Cain Marko, aka The Juggernaut, is getting a five-issue miniseries from Fabian Nicieza and Ron Garney that will see the unstoppable one sporting a new look and recruiting a new ally after realizing he can't be a part of mutankind's Krakoan utopia.
"That basically instigates the entire story. Having been X and lost, what does Cain become now?" Nicieza told IGN. "After years of back and forth and madness and sadness, he had become a member in good standing of the X-Men, and then while he's away dancing in Limbo, mutantkind gets everything they could have ever hoped for... and Cain can't be a part of that. How he reacts to that rejection becomes the exploration of who he is going to become without the one thing that -- for good and bad -- has defined him for most of his life."
As for the aforementioned new ally, the miniseries will introduce a character named D-Cel, whose powers are something of a reversal of The Juggernaut's.
"She'll adamantly tell you she's not a mutant, and her personal life is a mystery because she wants it to be," Nicieza said. "She's a fifteen year-old kid living with other homeless squatters in Manhattan buildings that were abandoned after the War of the Realms. After she meets Cain in issue #1, she becomes the catalyst towards helping him see a purpose to his new life, and if it gets her more views on her RoxTube channel, that's just a bonus. I wanted a bit of an ‘Arya and the Hound’ dynamic to their relationship, and she appears at his side for the whole series. I like her, even though she's one of those adorably annoying types with their cell phones always in your face looking for real-time validation for themselves and for you."
Cain Marko/The Juggernaut was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuted in 1965's X-Men #12. However, despite his deep-seated ties to Marvel's mutants, Juggernaut is actually a human who was imbued with powers by the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, which was also used to help forge his iconic armor. As Nicieza explained, though, that too will get an upgrade.
"I wanted a redesign that combined the Kirby power and the skewed oddity that Ditko brought to magical concepts, since Juggernaut is an offspring of both," Nicieza said, also noting "The acquisition of a new armor goes a long way towards exploring how much power means to Cain, and whether he can do something worthwhile with that power in the present day."
JUGGERNAUT #1 (OF 5)
- FABIAN NICIEZA (W) • RON GARNEY (A) • COVER BY GEOFF SHAW
- READY OR ‘NAUT, HERE HE COMES! A mystic gem. A force of overwhelming power. Nothing can stop the Juggernaut. Except himself. Another building falls. Cain Marko is doneletting others pick up the pieces of the things he’s destroyed. Renowned X-scribe Fabian Nicieza (X-FORCE, DEADPOOL) and celebrated artist
- Ron Garney (CAPTAIN AMERICA, DAREDEVIL) team up to take the unstoppable in a new bold new direction!
Juggernaut #1, by Fabian Nicieza and Ron Garney, goes on sale in May from Marvel Comics.