With the Vin Diesel-led film on the way, now’s a good time to do some groundwork on the character of Bloodshot, if you aren’t already familiar with him. Created by Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin, and Bob Layton in 1992, Bloodshot has returned with a new series this year. Valiant Entertainment’s super soldier possesses powers of regeneration and meta-morphing thanks to the billions of nanites that course through his blood. His abilities allow him to shapeshift, heal, and interface with technology. But is all of this enough to deal with his newest enemy: Eidolon.

Revealed on the last page of issue #2, Eidolon is definitely going to cause problems for Bloodshot. Whatever powers she holds over him and whatever her past, we’ll find out soon enough as the story arc unravels, but in the meantime, the character’s creator and Bloodshot series writer Tim Seeley, along with editor Lysa Hawkins, offer some insight into Eidolon’s creation and what we might expect from her.

How did you come up with her name?

Seeley: I went through a lot of names, and a lot of “Not quite there yets” from the fine Valiant staff. But I had a character design for an Eidolon stashed away in a notebook from college I think, and had a “Eureka” moment. I wanted her to be mysterious and spooky at first, so the name fits well.

Hawkins: If you look up the word Eidolon in the dictionary you’ll find it stands for 1) an idealized person/thing or 2) a specter or phantom. I think Tim was brilliant to choose this name, as she is both.

What about the character design? What kind of notes and details shaped her look?

Seeley: Like I said, the idea was to give us someone who was mysterious and almost ghostly, so I knew I wanted a cloak and a mask. Overall, my design suggestions on this book have been “Universal Monster Plus Cyberpunk.” So, if Bloodshot is our Frankenstein’s Monster, Eidolon is our witch.

Hawkins: Tim came up with her aesthetics, and I reached out to Amilcar Pinna to help establish the look, but it didn’t come together until Brett Booth got his hands on her. I love, love, love how he draws her.

What do you enjoy most about working with this character?

Seeley: A lot of what she does is for show…and beneath this exterior is a more nuanced and vulnerable person. I wanted to take the ‘femme fatale’ type antihero and give her a more human side.

Hawkins: She’s actually funny. You don’t discover that at first, but she’s got a wicked sense of humor. She is powerful enough to keep Bloodshot on his toes, and that’s saying quite a lot.

How does she compare to the other villains Bloodshot has faced?

Seeley: She has psiot powers that give her control over DNA. And, she’s a product of Bloodshot’s past, and so when he faces her, he’s riddled with guilt. She can break him down literally and figuratively.

Hawkins: She is unlike any of Bloodshot’s previous foes. He even helped create the person she is today, and the guilt eats away at him.

The third issue of Bloodshot is out tomorrow, where we’ll get to dive into Eidolon’s story. Here’s an exclusive preview of what’s to come for Bloodshot from Valiant Entertainment: