In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Brian Michael Bendis called the character of Jor-El a great gift from the creative team behind rebirth.
“I would not have come up with this story — or the storyline or the theme — without Jor-El,” Bendis admitted. “when I first got the book, I called up and I said, ‘Is this really Jor-El? Is it Mxyzptlk or something? Are we going to find out [it’s a trick?]’ [Editorial] is like, ‘No, that’s really him. Are you okay with it?’ I went, ‘Thank you!’ I didn’t even know where I was going….I can tell you flat out I would’ve never gone down a road with Jor-El on any level if not for this beautiful gift, which has completely opened the book to me — is what Jor-El wants, what his agenda is,” Bendis said. “Is everything he’s saying at face value the truth, or is there are other levels to it? What kind of man is he? What kind of relationship will they end up having once the dust settles and once Clark finds out his agenda? Will they be in conflict or will they be in tandem? All of it is very interesting. What I love about it is, you have Superman, who’s struggling with his relationship with his father, and that is very relatable. When people talk about Superman’s relatability, there’s about 19 things you can point to and that’s now one of them.”
So it looks like Mr. Oz/Jor-El will play a big part in Bendis’ highly anticipated run on Action Comics. Superman #1 and Action Comics #1001 will be on sale later this month!
