Marvel.com: With Apocalypse, what is your fascination with the character? This is a guy that you built a huge X-Force arc around not just him, but also his mythology.
Rick Remender: Well I guess for one, it was how over time the mythology grew and the character grew and it all developed into something. And when they needed somebody to potentially be the guy that took over to create an alternative universe, he’s the guy, and they built so much in Age of Apocalypse around him, and it really elevated the character. The survival of the fittest is one aspect of it, but more than anything, the Celestials in charge of this first mutant with these armors and these energies and these powers, in order to make sure that mutants flourish and that humans don’t kill them.And that makes sense. I love that there’s this certain cosmic manipulation to it all. Like the Celestials are saying that mutants must move forward. I never understood Scott Summers’ purpose for wanting more mutants; I never understood why it was important. Why do you need more mutants? But in Apocalypse’s eyes, I do understand that motive: That it’s important to the Celestial’s cosmic will that evolution on this planet move forward toward something, and that mystery makes me excited. The giant hands of space gods manipulating it makes this even more interesting. And you almost wonder, is he a good guy? I like the idea that there have been other evolutionary caretakers throughout history, and their job is to make sure that as the new arrive on the scene, that the old, who are more numerous, don’t wipe them out. And that’s the perfect motivation for a villain
Marvel.com: In UNCANNY X-FORCE you told, in my mind, one of the best Apocalypse stories ever and Apocalypse himself wasn’t really in it, in his classic form at least. Whether we see Apocalypse or we don’t, what elements of his mythology will we see in the UNCANNY AVENGERS with “Ragnarok Now”?
Rick Remender: Well the important thing was to find a way to mix the A and the X. And that was a lot of work. So I threw out most of my outline for the sequel to the Dark Angel Saga. And I kept the four most important things that I was excited about and the things that most closely tie in to characters like Wolverine or Sunfire, characters that have been tainted by this and manipulated by [Apocalypse]. So as I was building [the story], it was important to find how it was an X-Men story and also an Avengers story. And that’s where Kang grew out of. Kang’s favorite thing is to set himself up with a giant puzzle or challenge so that he can actually earn his victory as a warrior and an intellectual champion.
Marvel.com: That’s how it always goes. So you talked about Apocalypse’s ties to Wolverine and Kang. We’re also going to find out that he’s got a past with Thor, which is something that we’ve never seen before. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Rick Remender: Well one thing new when [THOR: GOD OF THUNDER writer] Jason Aaron was building Young Thor, and I was putting these pieces together, was, I was actually on the phone with Dan Slott, and I had the X, and he kept reminding me that you need to make sure that the A and the X meet. And in building something like this, it’s never really been done, there’s never been an Avengers/X-Men book, so those are the kinds of things that have been very helpful for me, and have helped to keep me on track.With Thor, we now see Thor in the tenth century; we now know what Thor was like, back in the day, with this weapon he’s got, this axe. So Jason and I spent a few afternoons on the phone talking about my plans and talking about how Thor could fit into [them], and more importantly, how that axe could be the most important relic in the Marvel Universe, and that’s something that will be buried in this interview and most people won’t pick up on.But that axe becomes the new thing, and in issue #6, we see how the meeting of Thor and Apocalypse leads to that axe becoming one of the most powerful weapons in the Marvel Universe.
To see everything Remender has to say click the source below.