UPDATED - CONFIRMED: ELLIS & DEODATO ON THUNDERBOLTS

[MattBrady]

We speculated yesterday, and today, Marvel has confirmed that indeed, Warren Ellis will be writing Thunderbolts, with Mike Deodato on art.

The new creative team will take over the series with issue #110 and will focus on the team’s new status quo spinning out of Civil War.

Marvel’s press release reads:

At the end of Civil War #4, the comics world saw the shocking formation of a brand-new team of Thunderbolts comprised of some of the most evil super-villains in the Marvel Universe. But these aren't the only new members of the team.

Starting with Thunderbolts #110, Warren Ellis (Ultimate Extinction, Nextwave) and Mike Deodato (New Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man) will be coming on board to tell the story of this all-new, all-deadly squad.

Venom, lethal protector! The enigmatic Moonstone! Bullseye, the man who never misses! Songbird, mistress of sound! Chen Lu, the Radioactive Man! Swordsman, master of the blade! The mystery man called Penance! And Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin! They're America's newest celebrities, ready to take to the skies at a moment's notice in pursuit of those secret, unregistered superhumans hiding among us!

They're the All-New, All-Deadly Thunderbolts —making the world a safer place for ordinary people one would-be costumed hero at a time! In the wake of Civil War, Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato present a dark and disturbing take on Marvel's most wanted, where the line between hero and villain is difficult to find—if it exists at all!

When New Avengers was launched, the first six issues had variant covers by each of the original Young Guns, leading to quick sellouts rarely seen in the industry. Now there is a new group of artists on the rise looking to make their mark on the next big thing: Thunderbolts! To commemorate this event, the first six issues of the Ellis/Deodato run will feature interlocking variant covers produced by the six Young Guns: Reloaded artists: Leinil Yu, Ariel Olivetti, Pasqual Ferry, Clayton Crain, Simone Bianchi & Billy Tan.

If you haven't already jumped onboard the wild ride of redemption that is Thunderbolts, you cannot afford to miss the start of an all-era of the T-bolts starting in Thunderbolts #110 as the super-star team of Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato take the helm.

And for fans of the classic Thunderbolts, Baron Zemo's story continues this February in an all-new limited series, Zemo: Born Better, written by Fabian Nicieza!

Look for more details here soon, including an interview with Joe Quesada. In the meantime, Newsarama was able to track down Civil War writer Mark Millar for his thoughts on the Thunderbolts new status quo and his role in it…

Newsarama: So Mark, the new Thunderbolts that were set up in Civil War #4 - was that all your idea that was seized upon by Marvel, or something that was suggested...or...??

Mark Millar: Well, when I said I'd write a summer crossover for Marvel I said from the start it was only worth doing if it meant I could use the series as a way of giving the line a make-over of sorts. I had an idea for a creator-owned book called “The Initiative” which featured a superhero or a super-team in every state, but decided it could be a nice template for the Marvel Universe too because, as a Scot, it had always struck me as a little weird that the East Coast had a disproportionate number of super-people.

This seemed like a good way of revamping lots of current characters and teams and Marvel were very open to this because they might have 4700 properties or whatever, but only a certain number of those are active. I had an idea for The Champions, I had an idea for a new Defenders book, I had a notion of a bunch of heroes fleeing to Canada to form a successor to Alpha Flight and so on, but just threw them all out there. These weren't worked up enormously within the series and the individual creators will bring their own identity to the books - which is as it should be.

My idea for Thunderbolts, very simply, was that it should employ the same strategy as New Avengers and JLA in that if we have a team, why not make it the A-Team in the sense that they're all recognizable names? Sure, these guys would be harder to control, but that also takes the story in interesting new directions. I really started to see the Marvel Universe in terms of pre and post-Civil War and the Thunderbolts line-up was one of the big changes.

I told everyone last year that books like Iron Man and Cap would go through the roof after Civil War too and nobody believed me, but wait and see. The tie-ins have been very interesting because a crossover tie-in usually bumps a book by 15%. These tie-ins are increasing sales by 100% and sometimes almost 200%. Fantastic Four is doing around 100K right now, which is just brilliant to see. People seem to be digging this and, as a freelancer, that's all you really want. Everyone's worked hard and it's nice to see it working out.

NRAMA: Did you have any say in the new creative team?

MM: No, I didn't get involved in picking a creative team at all. I'm just a freelancer and just threw out ideas for the books as they were. A lot of books were selling less than Marvel wanted and this was just my way of giving them a shot in the arm, sometimes with a team-change and sometimes without. Cap and Iron Man, regardless of who's been working on them, have been stuck with very middling sales of around 45K for the last five years and we know they should be selling more.

Civil War will give those books that opportunity as the line gets a revamp company wide. Thunderbolts was always planned to be the same, just giving them a post-Civil War line-up to help sales and take the book in a new direction. I only found out a month or two back that Warren was on-board. This was a surprise as I know he prefers doing his own thing, but he'll be great for the book.

Who else could be better at writing a team of super-villains than that cantankerous old English bastard?!

NRAMA: That said, did you leave any plot ideas for the team as it will be when Warren and Mike pick the book up?

MM: Nothing at all. My only recommendation was the stuff I set up in Civil War where Tony's crew put together this new secret team of super-villains to help out in impossible situations. Obviously, the public would go ape-shit if they found out Bullseye was on a super-team, but these guys are top secret and as Stark explains are an incredible resource for a short-term problem. I think it would be a fun book to write and think, given the cast of characters and the creative team, that this book should do 100K.

NRAMA: Okay Mark, just one final question - is the T-bolts team we see in Civil War #4 the T-Bolts team that Ellis starts up with?

MM: Well, I'm just finishing Civil War #7 right now. This is the big battle Stark was taking about in issue four and the Thunderbolts are one of the many cards being played here by each side. All I can say, without giving too much away, is that a lot happens. As I've said from the start of this series, don't pick up the book looking for major deaths because that's so bloody cheap and will not happen in these pages. But stuff happens and the Thunderbolts play a big role which should set their book up nicely.

Update 1:18 pm: Over on Warren Ellis' forum href="http://www.the-engine.net/forum/messages.php?webtag=ENGINE&msg=4660.1" target="_blank">The Engine, the writer himself imparts some of the reasoning behind signing on for Thunderbolts:

"See, all I remember of the Norman Osborn character was from
the Spider-Man reprints my parents used to buy me when I was very young,
and Norman Osborn was this guy with a weird rippled crewcut who was always
sweating and his eyes were always bulging out of his head. That guy as a
Donald Rumsfeld-like pubic governmental figure... [Joe Quesada] talked me
into writing the book while I was still laughing. And then he told me
about the Penance character, which is so ____ed up it should not be in a
children's comic book.

Although not confirmed at this time, it is believed th Penance character referred to is not the Penance from the Generation X series from years ago.

[RoiVampire]

where the frack is jack o'lantern?

[God-Man]

That is pretty cool. I just might buy this.

[HG_studios]

Yay for Ellis!

Eh, for Deodato...with his track record on titles recently he shouldn't be onboard for too long.

[nietoperz]

Marvel's very own Secret Six? Still, Ellis is always a class act...

[Big Red]

What?!? No Taskmaster?!?

I was gonna try this book out if he was on the team...

Oh well...



But, I love Moonstone and Songbird.

They may get me to try this book out.

But my question is:

What possible motivation could Green Goblin, Venom, and Bullseye have for joining this team and playing hero?

[Gamma Duck]

Originally Posted by RoiVampire

where the frack is jack o'lantern?

Something tells me that he and Jester are probably cannon fodder. Why else would you have these guys in the same line-up as A-listers like Venom and Bullseye?

Don't get me wrong, I really dig Jack and Jester but they just smacked of sacrificial lambs when I first saw that line-up. Taskmaster will probably just jump ship for a higher-paying gig or something.

[TheTyrantVirus]

I usually like Deodato's stuff, but that Venom looks horrid.

Anyway, I never read Thunderbolts before, but I might give this a shot.

[flamebird867]

Originally Posted by Big Red

They may get me to try this book out.

But my question is:

What possible motivation could Green Goblin, Venom, and Bullseye have for joining this team and playing hero?

nanites or whatevers in them

[Ace]

Man,

A Zemo LS makes all of this better.

[chap22]

yep, i'm out. thanks for ruining my favorite Marvel book for me. a creative team i can't stand, characters i can't stand (especially in this setting), and an apparent dumping of most of the characters i DID love from the old T'bolts.

i'm sure it'll sell like hotcakes and people will say "oh this was a great move" but personally i am sorely upset. not for me, thanks.

[Brother Zag]

Well, Nicieza's run has been ZEMOst fun ride, cool and quixotic. I liked it... will enjoy it, until it ends. Sounds like instead of quixotic, they want to make the Thunderbolts dangerous, unstable and playing all sides against the middle, ramp up the "are these guys really on our side?" factor. Looks like Ellis and Deodato should be having some fun...

[EyesBL7]

Maybe this can bring back Zemo as a Cap villian. Make it happen Bru!

[Orlando]

I really like the way things seem to be headed with the title. Of course I'm a Warren Ellis fan and never gave a damn about the book before, so that figures. Anyway, I think villains being manipulated (that's what it looks like) by the government is an interesting concept. Especially because these guys will love their mission.

Also, that first image was done by Olivetti, right? Looks great.

[Ye Olde Iowa]

If I were a fan of the current, seemingly successful Thunderbolts book with the team led by Zemo, I might be pretty POed by this.

But, since I'm not, I'm pretty damn excited. I mean, Ellis writing a supervillain team that includes Venom (though, sadly, I know next to nothing about this new Venom), Bullseye, and the Green Goblin? How can I not buy this?

Damn you Marvel! Where will I find the room on my pull list for this? I have bills to pay!

This will be interesting read, regardless of if I can actually afford it. Granted, I can't see myself loving it as much as I love DC's counterpart, the Secret Six/Villain's United crew, but I'm definitely looking forward to giving it a whirl.

[bossofbam]

This team is not the Thunderbolts. They are not seeking redemption. The idea behind the team is different and most of the characters are different. Why not just create a new book for these characters and keep the original team together?

[Beyerstein]

Wasn't Deodato jumping on Squadren Supreme

[Psivage]

Very much torn about this. Love the current team, not as big as a fan as the new team with the "big names" on it.

[Sean Walsh]

Originally Posted by Ace

Man,

A Zemo LS makes all of this better.

Absolutely.

Still on the fence about THUNDERBOLTS itself - though calling folks like the Green Goblin and Bullseye "America's newest celebrities!" makes me feel really bad about the MU's America...

[Punchy]

What's going to happen to Squadron Supreme? Deodato was just signed to do that book.

Looks like I'll be getting Tbolts again, I only just dropped it.

[Phobophobe]

I'm less and less interested in big two/superhero stuff these days, but I might check this out. This might just have enough nastiness in it for Ellis to sink his teeth into, and if he can't make this concept interesting nobody can.

[BubbaKanoosh]

Who is the dude with the spikes on his face?
and the big dude with the glowing green hand, is that the new look for Radioactive man??





Green Goblin?!?!?!?


Dear lord.

[spike]

Yeah, I'll check this out.

Ellis always has the unique attraction that I can hardly deny.

[N.Y.X. Jedi]

where's taskmaster?

[Severance]

Millar says he team will be top-secret, the press release states that they are 'America's newest celebrities'. So what is it? Villains taking down heroes and sanctioned to do so - not sure I like the direction the Marvel Universe appears to be heading in. Oh and variant covers on the first six issues - that's just great.