference on Thursday, writer Mike Carey said that he's taking Ultimate Fantastic Four in a completely different direction with "God War," the six-issue arc that begins in Ultimate Fantastic Four #33.
"The idea is a complete change of pace and change of tone," Carey said, taking the book into "a big, sprawling cosmic epic."
The story, according to Carey, involves elements of the Warren Ellis run and the FF getting involved in a war that spills out from the higher end of the Stack of universes, where most of the characters have super-powers.
The arc introduces Ultimate Thanos. "He's kind of evil dictator with some really, really unsettling powers," Carey said. "He's very close to being a god."
Carey said he wanted to make the Ultimate verison of the character as powerful as Jim Starlin's version from the Infinity Gauntlet days in the Marvel Universe, but to approach the character from "a strange angle."
Carey said that, with all the powerful beings, he's putting the FF members and their relationships under threat during the arc. The Thing faces a foe who is stronger than he is, and he questions his role. And a character named Threshold will be romantically attracted to Reed, which threatens his relationship with Sue.
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In other notes from the press conference:
* "God War" will end with an artifact that could have a major impact on the Ultimate Universe. Carey said there are plans through the upper 40s on the title.
* Carey's second arc will be called "Ghost" and is set in Siberia. It will include some fall-out from the previous arc for Reed.
"He's been given a gift," Carey said, "but it's kind of a poison chalice, as much of a curse as a it is a gift."
Carey said the arc will see the FF in the former Soviet Union. "They're initially guests, but the situation goes haywire pretty quickly," he said, adding that it will bring Sue to the forefront.
After some coaxing, he said that the Crimson Dynamo will be in the arc. "We've seen a version of Crimson Dynamo in Ultimates, but this is the original," Carey said. "He's an old man now, getting up in years.
* Carey said he wants to "sabotage" the comfortable feel of Ultimate FF, getting the team away from is Baxter Building think tank environment and into situations they must contend on their own.
* Carey said his favorite character is Reed, who he could identify with from his childhood of being a quiet, brainy type who didn't do well in sports.
He also likes Ultimate Spider-Man and hopes to get him for at least a cameo in Ultimate FF.
* Carey said he would like to mature Johnny a bit from being "a superficial jerk, the babe magnet and the kid who has everything."
Copyright © 2006, The Comics Continuum