After teasing a big announcement for the better part of a week, Marvel's Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski has announced that a new Spider-Man comic is on the way with famed filmmaker J.J. Abrams at the helm! Ah, but the LOST and STAR TREK creative won't be swinging through the streets of New York and eating wheat cakes alone for the effort. Joining Abrams on writing duties for the upcoming series is his 20-year-old son, Henry Abrams, with art by Sara Pichelli (Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man, Fantastic Four), colors by Hellboy's own Dave Stewart and covers by Olivier Coipel.
As a part of Marvel's big announcement, the Abrams' joined George Gene Custines of the The New York Times for a phone interview regarding the duo's first foray into writing comic books. During their lengthy discussion, it was revealed that J.J. and Henry plan to introduce a new villain by the name of Cadaverous to Spidey's ever-growing rogue's gallery. When their new villain arrives on the scene, Cadaverous will cause problems for Spider-Man, his alter-ego, Peter Parker, and his beloved Mary Jane Watson, in a five-part series arriving in September.
When asked about how the comic came about, a nervous Henry Abrams told NYT:
"I’m nervous, but I will do my best. Nick Lowe, the editor of this comic, reached out about 10 years ago. More recently we began to develop an idea: a new and different and exciting take on Spider-Man."
J.J. then took a hold of the proverbial mic and added:
"Nick had been pressing me to do a book with him. A year or so ago, I started talking about it with Henry and it sort of happened organically. And that has been the joy of this. Even though I’ve been talking to Nick for a long time, weirdly, this feels like it just sort of evolved from the conversations of Henry and I, having ideas that got us excited and Nick being open to the collaboration."
As their conversation continued, the Abrams' elaborated on their experience while working together on the project:
"I feel like I’ve developed not just as a writer, but someone that can appreciate stories more. Spider-Man is one of those superheroes where the more you read about him, for me at least, the less I understand him. He’s so anti-everything that you’d expect from a hero. I think Stan Lee said something about putting the human in superhuman. That is what we’re trying to do," said Henry.
J.J. then interjected, saying that he truly had no idea what it was going to be like when venturing into such new territory with his own son:
"It’s been wild for me from having worked with writers for many years to work with my son on something and to get pages back after we’ve talked through an outline. To be honest, I wasn’t sure going into it what it would be like — neither of us were."
To read the entire interview, including bits about whether or not the pair would consider writing more comics in the future, be sure to click here.
Currently, Spider-Man can be found web-swinging across the Marvel comics spectrum with series like The Amazing Spider-Man from writer Nick Spencer, and my personal favorite, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man from writer Tom Taylor and artist Ken Lashley. Spidey is also wrapped up in Marvel's event of the moment, War of the Realms, but that's a whole other bag of cats altogether.
Personally, I'm always game for checking out new talent in the Marvel bullpen, and with his father overseeing the project with the help of Pichelli and Stewart, I've no doubt that fans are going to want to peep this series out when it hits stands this September. With any luck, and some hardcore dedication, the Abrams' Spider-Man will go down as one of Marvel's greatest experiments of the current era. After all, it's not every day that Marvel stirs their own pot, and this wouldn't be the first time that Abrams' talents have yeilded some worthwhile magic with a beloved cast of characters. Let's go!