Benjamin Percy and Phillip Kennedy Johnson talk Marvel’s Midnight Universe

Marvel’s Midnight Universe is getting ready to open its doors, and this week we’re going straight to two of the writers helping build it. Benjamin Percy and Phillip Kennedy Johnson join the AIPT Comics Podcast for an extended conversation about Midnight Fantastic Four and Midnight Spider-Man, two of the three series launching Marvel’s new horror-infused universe on October 7. Along with Jonathan Hickman on Midnight X-Men, Percy and Johnson are helping to establish a world in which familiar Marvel characters are being rebuilt through body horror, cosmic terror, and some seriously disturbing new origins. Percy digs into the Lovecraftian nightmare behind his Fantastic Four, why their familiar powers are closer to curses, the influence of California's strange scientific and occult history, and just how grotesque Reed Richards' elasticity can become. Johnson takes us inside his radically different Peter Parker, the role Oscorp plays in his transformation, ScieTronc's horrifying designs, and why calling this version of Peter "Man-Spider" barely scratches the surface. The conversation also gets into the larger Midnight Universe, including how Percy, Johnson, and Hickman are coordinating their books, how carefully they're approaching other Marvel characters, plans for the universe to eventually expand, and yes, whether Hickman's beloved data pages are coming along for the ride. Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon! NEWS Marvel November solicitations! Jean Grey returns! Marvel’s ‘Incursions’ one-shots revisit the road to ‘Secret Wars’ this November Marvel teases ‘Origin III’: Is Wolverine’s untold past about to be revealed? Official press release Marvel’s November 2026 solicitations reveal the post -‘ Avengers: Armageddon’ era Marvel retells Venom’s origin from the symbiote’s perspective in ‘Venom: POV’ Marvel’s free ‘Midnight Universe’ ashcan reveals creepy new details Marvel Comics sheds light on November 2026 variant series Momo-Tone covers Exclusive: Benjamin Percy and Raúl Fernández launch sci-fi horror series ‘Egg Hunt’ Exclusive: Brain Poison launches with three new sci-fi comics in shared universe Garth Ennis and John McCrea get weird with psychedelic horror tale ‘The Snail’ DC Comics Solicitations for November Our Top Books of the Week: Dave: Punisher Vs. Spider-Man #2 (Dan Abnett, Matteo Della Fonte) Thor #800 Chris:​​ Nights #20 (Wyatt Kennedy, Luigi Formisano) The Last Driver #1 (Sean Murphy, Simon Gough) Standout KAPOW moment of the week: Chris: Nights #20 (Wyatt Kennedy, Luigi Formisano)  Dave: Destination Kill #4 (Joe Palmer) TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK Chris: Minotaur #2 (Si Spurrier, Michael Dowling) Dave: Batman: Bad Seeds – Sunset #1 (Matt Fraction, G. Willow Wilson, Giuseppe) JUDGING BY THE COVER JR. Dave: Tomb of Apocalypse