COMICS: Axel Alonso Says Marvel Considered Killing Off The Avengers In AVENGERS VS. X-MEN
Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso talks about how they don't really think about the movies when it comes to making drastic changes such as those seen in "Avengers NOW", and goes on to reveal that there was at one point talk of taking out Earth's Mightiest Heroes as part of Avengers Vs. X-Men...
Talking to Comic Book Resources in their weekly "Axel-In-Charge" column, Marvel E-i-C Axel Alonso was quizzed about whether Marvel make certain creative decisions with characters (the "Superior" Spider-Man for example) because they don't hold the rights to them on the movie front. Of course, that clearly isn't the case due to the fact that Captain America, Iron Man and Thor are about to undergo some major changes. "Look, whether we own the media rights to a character informs so little of what we do in editorial. Our job -- my job -- is to tell stories that sell comics. And we want all our comics to sell. To the whole society of fans that think that we're trying to bury or kill the X-Men, that's just plain crazy. [Laughs] There's a reason that Brian Michael Bendis is writing "All-New X-Men." There's a reason we're doing "Death of Wolverine," and promoting the hell out of it. Because we want them to sell. It's important that we maintain and grow the popularity of characters that are already popular, and that we elevate characters we want to make popular -- like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Inhumans and Doctor Strange."
It's interesting that Alonso mentions the X-Men because there has been talk of Marvel taking both them and the Fantastic Four off the table in the near future because certain higher ups don't want to help promote the movies that they don't hold the rights to; they would rather keep the focus on the likes of the Avengers, and to a lesser extent, Spider-Man (as they hold the merchandising rights to that character). However, if you needed further proof that Marvel aren't afraid to do whatever they please in the comics, there was at one point talk of completely getting rid of Earth's Mightiest Heroes during the Avengers Vs. X-Men event in 2012.
"Without a doubt," Alonso said when asked about fans not necessarily expecting Marvel to make such drastic changes to Captain America, Iron Man and Thor just 10 months before Avengers: Age of Ultron is released. "At my very first summit as Marvel editor-in-chief, the one that birthed "Avengers vs. X-Men," we seriously considered a plot twist that would have killed the Avengers -- taking them completely off the table. Certain people advocated for that hard -- I was not one of them! [Laughs] --- and we were staring at an event that would overlap the first movie. Of course, that idea didn't end up winning -- thank God! -- but it was on the table." That would have been very interesting to see, especially as it would have positioned the X-Men as the Marvel Universe's main superhero team. It's also worth wondering which characters they would have allowed to survive. What do you guys think? Sound off with your thoughts below!