Creator's plans

[fishtaco]

This might be a bit lengthy, but...

What were PAD's plans for X-Factor?

What were Grant Morrison's plans for New X-Men?

What were Warren Ellis's plans for Excalibur?

What were Alan Davis's plans (as writer) for Excalibur?

What were Claremont's plans for Excalibur?

What were Judd Winick's plans for Exiles?

What were Rob Weinberg's plans for Cable?

What were John Byrne's plans for Alpha Flight (I heard that he was going to reveal that Sabretooth is Wildchild's father)

What were Roy Thomas's plans for Uncanny X-Men?

What were Larry Hama's plans for Wolverine?

What were Howard Mackie's plans for X-Factor?

What were Terry Kavanagh's plans for X-Man?

I'm always intrigued by this kind of stuff. I like to write it down. Sean McKeever had some fun stuff planned for Mystique, Nunzio and Christina had an interesting Nova Roma story planned in New X-Men, and of course there's the stuff that CC and Weezy had planned. Anything?

[Mitsaso]

Isn't it funny that all we know is what Austen's plans were for X-Men? :D

[xakko]

Isn't it funny that all we know is what Austen's plans were for X-Men? :D
or weren't interested.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Isn't it funny that all we know is what Austen's plans were for X-Men? :D


Yep...and that shows you something. People in a majority claim they hate the man's work. But would want to read about his plans. I think they loved to torture themselves lol.

[PerfectBrak]

What were Grant Morrison's plans for New X-Men?


Didn't Grant finish up his story, it wasn't like he was pushed off the book. I remember him saying he had a plan to reboot the X-Men after his own revamp, but he'd rather let someone else do it.

[fishtaco]

Didn't Grant finish up his story, it wasn't like he was pushed off the book. I remember him saying he had a plan to reboot the X-Men after his own revamp, but he'd rather let someone else do it.So he knew the whole time that he was going to leave at issue 156?

[Jake V]

So he knew the whole time that he was going to leave at issue 156?
#154, actually. He wrote it as an end to the stories he had going at the time, but had plans for the revamp that was going to happen as well. He was going to be onboard with the return to "superhero" costumes, and would introduce the concept as "school uniforms" or something to that effect. I know he had a lot of plans for the students at the school, which might be why the New Mutants book became "New X-Men" after the relaunch.

[Flight]

Yeah, Grant knew from the beginning how long he was gonna be on the book for.
I think he wanted to shake things up, do it his way and leave.

[Tobias March]

In that Morrison may be unique as far as X-writers are concerned. He left when he felt like it, having written the ending he wanted. Hunh

[fishtaco]

Ah, I see. Grant pretty much resolved all of the danglers..except for that Ernst/Cassandra Nova one. But going back to the thread topic, does anybody know any plans or nixed stories from various X-writers that never saw print?

[david r]

I know some of John Byrne's ideas when he replaced Chris Claremont in 1991.

Byrne wanted to carry out a "real Mutant Massacre", and kill off a lot of the mutants. The impression I had at the time was he wanted to get rid of a lot of the X-Men that Byrne was unfamiliar with (Rogue, Forge, Psylocke, Gambit, Jubilee, etc.) Byrne has always been a giant fan of the original 1960s X-Men and I think he wanted to get back to them and some of the 2nd Generation.

He also intended to reverse the changes done to Warren Worthington and get rid of Archangel. He said he also wanted to change the Beast back to non-furry, but he compromised with editor Bob Harras. So the Beast would stay furry if Byrne could change Angel back to his normal appearance. Luckily, most of this stuff didn't happen because Byrne only lasted 15 minutes on the books and then said bye-bye.

Unfortunately, I know little of the other people on your list. I know that Larry Hama wanted to open up a stronger supporting cast for Wolverine in his solo series. He may have actually started doing this. He wanted Logan to intermingle with some regular people and make connections with some "average joes". But he was off the book before any of this really came about.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I have no clue what Howard Mackie had for X-Men but I do remember his plans for Spiderman. It appeared he wanted to make Peter Parker hook up with Jill Stacy and create a wierd romantic triangle since Mary-Jane was gone. Its just the way MJ was written out pissed everyone off and Mackie's writing mixed with Byrne's art drove fans away.

Its a shame about Jill Stacy....good charactor with good motivations.


Terry Kavanaugh had plans for Iron Man with teen Tony. I actually would have liked to seen those happen.

[fishtaco]

I know some of John Byrne's ideas when he replaced Chris Claremont in 1991.

Byrne wanted to carry out a "real Mutant Massacre", and kill off a lot of the mutants. The impression I had at the time was he wanted to get rid of a lot of the X-Men that Byrne was unfamiliar with (Rogue, Forge, Psylocke, Gambit, Jubilee, etc.) Byrne has always been a giant fan of the original 1960s X-Men and I think he wanted to get back to them and some of the 2nd Generation.

He also intended to reverse the changes done to Warren Worthington and get rid of Archangel. He said he also wanted to change the Beast back to non-furry, but he compromised with editor Bob Harras. So the Beast would stay furry if Byrne could change Angel back to his normal appearance. Luckily, most of this stuff didn't happen because Byrne only lasted 15 minutes on the books and then said bye-bye.

Unfortunately, I know little of the other people on your list. I know that Larry Hama wanted to open up a stronger supporting cast for Wolverine in his solo series. He may have actually started doing this. He wanted Logan to intermingle with some regular people and make connections with some "average joes". But he was off the book before any of this really came about.Whoa. I'm glad Byrne didn't get his way. Jeez!I have no clue what Howard Mackie had for X-Men but I do remember his plans for Spiderman. It appeared he wanted to make Peter Parker hook up with Jill Stacy and create a wierd romantic triangle since Mary-Jane was gone. Its just the way MJ was written out pissed everyone off and Mackie's writing mixed with Byrne's art drove fans away.Howard Mackie wrote a significantly long run on X-Factor (111-149), and wrote Mutant X (whole run).

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Whoa. I'm glad Byrne didn't get his way. Jeez!Howard Mackie wrote a significantly long run on X-Factor (111-149), and wrote Mutant X (whole run).


Thanks for reminding me. I have a lot of the X-Factor issues in there. I wonder what his plans were if Mutant X didn't happen ?

[Marty4Magik]

Yuck.
Mackie's X-factor run was horrible IMO, while it was such a good series before he came onboard....

[DDM]

Thanks for reminding me. I have a lot of the X-Factor issues in there. I wonder what his plans were if Mutant X didn't happen ?

After the first 12 issues of Mutant X, I believe the book is just one big terrible tangent for Havok. Mutant X suffered from Gilligan's Island syndrome...

[DDM]

Yeah, Grant knew from the beginning how long he was gonna be on the book for.
I think he wanted to shake things up, do it his way and leave.

I believe Grant Morrison added on Here Comes Tomorrow as a post-script to his run. I think he did not intend to stay on New X-Men no longer than after the Magneto/Xorn storyline was resolved...

[Frank]

I love Byrne`s ideas when he told them in magazines when he replaced CC briefly when CC was fired. He wanted to return to what the X-Men were, obligerating most of the mutant population to return to this race between the bad guys and good guys. So when a mutant comes out it`s special thing and both sides conspire to have him/her on their side.

To this day I think it has the best model of how the X-Men as a concept should be done. I`ll tell you one thing: it would have saved the X-Men to turn into the poster-child for watered down franchise it was in the 90s.

Morrison`s plan: how about doing the most damage possible? He said it himself that he hated the X-Men.

[Grendel0606]

I believe Grant Morrison added on Here Comes Tomorrow as a post-script to his run. I think he did not intend to stay on New X-Men no longer than after the Magneto/Xorn storyline was resolved...

NOt sure about that, as the story as a whole only makes sense with "here comes tomorrow". Plus he mentioned fairly early on in interviews that his last storyline would have Phoenix fighting the enemy of all mankind (or something like that)

[Faded]

I love Byrne`s ideas when he told them in magazines when he replaced CC briefly when CC was fired. He wanted to return to what the X-Men were, obligerating most of the mutant population to return to this race between the bad guys and good guys. So when a mutant comes out it`s special thing and both sides conspire to have him/her on their side.

To this day I think it has the best model of how the X-Men as a concept should be done. I`ll tell you one thing: it would have saved the X-Men to turn into the poster-child for watered down franchise it was in the 90s.

Morrison`s plan: how about doing the most damage possible? He said it himself that he hated the X-Men.

Personally I think quite the opposite, but to each their own.

[mikeyb]

Morrison actually wanted Gambit & Rogue on the team & wanted to kill Rogue & have Wolverine come track him down & find him in the Hellfire Club. Cyclops obviously replaced him in his plans. He then was gonna have a new student show up with powers just like Rogue's. This was gonna be his way of making the Rogue character more realistic & similiar to the movie version of Rogue. Grant didn't buy that a person with her powers would be a southern sex bomb like she is.

[Marty4Magik]

Do any of you actually have some proof that what his plans were, instead of 'IIRC he said this and that' because I have heard a lot of things by other fans that don't ad up.
Any quotes or something like that? :confused:

For example, I have heard that GM did have more plans for his NEW X-men run, but because he started to get editorial nitpicking, he left.
While others say he planned that what we saw and nothing more.
:confused:

[DDM]

Morrison actually wanted Gambit & Rogue on the team & wanted to kill Rogue & have Wolverine come track him down & find him in the Hellfire Club. Cyclops obviously replaced him in his plans. He then was gonna have a new student show up with powers just like Rogue's. This was gonna be his way of making the Rogue character more realistic & similiar to the movie version of Rogue. Grant didn't buy that a person with her powers would be a southern sex bomb like she is.

Thankfully, Morrison's Rogue never saw the light of day.

[Titan76]

What were Grant Morrison's plans for New X-Men?
http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=001597

Morrison has another interview he did about 2 years ago that I can't find. He says that part of the 6 story arc he was going to do after HCT was that he was going to put the X-men back into costumes(because Quesada told him to) and that he was going to have a human teenage boy become a student at Xavier's. At first the mutant students were not going to like him then they hear him play his guitar and think of him as a god because he plays it so well.

What were John Byrne's plans for Alpha Flight (I heard that he was going to reveal that Sabretooth is Wildchild's father)
http://www.byrnerobotics.com/FAQ/listing.asp?ID=2&Tl=Questions+about+Comic+Book+Projects#47

Edit: For the John Byrne about Alpha Flight go all the way up to the top to see his plans. I'm still trying to get the Morrison one working.

The Morrison interview is working now.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Going back to the start of the thread anybody have any clues on Warren Ellis' other plans for Excalibur?

[dazzler_slave]

I read an interview with Howard Mackie years ago when Mutant X was launched. He originally wanted to continue X-Factor and with 150, the new roster was going to be Havok, Polaris, Shard, Fixx, Archer and Greystone. He was going to explore the idea of the XUE (Xavier Underground Enforcers) and make them a vigilante police force, but he and the editors decided to cancel X-Factor with 149 and relaunch as Mutant X. Originally, Greystone and Havok were not supposed to die in that explosion. Not sure if his X-Factor would have been any good, but it couldn't have been any worse than Mutant X!

[Faded]

I read an interview with Howard Mackie years ago when Mutant X was launched. He originally wanted to continue X-Factor and with 150, the new roster was going to be Havok, Polaris, Shard, Fixx, Archer and Greystone. He was going to explore the idea of the XUE (Xavier Underground Enforcers) and make them a vigilante police force, but he and the editors decided to cancel X-Factor with 149 and relaunch as Mutant X. Originally, Greystone and Havok were not supposed to die in that explosion. Not sure if his X-Factor would have been any good, but it couldn't have been any worse than Mutant X!

I only read a handful of issues of both Mutant X and his X-Factor, but what I read of Mutant X I liked :o (though it was only 3 issues). I liked Shard, Fixx, Archer, and Greystone but aside from that the run itself wasn't all that great. I really didn't like the art either.

[DDM]

I read an interview with Howard Mackie years ago when Mutant X was launched. He originally wanted to continue X-Factor and with 150, the new roster was going to be Havok, Polaris, Shard, Fixx, Archer and Greystone. He was going to explore the idea of the XUE (Xavier Underground Enforcers) and make them a vigilante police force, but he and the editors decided to cancel X-Factor with 149 and relaunch as Mutant X. Originally, Greystone and Havok were not supposed to die in that explosion. Not sure if his X-Factor would have been any good, but it couldn't have been any worse than Mutant X!

Although this would have been a slightly better path, Mackie made a mistake making Shard a prominant member of the team given the real Shard is dead & this one was a sentient hologram.

[Faded]

Although this would have been a slightly better path, Mackie made a mistake making Shard a prominant member of the team given the real Shard is dead & this one was a sentient hologram.

I really didn't like the whole sentient hologram thing. It made an interesting dilemma for Bishop, but I just thought it was a little too...out there.

[Frank]

Personally I think quite the opposite, but to each their own.

Dude, don`t you remember the mess the X-Men were in the 90s, too many mutants, too many spin-offs? JB`s idea had it been used at the time would have cleared a nice path to do better stories. Less conveluted.

[Faded]

Dude, don`t you remember the mess the X-Men were in the 90s, too many mutants, too many spin-offs? JB`s idea had it been used at the time would have cleared a nice path to do better stories. Less conveluted.

I liked the 90's.

Byrne wanted to kill them off just because he didn't like them or didn't know what to do with them. I don't see anything productive in that. I personally like the X-Men for its rotating and changing rosters that are comprised of a lot of different characters.

[Porcelain]

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=36&t=001597

Morrison has another interview he did about 2 years ago that I can't find. He says that part of the 6 story arc he was going to do after HCT was that he was going to put the X-men back into costumes(because Quesada told him to) and that he was going to have a human teenage boy become a student at Xavier's. At first the mutant students were not going to like him then they hear him play his guitar and think of him as a god because he plays it so well.

Didn't he actually do that? Well a different version, dead popular kid, always walked around with a guitar (think Tattoo was his girlfriend) turned out his power was popularity and he was an ugly scrawny kid.

[Sentinel K]

Didn't he actually do that? Well a different version, dead popular kid, always walked around with a guitar (think Tattoo was his girlfriend) turned out his power was popularity and he was an ugly scrawny kid.

Sound more like Austens Romeo&Juliet ripoff She lies with Angels.

Except I'm assuming it would actually have been good.

Maybe.

[Faded]

Didn't he actually do that? Well a different version, dead popular kid, always walked around with a guitar (think Tattoo was his girlfriend) turned out his power was popularity and he was an ugly scrawny kid.

While I don't think he died, I think you're thinking of Slick, who had illusion powers (maybe telepathy) and charisma. He was an alien looking thing in his true form. Kinda like Alf. It was kinda scary looking.

[DDM]

I really didn't like the whole sentient hologram thing. It made an interesting dilemma for Bishop, but I just thought it was a little too...out there.

I just think it was a pointless story idea. Okay, the hologram becomes sentient. Now, where do you go with this idea? The hologram isn't Shard, but looks & acts like her. In theory, she shouldn't even been allowed on the team from the start since the sentient hologram was not a mutant. Shard becoming sentient was the first red flag that X-Factor lost its course.

[That JonoGuy]

Although this would have been a slightly better path, Mackie made a mistake making Shard a prominant member of the team given the real Shard is dead & this one was a sentient hologram.

How is that different from the Avengers having someone like Vision on the team?

[DDM]

Dude, don`t you remember the mess the X-Men were in the 90s, too many mutants, too many spin-offs? JB`s idea had it been used at the time would have cleared a nice path to do better stories. Less conveluted.

However, Byrne's idea included killing Psylocke, Rogue, Forge, & other mutants. Byrne wanted them dead because he did not know the characters. This is a lame, lazy reason to write off a character.

[DDM]

How is that different from the Avengers having someone like Vision on the team?

The Vision is a synthoid. He has been since his creation. Shard, on the other hand, is a hologram--not a mutant. The Shard hologram is a living memory of a dead character.

[Hi-Fi]

Aww, I love Alf.

[Faded]

Aww, I love Alf.

Alf scares the tequila out of me.

[Porcelain]

While I don't think he died, I think you're thinking of Slick, who had illusion powers (maybe telepathy) and charisma. He was an alien looking thing in his true form. Kinda like Alf. It was kinda scary looking.
:D I didn't mean dead 6ft under, I meant dead as in 'really'. Yep that's the one (cheers for the chuckle).

(And Alf rocked)

[dazzler_slave]

Dude, don`t you remember the mess the X-Men were in the 90s, too many mutants, too many spin-offs? JB`s idea had it been used at the time would have cleared a nice path to do better stories. Less conveluted.
I enjoyed 90's X-Men. they tried to diversify and most of the mutants got a chance to be members of one team or other. I enjoyed most of the spin-off titles. John Byrne just wanted to kill them because he didn't know how to write them. He seems to have a tendency of erasing what he doesn't get or like. When he does that we get Doom Patrol. Did you really want an X-Men series that was like the recent Doom Patrol?

[Faded]

:D I didn't mean dead 6ft under, I meant dead as in 'really'. Yep that's the one (cheers for the chuckle).

(And Alf rocked)

Oh I see. :D It makes sense now.

[Giant Guy]

Where did Byrne say he wanted to off these characters? Or is this another rumor made up because people don't like Byrne anymore.

Byrne has never struck me as the kind of creator that would kill just because he did not like a character. I am sure he would just write them out of the book.

[fishtaco]

I read an interview with Howard Mackie years ago when Mutant X was launched. He originally wanted to continue X-Factor and with 150, the new roster was going to be Havok, Polaris, Shard, Fixx, Archer and Greystone. He was going to explore the idea of the XUE (Xavier Underground Enforcers) and make them a vigilante police force, but he and the editors decided to cancel X-Factor with 149 and relaunch as Mutant X. Originally, Greystone and Havok were not supposed to die in that explosion. Not sure if his X-Factor would have been any good, but it couldn't have been any worse than Mutant X!Wow, thanks. Do you have a link to that interview? I wish it continued. Although this would have been a slightly better path, Mackie made a mistake making Shard a prominant member of the team given the real Shard is dead & this one was a sentient hologram.I loved Shard, and I loved her whole story. I don't see a problem with it.

Oh, and I'm glad Byrne didn't get his way. I strongly dislike John Byrne. Whenever I go on his forum, he just makes negative comments for just about everything. How things should be at Marvel, how awful a lot of writers are (I see him naming individuals), he rants about how he hated crossovers in the 80's, and then he starts calling a lot of his work bad while blaming it on other members of the creative team. He's a fan of the 60's and 70's, but he's ignorant when it comes to everything else. Yeah, he was going to kill off interesting, three dimensional characters like Psylocke and Forge just because they are late comers to the X-Men (at the time, at least), and he was too lazy to try to appreciate them. I think that's kind of despicable.