Broken Frontier

Thanos. The very name strikes dread into the hearts of the denizens of the Marvel Universe, and gives a thrill to fans who have followed his dark exploits for decades. Now the Mad Titan is set to make his return, so Broken Frontier thought it prudent to catch up with the masterminds behind The Thanos Imperative, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, to find out what the reemergence of one of the greatest threats to life in the universe means for Marvel's revitalized cosmic pantheon. 

BROKEN FRONTIER: What is The Thanos Imperative?

DAN ABNETT and ANDY LANNING: The Thanos Imperative is a vast cosmic-scale event that will be shaking up the Marvel cosmic universe in a one-shot, Ignition, and 6 issue mini-series, beginning in May. It's no real secret, the clue's in the title, that the series will chronicle the return to the Marvel Universe of one of it's most enduring villains, the Mad Titan himself, Thanos!

BF: In terms of how you've been developing the various cosmic storylines, what made this the right time for Thanos to make his return to the stage?

DnA: We've been plotting the cosmic side of the MU for over 4 years now and have been lucky enough to play with some great iconic cosmic characters but we've been itching for a chance to have a crack at Thanos, as he is such an integral player in the cosmic landscape. The fact that he was killed during the Annihilation War was always going to make his return problematic as we wanted to leave a respectful amount of time between his end and his resurrection. We also wanted to make his return a vital ingredient of the story rather than an obvious gimmick . We've been playing with an ongoing storyline in the Guardians concerning the Magus and the Church of Universal Truth which led us into territory where having Thanos back in the mix not only became a natural progression from the story, it also gave us the opportunity to use a lot of story threads we've used in our 'cosmic tapestry' and tie them together into a grandscale epic endgame. We've established an Avatar of Life and seen the emergence of a dark alternate universe where life is the dominant force, it seemed logical and natural to resurrect the Champion of Death, old purple puss himself!

BF: Can you tell us anything about the roles Nova and the Guardians will be playing here? It would seem Drax in particular would have something to say about this development.

DnA: Nova and The Guardians will be front and centre during the story as they will be donning the roles they've played during the Annihilation War as galactic defenders in an all-out cosmic warzone. For the Guardians it's their job title, for Nova, it's all about being one of the last remaining galactic peacekeepers during and all out invasion on a universal scale. Obviously, Drax is not going to be happy with the resurrection of Thanos- he's his sworn enemy, Drax was created to do one thing; kill Thanos. It's hot-wired into the fabric of his very being. Sparks will fly!

BF: How about Quasar? He's had brushes with Thanos in the past, but never as his main focus. Will he have any special role to play here beyond being part of the opposition?

DnA: Quasar has experienced the darkness at the heart of the 'Cthuhlu-verse' and has battled alongside the Imperial Guard (in their recent mini) in the Fault to escape the Cthuloid creatures to deliver a dire warning of it's plans to expand into our realm. He is determined to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other galactic defenders to prevent this from happening and fully live up to his role as Protector of the Universe.

BF: You also have the threat of the Magus and the Dark Gods; do they see Thanos more as a potential ally or a rival?

DnA: The Magus and the entities that fill the Cthuhlu-verse are embodiments and avatar of life in all it's incarnations. Thanos, as a creature devoted to death, is their natural enemy and anathema to them but no-one can really understand what motivates and drives the Mad Titan and the one thing he can be trusted on is not to be trusted.

BF: The storyline kicks off with the Ignition one-shot; I have to say you guys did a brilliant job with the Realm of Kings one-shot; is it tricky to manage fitting what is essentially a complete, satisfying tale (albeit one that leads in to future stories) in just one issue?

DnA: This will be the fourth of these one-shot 'prologue' issues we've done (the others being Conquest Prologue, Secret Invasion: War of Kings and the aforementioned, Realm of Kings) and we really enjoy the format and story requirements they offer us. It's great to use them to set the stage for the upcoming epic saga as well as detailing our various characters, factions and back-story and telling a satisfying tale too. We've been really pleased with our efforts to date and hope readers will be happy with Ignition too.

BF: Brad Walker, your artist on Guardians of the Galaxy, will also be handling this one-shot. What do you think of his work?

DnA: We've been working with Brad now for over a year and he has just got better and better with each issue, and he was no slouch to begin with! He takes all the crazy, weird and cosmically mega stuff we throw at him, issue by issue, and smashes it right back at us with interest! Each page that comes back from him makes us want to raise our game as there's nothing this guys can't draw! Seriously, we've bombarded him with vast rips in the fabric of space time, massive fleets of temple ships powered by pure faith energy, insane monstrosities from a malevolent universe that impregnate you and explode from your head as they are birthed into our reality as well as a cast that numbers into the double figures and he's yet to bat an eye. Though we secretly think he retreats to a darkened basement and sits huddled in a corner, clutching his blankey and weeping softly between scripts. What we have lined up for Ignition may just break him yet! 

BF: There have been so many great Thanos stories over the years; my personal favorite is Thanos Quest, just for its portrayal of him as a brilliant schemer able to outwit some of the most powerful beings in the universe. Do you have a personal favorite Thanos story?

DnA: We are both huge fans of Starlin's early run on Captain Marvel and Warlock (there's a surprise!) and are unanimous in our love of the classic Thanos storyline that reached it's culmination with Thanos battling the Avengers, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Warlock and ended with Thanos' petrified body forever weeping in his spaceship. This story introduced so many great moments and concepts, not least of which was the Soul Gem which would herald the coming of the Infinity Gauntlet, which is right up there in the Top 5 Thanos stories too!

BF: It seems to me Thanos might be Marvel's most popular cosmic character after the Silver Surfer, and as I recently discovered, it can't just be nostalgia, since I lent the Rebirth of Thanos TPB to a friend's son, and the kid came back wanting to know EVERYTHING about the Mad Titan. What is it about him that strikes such a chord?

DnA: Thanos' appeal must have something to do with his enigmatic nature. He's not just an outright mad villain, though he has his moments, he operates to his own agenda and his motivations and alignments can never be second guessed. This makes him a very interesting character to write because beyond his obvious desire to either rule the universe, destroy it or remake it in his own image, lies a more complex emotional connection which is his love of the Lady Death and his desire to win her affections. Stories about life and Death and what lies between and beyond them are always great dramatic fodder and Thanos best stories always have elements of his complex  motivations.

BF: Any other teases about what's coming up in this storyline?

DnA: Without giving away specific spoilers, we'd like to think that readers who have been with us along the way for the last few years will see this story as a culmination of various plot threads and concepts we've been introducing since we started our run on the cosmic books and new readers are in for a hell of a time as we have a vast galactic epic to tell that will leave the cosmic realm of the Marvel Universe forever changed and the lives and fates of several cosmic heroes in the balance. What more could you ask for? Oh, Racoons with laser cannons and telepathic dogs too!

The Thanos Imperative: Ignition goes on sale from Marvel on May 5 priced $3.99.