Interview: Paul Cornell Talks Soldier Zero

Soldier Zero is the first new title coming from the collaboration between BOOM! Studios and Stan Lee. I reviewed the issue last week and it gave a very promising start with to the new series. 
 
Soldier Zero is written by Paul Cornell and we got the chance to ask him a few questions on this new title. 
 
Comic Vine: What's it like working with Stan? Have you gotten into any...heated discussions over ideas yet? 
Paul Cornell: He's very much involved, indeed, there's a load of his dialogue and ideas in the first issue. You can't really have a heated discussion with him because he gets you like a rabbit in headlights and sells you on his ideas. And they're very good ones. He changed Stewart into being a veteran between early interviews and the second draft, and it really works, the pacifist having to take on the warrior alien. 
 == TEASER == 

CV: How many issues/story arcs do you have mapped out so far? 
PC: We've got a way ahead sorted out. I've been plotting! 
 
CV: Will we find out why he's called Soldier Zero? 
PC: Yes. It's about the history of the alien. 
 
CV: Will Soldier Zero's adventures take place in space or will the alien battle come to Earth? 
PC: The alien battle comes to Earth. Quite spectacularly by the end of the first arc. 
 
CV: Will we see more Earthly villains pop up? It seems whenever a new hero emerges, the villains follow. 
PC: Yes, I think we've got a classic Stan style villain origin coming up. The best villains are intimately connected with the origins of the heroes. 
 

CV: It's unofficially been said that all the Stan Lee/BOOM! characters reside in the same "universe." While I understand we need to see each character develop on their own at first, have you given any thoughts to what you'd want in a crossover? 
PC: I've already dropped a hint into an early issue. We're going to stay apart for a while, but I think part of the fun of this is seeing how everything gradually fits together. What you absolutely don't have to do is buy everything to follow it. These are separate titles. 
 
CV: Are you going to deal with a lot of the issues and problems that wheelchair users face? Have you "consulted" anyone to get their perspective? 
PC: I've talked to a couple of wheelchair users. Presenting their everyday world is one of the things that drew me to this title, and one of my aims in writing it. 
 
CV: What are you most excited about with this new title? 
PC: That it's a modern take on Stan's timeless way of doing things. That we're trying to present a wheelchair user hero. I can only hope we might get somewhere near successfully representing that community. 
 
CV: Thanks for you time. 
PC: Thank you! 
 
Soldier Zero is on sale Wednesday, October 20.