David Marquez Bangs the Drums of Civil War II

The Marvel Universe stands on the brink of war. While heroes divide over whether they should use knowledge of the future to stop crimes before they happen,
two people actually find themselves excited about the prospects: writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez.
The duo that launched INVINCIBLE IRON MAN as one of the All-New, All-Different Marvel flagship titles will now shift focus as the creative team behind CIVIL WAR II.
We talked with Marquez about continuing to work with Bendis, drawing all of those amazing characters, and getting the opportunity to draw the series.
Marvel.com: You've worked on some important books at Marvel, but were you surprised when CIVIL WAR II came up as a potential assignment?
David Marquez: It was a surprise! Brian and I originally had planned to do a nice long run on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, but when CIVIL WAR II was brought up I knew it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.
On top of all that, I was still an aspiring comic artist when the original CIVIL WAR came out, and [artist] Steve McNiven has been a huge inspiration to me throughout my art career. Having the chance—and challenge—of working on this project is beyond what I ever expected.
Marvel.com: You obviously have familiarity with Iron Man given your work on INVINCIBLE IRON MAN. What, if anything, sets the Tony Stark appearing in CIVIL WAR II apart from the one in his solo book?
David Marquez: Two things come to mind. For one, Tony gets to interact with a much wider group in CWII than in his solo book. Also—and I think this is related to the first—Tony's emotional state is much different in the event book. For the most part, my issues of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN were a fun adventure romp. CWII, while being fun and exciting, also has a more serious side.
Marvel.com: CIVIL WAR became a huge deal for the epic surprises at the end of just about every issue from Spider-Man revealing his identity to the potential return of Thor. Without saying too much, do you think CIVIL WAR II has moments on that same level?
David Marquez: Absolutely. Even in just the first couple issues this story has some huge events that will really knock readers’ socks off.
Marvel.com: These events also tend to have enormous fight scenes with plenty of characters. How has it been working on those?
David Marquez: [Laughs] This was one of the biggest adjustments for me working on the event. While I’ve done some work on team books before, particularly ALL-NEW X-MEN, this book has a cast of dozens if not hundreds. It’s awesome getting to play with literally all the toys, but it's also really challenging, if only for tracking down reference of all the crazy costumes. As hard as it is, though, I’m having a blast.