Steve Orlando Talks Spider-Man 2099's Clash With Marvel's Future Horrors (Exclusive)
Writer Steve Orlando talks about pitting Spider-Man 2099 against futuristic Marvel horror characters.
Miguel O'Hara will have to contend with all-new horrors in a new Spider-Man 2099 series. Writer Steve Orlando has been charting the adventures of Marvel's future Spider-Man in two previous Spider-Man 2099 miniseries, with a new one titled Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099 on the horizon. Unlike Spider-Man 2099: Exodus and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Genesis, the third title in the trilogy will see Miguel O'Hara face off with 2099 versions of classic Marvel horror characters. This means fans will be treated to the likes of Marvel Zombie 2099, Dracula 2099, Werewolf by 2099, and a new Terror Inc.
ComicBook.com spoke with Steve Orlando about Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099 and all the horror tales he's cooking up with. We delved into how the decision was made to go the horror route for Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099, the creative process behind introducing new versions of these classic Marvel monsters, who could be pulling the strings from the shadows, favorite characters, and more. We can also exclusively reveal the first looks at Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #1-2, character designs, and a variant for Issue #4 by Klaus Janson, co-creator of Terror. The Issue #1 preview art is by Devmalya Pramanik with colors by Raúl Angulo, and the Issue #2 preview art is by Michael Dowling with colors by Jim Campbell.
Horror 2099
ComicBook.com: Horror seems to be the theme for the third chapter in your Spider-Man 2099 trilogy. Why the decision to go with horror characters this time around?
Steve Orlando: To open up a new corner of Earth-2099! And that door's just beginning to open, there's so much more to explore. Each of our 2099 minis has had a different flavor. EXODUS was a cosmic-scale blockbuster, DARK GENESIS was a street-level event. And now, we have a series inspired by the raw, rich, and brutal era of Marvel horror we saw in the 1990s. Extreme horror, the times in which the Scarecrow was holding off Ghost Rider with human shields and the Darkhold Redeemers were holding the door back against chaos. That's when 2099 debuted as well! So bringing that feel to Marvel's cyberpunk future only felt right.
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Creating New 2099 Characters
What's been fun about these 2099 miniseries' are they allow you to introduce future versions of classic Marvel characters. What has that process been like, and how much input have you gotten to include with each character design?
You said it right there -- the fun is the creativity, the challenge of introducing future versions of Marvel icons, and figuring out how they can fold into our cyberpunk setting. Building these 2099 versions of characters isn't SO dissimilar from making new ones--but here, you know the core of a character already. The gig is to take what makes a character, or persona, what they are. That has to stay, even if it's shown through a new lens, or with a new face behind the mask. But then you see what can be updated, what can be inverted, and what can be subverted to keep people surprised and intrigued. Even if the 2099 version of a character IS the original (as with Loki or Doom), the question becomes how they've changed, and of course...how they haven't.
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Mystery Villain
The presence of all these Marvel monsters points to a bigger puppet master at play. Is there a mystery villain pulling the strings and causing these horror monsters to pop up?
With 2099, there are always nefarious forces lurking high in the sky and deep in the dark -- going back to Alchemax and the Public Eye in the original launches, or the Cabal in EXODUS. So you'll see threads connecting our new debuts to 2099's bad actors for sure. But the new characters themselves are the starring antagonists (Miguel's the star, of course)--not always the VILLAINS, but the antagonists, for sure.
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Favorite 2099 Characters
Out of all the 2099 characters you've gotten to work with across the three connected series, which ones have you enjoyed writing the most?
Oh man--there are so many! It would be hard not to say BLADE 2099. I was just talking to Justin Mason about him a few days back, and we're both so proud of that character. And as it happens, you might just see him in this series! Along with Blade, the new debuts from our X-MEN issue of EXODUS have to be the answer. X-MEN 2099 is one of my favorite comics ever, and I of course was happy to include completely new characters like Tulkas. But I would be lying to say I wasn't dying to return to the tragic Cyclops of 2099, the brawling warrior Phoenix 2099, and the Omega Navigator Northstar 2099.
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Issue #2 - Preview 3
Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #1 goes on sale January 3, 2024, followed by Issue #2 on January 10, 2024.
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