Dan Abnett Writing New Hercules Ongoing For Marvel

Superstar Marvel Cosmic writer Dan Abnett is taking on the Prince Of Power as Marvel has announced a new ongoing Hercules series with art by Luke Ross, which launches in November.

Marvel’s CBR site features an interview with Abnett, who recently included Hercules in his Secret Wars: Korvac Saga series.

Highlights from the interview include:

•  The idea came to me because I was aware that I hadn’t ever given Marvel’s Hercules the sort of the consideration it deserved. I love the Marvel Universe and all the characters in it. I think Hercules is a fabulous addition to that and, as you said, there have been some great comics handling him over the years.

• Because of the nature of “Secret Wars,” I was restricted from using Thor. So I made damn sure that Hercules was part of [Korvac Saga”]. I wanted a big powerhouse demigod character. 

• I want to keep the book very accessible and I want to make it very immediate. So the first few issues are going to appear to be done in one stories. He’ll deal with one or multiple problems in an issue and there’s a sense of closure, but there is the inevitable meta story. So his supporting cast’s story rolls through those and we gradually get the impression that these apparently disconnected elements are going to be more connected. They are not necessarily all part of the same thing, but they are symptoms of the same problem. And yes, at least some of his major opponents are going to be new characters that are almost filling the vacuum left by the diminishing mythological presence of the world. That’s going to be a fun thing to do.

• He’s been a hero for longer than most people and he’s coasted. He’s had a few weeks off. Except in his terms that’s probably the best part of a century. That’s perfectly normal, but he’s become aware of the fact that people don’t look at him with the same awe that they do Captain America, or Iron Man, or Thor. They go, “Oh Hercules! He’s the funny one!” In this Internet age, he’d be the one where you’d see the fail photographs of him at an event or doing something daft or whatever.

•  For instance Tony Stark might go, “Wow! Centaurs. I don’t know what to do about those?” Whereas Hercules would go, “I know all about those.” So he has an area of expertise that fills a really interesting niche in the same way that if it was magic you would go to Doctor Strange or if it’s technology Tony Stark is your man. So it’s almost like an area of expertise that Hercules has decided to remind the world he know all about.

• This is not a grim and gritty take on Hercules. It’s going to be triumphantly celebratory of everything that Hercules has ever been, but it is him cutting back to basics and going, “Right, I need to get my act together again and prove that I’m a serious warrior and hero.”