“Transformers, your ass belongs
to me,” boasts Millar. “Basically, how
much of a no-brainer is it to put the biggest-selling book
in the Western world at the moment up against the second-biggest
selling book?”
According to Millar, the series kicks into
gear after the events of November’s Ultimate X-Men
#25, which features the long-awaited return of the villainous
Master of Magnetism, Magneto. But don’t think
Magneto’s the only villain—or even the worst—to
show up in the series. In fact, some of the fans’ favorite
heroes may just be the bad guys in this winner-take-all match-up.
“Ostensibly, Magneto and a renewed
Brotherhood are going to be the bad guys, but most of this
will take place in the huge Ultimate X-Men arc which starts
in December,” explains the writer, who teams with
artist Chris Bachalo
on the series. “Magneto has a definite presence
in the mini-series, but the X-Men are really the villains
here and you’ll understand why in the double-sized Ultimate
X-Men #25.”
The series has been fairly easy to write,
says Millar, but he does point out that, while it’s
easy to get characters like Wolverine, Cyclops, Captain
America and Iron Man together, it’s a
lot harder to break them up.
“Both teams operate in the same
world,” says Millar. “One is a highly
paid defense initiative and the other is perceived to be the
greatest threat mankind has ever faced. Getting them together
is easy. Stopping them from killing each other was always
going to be the hard part for me.
“This has really been the most fun
part for the 7-year-old inside me—if that doesn’t
sound too dirty!” continues Millar. “Want
to see Wolverine’s claws slashing through Iron Man’s
armor? Want to see Captain America and Black Widow blowing
up the Blackbird? Want to see Hawkeye putting an arrow through
Rogue? Thor fighting Colossus? Xavier versus Fury? The all-new
underground X-Men school? Just close your eyes and wish it
was December, chum.”
While the regular Marvel
Universe’s Avengers and X-Men have
met dozens of times before over the last 40 years of Marvel
history, Millar says this battle royal, brawl-for-it-all won’t
resemble a single one of those encounters. Actually, according
to the writer, this four-issue mini-series, which sees two
issues ship in December and then becomes monthly, won’t
be anything like any crossover in comic book history.
“I know these characters have all
met a million times in the old Marvel Universe—or Marvel
Classic, as [Bryan] Hitch
the Bitch cleverly calls it—but it just feels so fresh
writing this,” gloats Millar. “We actually
feel like the characters are in trouble as opposed to that
‘40 years of re-heats feeling’ you usually get
when you hear about the latest company crossover. The characters
are all really interesting and writing this is the most fun
I’ve had with the line so far. It appeals to the fanboy
in me without being written to appeal to the fanboys, if you
know what I mean. This just feels like a movie. The Ultimate
line does that in general, but I feel like Jim
Cameron or Sam
Raimi’s directing this one. It just
feels big!”
Bachalo, who first teamed with Millar on Ultimate
X-Men #16-19, says he jumped at the chance to work on
the Ultimates’ character for a simple reason: It’s
his favorite book.
“I think as a creative talent, [Millar’s]
doing an incredible job on The Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men,”
gushes Bachalo. “The Ultimates is by far the best
comic book in the business; if there is anything better, I
can’t think of it. It was hard to find a reason not
to do this series.”
And Millar says the admiration is mutual,
although he jokingly wants to make sure his artist knows who’s
counting the money and who’s hustling the corners.
“Bachalo is one of the best artists
in the world,” says Millar. “I’ve
stalked this guy since Shade The Changing Man and I couldn’t
be happier about him drawing this. In fact, I thought
Joe [Quesada] was putting
me on. He did such a beautiful job on his guest issues on
the Ultimate X-Men ‘World Tour’ arc. [Bryan]
Hitch, [Adam]
Kubert and [Chris]
Bachalo are my bitches: This is how it must
have felt to be Justin Timberlake.”
While Millar and Bachalo plan on a huge cast
for The Ultimate War, don’t expect too many cameos by
other Ultimate characters. The writer says the cast’s
already big enough without the addition of any more revamped
Marvel Universe inhabitants.
“Not counting the Brotherhood, there’s
already around 16 or 17 core characters in this mini-series
and I want the ramifications to be huge,” reveals
the writer. “I don’t want to cheat any of
the characters out of space and I want the impact on their
lives to be as big as possible. So no, this is not where you’re
going to be reading about Ultimate Dazzler.”
Millar also points out one final message he
wants to send to fans—this project wasn’t offered
to his Ultimate cohort and fan-favorite Ultimate
Spider-Man scribe Brian
Michael Bendis first.
