Benjamin Percy Explains the Man-Thing Connection in 'Weapon Plus: World War IV'

The storied, sordid history of Weapon Plus is about to get a new chapter thanks to a new one-shot, WEAPON PLUS: WORLD WAR IV, written by Benjamin Percy with art by Georges Jeanty and on sale Wednesday, January 29. Despite it being behind the creation of some of Marvel's most popular heroes -- including Captain America and Wolverine -- Weapon Plus is notorious for its horrific experiments on human beings, often against their will, with the purpose of creating a living weapon.

And a new weapon, thanks to the experiments of a member of Marvel's past, is about to come forward: Man-Slaughter.

In an interview with CBR, Percy explained the origin of Man-Slaughter:

"Jackson Strode is an investigative journalist who’s researching toxic runoff from a lab that turns out to belong to Weapon Plus. He breaks in, and after snooping around, finds several guns trained on him. He becomes their captive and lab rat. They’re trying to create a super-soldier serum using research stolen from Ted Sallis’ experiments — and Jackson is the result. He’s a reluctant paramilitary weapon. Though he is promised an eventual cure, the brass keeps moving the goalposts on him."

Ted Sallis is also known as Man-Thing, which explains the similar look that Man-Slaughter takes on after the experiment.

One aspect of Man-Slaughter as a threat is that his weaponization comes organically, botanically -- similar to how the mutants have weaponized flora on Krakoa. Said Percy: "[A] botanical threat ties right in to Krakoa and the organic tech we’re playing with there."

Does this mean that Man-Slaughter could pop up again? It's an open-ended question, but one thing is certain: Jackson Strode didn't exactly volunteer for this mission, and he might have a bone to pick with a few people.

Read the whole interview with Benjamin Percy at CBR for more about Man-Slaughter and Weapon Plus!

WEAPON PLUS: WORLD WAR IV, written by Benjamin Percy and David with art by Georges Jeanty and a second story by Ryan Cady with art by David Baldeón, goes on sale Wednesday, January 29. Pre-order your copy today online or at your local comic shop!