IGN talks Dark Reign: X-Men

IGN sits down with Matt Fraction and asks him questions about the future of the X-Men in Dark Reign.

IGN Comics: And does Osborn basically decide that, if the X-Men can’t keep things under control, it’s time for him and the Dark Avengers to step in?

Fraction: Sort of, not quite. Osborn’s deal with Emma was “You keep mutants quiet and off the table, and I will keep out of your business and out of the business of mutantkind”. When something goes wrong and mutants don’t keep quiet, Osborn steps in. But rather than just siccing the Avengers on everybody and deciding that’s the solution to the problem, he’s had so much luck with his “Dark” Avengers that he creates a “Dark” X-Men. The idea being that mutant problems need mutant solutions. He’s really looking to replicate the success he’s had on the East Coast over on the West Coast when all hell breaks loose.

IGN Comics: I assume Emma won’t be able to hide her involvement with Osborn once the Avengers come knocking. How is that going to affect he standing with the X-Men when they learn about the bargain she struck with him?

Fraction: Welcome to Uncanny X-Men 2010 through 2011. We will see. That’s the linchpin issue of X-Men/Dark Avengers and where we go afterwards.

IGN Comics: Is that bargain null and void now that she basically didn’t keep her end of it, or is she still going to be doing her best to work with Osborn and contain the situation?

Fraction: He’s still not a guy that you trifle with. Emma’s looking to keep the peace any way she can.

IGN Comics: What are Osborn’s immediate plans for the X-Men when he shows up?

Fraction: He needs a solution to the mutant problem. Since Emma couldn’t control Scott and his team, Osborn needs a mutant team out there that’s the face of law and order in San Francisco. He needs calm and peace. He doesn’t need protesters and riots. He doesn’t need angry, militant, militarized mutants with superpowers going wild in the streets. And he’s looking for Emma to be the vanguard of that law and order.

IGN Comics: Are you able to talk about the specific members of the Dark X-Men right now?

Fraction: Yeah, the promo image has been released by now. It’s Emma, Namor, Mimic, Weapon Omega, Dark Beast, Cloak and Dagger, and Professor Xavier. And Daken/Wolverine.

IGN Comics: Emma began her career as a villain, and even though she’s been with the X-Men for a long time now I’m sure some readers have been wondering when she’d revert back to her old ways. Do you see this as necessarily a slide back into her old role?

Fraction: Emma began her career allied with villainy, but not necessarily a villain. If you go back and look at her early appearances, her mission has always been the same. She wants to protect mutants from persecution and train them in the use of their powers. She definitely ran with a bad crowd and made some not-so-ethical decisions. Dubious, perhaps, but not necessarily villainous. Her motivation has always been the same, and she’s been willing to go to extreme measures to accomplish that. But if you look at the cover, she’s wearing black. That says something.

IGN Comics: I was wondering how much significance there is to that. Is she actually calling herself the Black Queen now, and is that indicative of her new mindset?

Fraction: It’s indicative of a change. And also Osborn’s sense of fashion and costume design.

IGN Comics: Xavier is with this new team. He’s been having a lot of tension with Cyclops over the past few years now that some of the darker things he’s done in his past have come out in the open. Does he ally himself with this team because he sees it as a chance to become involved with the X-Men again?

Fraction: He wants to keep the peace. He believes in mutual coexistence. As Scott has become more and more militant and more divisive, he’s divorced himself more and more from Xavier’s dream. Xavier is the voice of peaceful coexistence. Very much like Emma, he’s willing to make deals with the devil to get things done.

IGN Comics: Namor, as you said earlier, is popularly known as the world’s first mutant. But I guess the way I look at Namor, he sees himself as an Atlantean first and a mutant possibly not at all. So why does he choose to become a part of the Dark X-Men? Does Osborn appeal to his heritage, or is more because of his past relationship with Emma?

Fraction: It’s his past history with Emma. They have a deal, if you read the Uncanny Annual. Look at what’s happened with the Atlanteans. Namor sees the path mutants are on and suspects that what happened to the Atlanteans could very quickly happen to mutants.

IGN Comics: Also in that Annual, Namor tried to kill Sebastian Shaw, and Emma tricked him into thinking he succeeded. Now that they’re working together in San Francisco and in close proximity to where Shaw is being held, is there a danger of that secret coming to light?

Fraction: Yes.

Read the full article here: IGN: Dark Reign Finds the X-Men

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