The clandestine Weapon Plus program has given birth to some of the Marvel Universe's most formidable super-soldiers, like Captain America, Wolverine and Deadpool. However, the frequently insidious nature of the experiments has led those success stories to try to destroy the program. Each time it survives and innovates, and with the dawning of a new decade, Weapon Plus is back with a new generation of living weapons.

Readers will meet those new super-soldiers Jan. 29 in Weapon Plus World War IV, a one-shot that features two stories. In the first tale, writer Benjamin Percy and artist Georges Jeanty introduce the fearsome flora-enhanced warrior known as Man-Slaughter. And in the second, Ryan Cady and David Baldeon reintroduce the cybernetically empowered animal warriors of Brute Force.

Percy spoke with CBR about Man-Slaughter's origins, the character's initial adventure, and where he and Brute Force might appear next.

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CBR-exclusive art from Weapon Plus: World War IV, by Georges Jeanty

CBR: Weapon Plus World War IV features the debut of a new character with a familiar appearance, Man-Slaughter. What can you tell us about him? How similar and different is he to Ted Sallis' Man-Thing?

Benjamin Percy: Jackson Strode is an investigative journalist who’s researching toxic runoff from a lab that turns out to belong to Weapon Plus. He breaks in, and after snooping around, finds several guns trained on him. He becomes their captive and lab rat. They’re trying to create a super-soldier serum using research stolen from Ted Sallis’ experiments — and Jackson is the result. He’s a reluctant paramilitary weapon. Though he is promised an eventual cure, the brass keeps moving the goalposts on him.

When we first encounter Jackson, he considers himself infected, a human who’s fighting a pathogen. He has some control over the monster within — transforming and weaponizing his body in times of need. But it’s getting more and more difficult to contain.

CBR-exclusive art from Weapon Plus: World War IV, by Georges Jeanty

What can you tell us about Man-Slaughter's initial adventure?

We first encounter Man-Slaughter working undercover in Russia — targeting a general for assassination — and I won’t say anything more about how that job turns out. Just know that he’s soon reassigned to the Pacific Northwest. A mission that requires his specific skillset. A dome of fog has covered a town in the Olympic Peninsula. No one comes out, and everyone who goes in never returns. This turns out to be a biome. And something very, very nasty is going on inside. And … it’s growing, ever-expanding.

I love this character that Chris Robinson and I brainstormed together. And I love the gross, gruesome, darkly beautiful art by Georges Jeanty. And I love the horror/mystery quality of the story. And I love the challenge of creating a wholly realized character, world, and story in a single issue. I think people will be surprised — and menaced — by how much this story offers.

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Finally, do you have future plans for Man-Slaughter or Brute Force in the books you're working on? It feels like they could organically be part of both X-Force or Wolverine.

Man-Slaughter could easily work his way into X-Force or Wolverine, because a botanical threat ties right in to Krakoa and the organic tech we’re playing with there. I could easily imagine Forge and Man-Slaughter getting into some trouble together. We’ll see.

Weapon Plus: World War IV goes on sale Jan. 29 from Marvel Comics.

CBR-exclusive art from Weapon Plus: World War IV, by David Baldeon

NEXT: 10 Questions About Weapon Plus We Need Marvel to Answer