Last night, the clock struck twelve, and Marvel Comics ushered in the Midnight Universe.
MIDNIGHT X-MEN by Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte, MIDNIGHT FANTASTIC FOUR by Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker, and MIDNIGHT SPIDER-MAN by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and ScieTronc all invited fans into a terrifying reality anchored in the bold new publishing line.
To commemorate this dark and unpredictable universe, the Midnight writers dissected each series’ first issue with Marvel.com, spilling secrets about their reimagined heroes and villains. Read on to find out what’s in store for the Midnight Universe, including a first look at the second issue from each series!
MIDNIGHT X-MEN
Threats, both human and other, stalk the Midnight Universe. The only thing more dangerous than vampires? Mutant vampires, otherwise known as Empyres. As a tenuous peace holds between these rival factions, the X-Men hunger for blood, while the unturned do what they can to survive.
MARVEL.COM: MIDNIGHT X-MEN introduces mutant vampires. How did you decide which X-Men to transform into bloodthirsty mutants?
HICKMAN: My favorite thing about starting this story in media res is that we get to have a book that takes place in the past and in the present as it moves into the future. It’s really about combining several mythologies into one story. While in the first issue we met several characters who are vampires and several who are not, it doesn’t mean that we’re not going to eventually see their story from the other side.
I suppose the most obvious question is Storm, but there we’re winking at previous X-Men lore before taking things in a wild new direction.
MARVEL.COM: “The peace must hold” is a compact mentioned throughout the first issue of MIDNIGHT X-MEN. What can you tease about the past conflict between mankind, mutants, and vampires?
HICKMAN: Very little except to say that it’s kind of like the Cuban Missile Crisis of Midnight X-Men. It was the day the world almost ended, then cooler heads prevailed and we got the long night of the Cold War.
MARVEL.COM: With characters likeNightcrawlerandWilliam Strykertaking on official roles within the church, how would you describe the institution’s role in this story?
HICKMAN: People pray for god to save them because they’re usually not in the position to save themselves. There’s something like that going on here.
MIDNIGHT SPIDER-MAN
In this terrifying new reality, Peter Parker is not just a high school student, but an online pop-science activist who shines a light on tech corporations’ darkest secrets. But when Peter accepts a job at Oscorp with the hopes of changing it from within, a fateful accident transforms him into something monstrous…
MARVEL.COM: MIDNIGHT SPIDER-MAN retains certain key characters and concepts from Spider-Man’s lore, but also introduces many terrifying dechange and what to keep familiar?
JOHNSON: The only absolute non-negotiable was Peter’s moral center as the “Power with Responsibility” kid. Close behind that was the element of guilt to Peter’s origin: a big moment of hubris and irresponsibility that results in the great tragedy of Peter’s life. After those two elements, everything else felt open for interpretation.
One big change I was nervous about losing was Peter’s quippy sense of humor, the fun way he banters and talks trash when he’s in the costume. But with all the horrifying things that happen in this book, the usual jokey tone felt super out of place, so that was one of the first things to go. Peter’s still as sharp as they come and there will still be times when his wit shines through, but it’s different.
Another big difference is how inherently scary the world is, and how truly terrifying his rogue’s gallery is as a result. Instead of villains, they are predators. Instead of threats, they are horrors.
MARVEL.COM: “Power makes monsters” is quite the reframing of great power and great responsibility. How will this reframing inform Peter’s approach to his newfound abilities given his monstrous transformation at the end of the issue?
JOHNSON: Peter’s ambitious. He desperately wants to be one of the greats, to do great things and prove to the world you can be powerful but also good, maybe even a hero. But when Peter gives in to his ambition and takes his shot at greatness, his newfound power visibly, physically changes him, and he finds himself turning into a monster like every other powerful thing does.
In his heart and mind he’s the “Power With Responsibility” kid, but like us, he lives in a “Power Makes Monsters” world. Throughout the series, the increasingly-powerful Spider-Man will have to fight his own nature as a monster and prove that “Power with Responsibility” is possible. Whether he’s right or wrong, we’ll find out together.
MIDNIGHT FANTASTIC FOUR
Maniacal and brilliant, Reed Richards will stop at nothing to open a gate to the mysterious Negative Zone. His reckless experimentation puts him on a collision course with Sue Storm, another scientist interested in this eldritch dimension. But what Lovecraftian horrors await them on the other side?
MARVEL.COM: In MIDNIGHT FANTASTIC FOUR, how did you reimagine the dynamic of Marvel’s First Family for this terrifying new universe?
PERCY: The First Family of the 616 is defined by their happy hand-holding togetherness… and we’re taking things in a very different direction. The Midnight Four are all haunted and scarred characters and their jagged edges are what make them fit together.
Reed does not know Sue, Ben, and Johnny when the story begins. And they don’t have powers either, though when they do come, know that they’ll be body horror afflictions that feel more like curses out of their control.
MARVEL.COM: MIDNIGHT FANTASTIC FOUR #1 dials up the intensity on the infamous accident that disfiguredVictor Von Doom. How will that intensity be reflected in his relationship with Reed Richards?
PERCY: We have a fake-out in the first issue. We meet a character named Victor, who is Reed’s research assistant, and who dies in a catastrophic lab accident. As it turns out, this is Doom’s son, which puts Reed in the crosshairs.
There’s something Doom is hiding beneath that mask… but you’ll all have to wait and see. There’s also much more in store for Vic, Jr. (Doomior?), but you’ll all have to wait and see for that as well.
MARVEL.COM: It seems that both Sue Storm and Reed Richards are both trying to open a gate to the Negative Zone. What can you say about the danger that lurks there in the Midnight Universe?
PERCY: There are holes in our world. Frail geographies. And on the other side of them… something is trying to get in. Sue sees herself as a kind of Magellan, wanting to explore (and exploit) unexplored geographies. Reed is drawn to the Negative Zone for other reasons…
Check out the preview for MIDNIGHT X-MEN #2, MIDNIGHT SPIDER-MAN #2, and MIDNIGHT FANTASTIC FOUR #2 below and pick up the first issue from each series today!
Grab these comics and more at your local comic book shop! Plus, pre-register for the all-newMarvel Comics apppowered by WEBTOON, featuring more than 35,000 digital comics, personalized discovery tools, Pull List features, and new issues as early as 30 days after print release!
In this article: Midnight Universe,Spider-Man (Peter Parker),Oscorp,Fantastic Four,Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom),X-Men,Storm
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