Announced at New York Comic Con on Saturday, writer Christopher Yost let he world know that the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak will be reappearing on Earth in AMAZING X-MEN #15. With that comes the Juggernaut, a classic X-Men villain, who was originally Cain Marko. Yost talked to us about this upcoming story line and what we can expect.
COMIC VINE: What's so appealing about Juggernaut as a character and concept?
CHRISTOPHER YOST: The Juggernaut is a classic X-Men villain, he’s been around since the beginning and it’s fun to be able to play with those kinds of characters. But Juggernaut’s always been great because he is, with a few exceptions, unstoppable. The X-Men have to work harder and be smarter in order to stop him.
He’s so closely connected with the X-Men, too. Xavier’s step-brother, former enemy, then former member of the team… and of course he lost his power to an X-Man… Colossus. And with Charles’ recent death, there’s a lot there to explore.
But of course, Cain Marko isn’t currently the Juggernaut.
CV: We haven't seen Cain Marko pretty much since Fear Itself. What's he been up to?
YOST: Gardening. Cain Marko has found peace. He’s out of the game… heroes, villains, he’s done. Until the Gem of Cyttorak re-appears on Earth. Like in the Godfather, he keeps getting pulled back in.
CV: Will we see how he's dealing with Charles Xavier's death?
YOST: Most certainly. Even though he and Charles were often at odds, his death will get a reaction from Cain, one way or the other.
CV: Cain and Black Tom have had a bit of a past. Can we expect to see Black Tom and Cain working together again?
YOST: Not this one. No Black Tom to influence/manipulate Cain, this story is all Cain. The actions he takes, the choices he makes, they’re all his this time.
CV: Is this story line going to shed more light on the Gem of Cyttorak, which still has a bit of mystery around it?
YOST: It’ll be pretty much as mysterious as it always is. But it has re-appeared on Earth. Cyttorak WANTS an Avatar, despite it often not working out. So the call goes out, and more people than Cain Marko answer that call.
CV: Aside from Cain and Colossus, who are the key players in this story?
YOST: It really is a Colossus story as much as it is a Juggernaut story. Peter Rasputin has been through a LOT in the last few years, and most of it bad. Between the power of the Juggernaut, the Phoenix Force, X-Force… he’s had a rough time of it, and there are some unresolved issues between him and the X-Men, notably STORM. There’s trust issues, and they’re going to come to the surface in this arc.
CV: Fun question: Is there any way you would ever bring J2 over to the 616 universe and would he still have a flannel tied around his waist?
YOST: No. But if I did, he’d have the flannel. And I’d simultaneously bring over Hipster Juggernaut from the 25825H universe and have them fight.
Make sure to check out AMAZING X-MEN #15 when it hits your local comic shop in January, 2015.