Benjamin Percy on Deadpool & Wolverine’s Big Apocalypse Twist and Callbacks to ’90s X-Men Stories

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ComicBook spoke to Benjamin Percy ahead of this week’s Deadpool/Wolverine #6. Percy gave some insight on the big Stryfe/Apocalypse reveal, what X-Men stories from the ’90s serve as inspiration for the story arc, how Apocalypse appears to be changing his methods from previous attempts at world domination, Maverick’s role going forward, and much more. We can also exclusively reveal the cover and solicitation for September’s Deadpool/Wolverine #9, as well as four pages from Deadpool/Wolverine #7 and one page from Deadpool/Wolverine #8.

ComicBook: Let’s start with the big Apocalypse of it all. Using Apocalypse’s connection to Stryfe is definitely a deep cut reference that I enjoyed. We haven’t seen Apocalypse since the X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse miniseries, but he’s obviously stayed busy. How did you come up with the idea of using Stryfe as a vessel to keep Apocalypse’s identity a secret? And are we now dealing with Apocalypse inside Stryfe’s body?

Benjamin Percy: This story takes on a different tone than my work on Wolverine and X-Force. It’s more bonkers, over-the-top — and channels the X-Men comics that I gobbled up as a kid in the nineties.

In so many ways — with the Legacy virus, Apocalypse, and Stryfe among them — this storyline tips its hat directly to X-Cutioner’s Song.

Apocalypse always wanted to transfer his essence into Stryfe — that’s the origin story of the character — but it never happened. So we’re carrying on that torch here. Given that so much of the story concerns infection, mind-control, possession… Apocalypse’s occupation of Stryfe fits right in thematically.

In Issue #6, we get to see a bit of Apocalypse’s plan and how he realized he has to change his tactics to succeed. To use his words, he was “sculpting with dynamite,” so he’s now playing the long game. Are we actually seeing Apocalypse change his ways, since he’s raising a zombie army, has giant kaiju, and appears to be gathering Horsemen in the form of Deadpool and Wolverine?

It’s a ten-issue storyline, so to keep things dynamic and interesting, all of the characters are going to run into roadblocks and have to change tactics, Apocalypse among them.

Maverick has an interesting role as a third party between Deadpool/Wolverine and Stryfe/Apocalypse. What role will he have to play as events and the threat keep escalating?

I love Maverick, and I’ve planted him in stories throughout my time in the X office. He’s a cocky player, a true merc who is out only for himself. He’ll swap sides, depending on where the wind (and money) blows. In this case, he’s lined up with O*N*E, an anti-mutant agency that sprung him from federal prison, so long as he agreed to work against his own kind. Of course that relationship is going to be tested — and he’s now caught up in the middle of this war, and we can’t be sure whose side he’ll be on by the end of it all.

With Apocalypse involved, there is potential for more X-Men characters to show up. We have Maverick, an X-Men-adjacent character, but with Stryfe and Apocalypse as the main bad guys, I can’t help but think that Cable would like to be a part of the party. Is there going to be an escalation point where other characters start to make an appearance, or are you keeping it mostly a Deadpool and Wolverine tale?

Stay tuned. I will say that our goal was to keep this story as evergreen as we could. Even though other mutants are going to show up, we handle their appearances carefully, so as not to rely too heavily on current continuity. That will make this epic craziness feel as relevant ten years from now as it does today.

To wrap up, what can you tell us about where the story is heading in the future, and are there any other massive surprises you’re keeping tucked away for fans?

Joshua Cassara and Robert Gill are bringing the thunder. Every issue asks them to draw impossible scenarios: future apocalyptic visions, kaiju brawls, zombie mobs, soul transfers, wild heist scenes, etc. And they go above and beyond in their visionary delivery. This series has been such a gift to my inbox, because every day I’m treated to their epic, eye-melting art. As the story enters its second half, you can expect us to crush the accelerator and make things even more extreme.

DEADPOOL/WOLVERINE #9

• Written by BENJAMIN PERCY
• Art by ROBERT GILL
• Cover by JOSHUA CASSARA
• THE HORSEMEN OF APOCALYPSE!
• The shocking reveal of the summer pays off as WOLVERINE and DEADPOOL serve as HORSEMEN of the mutant APOCALYPSE! If you missed this revelation, time to catch up here with issue #9!
• On Sale 9/17

What do you think about Apocalypse’s return in Deadpool/Wolverine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!