The X-Men are meant to protect a world that fears and hates them, which means they usually have the luxury of fighting in conflicts with clear moral choices and don't often have to wrestle with the repercussions of their actions. Morally murky mutant conflicts are generally the purview of the X-Force team, who have a proactive and lethal approach to problem solving. X-Force was first gathered together by the time-traveling mutant soldier Cable in the early '90s. Since then, there have been a number of different incarnations of the group. The original members, though, are about to reunite for a seemingly clear-cut assignment -- to hunt down the man who murdered their mentor.

Things might not be as black and white as they believe, though, as readers of Ed Brisson and Pepe Larraz's Extermination series saw, the person who murdered Cable was a youthful version of himself. This younger Cable has a mysterious agenda, too. Brisson and artist Dylan Burnett will dive into that agenda this December when they kick off a new volume of X-Force that sends the titular team on a mission to hunt down the younger Cable.

CBR spoke with Brisson about his love for X-Force as a concept, his cast of characters and the role the cyborg known as Deathlok plays in the book.

CBR: So Ed, it looks like the story you're telling in X-Force spins naturally out of what you're currently doing in Extermination, since it involves the murder of the older Cable by what appears to be a younger version of himself. So, was this book always going to spin out Extermination? And will your line-up first assemble in that story? Or is your initial X-Force tale a getting the band back together style story?

Ed Brisson: I was offered X-Force when I was about halfway through writing Extermination. So, it wasn't always the plan. However, I had been using X-Force in Extermination and I'm guessing that worked as a bit of a tryout for the book. And, once we knew there was going to be an X-Force book, there was already a very natural place that we could take it coming out of Extermination. There's more I want to do with Kid Cable and there are definitely some unanswered questions that the rest of X-Force are going to try to get answered.

We're going to drop the reader right in the middle of it with Issue #1 and fill them in as we progress through the story. There's no wasted time on getting the team together. They're together and ready to kick ass.

It's clear from your writing that you're a long-time X-Force fan, especially from your work on Cable. What is it about that team that resonates with you? And how would you compare this lineup to other incarnations? Are they more of a proactive group like the original team? A band of assassins like some of the more recent versions? Or are they something completely new?

A band of proactive assassins, maybe?

Within the Marvel U, the X-Men have always been the outsider, the black sheep, and X-Force are the outsiders within the X-Men. They're the team willing to do the things that no one else in the Marvel U will and that's something that appeals to my sensibilities a great deal.

In terms of the team, we're obviously going with the classic line-up (minus a couple characters), but sending them out with a vendetta. In tone, I think it's a happy medium of old school X-Force and more recent incarnations, the Rick Remender and company. Uncanny X-Force being a prime example.

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How would you describe the overall team dynamic when you pick up with your cast in Issue #1? Have they had time to fully process Cable's death?

They're a team divided. Coming out of Extermination, Domino, Shatterstar, Cannonball and Warpath are reeling from the loss of their mentor and have unanswered questions. They're on the hunt for this new Kid Cable to get those answers -- some want his head, some just want to talk to him, find out what the hell is going on. Is this really their Cable? Is this an imposter?

But, there's also consequences to their actions and I think that's something that's often handled quite well in X-Force. For example, in Rick Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force, the team kills a kid who they believe would grow up to be Apocalypse. The fact that they killed this child because of what he could have been had real resonance with the team. They're irreparably damaged by the action and it impacts everything that they do afterward. The idea that they'll do whatever it takes, but doing so comes at a real cost, is something that really sticks with me as a reader.

What's it like bringing the original X-Force cast back together after they've had all these separate adventures? Which characters are proving to be the most enjoyable and interesting to bounce off of each other?

It's really fun, to be honest. I like them all just fine off on their own, but love them when they're together.

I think the biggest surprise for me is that Boom-Boom is proving a ton of fun to write. Writing her character is a real exercise in catharsis. Having a bad day? Just write some Boom-Boom snarking the hell out of folks and work it out.

Writing X-Force members, especially Shatterstar, clashing with Kid Cable is a lot of fun as well. Each has been approaching him with questions of their own, but Shatterstar's approach is far less... pleasant.

What can you tell us about the young Cable's role in this new series? Is he a figure of mystery? And just how formidable of an opponent is this new Cable?

In the scripts, I've been calling him Kid Cable, mostly to differentiate him and because I like the alliteration.

There's a trail of breadcrumbs that X-Force are following that make it look as though Kid Cable is up to no good. He's possibly about to set off an international incident and no one knows why.

Kid Cable and Deathlok are in Transia on a case of their own, but the real object of that operation is something we don't reveal for a few issues. There are layers to be peeled back, but nothing is what it initially seems.

We're going to learn more about Kid Cable and establish what sets him apart from the Cable that people know. We're going to get into his history and have some really exciting stories cooking with a laundry list of X-Force villains.

The thing about Kid Cable is that, to him, everything is black and white, right and wrong. He doesn't mess around and has no interest in talking things out. His approach is to shoot first and ask questions never. And, while that lines up with how X-Force sometimes operates, it doesn't help that he seems to be on the opposite end of this fight. Their methods line up, but their ideologies... maybe not as much.

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You mentioned Deathlok, and X-Force has some history with the cyborg, especially during Remender's Uncanny X-Force. What made you want to bring a Deathlok into this book? And what can you tell us about this version of the character?

I wanted to bring him into the series because of his connection to X-Force and because he has a very particular set of skills that will come in useful here, which is something that Kid Cable specifically wants him for. What those skills are, I won't get into for fear of spoiling.

That said, there have been some incredibly fun moments involving Deathlok, especially in the first issue, that I think people are going to dig.

Are Kid Cable and Deathlok the only antagonistic figures in your initial X-Force stories?

The main antagonist in the series is a new character named Constantin. He's a Transian head of military who hates mutants. He's going to use his full military force to try to wipe out hundreds of mutants, which is something that X-Force and Kid Cable find themselves at the very center of.

In addition to Constantin, we're going to have a few other classic X-Men and X-Force villains popping up, some with an exciting new spin, in addition to brand new characters. But, I can't say anything for fear of spoiling.

Helping you bring to life this series is Dylan Burnett, a fellow Canadian whose work I first saw on Cosmic Ghost Rider. Over there, he drew Cable, a large cast and is telling a story that mixes dark humor and hard-edged characters. So, he seems like he'd be a great fit for this book. What's it like working with Dylan?

Working with Dylan is great. He and I have been talking for a while and already have a creator-owned book cooking that we've had to put on hold for right now. So, yeah, I really love his work and think that he's the perfect fit for this book. X-Force is going to get pretty dark at times, and I find that Dylan's style provides a nice contrast to that. He's got this cool cartoony edge that I think will let us get away with more than we might normally be able to. Also, he's not afraid of big scenes. Anyone who's read Cosmic Ghost Rider is well aware that dude can draw the hell out of huge action pieces.

Finally, what kind of book do you want X-Force to be? What can you tell us about your long-term plans for the series?

I want this to be a book that people are talking about five, 10, 20 years from now. We're going to try to tell some Cable history that's previously been left unexplored -- that space between Askani'Son (1996) and Cable's first appearance. There are decades of missing information there and we're going to fill some of it.

We're really hoping to rope in longtime X-Force fans (like myself) and new readers, and then blow their damn minds.