The X-Men‘s latest era, From the Ashes, continues with a brand-new Sentinels limited series arriving this October. CBR has an exclusive first look at the premiere issue and chats with writer Alex Paknadel about the Sentinel’s upcoming adventures as the group hunts evil mutants.

Marvel’s solicit for Sentinels #1 teases the legacy of the Sentinel Program falling into the hands of mutants. “Powered by cutting-edge nanotech, this new generation of Sentinels protects a fragile peace between mutants and humans. But when being a Sentinel is your job — your life — is it possible to stay human?” The group’s first mission will be to capture Omega Red, and CBR’s first look at the issue shows an intense confrontation between the Sentinels and the legendary X-Men villain. Sentinels #1 goes on sale Oct. 9.

Written by ALEX PAKNADEL Art and Cover by JUSTIN MASON Variant Cover by NICK BRADSHAW Variant Cover by JEREMY WILSON Windowshades Variant Cover by CHRIS CAMPANA On Sale Oct. 9

CBR: How are the new Sentinels different from the original?

Alex Paknadel: First and foremost, the new Sentinels differ from the originals in that they’re human – or mostly human at least. These are all human beings – wounded ex-military in most cases – who have volunteered for a nanotech infusion that will simultaneously heal them and vastly augment their strength, stamina and durability. In exchange, they are recruited into Lawrence Trask’s Sentinel Fireteam Alpha — a squad charged with locating and capturing “rogue” mutants so they can be incarcerated in Graymalkin Prison, the former X-mansion and now a terrifying mutant supermax.

Being a mutant himself, does Lawrence Trask feel any guilt about guiding a group of mutant-hunting soldiers?

Lawrence was resurrected on Krakoa and is now a true believer in Xavier’s dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants; however, his limited precognitive abilities have enabled him to identify mutants capable of destroying the fragile armistice between homo sapiens and homo superior. In consequence, he is utterly convinced that the best way to help the mutant cause is the remove the “bad apples” from the equation – beginning with Omega Red. It’s obviously a deeply flawed logic, but he’s sincere in his aims. The tragedy of Lawrence Trask is that he’s doomed by his father’s legacy no matter what he does.

Are Lawrence’s visions clear enough to justify hunting the “evil” mutants or is it more ambiguous and a lot of assumptions are being made?

You see a glimpse of his visions in Sentinels #1, and they’re absolutely chaotic – way more noise than signal. It’s been a long-established trait of the character that his visions are messy and painful, so he’s not working with a full set of facts here. Like most Krakoans who returned, he’s back in the world and trying to make sense of what just happened. The various X-teams are adapting pretty well, but others – like Lawrence – aren’t doing so well. A lot of people are going to get hurt as a result.

Without giving too much away, could his actions make the future worse than the visions he’s having?

Absolutely. But more than that, they’re making the present worse – and not just for the mutants he’s hunting, but also the team of hunters he’s handpicked to execute his vision. Trust me, the Sentinel team has no idea what they’ve signed up for – and they’re going to be very, very mad when they find out.

What are you the most excited for fans to see?

I’m obviously extremely proud of the book, and I think it’s one of the best things I’ve done, but I’m most excited for fans to see the incredible Justin Mason flourishing as an artist. I was blown away by his work when we were first discussing artists for the series, but he’s shown astonishing versatility on this book and I can’t wait to see him take his place on the A list. Whether it’s bone-crunching action or incredibly subtle nuances of human emotion, Justin can do it all.

Sentinels #1 goes on sale Oct. 9 from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel