Avengers: Jonathan Hickman Q+A

[GoldStarz]

How many female members will be on the Avengers?

Will the New Avengers be getting any girls as members?

[TsaiMeLemoni]

Mr. Hickman,

First, it's awesome that you're doing this Q&A, and I am very excited to see your take on the Avengers.

My question(s): I would like to know if you'll be incorporating characters that haven't previously been associated with the Avengers - other than your own creations - into your roster; I think we have about six people whose identities we don't know yet (I am trying to think of a way to ask this without asking about specific characters, since I suppose that could fall into spoiler territory).

Since there is such a large roster, would it be safe to assume that each arc will only feature a handful of the total team? I like the idea of having one branch of the Avengers that handles cosmic stuff, one branch that focuses on more traditional threats like Hydra/Dr. Doom, etc.

Thank you for your time!

[marvell2100]

Hi again.

What would you say the level of trust is on this team in the beginning given that almost all of them have a...situation between them.

That would be the New Avengers btw.

[Filthy Mutie]

What's your favorite version of Beast, in terms of appearance and characterization?

[Test of Strength]

If the roster is going to rotate after an x amount of issues, what would you say the chances are that Hulk gets replaced with someone from the Hulk family?

Edit-
HmmHmm

[ViewtifulJC]

Speaking of rotation, how about the artists. Is Opena coming back after Kubert/Weaver/Deodato Jr.?

[theXfactor]

Is there a chance Sage or Emma Frost will appear in New Avengers?
Will the smaller teams featured in the main Avengers series be the same every arc or will they change depending on the mission?

[JHickman]

You left some books such as Ultimate Marvel to have more time and preparation to work on the relaunch of Avengers/New Avengers, do you plan to use some of your unused ideas of Ultimates in your Avengers/New Avengers series?

My leaving was a bit more complicated than that. Yes, when it became obvious that I was getting Avengers, I needed to leave, but a bunch of that was also the Ultimates relaunch being swallowed alive by DC's New 52. There's more, but that's all inside baseball.

To answer your question, No. All of this is completely different. Except maybe one exception.

Would you say your choice of roster affects story, or your story affects your roster choice?

Sometimes it's both. But in the case of the Avengers, the latter. It's a very plot-driven book.

Good evening, Mr. Hickman...T'Challa turned down admission into the initial Illuminati yet he seems to be the one spearheading this reformation in New Avengers, how much different and in wot ways is your version a departure from Bendis'?

This is the logical continuation of what Bendis started. In fact, the first page of the book is that scene from the first Illuminati story Brian and Alex did.

[randomlee26]

Thanks for doing this thread!

Will the book have an optimistic tone? I loved your Fantastic Four run because of all the heart and pathos.

[Kid Kamikaze10]

What works helped influence both titles? Do these influences interconnect, or are they entirely different?

[sage6paths]

This is a good example of a question I won't answer, guys. Reads as: Tell me a spoiler.

I've always liked that promo a lot though.

Well technically it's not a spoiler since Marvel did a homage/spoiler cover of the thing. At least it was worth a try.

[Kaiolino]

What made you decide to add Beast to the NA roster?

[JHickman]

What's your favorite 616 character?

Commander Arcturus Rann.

It's probably too early to answer this, but do you expect (the payoff to) your bigger plotlines to be turned into events instead of being part of the regular Avengers/New Avengers books?

I'm writing Avengers, so, you know...

Do you plan to have Avengers following an elongated, complex narrative similar to your run on FF, or will it be more along the lines of shorter, self-contained story-lines that occur within three to six issues at a time?

It's both actually. Avengers has a different structure than anything I've done before.

New Avengers is probably closer to FF, I guess.

[LeandroMD]

What kind of storytelling direction are you taking with each book: (1) a heavily structured style with profound plot planning like the one you used for your Fantastic Four run, or (2) a more loose, adaptative style like the one you are apparently following with Manhattan Projects?

[CaptCleghorn]

Will we be able to read one or the other book (Avengers and New Avengers) and get a full story, or will the plots be crossing over between the books?