The X-Men have united in X-Men United to create a place for mutants to gather, learn, and control their powers in a world that fears and hates them. However, this time mutants are gathering in a different way. It’s not an entirely physical space like Genosha, Utopia, or Krakoa (rest in White Hot Room). This time around, Emma Frost has mutants gathering on the psychic plane to attend Graymatter Lane. Graymatter Lane is a mind palace that’s accessible to mutants across the world so long as they have their telepathic key to get in. Graymatter Lane marks not only a new direction for the mutants of Marvel 616 but a new experiment in trying to find a way to thrive in a world that fears and hates them (again and again).
To better understand the importance of Graymatter Lane and the adventures taking place in X-Men United, we’re sitting down to talk with the writer of the series and comic mvp, Eve L. Ewing. Eve, thank you for joining us!
Can you tell us more about the formation of Graymatter Lane that we’re seeing from jump in the first issue of X-Men United? First, how you came up with the idea and the reason Emma Frost is putting it out there for mutants of this era?
We’ve seen a bunch of mutants on screen attending and in cameos. Can you tell us the places most popular so far in Graymatter Lane and the mutants (on or off screen) that hang out their the most?
Now, we know that some of Nathaniel Essex (Mr. Sinister if you sinister) technology is being used for the Empathy Engine to find mutants that utilizes Axo’s ability. I feel like Sinister had a huge hand in the fall of Krakoa and they ain’t ever trusted that man, so whats their reasoning or compromised they had to reach among themselves in using his tech?
Graymatter Lane’s location as a mind palace on the psychic plane looks dope but we know not everyone sees it that way, and by everyone I mean Cyclops. We saw and hard his concern about why this is a bad idea. How much of that is Cyclops thinking he’s right vs Scott being scared of trying something new since the lost of Krakoa?
Something I always appreciate about your work in comics that that you’re a student of the game. In X-Men United Issues #2 and #3, we see Captain America drop in asking for help finding the Black soldiers that were experimented on inn order to recreate the super soldier serum. This is a throwback to The Truth: Red, White, and Black series from 2003 that gave us the Black Captain America, Isiah Bradley. What made you want to overlap that story with the X-Men?
We get to see business Emma Frost come out as it’s revealed that she’s the one that got Steve Rogers to come to X-Men for their empathy engine in hopes of creating/maintaining an alliance with Captain America, gaining good pr, as well as some compensation down the line. I was surprised to see Emma crunching numbers which has me wondering what’s the overhead for running Graymatter Lane? The thought of it being a mind palace seems like there wouldn’t be one, so what are missing about what it takes to keep this place running?
My favorite part about this story arc is the conversation between Emma, Iceman, Prodigy, and Kitty Pryde on getting involved to help Captain America. Iceman doesn’t want to as he doesn’t see this as a mutant matter stating how these soldiers that went through this aren’t their people [read: mutants]. However, it is Prodigy that says, that “They are our people. My people”. We see a moment and discussion of race and intersectionality happening here that we don’t see very often in the X-Men series. Can you walk us through that how you guided that conversation from each of these character’s personality as well as their experiences and point of views influenced their vote in the end?
Yall have these X-Men face some heavy conversations among each other, which is why I loved the introduction of Dungeons and Dragons team building in issue #4 spearheaded by Iceman with Ben Liu for the team of Rogue, Emma, Cyclops, Death Dream was such a brilliant touch of humor. How did you come up with this idea and roles that matched these characters?
Cyclops being upset at the Emma not having a binder is my favorite thing so far. Iceman being a Dungeon Master is as shocking to me as him being an accountant (I’ll never get over that). Knowing all that, I have to ask. If you were on a D&D quest with the X-men, which X-Man would you want as the Dungeon Master, who would you have in your party, what would everyone’s roles be?
Eve, thank you so much for sitting own with us to talk shop. For the final question, can you tell us what we have to look forward to down the line that you and the creative team have in store for the mutants in X-Men United?