This November sees the launch of Marvel’s next epic event, 2099, running through Amazing Spider-Man and a heaping helping of one shot companion titles. We already wrote about it here.
One of the most intriguing titles on offer is Punisher 2099, a fresh take on the Marvel Universe’s favourite gun-happy vigilante, which sees an all new character taking up the skull in 2099’s dark future. Written by Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson (Age of X-Man) with art by Matt Horak (Spider-Man/Deadpool) and a cover by Patch Zircher (and a spiffy variant featuring the original Punisher 2099, Jake Gallows, by Ron Lim), this is sure to be a must-get item for fans of remorsely revenge and high-stakes action. Plot details are being kept under lock and key, though, so we reached out to co-writer Lonnie Nadler to see if he could shed some light on what he and the gang have in store for us.
Tell us about your working relationship. How did you and Zac first come to write together, and what’s your dynamic like?
Zac and I met on a bus ride home from Emerald City Comic Con about six years ago. We were both poor students with a love for weird movies and comics. We actually happened to be attending the same writing program at the same school and just didn’t know it until that fortuitous moment on the bus. It was quite the meet-cute. Pretty quickly Zac and I realized we had very similar tastes, in particular a love for David Cronenberg, and that Canadian body horror is really what brought us together initially. It wasn’t long before we decided to give a real go at a career in comics and we just started meeting over beers and making pitches. Once the pitches had artists attached and the books got greenlit the beers stopped because we wanted to take things as seriously as possible. Our first book together was The Dregs, a homeless murder mystery, and it was through that, and the good graces of our friend Matthew Rosenberg, that we landed our first gig at Marvel. That was about two years ago and we haven’t stopped since. I think our biggest fear is losing what we’ve already got so early in our careers and that pushes us to work harder, knowing we’re lucky and never wanted to become obsolete, never wanted to be thrown to the dogs of stagnation.
You guys have spent an inordinate amount of time on Marvel’s mutant ghetto and done some great work there. What was it like stepping into the fresher, cyberpunk-scented pastures of the 2099 milieu?
Thank you! Writing the X-Men was a dream gig out the gates at Marvel and it still feels surreal to a certain degree to have written characters I’ve loved since childhood. The thing with the X-Men is they sometimes feel like their own pocket, a bit detached from the rest of the Marvel world and so getting to step into something like 2099 is a welcomed breath of cybernetic, futurism-infused, heady-sci-fi-themed fresh air. Zac and I are both big fans of the original 2099 books. We’re kids of the ’90s, after all. And getting to play around in a new version of this world alongside some of our favorite creators in comics has been an incredible experience. It’s allowing us to stretch very different brain muscles. It’s like our X-Men biceps are swol, but now it’s leg day and time to really dive into a brain melting future with plenty of heady ideas for readers in an attempt to capture some of the magic of the original 2099, but in an updated way.
How did you come to the project?
It’s a long story but we’d been talking to our editor about doing something with 2099 for some time, and nothing really came of it until we learned Nick Spencer had this whole plan for 2099 as part of his Spider-Man run. Our editor knowing our affinity for the source material immediately thought of us and brought us on board.
Were you a fan of the old, extremely ’90s Jake Gallows Punisher 2099?
Of course! Like I said, I was a ’90s kid and that stuff was very much what I was into at the time. With that said, obviously the books feel a bit dated now because they were trying to reach into the future at a time before the internet had even taken over our lives. Jake Gallows had some anger issues. There was talk of jetpacks. So we’re really trying to look at the original stuff and ask what stays and what goes. To get the answer, you’ll have to read it in November, but I think lots of people will be surprised and excited by the direction we’re taking things.
How do you find writing to fit a larger crossover event like this? What are the challenges, what are the rewards?
This was not our first rodeo as we are coming off Age of X-Man which was a much larger series that Zac and I were “showrunning” for lack of a better term. I think this time around it was kind of a relief to not be the ones taking the reins, and a privilege to be in on the ground floor of something so big, being developed by some of the best minds at Marvel. Nick Spencer, who is heading this event, has a really great knack for figuring out how to make this version of 2099 stand out as a science fiction story. Very early on it was made clear this isn’t just some cyberpunk story, the likes of which we’ve seen so many times. I can’t get into too many details, but there’s a sense of freshness to the approach we are all taking that is exciting for us as storytellers. Zac and I are used to working together, but when you have this medley of wonderful narrative-consuming-and-divulging brains all adding to each other’s ideas it creates an air of enthusiasm that sets the bar really high. The only real challenge is trying to ensure we are living up to the expectations we’ve placed on ourselves for being part of something of this ilk.
Sci-fi always reflects the time in which it is written. How would you contrast the “new” 2099 with the old one? What real world threats and anxieties are being dealt with?
You’re absolutely right, and for that reason this is one of those you-need-to-read-the-books-to-find-out questions. The old 2099 was quite revelatory at the time of its release, tackling issues like cyberspace, hacking, identity, and corporate monopolies years before any of these themes became prevalent, as they are today. We want to be sure we are reaching even further into the future, really examining not only what society might look like 80 years from now, but also how our idea of a hero might change in that span as well. Speaking only for Punisher 2099, Zac and I are tackling a lot of heady topics, really pulling into our Philip K. Dick knowledge bank, and looking at things like the penal system, fluidity and multiplicity of self, and technology as a natural expansion of the human body.
The new 2099 Punisher is certainly sporting a more subdued visual aesthetic than his predecessor. What was the design process like and how much input did you have into what Patch and Matt are doing here?
Zac and I put a lot of thought into how we wanted this Punisher to look, and we are very pleased with the results. We wanted to make sure every aspect of his design was driven by the story and the themes we’re digging into. Obviously he still has to look like the Punisher, but we asked ourselves, “How can we outfit him in a realistic but futuristic way? And how can that design reflect this big notion of shifting identities in the modern world?” So we looked into a lot of military and police technologies that are being tested, and looked at a lot of video game concept art for reference. The two major touchstones were the suits from Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, and secondly A Scanner Darkly. All in all the suit is meant to function as a means to augment the physical traits of the person wearing it by connecting to their muscle tissue to increase strength and reflexes. The mask also has a really awesome function that I can’t wait for people to see. Our ideas were then handed off to Patch and he took what we gave him and really did his own thing with it and we couldn’t be happier with the results. He nailed it. Matt has also added his own flair to things and the work we’ve seen come in so far is nothing short of stunning.
The official synopsis is very sparse. Is there anything you can disclose about the plot details?
Nope. Sorry. This one is a lips-zipped deal.
Is this a character we can expect to see again?
I mean, hopefully. We put a lot into this, so it would be a real shame for it to perish.
Finally, what else on the cards for you guys in the near future?
Zac and I have a Yondu series beginning in November as well. It’s a real gritty space western with plenty of comedy thrown in the mix. Think of it as a buddy cop movie in the greasiest, nastiest parts of the Marvel universe. John McCrea is drawing that, fortunately for us, and it’s been an absolute blast. I think it’s by far the best thing we’ve done at Marvel to date. It’s a vast departure from our other work too. And I also have a creator owned book beginning in November called Black Stars Above that’s drawn by the incredible Jenna Cha, coming out through Vault Comics. That one is a historical fiction cosmic horror survival story all wrapped up into one very strange package. It’s me revealing my whole self to the world in the form of a slow burning horror story.
