Chip Zdarsky, Armageddon And Exclusive At Marvel For Another Two Years

Posted in: Avengers, Comics, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: Armageddon, chip zdarsky

Chip Zdarsky, Armageddon and being exclusive at Marvel Comics for another two years

Chip Zdarsky spoke with David Harper in what appears to be a monthly chat on his Sketchd YouTube channel as part of a year-long series of interviews. But for Chip, it seems as if he has the whole of the next year wrapped up already, ahead of the Marvel Armageddon event comic comic up. “As of this week, I’ll have submitted my script for the final book of 2026.” He describes it as weird to look at 2026 and think it’s done, with only art still incoming (and potential rewrites if plans shift). But this has allowed his first real break in adulthood: “It’s the longest of my adult life.”

Not that he’s slacking. He has signed for another two years as an Exclusive creator at Marvel, extending his commitment as his previous contract finished early. He explains, “a lot of those contracts work like you have to deliver like 36 issues within two years, and that’s when it ends. But because there was a lot going on for this year, um, I just really, I really hit the ground running and wrote a lot.”

He says that his position at Marvel has shifted to something more senior/central, and after time away, including writing Batman at DC Comics. He now feels like “the old guy” with more influence at the publisher. “It’s a little weird to be in the room because all of a sudden you’re just like, ‘Oh, I’m the old guy.” I look in the mirror, and I know I’m the old guy, but it’s funny just how quickly it changes.” And of being in the room with Marvel President Dan Buckley, “I think I talked to Dan once, my first go around at Marvel. He’s the alpha in the room, he’s an intimidating figure, and I didn’t have a lot to talk to him about because I was just a lowly writer. So, you know, I never went up to him on a coffee break and poked his mind about the industry. And I think this time around I probably talked to Dan more than I’ve talked to almost anyone there.”

With Armageddon reiterated as Marvel’s big 2026 summer event, he reflects on its escalation. It grew from a “big and cool” story he wrote (initially in Captain America), not planned as an event. “I don’t really consider it an event, but I thinkjust because of the nature of the internet and also my striking design, it invited questions. Who is this person ina cape? What is this cube they’re holding? I just don’t write that way. I’m not like, “All right, here’s an event.” Ijust wrote a story that I thought was like big and cool and interesting. And then Marvel’s like, “Oh, wow. This is acool event.” I’m like, “Oh, yeah, okay. I guess that’s what it’s called.” The Wolverine miniseries kind of cropped up in my head, so we added that to it,” so, like, it feels like a big thing. God, the more I talk about it, the more I realise I’m doing an event.”

Chip teases big changes “which will, you know, change the Marvel universe forever,” as they always do. He does say, “There are things in Avengers Armageddon where when I pitched it, people’s eyes lit up in the room, and they’re like, ‘Oh, okay. All right, that’s great.” Captain America will be the foundational title,  positioning it centrally in Marvel’s lineup, with the ongoing run feeding into Armageddon, such as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s return after One World Under Doom. But after that, a lot will depend on next month.

And possibly Jonathan Hickman. Chip says, “February, we’re going to have our big Marvel Summit, and so I’m going to be able to talk to the room more at length about everything that’s coming up and could be spitballing for like the next couple of years and like that’s exciting… Hickman’s like the smartest guy I know, but also he’s the most helpful. In that room, he’s the guy who’s just like, “Okay, but what if he did this?” And you’re like, “Oh, that’s brilliant.” Like, he’s that guy. And yeah, whenever I get to pick his brain about something, it’s awesome. So, being able to kind of figure out the next step for the Marvel universe with him, I think, is going to be super exciting.”

More to come next month… I expect we will hear a lot of this for ComicsPRO at the end of next month as well.

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