Murewa Ayodele Casts Storm Into the X-Men: From the Ashes Era (Interview)

Storm is soaring into a new ongoing series that promises to catapult her into one of the most important heroes in the Marvel Universe. While the X-Men move out of the Krakoan Era into their new future in From the Ashes, Storm is taking on a bigger role in a solo title by writer Murewa Ayodele (I Am Iron Man, Marvel’s Voices: Wakanda Forever). Storm features Ororo Munroe relocating to Atlanta and becoming Earth’s protector, meaning she’ll take on threats on land as well as of the cosmic nature. It’s a good time to be a Storm fan.

ComicBook spoke to Murewa Ayodele about the upcoming Storm series, with the writer discussing his sweeping plans for the X-Man and Avenger. Ayodele laid out the five themes he hopes to address in Storm, how becoming the protector of Earth is a natural character progression for her, becoming a member of Earth’s Mighties Heroes, her new costume, a confrontation with Doctor Doom, and much more. We can also exclusively reveal the first look at pages from Storm #1 by Lucas Werneck as well as a variant cover for Storm #2 by Ernanda Souza.

Storm’s fanbase

ComicBook: Storm is a character with a devoted fanbase, who have mostly followed her adventures in ensemble comics. When it came time to plot out what a solo book for her would look like, were there any themes that stood out to you as the most important to address?

Murewa Ayodele: Storm is such a complex and sophisticated character to the degree that she has been used to explore multiple themes throughout her publication history. I’ve broken a few of them down and listed them below. We’ll explore these themes in our Storm solo series and many more.

1. Redemption: Like Wolverine and Gambit, Storm has a criminal past and strives to be a hero.

2. The Foreign Hero: Like Superman is an alien that grew up in Smallville but lives in Metropolis, Storm is the mutant child of two human parents from different worlds who was made an orphan in Cairo, grew up in Kenya, and lived as a hero in New York City (now Atlanta). Like Superman, she is also an immigrant analogy.

3. The Chosen One: Storm’s powers come from the freakish combination of mutation and the mystical gene from her mother’s side of the family. Gradually, through her publication history, she continually learns that with this great power comes an even greater responsibility… like Spider-Man continuously learns.

4. Hard Work: Though a powerful mutant, Storm has lived a large portion of her life without her great powers — dwelling in dangerous mortality like Batman and Daredevil. During these tough times, she trained to be highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat and knife fighting. She didn’t grow up rich or even middle-class. She grew up in the streets — fighting to fend for herself from a very young age like Naruto.

5. Feminism and Motherhood: She has often been compared to characters like Wonder Woman because even though she is a tough badass warrior, she is capable of being soft, caring, and loving. She fully embraces her femininity despite often being around powerful men. Kitty Pryde and T’Challa son of T’Chaka have been a major witness of this side of Storm.

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Storm’s new status quo

It seems that X-Men: From the Ashes has individual X-Men re-evaluating how they want to continue in this non-Krakoa status quo. Protecting the Earth appears to be at the top of Storm’s list, and it feels like an extension of her role on Arakko. How much did being a part of Arakko’s Great Ring factor into this new mission she’s undertaking?

In her very first appearance, Storm was responsible for a small village in Kenya. She has been responsible for the country, Wakanda, as its queen. In the previous (Krakoan) era, she became responsible for the planet Arakko (Mars). So, Storm taking on the responsibility of being Earth’s protector is a natural progression not only as a result of the Krakoan Era but the as a result of her entire publication history. And with the Fall of Krakoa hitting the mutants so hard and putting her homeworld at great risk, Storm is determined to not let that happen again.

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Storm joining The Avengers

Was Storm’s addition to The Avengers already in the works when you got the Storm gig? It’ll take some getting used to seeing her as a member of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and not on an official X-Men team. And what do you see her bringing to the team?

When I joined the X-Office, Jed MacKay and Tom Brevoort had already discussed Storm extensively. Tom Brevoort had suggested to Jed MacKay that Storm should be a member of the Avengers even before I came on board. And honestly, I’m glad this move was made. It allowed me to put Storm in very new, refreshing, and interesting situations that would normally be too complicated if she were an X-Man. When writing characters that have existed for as long as Storm has, a status quo change is always a blessing.

Regarding what Storm brings to the Avengers? I think that’s Jed’s job to figure out as the Avengers writer which I think he properly argued in Avengers (2023) #17. My job is to put together a sprawling adventure series filled to the brim with drama and thrills for her solo series.

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Storm vs. Doctor Doom

The title of the third issue is “Impending Doom,” which strongly hints at a showdown with Doctor Doom, Marvel’s new Sorcerer Supreme. What can you tell us about what brings these two omega-level forces into conflict?

With “One World Under Doom” coming soon, one should expect a clash between Doom and the world’s protector, Storm.

Storm #2 variant cover by Ernanda Souza

Storm’s new costume

Lucas Werneck is your artistic collaborator on Storm, who also came up with a new costume for Ororo Munroe. Did you get to offer any suggestions on Storm’s look? And Werneck created some stellar visuals in Sins of Sinister and Immortal X-Men, but is there anything that’s surprised you to the point where you can’t wait for readers to set their eyes on it?

To the best of my knowledge, Storm’s new black and gold costume was designed solely by Lucas Werneck. He was asked to design the costume even before he was told he would be the artist on Storm’s solo series. But every other look Storm will have in the series moving forward has been a joint effort between the writer and artist — with Lucas carrying the brunt of the work. One can describe a look with words and moodboards, but it takes the hands and mind of a genius artist to make those elements into a truly stunning (and iconic) look.

I’m so happy to be working with arguably one of the best artists in the industry on this series. Everything has me excited for readers to check out. And don’t get me started on cover artist Mateus Manhanini and colorist Alex Guimarães. They have been giving superb output in this series.

Storm (2024) is a series to be excited about because no matter your expectations, this series will surpass them. So, while we wait for the October debut of the series, you can start working on increasing those expectations.