MARVEL.COM: What drew you to Jean Grey? What facets of her character are you excited to explore in this new book?
MACKAY: As one of the original five X-Men, she’s been there since the beginning, and there’s not only a rich history to explore, there’s also digging into how that history has shaped her in the present. Jean’s been a lot of different things over the years, but [she] also means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, so I’ve been looking forward to winnowing down these disparate interpretations into who she is now.
MARVEL.COM: Jean Grey is an extremely powerful hero. What can you tell us about the kinds of threats you put her up against?
MACKAY: Given Jean’s power and her history, her foe in this series could be nothing less than elemental. Jean is going to be going up [against] a primal force that threatens to return everything to a former age- and it’s going to take everything she has to fight it!
MARVEL.COM: How would you describe Jean’s relationship to the Phoenix Force in this series?
MACKAY: It’s a work in progress. Post-DNX, we’re seeing Jean go through some changes, re-evaluating how her relationship with the Phoenix will have to work in the light of her immediate goals.
MARVEL.COM: What was it like working with Rogê Antônio on this book?
MACKAY: Rogê is bringing his whole suite of talents to this book. He’s nailing subtle, emotional acting while balancing it out with explosive, cosmic grandeur. I think people are going to be really excited by his work on this series, and I can’t wait for readers to see it!
