Captain America may have disbanded the Unity Squad before preparing to unleash his “Secret Empire” upon the world but the ‘Uncanny Avengers’ aren’t calling it quits yet and writer Jim Zub is telling us how they’ll be getting in on the action. Zub is freshly taking over writing the team from Gerry Duggan and he gets to start in with one of Marvel’s biggest events of the year. Only, Steve Rogers knows all of their strengths and weaknesses from coordinating their actions and so has to know how they’ll respond to his actions.
Issues 24 and 25 of the ‘Uncanny Avengers’ are “Secret Empire” tie-ins and here’s what he has to say about the event:
As you might imagine, Secret Empire is filled with secrets, so I can’t reveal too much just yet. The Uncanny Avengers are quite powerful and capable with older and experienced heroes like Rogue, Wasp, and The Human Torch on the team. [Captain America] and the forces of Hydra understand that, and they make plans to, let’s say, keep them out of play. We’ll see the team getting caught up in machinations they hadn’t expected, and it will sideline and threaten them in unexpected ways.
As Rogers put the Unity Squad into play to begin with, it makes perfect sense that he would have learned how to keep it busy and fractured while pursuing his agenda. In fact, it is the entire actions of the “Secret Empire” that will have them busy which makes me wonder how much of what they experience will be Rogers plan to “sideline” them.
“I had fun starting my run on the book with the team thrown right into the deep end. Issue #24 opens with big action as the team gets caught off-guard and on the defensive. As the readers dig into Secret Empire, they’ll understand the bigger events that have pulled the team into this situation, while our heroes are still trying to figure that out on their own. If you read UNCANNY AVENGERS you’ll see that something terrible has happened and the team is trying to work through it and if you read SECRET EMPIRE, you’ll see exactly how dire it really is and what’s actually at stake.”
We’re getting a few bonus details here as Zub also writes ‘Thunderbolts’ and talks about having both titles tie in so directly to “Secret Empire”:
“It’s a lot of work, but also tons of fun. The earlier in the process you can set your priorities, the better. When I talk to CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS writer Nick Spencer, or to the editorial team, Tom Brevoort and Alanna Smith, or Gerry, we try to find ways to make sure we all get out of it what we need, so we can take advantage of everyone’s priorities for the overall story.
Everyone involved in the event comes together and says, “What do you need and how can we introduce that into the story in the most emotionally satisfying way? What makes sense in terms of our end goals?” As you discuss it back and forth, you see new possibilities and that empowers you to create something even better. You plan maybe 80 percent of it, and then you have another 20 percent where you realize you can add in an unexpected twist or go deeper with an emotional element; that’s the stuff I find really satisfying.”
It sounds fun, and I can’t wait for things to kick off on this end of the spectrum when ‘Uncanny Avengers’ #24 drops this June.
Are you looking forward to seeing how the “Secret Empire” plays out? How do you think Captain America will put the team at odds with a threat that keeps them preoccupied while he makes his play for taking over the world? Share your thoughts below True Believers!
Source: Marvel
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
