Writer Brian Michael Bendis wants to take Tony Stark global.
The Marvel universe will soon lookAll-New All-Differentthanks to the massive crossover seriesSecret Wars.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The motto of the Marvel line right now is All-New All-Different.
Can you explain what makes this Iron Man series different than whats come before?
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS:Quite a few things.
We have some really great stories to tell about Tony.
It feels in a sense the same way that Alex [Maleev] and I came at Daredevil.
By propelling the character forward, we found different levels in him that werent shown before.
It just seemed that Alex was the perfect person to join me on this character re-examination.
People almost daily tell me its their favorite thing weve ever done.
It just seemed appropriate for us to team up for this big quest of character.
ThatCivil Warone-shot was kind of mournful and intense in tone.
How would you describe the tone of this series?
Whats unique too about Tony is hes anchoring two titles now.
WhereasInternationalwill be Tony discovering where he belongs in this world.
Thats one of my favorite things about Tony.
Its very different than other superheroes.
A lot of superheroes are all reaction.
The villain does something and they react.
But theres something different with Tony, and thats one of his struggles.
Its such a noble effort, but its so frustrating, because he cant control all the variables.
We also have new relationships in his life.
Some of its been teased already in the first series.
Every superhero has those, but Tonys world seems much larger.
It shines a light on the best part of you or worst part of you.
Were gonna try that with some interesting players that already exist in the Marvel universe.
How much will the two series be overlapping?
Tony seems like a character very uniquely set up for this.
Hes got a very insular quiet life as a scientist and a very large life as an international superhero.
Both of those things can happen at the same time.
I like the creative challenge of attempting this.
But the artists Im working with, its hardly a challenge.
They both inspire me to work at the top of my game.
Alex is an artist whose talent is so precious to me.
He draws the way I wish I drew.
Were gonna attempt to leap it.
Who better than Tony Stark?
What did you learn from working onDaredevilthat youre going to bring to this series?
Alex is an artist, one of the very few in the business, who can illustrate subtext.
That means you look at Tonys eyes and you know hes saying yes when he means no.
I dont have to write it, you’re able to see it.
Hes good at drawing smart people whose wheels are turning.
That adds to the level of storytelling that were allowed to tell.
We did this with Matt Murdock.
Theyre, in my opinion, deserving of equal time in terms of what makes a man like this?
Not to speak too privately, but of my four children, two are adopted.
Thereve actually been publishers who have come to me asking me to make graphic novels about the experience.
Ive shied away from it because I dont think telling my kids stories would help them.
So when this came to me, Tony hadnt dealt with his adoption at all.
Marvel is usually tied up with New York.
What does this globe-trotting setting do for the character?
We can all reach out to each other no matter where we are in the world.
We feel each others pains and victories.
I think for Tony its like that times 100.
And yes, why do the villains always attack New York?
Why is New York the house of Legos that constantly needs to be rebuilt?
Id go anywhere else.
Tonys gonna be racing to help people that dont necessarily always get the attention of the Marvel superheroes.
Will you be playing with any kind of Marvel universe realpolitik?
Its not only my title.
What happened here was we all gravitated toward new characters afterSecret Wars.
Its a whole new playground.
A lot of books will be spreading their wings and seeing whats out there past 56th Street.
Dr. Doom is in the other Iron-Man series.
Will we be seeing him here as well?
Not to spoil too much but hes going to be a big part of Tonys life.
You never know where Dr. Dooms gonna show up.
One of my favorite comics of all time is Iron Man #150.
Doom knows where the bodies are buried.
Not to get tooBlacklist, but he knows a lot of stuff that Tony doesnt know.
You wrote Tony inAvengersfor a long time.
Youre not faking it, youre just different alone than with your friends.
When hes an Avenger, hes very at home.
But then hes alone in his lab, which is really his church.
This is something I relate to a great deal.
My alone time makes me a better person for the other stuff.
Tony is a futurist.
When writing him, do you feel pressured to keep up with the latest in science and inventions?
The whole book is about why human beings are not capable of creating artificial intelligence.
Theres a reasoning, of the way mind works and learns, that you cant program.
He talks about it at great length, and it gets very philosophical.
A lot of scientists are very philosophical.
Even theSteve Jobsmovie that Aaron Sorkin wrote thats out now, its about why they want to invent.
They see it so clearly and they know people are gonna need it.
That kind of philosophy is more important than actually inventing something.
The cycle of invention in our lifetime spirals so fast.
In like three years we wont even have to drive our cars.
When youre writing a character like Tony, thats what you have to do.
Im not as smart as Tony Stark, so I have to think, what would he do?
