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Marvel Universe’s cosmic titles are a wondrous place full of interstellar travel and galactic empires. But, it’s also a place of carefully defined political boundaries, intrigue and scarce resources. Usually, these conflicts are between rival empires, but sometimes they explode into nightmarish events that encompass entire galaxies and dimensions. In the 2000s, there were several “Annihilation” events, but ever since then, the galaxy has been fairly stable.
However, that all changed when the vastly powerful entity Dormammu merged with Ego the Living Planet to launch a full-scale invasion against reality. This incursion came at a time when various galactic empires were experiencing enduring hardships, leaving the battle to be fought by the members of the newly restructured Guardians of the Galaxy, S.W.O.R.D. and several Marvel heroes. Running from July through September, Marvel Comic’s The Last Annihilation event runs through Guardians of the Galaxy, S.W.O.R.D. and several tie-ins.
CBR spoke with the event’s chief architect, writer Al Ewing, about the threat of Dormammu, his plans for the Guardians of the Galaxy and how Marvel heroes like Black Panther and Wiccan will factor into the cosmic event. Also included in this interview are exclusive pages from Guardians of the Galaxy #16, drawn by Juan Frigeri and with colors by Federico Blee.
CBR: The title, The Last Annihilation, suggests that this is a modern day story rooted in what’s been going on in your books, but it’s scope and scale is inspired by the massive Annihilation events of the 2000s where writers like Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Keith Giffen redefined much of what the Marvel Cosmic landscape was. Is that what you’re aiming for with this storyline?
Al Ewing: That’s pretty much it — we’re using that branding because so much of what we’ve done has called back to those times, and it’s kind of an acknowledgment of the giants whose shoulders we stood on for this run. But also… “Annihilation” became the word for “war” in the Marvel Space environment. The Annihilation War was huge — both in terms of the many titles and minis it spread across, and the effects in-universe — but it also gave readers a look at all the moving parts of Marvel’s alien environments. This is something similar — a guided tour of where we are, and where we’ll be going, that also potentially sets up some pretty big things for down the line. But it’s also the Last Annihilation — it’s the last war, at least for a while. Whether that’s because galactic society comes together or falls completely apart… Well, wait and see.
The big threat of this event has been revealed to be Dormammu and the armies of the Dark Dimension. What inspired you to pick Dormammu as the big bad? And how dangerous is he now that he’s — I’m not sure if fused or possessed are the right words — with Ego the Living Planet?
I think it’s a bit of both! I think the choice to use Dormammu spiraled out of what’s been happening with Star-Lord — recently, we’ve reintroduced some of the more mystical elements of his origin in a way that’s more about the poetry of it all than the continuity. That led to thinking about who’d be a fun player to put on the Guardians in that context, which led to Doctor Doom joining the team, albeit in a not very “join-y” way. And when we decided to attempt something a little bigger and more epic — bigger and more epic than the Gods of Olympus decimating whole planets — it seemed natural to find a bad guy the Guardians had never faced before by going to that mystical well. As for how dangerous he is… Well, it’s Dormammu with full control of the Dark Dimension, which usually he doesn’t have. So he can bring a lot to bear… For instance, his traditional headache, the Mindless Ones, are now under his control.
I imagine having such a huge cast of great characters to play with and giving them time to shine is both a joy and a difficulty. Is there a core cast to The Last Annihilation? Which characters will get focus early on?
I try to give everyone at least a moment or two, but at the end of the day it comes down to who gets the emotional beats, and the emotional triangle of Rich, Pete and Gamora seems to be dominating the regular Guardians issues a little bit. Rocket gets a lot to do across the specials, too, and plenty of the other characters will get their moments in either the main book or the specials.
Doctor Doom is a member of the Guardians in this story. What’s it like writing Doom, a character who practically demands all attention be drawn to him, against the backdrop of such a huge, all hands on deck, style event?
Doom does have a tendency to own the room — I’ve got out of that one a little bit by dividing his time across the two space titles I’m doing. So when he’s in S.W.O.R.D., you won’t find him in Guardians, which gives everyone else a moment, and when he’s in Guardians, he’s not in any of the tie-ins. If you want Doom in Space, there’s only one place every month to find that – which helps with the idea that this is a story going on from many perspectives and many angles and events are happening at the same time, and also prevents it from becoming the Doom Show.
If the lead up is any indication it feels like Juan Frigeri’s work on The Last Annihilation is keeping him very busy and very happy. What’s it like writing a story of this size for Juan?
He’s doing a great job! I’m really loving what he’s doing with the Mindless Ones, and the various massive invasions and vistas, and also with the expressions of the characters and how they move. It’s been a lot of fun working on this with him.
The Guardians are at the frontline of this event, but what role does S.W.O.R.D. play? Are the S.W.O.R.D. issues a part of the main event? Or more of a tie-in?
The Guardians issues are the spine of it, but there’s a lot more meat on the bone, and each of the seven books has a piece of the puzzle. So S.W.O.R.D. #7 and the Cable: Reloaded special do a lot of S.W.O.R.D. business, and further the plot of that book, but they also move The Last Annihilation plotline along as well. My idea with these books is that you can read any title — the main Guardians book, the S.W.O.R.D. issue, and any of the specials — and get a complete story, but if you read all of them, you’ll get all the puzzle pieces together -– the complete story, so to speak. That’s how I like to do crossovers and tie-ins – make sure even the readers who don’t care about the larger event get more than enough for their money.
You’re writing the Cable: Reloaded tie-in starring the classic version of Cable. What’s it like writing the older Cable versus his younger self? What can you tell us about the story you and Bob Quinn are telling in this book?
Cable has a vital mission, given to him by Abigail Brand and Rocket Raccoon, and he’s forming a new team with a lot of old friends to help him with it. I can’t say that much about Cable’s young and old selves without potentially spoiling Gerry’s [Duggan] Cable #12, but I guess I can say that, like the Guardians taking on Dormammu, this is Cable taking on some X-villains of old that he’s not generally associated with. Something old, something new, so to speak.
The tie-ins you’re not writing also look to be big, cosmic adventures spotlighting great characters like the Black Panther and the intergalactic empire of Wakanda, and Wiccan and Hulkling. What can you tell us about these books and their connective tissue to the larger story?
Well, first of all, I love working with Anthony Oliveira and Evan Narcisse. They’re warm, wonderful people who’ve both reached out to me in different ways over the course of this, and I’ve loved everything I’ve seen of what they’re doing. In terms of how they connect to the larger story — they’ve both got those puzzle pieces to them. People who are following the story will see threads followed up and tied off here. People who just want some Intergalactic Wakanda or Wiccan/Hulkling action can pick these up on their own and get exactly what they’re after.
People reading this want something more, though… Well, the Wiccan and Hulkling special brings us back to the earliest days of the duo to shine a light on their latest struggle, so if you’re fans of those two, get ready to have your heart pummeled. And the Wakanda special sets up how the Black Panther and friends deal with the sins of Intergalactic Wakanda’s past and build bridges to the future, while also kicking a large amount of Mindless Butt. Really, you should pick them up.
Finally, one of the great things about events like the original Annihilation is that they both harvested and planted story seeds for further epic tales. So, how big a chapter is this event in the story you’re telling in your cosmic books?
Oh, we’re seeding stuff. For us and for other people. By the time you get to the end, you’ll definitely see a couple more places the story could go. I’d like to thank everyone who’s been enthusiastic (or even a little scared for their favorites) going into this — I don’t think we’re going to let you down. It’s a fun time.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy #16 hits comic stands on July 21.
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