In April 2015, writer Al Ewing and artist Alan Davis join together to assemble an Avengers team from all the ages in three special oversized issues: AVENGERS: ULTRON FOREVER #1, NEW AVENGERS: ULTRON FOREVER #1 and UNCANNY AVENGERS: ULTRON FOREVER #1.
In anticipation of this unique storytelling trinity, Ewing details in an interview with Marvel.com, the critical role that the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones plays in opposing an Ultron-controlled future, first revealed in Jonathan Hickman’s AVENGERS during Original Sin. He also confides how much he enjoys writing a story with two Thors!
Marvel.com: How did you come to be involved in this ULTRON FOREVER trio of special oversized issues?
Al Ewing: Short version: I was asked! I’d just come off doing the TENTH REALM [series], which was 100 pages all told, so there was a gap in my schedule, and presumably [Executive Editor] Tom Brevoort figured I’d be a good fit for something as big and crazy as this.
Marvel.com: Were you were aware that Alan Davis would be the artist on this project from the outset? What kind of action and excitement can we expect from the two of you collaborating on this project?
Al Ewing: Well, obviously I’m blown away to be working with Alan, and hopefully I’m giving him fun things to draw. I wasn’t aware he’d be on it from the outset; I can’t remember if I heard he’d be the artist before or after I started including loads of really big, epic beats into the plot. If I had to pick one word to describe this story, “epic” would be it; it sort of builds and builds, until by the third issue you’re experiencing cosmic-scale war between—but that would be spoiling it. So anyway, hopefully Alan likes it.
Marvel.com: Let’s talk about this one-of-a-kind team: The present day Vision, Black Widow, and new Thor, plus Thor from Walt Simonson’s run in the 80’s, James “Rhodey” Rhodes as Iron Man, a new future Captain America, and a pre-Avengers Hulk. Any two of these characters alone would make for a fascinating combination, but how exciting is it to explore all of these character dynamics and mixing of eras?
Al Ewing: That’s the test, really: can you make a story out of any of these two characters in a room? And the answer here is “definitely yes.” It’s great throwing them all together, and they’re all favorites of mine in one way or another, so I’m having lots of fun. I’m almost ashamed to admit the amount of childhood nostalgia at work here; it’s a cardinal sin in comic writing to give in too far to your own nostalgia, but hopefully the results this time will make for a real labor of love. It’ll be a ton of fun, whatever happens.
The full text of the interview is available here.
