Home Production Notes Ultimate X-Men

Rumor - SilverBulletComicBooks.com (May 9, 2004):

So, what will Middleton’s next project be? On the Image Forums, Kabuki creator David Mack offered up a hint. “It looks like he'll be drawing something I've written,” he wrote. “You may hear an announcement about it soon. If it all comes together, it is going to be grand!” It’s possible this project could be something X-related. If you’ve been following this column you know that Mack was scheduled to take over the writing chores on Ultimate X-Men after Bendis left, but he was mysteriously removed from the project to make room for a run by Y the Last Man writer Brian Vaughan and an upcoming stint by X-Men 2 director Bryan Singer. I interviewed Mack about Ultimate X-Men before he was taken off the schedule. At the time he seemed like he was pretty well along on the book. Now that David has brought Kabuki over to Marvel under the new Icon imprint, it’s highly unlikely that Middleton will be working on a project with Mack outside of the House of Ideas. And I doubt those X-Men issues Mack wrote will be trashed. I bet we’ll see a mini-series, or Mack and Middleton will be scheduled for an Ultimate X-Men run sometime down the road.

Rumor - SilverBulletComicBooks.com (February 15, 2004)

There's a rumor going around that David Mack will be writing New X-Men instead of taking on the previously announced Ultimate X-Men assignment. Why? Apparently the rumor I ran a month ago about X2 Director Bryan Singer writing an X-Men project is happening. Singer and a couple of his screenwriter buddies -- Dan Harris and Mike Dougherty -- have signed up to pen a year’s worth of Ultimate X-Men yarns, according to Variety. Some of you may think this Mack on New rumor is steaming pile of midget sh*t, but I have to tell you I think it’s a real possibility. I recently interviewed Mack about his creator-owned series, Kabuki and about his then upcoming run on Ultimate X-Men. A couple days later, after learning that Brian Vaughan (Runaways) will be writing an arc for the title, I emailed David two or three times to try and verify his start date on the Ultimate X book. He never replied to my inquiries. Now David is a nice guy, so I originally assumed the lack of response was due to a heavy workload. I didn’t think anything of it until this new rumor surfaced. So, the other day I tried contacting David again, this time I left a post on his message board about the New X-Men rumor. Mack responded yesterday saying he wasn’t allowed to comment. However, he did add, “it’s all good news”.

From SilverBulletComicBooks.com (January 7, 2004):
	Mack is also poised to take over the reigns on Marvel’s Ultimate X-Men. He will be co-writing issues #40-45 with current scribe and friend Brian Michael Bendis. Runaways writer Brian Vaughan will pen issues 46-49, paving the way for Mack to begin his solo X-run with issue #50.
Below is an excerpt from the interview:
	MARKISAN: You’ve said that you will only write Ultimate X-Men as long as you have stories to tell. Have you thought of any possible stories beyond your Wolverine arc? DAVID MACK: Of course. In fact, I don’t really think of it as a Wolverine book. All the stories are very much about the entire team. There will be explorations of my Ultimate version of some Classic X-Men milestone events. That’s the only hint I can give you! But think of all your favorite X-Men milestones, and imagine how cool they can be in the present day Ultimate universe with Finch drawing them.

Brian Bendis (December 11, 2003; 8:45 pm)
	Brian Michael Bendis announced on his message board that he will co-write Ultimate X-Men #40-#45 with David Mack, who will go solo with issue #50. The amount of interest in the story will determine David Mack's length of stay on the series.

David Mack (December 11, 2003):
	My X-Men are all about action. I'll be writing the new Kabuki series which will be very philosophical and psychological. So the X-Men will be a completely different and contrasting writing experience, with non-stop action and me and Finch playing with and busting up all of Marvel['s] toys.

Ultimate X-Men artist David Finch (September 5, 2003):

Talking to David Mack about his plans for Ultimate X-Men was such a great experience for me. I've been a fan of his for a very long time, and I knew that he could do some very special things with the book, but I really wasn't sure how we would work together. I do such a different sort of comic than what he's well known for, and I wondered if I would have what it takes to be right for his sort of stories. He layed those fears to rest pretty quickly. Both him and Bendis are so infectiously enthusiastic about what they do, that it's impossible for it to not rub off. And he made it clear that he wanted to work with me on the book, as opposed to dictating to me, and having me mindlessly follow his lead. For me that's like music to my ears. At this point I'm really looking forward to seeing what he's got planned, and I know that he'll be receptive to my interpretation of it. I couldn't ask for a better deal.

Newsarama.com (August 19, 2003):

As announced at WizardWorld Chicago, David Mack will join up with Brian Bendis on Ultimate X-Men next year, taking over the writing on the series around issue #51 set to ship next November. Newsarama caught up with Mack for his take on Marvel’s mutants. As current Ultimate X-Men writer Brian Bendis explained at the Ultimate Marvel panel, the “New Mutants” arc will run from issues #40-#45, and Mack will begin co-writing with issue #46 and continue through #50, which, Bendis said, would reveal Wolverine’s wife), and then take over the book with issue #51. ... Speaking of Wolverine, as mentioned above, Mack’s first solo storyline will send Wolverine to Japan to learn about his past, specifically, just who his wife is/was, and when he got married in the first place. “Yeah, Brian has this whole thing set up for me - Wolverine finds his wedding ring, learns that he’s married, or was married, and heads off back to Japan to find out more,” Mack said. “Brian set it up for me this way, thinking I would automatically jump at the story, but I was hesitant, and told him that I’d pretty much done that kind of story in Kabuki, but he talked me into it, pointing out that it would be completely different in how I would handle it, I had the background to write a story like that, and the storyline presents an easy crossover opportunity for my audience – if they like what I do with Wolverine in Japan, they may want to check out Kabuki and vice versa. He convinced me.”

ComicsContinuum.com (August 9, 2003):
	After the story in Ultimate X-Men #44-45, David Mack will co-write the book with Bendis, Mack then takes over as sole writer with #51. David Finch is slated to remain artist.

Comicon.com (August 8, 2003):
	The new writer of the Ultimate X-Men will be David (Daredevil, Kabuki) Mack. He and Bendis will first co-write a few issues beginning in issue 46, but by the fiftieth anniversary issue, Mack will be scribing the story solo.