 | X-Men: Schism and the future for mutantkind according to Jason Aaron |
When the X-Men first began, Scott Summers was the star pupil to Professor Xavier. An introvert, the grim Cyclops took his role in the team to be the rock at its center, even to the point that he was reluctant to start his own family and hand over the team to Storm back in the day. Currently he is the leader of a compound built on the ruins of Magneto's Asteroid M called Utopia. The few remaining mutants cluster together off the coast of San Francisco in hopes that they can wait out the revival of their race or at least find comfort in numbers.
Shunning the teachings of Charles Xavier, Scott has stricken Professor X from the island and embraced a much more extreme attitude toward the protection of his mutant heritage. He is a changed man, hardly the uneasy teenager that readers saw at in the 1960's and has grown almost stoic with the reality of the risks he must take to insure the safety of his people.
In sharp contrast to Cyclops, Wolverine was the loner and reluctant team member of the X-Men when he was first introduced. It almost seemed that he joined up specifically to enrage his superiors in Canada's Department H. Feral and unstable, Wolverine embraced the teachings of Eastern philosophy and attempted to find himself through mediation. His life with the X-Men changed him into a caring and sociable person to the extent that he is now on several superhero teams outside of the X-Men including the Avengers and X-Force! While Wolverine may have started as a fighter and a scrapper, he is much more sentimental and caring than he would like to admit.
When Cyclops asks that Wolverine accompany him to an arms talk to the international community, Logan is skeptical but the Scott explains that he needs his friend's support as well as his protection. It's a touching moment and the two of them suddenly realize that while they started as being at each other's throats, they have become fond of each other. Cyclops talk is directed at the entire world, demanding that they dismantle the mutant-hunting Sentinels that have been secretly constructed and housed all over the planet. The response is damning. Kid Omega (aka Quentin Quire), a young mutant terrorist somehow breaks out of captivity which disrupts the proceedings, leading a small assault group of Sentinels on the grounds to be activated. The irony is not lost on Wolverine and Cyclops who make short work of the robots, but the fallout is tremendous.
It's like the world has suddenly been reminded of the threat that mutants pose and they are not prepared to be frightened by them. Sentinels are activated in every corner of the globe. Cyclops makes a decision... and everything changes.
Schism is a five part story detailing the split between these two characters who have fought side by side for years only to grow further apart in their ideologies. Those differences come to a head when Sentinels across the world are brought to life in an attempt to wipe out the mutant race once and for all.
Series author Jason Aaron spoke to CBR.com about his plans for the series and how it will result in a new status quot for the X-Men as it splits from one to two flagship titles, each one led by a different leader; Wolverine and Cyclops.
Jason Aaron: I wouldn't assume that it's going to be the same sort of Mageto/Xavier clash. It's still being kept secret as to what sparks this clash and certainly how things play out. These are unusual roles for both of these guys. Once they kind of stop for a moment and look back and see how far they've come since they first met, it's a long and winding road. This is a real big crossroads within that relationship.
Certainly everything that these guys [Cyclops and Wolverine] have been through together plays into this in some sense. When Schism opens, you'll really find them as Butch and Sundance. These are two guys who have had each other's backs for a long time now. They've been on this road for a while and Logan has been there as the good soldier backing up his general. Scott has led the way. That's where things start. And in the events of Schism, we start to see some cracks in that relationship.
At our most recent X-retreat, we were talking Schism; it's all the main X-writers and editors in a room together and we really started arguing things. We had people arguing to Scott's position in Schism and some of them arguing Logan's position. Both sides kind of thinking there is something wrong with the story in that they could only see one side of it. Then they realized that's perfect; we've got this room of people that are so completely divided on the role of these two characters, and that's exactly what we want. It's definitely a grey situation; it's one where I think fans of both characters can feel justified that their guy is right.
There are actually five artists on this series. They are each doing a different issue. It's pretty much a murderer's row of talented artists. It's at least one guy that I've worked with before, and some other guys that I've been dying to work with. It's a great mix.
(via IGN.com)
The first issue just hit the stands this week and is well worth picking up. The mixture of humor, action and drama is 100% Jason Aaron and makes what could have been a predictable story very interesting. Make sure to give it a look!
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