'Avengers Academy' Creators Break Down Blackheart's Human Form, Teen Immortus' New Suit

When AVENGERS ACADEMY: MARVEL’S VOICES INFINITY COMIC (2024) launched last year on Marvel Unlimited, the inaugural class featured six of the Marvel Universe’s brightest up-and-comers: Captain America of the Railways, Bloodline, Escapade, Red Goblin, Kid Juggernaut, and Moon Girl. Now, nearly 50 issues in, the cast has expanded to include two new, but familiar students: Teen Immortus, the time-traveler once destined to become Kang, and Blackheart, Mephisto’s demonic son turned mortal.

Speaking to Marvel.com, AVENGERS ACADEMY: MARVEL’S VOICES INFINITY COMIC (2024) writer Anthony Oliveira and artist Bailie Rosenlund broke down the process of bringing Blackheart and Teen Immortus into the series. They explored what makes both characters fit so well in the established world of Avengers Academy, while embracing the elements that make each unique. They also explained what makes these characters beautiful but tragic, shared their favorite experiences from working on the series, and so much more.

MARVEL.COM: This is the first time we’ve seen Blackheart’s human form. What was your most important consideration when you reinvented him for Avengers Academy?

ANTHONY OLIVEIRA: We’ve actually seen Blackheart take on human guises before (including in his very first appearance, as well as his extended time as the Mayor of Chicago and as a casino manager!), but this time he’s stuck in it, and truly incarnated. His body is mortal, it needs food and sleep, it can be hurt and take pleasure, it can be killed, it will (if he’s lucky!) age and die. It’s also his—not a trick, not an illusion, but the real-deal human experience coming at him 24/7. He is learning what it truly means to be one of those fragile, vulnerable creatures he’s been tormenting for his whole life, and it is disorienting and difficult.

Blackheart is fascinating to me because his origin has two elements that I think are underappreciated. Firstly, he is born a demon; he’s not a “fallen” creature in the traditional Christian demonic sense, nor in the sense of having been a human who became demonic. Blackheart never had a choice or a chance to be anything other than the Son of Hell. He is born, and Mephisto says, “Hey, you’re evil like me, by the way,” and Blackheart sets about from those first principles. 

Secondly, he is young. While the energies of Christ’s Crown Hill amassed for centuries, they do not coalesce into the Blackheart entity until very, very recently in comic-time.

So, to me, Blackheart is in a familiar position to many young adults (myself included, when I was a young person): the world says I’m bad—am I? Is that true? Could I be something else? Avengers Academy, and the fragility of a human life, represent his chance to ask those questions.

BAILIE ROSENLUND: When beginning his design, Anthony gave me a few guidelines we wanted to work within: 18ish, Latino, lean swimmer’s bod, chaotically bisexual, while also being chock full of Catholic guilt. And of course, he had to be very handsome and sad, so you can imagine how excited I was when I was assigned his design. [laughs] 

Blackheart's demon form is very iconic—it’s both beautiful and tragic—mirroring his introduction in DAREDEVIL (1964) #270. That’s something that was really important to me to maintain in his human form, knowing that he was going to be explored as this complicated character—who’d always held an antagonistic role—now faced with human emotions and experiences and struggle with his identity. 

I wanted to make sure his design would be able to showcase that; I tend to use his sad hooded eyes to push those subtle expressions. I also wanted to keep callbacks to his original design, so we kept his irises red and shaped his hair to reflect his demonic silhouette.

MARVEL.COM: Tell me a little about Blackheart’s rose motif and how you’ve incorporated it into the character and the series so far.

ANTHONY OLIVEIRA: The rose motif for Blackheart is actually something we pulled straight from his first issue. In DAREDEVIL (1964) #270, Blackheart’s first appearance by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr., we are told about Christ’s Crown Hill, the cursed patch of land from which Blackheart springs autochthonously, which is the site of many murders that soak its ground and over which grow “strange plants, twisted with a melancholic beauty—romantic, tragic roses with a thousand thorns for every blossom.” In Romita’s early art of Blackheart, he indeed looks like he’s made of black, twisting thorns.

Daredevil is, of course, a blind character, so he knows Blackheart through his other senses. In Nocenti’s stories, he frequently remarks on the scent of “roses and burning ink” when Blackheart is near—“something foul, yet a hint of incense,” a sweet stench which Spider-Man says is like “old rot with cheap perfume dumped on top.”  

This idea of something beautiful mixed with something ruined, the delicate rose protected jealously and fearfully by the angry thorn, felt to me like such an icon for what this character is and his debilitating hedgehog’s dilemma—a beautiful bloom growing secretly and fearfully amid this dreadful briar. When Blackheart became bound in a human body, this motif became part of his tattoos, a marking of this complicated, thorny but sensitive nature. 

We also took this idea and incorporated it into Abigail Housman (the first victim of Christ Crown’s dark legacy and, therefore, in some ways, Blackheart’s “mother”), who became for us an early botanist, interested in medicines and learning, whose curiosity and wisdom made her the target of village prejudice.

BAILIE ROSENLUND: In his origin, he was “birthed” on Christ’s Crown Hill—named for the thick bramble of rose bushes surrounding the base of the hill. His demonic form is typically drawn with tiny thorns all over his body, and it’s often mentioned that when he’s near, he smells like burnt ink and roses. We wanted to maintain this motif in his human form. 

Initially, we talked about having an actual crown of thorns tattoo on his chest, but given the fact that he’s (usually) clothed, we wouldn’t see it often. We explored different styles of tattoos and placements to help give him a more iconic and recognizable design, eventually settling on the “mildly complicated” design we have now: sprawling rose thorns emanating from his neck, spreading across his shoulders, upper arms, and chest. Then we added a tiny rosebud peaking out just behind his ears. (I’d like to formally apologize to my fellow ACADEMY artists for this one... sorry, y’all.)

Fashion-wise, Blackheart is fairly simple: very clean and nu-goth, so it gives us the opportunity to decorate his wardrobe with roses here and there. It also helps us make him look both cool and sad.

MARVEL.COM: Teen Immortus also got a bit of a makeover. How did you decide which Kang/Iron Lad elements to keep and which to update?

BAILIE ROSENLUND: Teen Immortus was very fun to design. We were going for a kinda “time-space-wizard-monk,” so I basically approached him as if I was designing a Dungeons & Dragons character. [laughs] I started by exploring different ways we could reinvent the “Kaftan Kang,” utilizing similar shape language while giving him a fresher feeling. I mostly picked out elements that I enjoyed and played around with how I could alter it while maintaining the “vibe.” 

One particular element I really liked, and wanted to keep in his new design, are his thigh-high fabric (fake) boots. It’s just such a fun, classic super-hero design I’d love to keep alive. I thought I’d spice it up by breaking up his proportions and ending them at the ankles—because why not! 

Some must-keep elements we had were the Kang lines in his mask (which I kept completely solid and emotionless), his time space belt, and (virtually) his Iron Lad armor below. It was nice having that as his base, because then I could work his robes around the circular design elements—which became a really fun way to tease him to our very observant readers. Then, we gave him a Triadic pallet based off of Kang’s green/purple—and there you have it!

MARVEL.COM: What were some of the joys and challenges of bringing Teen Immortus into this story?

ANTHONY OLIVEIRA: Teen Immortus fascinates me because he is from a peaceful, far-flung future but has lived his adolescence in paralyzing fear of what that future may bring, because he knows he is “destined” to become the tyrannical Kang the Conqueror. In some ways, this makes him an excellent foil for Blackheart; they are both characters who feel doomed to their villainy, one through the indelible sins of the past and the other the seeming inevitability of what’s to come.

In Immortus’ case, though, that dark future was diverted at great personal cost. He died a hero; he never became the monster, but life (his friends, his loved ones) moved on. Now, thanks to M’Kraan, he can watch and he can guide the reality he died to save, but the great fear, the risk that petrifies him, is that if he dares to become involved again, he can jeopardize that perfect future he worked to build—and by becoming entangled in real life, could risk that he might again set himself on a path of becoming the monster he so fears, or even a worse one. 

The joy and challenge of a character like Immortus is they are, like Hamlet, stuck—terrified that their next act may make of them a hero or may damn their soul. The world seems to be calling out to them to enter the fray, but they fear what they will have done once the dust settles. That is, to me, such a fascinating ethical question, maybe the ethical question of the super hero—can I do good, even as I risk doing evil?

BAILIE ROSENLUND: A big goal with Teen Immortus for me was creating a new look that was not only iconic and recognizable, but also just fun to draw. Being a character who already has notable looks tied to different eras/timelines of who he is/was/becomes, it was definitely a little daunting. 

Blackheart has—for the most part—pretty much always looked the same. Revamping him in human form was almost like making a brand new character. But with Nate, he required a lot more research exploring his designs and shape language; creating a look that could still be recognized as him, while also giving him a new identity. 

I’m kind of a nerd who loves to collect a lot of research before a project like this, so the whole experience was ultimately really fun. And it’s been such a pleasure and honor to see our readers enjoy and even draw it!

MARVEL.COM: What do these characters add to the team dynamic that makes them so unique and interesting to you?

ANTHONY OLIVEIRA: Immortus and Blackheart both play on a theme embedded in AVENGERS ACADEMY: is there a way to be a hero, when all the world and our own natures seem always to jeopardize that, seem to tempt us towards something darker? They join characters like Normie (the heir to the Green Goblin legacy), Brielle (a vampire by birth) and Justin (a vassal of the demon Cyttorak) in being aware that even as they work for the good, darkness stalks their steps. They both also add a dynamic that is very much all their own.

Blackheart starts from grumpy, even malefic. He feels no need to be nice or make friends; he is stuck here and is willing to make that everyone’s problem. I suggested in his pitch document that he’d be like our Seven of Nine—a new “friend” who is actually incredibly disruptive to our healthy, friendly social function.

Conversely, Immortus is an almost blithe, gentle soul to a fault. He knows the peace of having finished his race—you know, well done thou good and faithful servant. All of time is laid out before him, and he treats it like a garden he gently prunes, the hard work done. The kids don’t know what to make of him, and that’s because he is terrified to know himself now. Better to exposit, better to assign missions. He’s like when you have finished a video game, and you have all the armor and stuff, and are like, “What now?” It’s tempting to rip up the garden, to delete the save file. I think that terrifies him.

MARVEL.COM: What is your favorite experience from working on Avengers Academy?

ANTHONY OLIVEIRA: The fan response has been so surreal—such an outpouring of support and love, for these characters and for our team of creators. We work as hard as we do because we see the enthusiasm and joy it brings to people week after week. 

I love the way this book is pushing the envelope—in representation, in what can be in a comic, and in what that can look like. Our artists have done some unbelievable experimentations with the Infinity Comic form, pushing structures and panels in ways we’ve never seen before, that I think represents revolutionary work. 

At the story level, our series has featured some significant milestones in the depiction of queer life (including trans rep and discussions of PrEP and HIV status) and in the crises of mounting queerphobia and xenophobia. It brought back a retro energy of variable stakes and tone issue-to-issue that harkens back to a more Claremontian soap opera feel that I think has been missing from super hero comics for a while and which I think fans really miss and yearn for. 

Above all, the stories we’re telling are living up to the highest promise of Marvel Comics since its inception: to show the world outside your window. I am so proud of that.

BAILIE ROSENLUND: I have too many to list. I just really love this book. I cannot overstate how awesome it is to work on something that you’re genuinely a fan of. I feel like a little VIP whenever I get a script cause it’s like getting early access. [laughs] 

I love my team; I love getting to work alongside such amazing artists who continue to inspire me to learn and grow on this series; I love our characters (they’ve all become my special little blorbos); and I love our readers. They’re so engaged and observant and downright funny! I look forward to their reactions (and memes) every week. 

I know this story will have to wrap up someday, and it’ll certainly be a sad day—but I’m thankful for the time I’ve had with everyone.

AVENGERS ACADEMY: MARVEL'S VOICES releases new issues on Marvel Unlimited every Wednesday. AVENGERS ACADEMY: ASSEMBLE (2025) #1, which collects the first six issues of the series in print for the first time, is now available.

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