X-POSITION: Sam Humphries reveals what’s in store for ‘Uncanny X-Force’

(CBR)

It’s been all Psylocke and Fantomex in “Uncanny X-Force” lately, as writer Sam Humphries finally pulled back the curtain on how the psychic and the thief’s relationship fell apart. However, it’s back to the main cast next month as Humphries brings the story fully back to the core cast, exploring the threat that Bishop brought with him from the future and further delving into what the mutant’s return means for the world at large.

Humphries joined X-Position this week to answer all questions about the recent and future developments facing his “Uncanny X-Force” squad, including the reappearance of Demon Bear, Storm’s recent actions in Bishop’s mind, how the future-shifted X-Man’s reappearance will affect the rest of the X-Men’s corner of the Marvel U and more.

Jack kicks off this week’s X-Position with two questions about Demon Bear and possible “Battle for the Atom” plans respectively.

1) Holy crap! Demon Bear! There’s a character I never thought I’d see again. You dug pretty deep into the Marvel Archives for that one — is that just the tip of the iceberg for awesome concepts in the X-Men’s history popping up?

2) With “Battle of the Atom” coming out pretty soon, will you get a chance to write Betsy meeting up with young Warren? Since you’ve had a chance to really get into Psylocke’s head (on occasions, quite literally), do you have a cool take on what that meeting would be like?

Hey Jack!

1) My X-Men knowledge goes WAY deep, so there’s no telling what characters and concepts may come up. Look out for “Uncanny X-Force Special: Stevie Hunter: Dance With Death: Prologue: Requiem” in next month’s solicitations.

2) No plans for Betsy to meet young Warren, most of my cool takes on Betsy right now don’t involve her in a relationship with someone else. I do love the O5 though — dropping Spiral in the middle of that crew would be a lot of fun.

Chemicalx is up next with some superfan Storm questions.

1) What plans do you have to explore Storm’s current status both as a member of X-Force and as an individual? She seems a little directionless right now in all her appearances. How does her current relationship with Logan mesh with Betsy’s?

2) Storm seemed to be greatly concerned for Bishop during the first arc. Are there plans to explore their connection/friendship at all? I think they always seemed to have a pretty playful and supportive relationship, almost like siblings. 

3) Last Storm question: How do you approach her powers? It seems these days most writers want to power her down even though she is clearly one of the most powerful X-Men. How do you balance that for her as a member of a pretty powerful team?

Yo Chemicalx!

1) Storm’s a tough one, she’s appearing in four books right now. “Uncanny X-Force” is a sister book, so we don’t have the latitude to go too far with her as a character or her relationship with Logan. But all the writers are very generous with the characters, and the X-Office is happy to facilitate, so I’m always on the lookout for an opportunity to make it work. Stay tuned.

2) Yes — although it is a playful and supportive relationship marred by the actions Bishop has taken, which were less than playful and supportive.

3) Storm is definitely one of the most powerful X-Men. I balance her powers with her sense of integrity and morality. She’s very careful about the effect her powers can have on her opponents and the surrounding citizenry. Storm would never bring down a hurricane when a cloudburst would do. That said, sometimes there are situations where a hurricane is called for — when that happens, Storm doesn’t back down. ?

Askanipsion has a future-sight question on the subject of Psylocke. 

Will we see the return of Psylocke’s precognition abilities that she has shown in the past?

Hey Askanipsion! Let’s see, I am getting a vision of the future and I see — no precog powers for Betsy. Sorry!

Windrider wants to know more about the consequences of Storm’s actions inside Bishop’s head, as well as a look into the future of the series. 

1) The scene of Storm altering Bishop’s memory in issue #5 was interesting and unexpected. Will there be repercussions for what she did? And if so, can you tell us what that may be?

2) I’ve heard the next set of UXF stories will be focusing on Bishop and then Spiral. Will there by any upcoming stories that will be focused on Storm? If so, can you tell us which issue(s) to look out for?

Hi Windrider!

1) Yes, there will be repercussions. And yes, I can tell you what they will be! I can tell you all about them. Then I won’t have to write the script! Oh wait, “UXF” editor extraordinaire Daniel Ketchum just told me it doesn’t work that way. Sorry, bud.

2) Would love to do some Storm-centric issues. It’s difficult for the reasons I outlined above, so none on the docket so far. But look for her to kick some ass in issues #10-11, and issues #13 and beyond.

JimTheTroll is on hand with a question about how the rest of the X-Universe will react to Bishop being back in this plane of time.

Dear Sam, I was a big fan of Bishop before the end of Messiah CompleX, and the fact that he decided to go on a mission to kill a tiny baby didn’t mesh with what I thought I knew about the character beforehand. Now that you’ve brought him back to the X-Universe, how will that particular tidbit of betrayal come back into play moving forward? How will someone like Wolverine, Hope or Cable in particular, react when it’s found out that Bishop is back?

Now that the big Psylocke/Fantomex plot carryover from the old “Uncanny X-Force” has been somewhat resolved, what’s coming up next for the team?

Hail, Sir Troll!

The one thing that remains consistent with Bishop is he has always been a zealot. Whatever he decides to do, he does it 110% percent. If he’s going to save the world from concentration camps, he’s going to do it. Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives balanced against that one tiny baby. Whatever he did in service of that goal, he did because he believed he was doing the right thing. But that’s probably going to be cold comfort for Hope and Cable when they learn of his reappearance. How the mutant community chooses to deal with Bishop will say a lot about who they are in a post-Schism world.  

Issues #10 and #11 show the team back together with a bit of a focus on Bishop as they clash with the revenants in Los Angeles. Issue #12 is a solo Spiral story, as she searches for the missing mutant Ginny. Issue #13… the Great Corruption arrives.

And here’s our Behind-the-X question for this week: If you could put one member of your “Avengers A.I.” book onto “Uncanny X-Force,” who would it be and why?

Victor, just to see him blush when Spiral aggressively flirts with him.

Thanks to Mr. Sam Humphries for answering this week’s questions!

Next week, X-Position hosts special guest Marjorie Liu to address all questions about “Astonishing X-Men” and the current villainous status of Iceman. Have a question for Marjorie? Send your questions over via e-mail with the subject line “X-Position or in a 140 character question via Twitter. Either way, make sure those questions are in by Friday! Do it to it!

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