Elektra: House Money

Unlike most visitors to Las Vegas, Elektra will be getting gone when the getting is good.

Before the lethal lady grabs the next flight out of the glittering glitzy desert, however, we cajoled ELEKTRA writer Matt Owens to talk about how her time on the Strip changed her and what he learned about Ms. Natchios over the course of this series.

Marvel.com: Obviously, when you start the pitch for a character you have a distinct idea of him or her. However, over time, often, that perspective may evolve and change. In writing ELEKTRA, how did the titular character evolve for you? Where did she start and where did she end up in terms of how you thought of her?

Matt Owens: I learned an important lesson as I watched Elektra do the same throughout this story. I think Elektra is very similar at the beginning and the end of this story. The lesson learned is that that is ok. We are who we are. Failures, faults, fears. Elektra was running from a lot but ultimately she was running from herself. At the end of this series, she is not running anymore.

Marvel.com: Continuing that thread of how Elektra changed within the book, how do you see her trip to Sin City as having made her over? What ramifications can you imagine these changes having down the road?

Matt Owens: I think the biggest ramifications are going to be for those who have screwed her over most recently. After her most recent run-in with Daredevil, she tried to escape all the pain and bull. Now she realizes that there is nowhere she can go where someone will not be messing with her. So it’s going to give her a great drive heading back to New York. She has certain people in her [crosshairs] and she is a newly motivated Elektra.

Marvel.com: One aspect that you really dug into in the book is how Elektra’s past echoes into her future. Now this can be said for all of us, but why is it especially true for her? Do you view those echoes as helping her or imprisoning her in her current life?

Matt Owens: They do both.

One of the themes of this book is how your past informs your future. Are either of those two things escapable? Are they intricately intertwined? We see how Elektra deals with failing to save people. It’s a hang-up of hers from her early days of trying to be a hero. And it has a big impact on her in the present day story.

Similarly, her future seems to be rooted in her past as well. Both in the place and people it will involve. It’s inescapable. Which can be a frustrating realization to come.

Marvel.com: Artistically, how did your collaboration with Juan Cabal progress? How did you two aid/push each other creatively?

Matt Owens: Working with Juan was one of the most fun parts of this book. I make a lot of references to things in my scripts. It’s how I think and talk. Juan and I very quickly learned that we love the same sorts of things.

Elektra #5 cover by Elizabeth Torque

I would make a reference to the One Piece manga and he would visually know what I was getting at. I would make a Final Fantasy reference and he would come back with something even bigger and better than I imagined. You can definitely see the visual influences on our version of Murder World. It ends up being our sort of homage to Gold Saucer. It evolved over the course of the run as we got to know each other better.

We made each other laugh a lot and challenged each other and I think the book turned out great because of that.

Marvel.com: Making Arcade the central villain of the story certainly pitted Elektra against a nontraditional opponent. Looking back over the arc, what do you think that helped you reveal about your protagonist as a character? Similarly, what did putting Arcade against someone he doesn’t generally cross swords with help you to explore or highlight about him?

Matt Owens: Going to Vegas was a selfish act on Elektra’s part. Finally fed up with everything she has had to deal with in her life/lives, she chose to flee. But a hero does not get to give up his/her duty so easily. It was a difficult lesson to learn, but that was [what] Arcade forced her to see. That she is innately good. She will help people. She’s had failures in the past, but that does not make her any less of a hero. On the physical side, it also solidified why Elektra is one of the deadliest members of the Marvel Universe. She got to show off a lot of skills in this story. It was fun having her in an unfamiliar environment and seeing how she would get herself out of certain situations.

Now for Arcade, going up against Elektra was the ultimate instance of flying too close to the sun. He had a lot to prove with this new Murder World. He was still dangerous, he was still entertaining, and he can still kill the best. He’s desperate to try and reclaim his perceived seat at the high table of super villains. But as he explains to Elektra, even these current machinations are at the behest of someone else. He thought he could taste former glory, but it eluded him once again.

Marvel.com: Looking specifically at issue #5, why is it a must-have for any fans of Elektra the character or your ELEKTRA series?

Matt Owens: I think it helps solidify, for the universe and for Elektra herself, her importance and ties to New York. Specifically to characters like Daredevil and Wilson Fisk. The impetus for her flight to Vegas was an attempt to get away from things in her past. Matt, New York, heroism. Only to realize at the end that no matter what she does, she is inexplicably tied to those people [and] that place. It is her destiny. Whether she likes it or not.

That’s a hard realization to come to. Elektra has been a tool used by so many people for a long time. Oftentimes feeling like her choices are not her own. This battle with Arcade and the implications behind it have proven that to be true to an extent. And that is not going to sit well with Elektra. Now she can return to her rightful corner of the universe and face the very things she was trying to push away head on.

Go all in on ELEKTRA #5 by Matt Owens and Juan Cabal, available June 28!