Mutants, Inhumans, superhumans, Deadpool -- the membership of the Avengers Unity Squad covers a lot of bases. And, with the addition of Cable to the cast starting in earnest with "Uncanny Avengers" #3, the book will also have a lock on the key time-displaced cyborg mutant demo. And the team, currently led (or more accurately, wrangled) by veteran X-Man Rogue, will need all the help they can get as they go up against the threat of the Shredded Man and a deadly bio weapon. As if that wasn't enough, new Avenger Deadpool has his hands busy juggling success and a group of Marvel-ous randos he's hired to help him out in his solo series.

An X-Man Returns In "Uncanny Avengers" #2 -- But Maybe Not How You'd Expect

This week we kick off an extended X-POSITION chat with "Deadpool" and "Uncanny Avengers" writer Gerry Duggan. In the first installment, Duggan will answer your questions about everything from Deadpool's complex origin and potential crossovers to Quicksilver's love life and Cable's journey to the pages of "UA."

CBR News: Welcome, Gerry, to your first two-part, Giant Size X-Position! We'll have questions about both "Deadpool" and "Uncany Avengers" in both halves, and thedeenslist is here to kick things off with a merc question.

What is your whole take on the T-Ray/ Deadpool identity situation? Sidenote: please tell me T-Ray will not be showing up anytime ever.

I have no plans at the moment to use T-Ray. As for his place in the Deadpool story, I took a stance during "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" about what is what, but I wanted to frame it in such a way that someone could one day prove me wrong. I don't particularly want to ever undo someone else's story, and I think if we did Deadpool some good in the third volume of our previous run, it's that rather than explain his past, we've explained why his past is difficult to explain. If I were to leave one request of the writers that follow me, it's that they not undo that story, which seems to have adequately made sense of a Jenga-stack of contradictory origins.

Continuing with our "Deadpool" portion, here's a question from Jaquar about Wade Wilson's wife.

Hello Mr. Duggan. Are there any plans for another Shiklah solo story? And are Jack and Medusa her concubines or a one-time thing?

Shiklah's story will continue across several of the comics in the line. Like most succubi, her appetites are complex. To be continued! Keep reading!

Duggan Discusses Expanding Deadpool's Influence To "Uncanny Avengers"

Justin wants to know how your two boths, both of which have Deadpool in them, will connect and interact.

I really enjoyed "1872" and am thrilled that you're back on "Deadpool." Now that Wade's also an Uncanny Avenger, any plans for a full-on crossover between the two books down the road?

"1872" was one of my favorite collaborations. Nik Virella's an amazing talent. As for a crossover between "Uncanny" and "DP" -- I consider both series in an ongoing passive crossover. That may become more pronounced at times, we're talking about that now. The truth is, that the first 12 or so "Deadpool" issues feel like one large story. The first arc seems to present as one thing, and concludes as an entirely different matter. Issues #7-11 see a much darker, nastier and tragic tone. Then issue #12 will come along and really blows some things up, I hope.

Meanwhile, "Uncanny Avengers" are at the crossroads of some very big occurrences. The secret mission of the squad comes into focus after Boston, and the stories will be of great importance to both the Avengers and the X-Men. Familiar faces both welcome and unwelcome will begin to inhabit the book.

And that brings us to the "Uncanny Avengers" section of this week's X-PO. First, Ruth wants to know if Pietro will find love again.

Hey! Will there be any love interest for Quicksilver in the future? I really hope so! He needs some love since his divorce.

Yes! One of the things we wanted to play with was a lighter, unburdened but still acidic Pietro. He's speed dating when we first see him and enjoying drinks in different time zones as he races the setting sun. That seemed just about right for a guy that found out he's not the son of Magneto.

RELATED: Welcome Back, Cable: The Time-Traveling X-Man's 37 Toughest Covers

Cable made a surprise appearance in "Uncanny Avengers" #2, and Jackraow21 wants to know if he's sticking around.

Well now I must know... will this Cable from the year 2087 be sticking around and joining the team?

Ordinarily I would make you sweat this, but I'm feeling charitable so yes -- Cable is joining this team. I think it will work because it seems like this is something that probably shouldn't work. Yes, Cable will be joining the team for the foreseeable future. He might've arrived, put his foot to some ass, and then jumped away, but some extenuating circumstances pop-up and he finds himself seduced by the secret mission of the Uncanny Avengers. This is an Avengers team that Cable can stomach.

And what happened to the present day Cable, who actually looks much older than this version somehow? I suppose we'll find out the latter in the "Split Second" mini, but still worth asking to see if that is indeed the case or it will just go unexplained.

Cable arrives in our book from the year 2087, so while he's not jumping from "Split Second" to "UA," he's been bouncing around in time. And when he joins up, he also seems to be locked in a battle with his nemesis, Stryfe. Nate's a busy guy.

RuinTheGhouls is curious about how Cable came to be part of the "UA" cast.

Ryan Stegman drawing Cable is like the most awesome thing to come out of "All-New, All-Different Marvel." How did picking Cable come about, and was Ryan's involvement as artist at all a factor? The two seem made for each other.

Not in an unpleasant way, but there was a bit of negotiation and some very last minute shuffling of our line-up. In fact, I think Ryan had already wrapped our part of ["Avengers"] issue #0 and was well into penciling the first issue when we new we needed to make a change for a couple of reasons, so truly -- Cable's arrival in the comic mirrors his arrival behind the scenes. He showed up late in a flash of inspiration. I think he was [editor] Tom [Brevoort]'s suggestion. Good improvisation is "Yes, and..." Sometimes something that looks like a setback is an opportunity. Happy to have the squad I have. I try for my scripts to provide the unexpected, and I've had a lot of help from everyone at Marvel, Stegman and [colorist] Richard [Isanove]. We knew we were going to do a first arc that was closer to Stephen King than a typical Avengers story. It was no small feat hiding Cable from everyone. Tom, Daniel [Ketchum] and Alanna [Smith] arranged to run a variant cover for issue #3 to hide Cable. We were very pleased it arrived in stores unspoiled. Expect more of the unexpected.

Cable's not the only headlining ex-X-Man appearing in future issues of "Uncanny Avengers," as Jiraiya noticed. We'll close out part one with a couple Gambit questions.

I wanted to ask about that powder keg cover you dropped on us for "Uncanny Avengers" #5. A lot was done in the past to split these two [Rogue and Gambit] by [Mike] Carey and later [James] Asmus to the point where they could easily not cross paths again. What inspired you to bring Gambit back into the mix with Rogue? ... Will you be leaving their attraction out of the story or are we going to get more on and off angst again?

What a great cover, right? I'd like to let that one speak for itself. Let's talk afterward.

Gambit has been used a lot as a prop/plot device in other story lines. Is his character likely to get any development here or will this be more of him making a smash and grab appearance to set the tone for the story?

Unfortunately, I'm going to take the fifth, but you will have trust me that I would bring the same A-game to any character. My philosophy is pretty simple: I can't write a story that would make you lose interest in your favorite character, but I know I might not get any second chances with readers. Even the thinnest of characters can always be fleshed out. Not calling Gambit thin at all -- just saying, any of these characters can be cool. I know expectations are high for this issue, but I'd rather readers come in cold. I can promise that "Uncanny Avengers" # 5 is an important event that will reverberate into the future of this book.

Thanks to Gerry Duggan for taking on this week's questions as well as next week's questions!

Next week, we conclude Gerry Duggan's epic X-PO with more inside scoop about what's coming up in "Deadpool" and "Uncanny Avengers."