Cullen Bunn on Magneto, Uncanny, and ResurreXion

CULLEN BUNN: Well, I write a lot of different kinds of stories, everything from anti-heroes to lighthearted (even comedic) superhero fare to horror yarns to kid’s books. I’ve certainly written more anti-heroes, though, especially with characters like Magneto. I’m thrilled to be working on a book featuring the Original Five, though. This gives me a chance to flex some different muscles. These characters are lighter than, say, the X-Men group I’ve been working with for the last year. But they give me the opportunity to tell a wider range of stories, I think, and head into some deeper cuts of X-Men lore.

Art by Art Adams

XAVIER FILES: What X-Men stories have been the biggest influence on your work?

CULLEN BUNN: I started reading X-Men in the Claremont era, so those books influenced me the most by far. Grant Morrison’s New X-Men was also pretty influential for me.

XAVIER FILES: There is a noticeable love of deep continuity in your Uncanny X-Men. How do you balance accessibility with continuity?

CULLEN BUNN: That’s probably the biggest challenge. I know this is hard for a lot of fans to comprehend, but a huge chunk of readers today have no idea what happened in X-lore even 5 years ago. If I lean too heavily into over-explaining, I risk booting them right out of the story. It doesn’t always work, but I try to approach even the classic elements as new threads. I want new readers to feel like they are discovering something brand new. I leave little nods to continuity where I can and cover any ground that I must to make sure we know this is part of a longer story, but I don’t want to dwell on those elements.

Art by Ken Lashley and Nolan Woodard

XAVIER FILES: I audibly gasped when I turned the page and saw that you brought back Xorn. He is a character with a lot of baggage so I am curious what drove you to bring him back?

CULLEN BUNN: I think it was the baggage that drew me to him. I thought he might be an interesting character who would bring up a lot of questions with long-time readers. Some of those questions will never be answered (at least not by me) and some will. Xorn’s an enigmatic character, so that comes with the territory. Also, he has such a cool design, I had to see him in the book!

XAVIER FILES: You have become associated deeply with Magneto, but have written different aspects of him in his solo and Uncanny. How do you balance those different takes and how does that change how you will write him with Blue?

CULLEN BUNN: I feel like everything you’ve seen with Magneto up until this point plays into the Magneto you’ll see in X-Men Blue. He’s not a different man. He’s not necessarily a “kinder, gentler” Magneto. He’s been shaped by everything he’s seen up until this point, his successes and his failures. And the X-Men will be guided by their perceptions of him as well. I don’t want people to think they’re all buddy buddy with Magneto because that’s not exactly right.

Art by Art Adams

XAVIER FILES: Currently Uncanny X-Men is in the midst of the Inhumans vs X-Men tie-in. You have had well-received tie-ins with Axis, Secret Wars, and Apocalypse War in your X-Work. How have you so successfully balanced that?

CULLEN BUNN: For me, I try to approach tie-ins in a way that acknowledge what is going on in the main event book, but still, continues the story in my book. During Axis, for instance, I leaned heavily into Magneto’s past and introduced the character of Hitzig. In Secret Wars, I showed Magneto struggling with his sense of purpose there at the end of the world. Apocalypse War was a little different because it was more of a thematic event than a real crossover. For that one, I just told the story I was already planning on telling.

XAVIER FILES: Is there an X-Character you have been dying to write but haven’t found the right spot for yet?

CULLEN BUNN: There are a few, Rachel Grey, Nate Grey, Nightcrawler, Warlock. The list goes on and on and on, really. If there’s an X-character you love, I probably love them, too.

XAVIER FILES: Your Uncanny X-Men has often been described by fans as X-Force in all but the name. What is your opinion on that? What do you think is the most important distinctions between the two brands?

CULLEN BUNN: I think it’s a bit narrow-minded, but I get where they are coming from. X-Force is a covert kill squad. There’s nothing covert about my Uncanny X-Men team. But, really, it doesn’t matter. Uncanny X-Men was the title of the book. I fought for that title. I might not have written the book if it was titled something else.

 

Thanks again to Cullen Bunn and make sure you check out X-Men: Blue this spring. Xavier Files will be back next week to get hyped for the upcoming FX show Legion! See you then!