In a new interview with Screen Rant, the talented artist and writer Peach Momoko – the brilliant mind behind Marvel’s acclaimed Demon Days – reveals that her upcoming Ultimate X-Men series was first pitched to her as “What If X-Men… But in Japan?” Ultimate X-Men is a unique reinvention of the classic X-Men story, following new Japanese heroes Armor and Maystorm as they discover their unique abilities and navigate the realities of being young mutants.
Peach Momoko’s Demon Days and Demon Wars, part of the new “Momoko-verse,” are both Japanese folktale reimaginings of the Marvel Universe, which has given Momoko a lot of practice in adapting classic Marvel heroes into a non-American setting.
While Ultimate X-Men is part of the larger Ultimate Universe that is being explored at Marvel, Momoko also revealed that her story is quite distinct from the larger Ultimate plans, giving her a lot of flexibility to make a uniquely Japanese X-Men tale. Read below for Peach Momoko’s interview answer:
It is a bigger, shared universe with other creatives, but I feel like I am still kind of independent. Jonathan and C.B. kind of just let me do whatever, they just gave me… “What If X-Men… but in Japan?” but with a whole new roster of X-Men, not Wolverine, not Cyclops, not the popular ones, that’s why its Hisako (Armor) and more centrally Japanese. Although it is shared, but because there is not too much that overlaps between Hickman’s story and my story, I kind of believe that Jonathan Hickman chose me to just go wild with how I wanted to tell the story.
Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men Will Highlight Japanese Mutants
Ultimate X-Men will be a fresh take on a new era of X-Men partly because it is set in Japan, not America, which will give a new lens to explore mutantkind. The Ultimate Universe has mutants in other series, like Magik and Colossus in Ultimate Universe and Storm in Ultimate Black Panther, but Peach Momoko’s X-Men story will focus on Japanese mutants, particularly teenage ones like Hisako and Maystorm. In her new interview, Momoko speaks about discovering Armor while researching Japanese mutants, and being drawn to her. However, there are plenty of Japanese mutants that Momoko could have chosen from to star in Ultimate X-Men, like Surge, Kenji Uedo, or the iconic Sunfire.
Marvel has allowed Momoko to “go wild” with her X-Men story because they believe in her vision and talent, giving her the freedom to explore the stories she is passionate about. Momoko is particularly interested in exploring adolescence, and drawing on her own experiences growing up in Japanese schooling, and she felt that Hisako’s power of “Armor” worked as a perfect metaphor for a shy teenager coming out of her shell. It will be fascinating to see which other mutants Momoko chooses to include, and if she will highlight other Japanese mutants like Psylocke or Silver Samurai, who were already adapted in Demon Days, or continue introducing brand-new mutants like Maystorm.
The X-Men Have Primarily Been Seen From An American Perspective
When Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski and Ultimate Universe architect Jonathan Hickman asked Peach Momoko to write Ultimate X-Men, they were obviously looking for someone with a unique and modern lens. Several iconic X-Men stories have been set in Japan – particularly those involving Wolverine – but there have been few stories that intimately highlight a genuine experience of mutants in a country other than America, which will give Ultimate X-Men a truly distinct vibe and perspective. From differences in Japanese culture, politics, and beliefs, an international and innovative outlook of the X-Men is an exciting change to the franchise.
While not an actual What If?… story, Ultimate X-Men will operate like a long form What If?… tale in some ways, offering readers an incredibly different interpretation of the X-Men mythos than seen in the past. Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men will ask the simple yet intriguing question, “What If X-Men… But in Japan?” ushering in a new era of Marvel’s mutants unlike any seen before. Make sure to keep an eye out for the full interview with Peach Momoko when it releases next week!
