Today we talked to Rick Remender, artist Mike McKone and editor Nick Lowe about the future of Uncanny X-Force. Which will not involve Avengers Vs. X-Men.

Remender explains that there was much teeth-gnashing, but without existing context for an AvX plot within Uncanny X-Force or Secret Avengers, he wasn’t interested in manufacturing such a tangent. Lowe agreed, pointing to the book’s history as a lone wolf amongst the X-books. It was ultimately decided that the book’s current velocity should be allowed to progress unabated.

So, what is on the horizon? The comparatively cheery Otherworld arc wraps up with #23. This positions a changed Betsy for the far more harrowing dangers ahead.

The next big chapter of Uncanny X-Force is a nine-issue mega arc in the vein of “The Dark Angel Saga” called “Final Execution.” It deals with the advent of a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with a roster Remender and Lowe contend to be its most formidable yet. A big group of heavies, all logical choices for such a legacy and not just obscure wall-dressing from bygone eras.

The script for issue #30 is already in the can.

What else? New series artist McKone teases a ridiculous Deadpool shopping spree. Remender is quick to chime in that the scene has a dramatic purpose in that Wade is on a recon mission. Nonetheless, expect silly fun in issue #25.

Not all fun and games though. That same issue sees the rise of the Omega Clan. Remender and McKone are introducing three new characters created from the remains of Omega Red (Omega White, Omega Red, Omega Black). Their power set and motivations are a mystery, but we do know that they’re involved with a corporate retail outlet called White Sky. “It’s a CostCo for assassins,” Remender explains.

We asked Remender is this “Final Execution” was in anyway a callback to the shocking execution which has personified the series from the first arc. Is this development something that the writer had planned since the very beginning? Remender explained that he never had the events of issues #25 and beyond worked out when he was plotting the first arc. “This arc started to formulate in the midst of putting together the “Dark Angel Saga.””

Lowe called it a “thematic destination,” alluding to issues of responsibility and uneasy choices that weave throughout the series.

“Tonally, yes, this is what I wanted to do from the very beginning,” Remender says.

On the nature vs. nurture side, we asked Rick whether he believed young Genesis has any chance of leading a normal, moral life with those lips. On a more serious note, did Remender himself have plans for the lad’s future, or was he offering him up to the stable of writers to get creative with him? Remender said he was only giving Jason Aaron a taste, allowing him to borrow Genesis for a bit before pulling him back. He joked that Aaron was untrustworthy. “That beard. In his mind the Civil War is still on.” He conceded though that there are big plans for Genesis and that he will have a greater role in the X-books down the road. They just don’t want to squander him on a lackluster story. He emphasized the tight organization between the X-Men writers.

“Those lips will definitely play a role though.”

We got to laughing and the writer let slip that, on the topic of Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins may well be two of the mysterious member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Anecdotes of donkeys in Tijuana also came up. But I’ll be saving those for my memoirs.

Look for “Final Execution” in the pages of Uncanny X-Force #25, on sale in May.