The times are certainly changing for Marvel's many teen superheroes. With the recent conclusion of Avengers Academy, readers now have two new books to look forward to as Marvel NOW! gets underway -- Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie's Young Avengers and Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker's Avengers Arena. The latter book was the focus of today's Next Big Thing press call. Hopeless was on the line to discuss his upcoming series and the controversy that has arisen since its announcement.

Click here for a preview of Avengers Arena #1

To kick things off, Hopeless reiterated the core concept of Avengers Arena. "Basically, 15 of your favorite Marvel superheroes and Darkhawk, who has been made very clear to me is not a teenager, and I know that, wake up on an island. They're told, 'Only one of you is going to come out of this alive.' They're told that by Arcade, who has set up a new Murderworld. And this time, people are actually going to die in Murderworld. It's basically throwing the gauntlet down and saying, 'You can leave here. You just have to make sure everyone else is dead first.' That's the basic premise, and issue #1 is essentially going to sell the characters and the kids on the island that he's serious and they're really going to have to do this."

Avengers Arena #2 interior art

Dating all the way back to his first appearances in Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men run, Arcade hasn't exactly developed a reputation for his bloodthirsty nature. Hopeless discussed the challenge of updating the colorful villain and creating a new Murderworld that actually lives up to its name. "It was important to find a character reason for Arcade to do this, because in a lot of ways he's a silly character," said Hopeless. "It was important to keep who Arcade is -- keep the showman and keep the guy that's interested in watching this game play out -- but also give him a reason for why it has to go differently this time and why it's important for this to work out.  And again, that's what the first issue is about. We want the readers to respect Arcade. We want the players in Murderworld to respect Arcade and to understand -- they're not going to beat him. They're not going to get out. They have to do this, or at least for a while."

Hopeless continued, "I'm really proud of how we managed to keep the core of Arcade's character while also making him a little bit scary and sinister and respectable. There's an issue after the first arc -- an Arcade-centric issue that explains how he went from the last time we saw him to where he is now."

Avengers Arena #2 interior art

As the press questions began, Hopeless addressed the challenge of crafting an ongoing series around the concept of a limited cast in a confined space battling each other to the death. "I've had a lot of fans writing in and saying, 'Why isn't this a limited series or a mini?' Primarily, it's because we need the space to get you to believe that these kids would do this stuff. All the characters that we know are heroes. They're not just going to go kill their friends and strangers because they're told to. We really needed to have some space to get into the heads of the characters and show what they're going through, show what he's doing to them, and get them to a place where they distrust and fear one another enough to let it play out." Hopeless revealed that every issue in the first arc will be framed from the point of view of a different character, with the first issue focusing on Haz-Mat.

Hopeless also noted that the adult Avengers will have a role to play in the series at some point. Eventually the disappearance of 16 teen heroes will draw the attention of outside characters, but Hopeless said not to expect that element to come into play until after the first arc.

The series isn't comprised solely of familiar characters pulled from books like Runaways and Avengers Academy. Several of the leads are abducted from the Braddock Academy, a British superhero school run by Captain Britain. Hopeless said that Kid Britain will serve as the archetypal bully character along the lines of Cato from The Hunger Games. He pointed to the teenage, female Deathlok seen in the issue #2 preview art as a particular favorite among the new creations. "Issue #2 delves deep into her origin story and explains her a bit further. She's one of my favorite among the characters I got to create. I love Deathlok, and the idea of a sweet, 14-year-old Deathlok was really fun." Hopeless said that he wasn't particularly limited in his choice of characters, though he did elect to leave Runaways' Molly Hayes out of the picture.  Hopeless said he "decided that having a character that young would be tonally problematic."

Avengers Arena #2 interior art

Speaking of Hunger Games, Hopeless addressed the perceived similarities between Avengers Arena and franchises like Hunger Games and Battle Royale. "For me, it's as influenced by The Running Man as anything. It comes from gladiatorial games and everything just as much. The perspective of teenage superheroes changes it enough." He also said that the series is comparable to Hunger Games if that story were told from the perspective of all 24 Tributes rather than just Katniss. He also noted that the general tone of the series falls somewhere between the straightforward drama of Hunger Games and the more satirical approach of Battle Royale. "At least Arcade can appreciate the ways in which this is satirical and amusing... It's sort of a serious character study within a satirical concept."

Finally, Hopeless tackled the early controversy surrounding the series and the likelihood that so many of the cast will be killed during his run. "I appreciate the passion people have for the characters. I'm a comic fan too, and it's hard to know that one of your favorite characters may be pulled off the shelf or killed. At the same time, death is a big, emotional part of life, and I'm not the sort of person who thinks that death as a storytelling device is cheap or overused... Death to someone close to you is one of the most powerful things someone can go through."

He continued, "I'm really proud of the book. here's a really good story within this, and none of the people who are responding to the concept and marketing have read the book. So I don't take it too personally, because they haven't seen what we're doing yet."

Avengers Arena #1 is scheduled for release in December. Scroll down for a look at new cover images from the fourth and fifth issues.

Avengers Arena #4 cover

Avengers Arena #4 variant cover

Avengers Arena #5 cover

Avengers Arena #5 variant cover

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