Akihiro-related part of Steve Orlando’s ITV on AIPT (source here).
AIPT: I view the work you did with Akihiro similar to what Tini Howard did with Rachel — a new codename and breathing new life and purpose into a beloved character who’s been through a lot. What made you turn to the Fang identity and costume?
Steve (ORLANDO): Well, it helped that we were going into space with the Shi’ar for sure. Again, a lot of what Akihiro is about is tradition, right? History tends to rhyme and yes, Fang is obscure, but also arguably — and I know I’m going to light up the comment section here — arguably the best Wolverine costume that the brown and tan was based off of. I mean, he even wore the Fang costume during an early interaction with the Imperial Guard. So it kind of felt weird for me, as someone who looked at Akihiro and saw exactly as he says in Marauders, he’s had a name that people use to put him down. He’s had a name that his parents gave him, but he has never really had a codename other than “Dark Wolverine,” which is derivative. And I don’t know if his name was literally Dark Wolverine. Probably just “Wolverine.”
So he wanted to earn something. And as a character who, since Leah Williams had been working with him before, has sort of been trying to figure out how to rectify all that he’s been through, all these toxic emotions, having a name that is really his, felt like the right moment. So it’s a confluence as always of history and story, but also it’s what felt right for the character. He doesn’t want to be Wolverine’s kid anymore. He doesn’t want to be Wolverine’s arch enemy. He needs something that is his own and making this an honorific within the Lupak culture just felt right. Specifically calling it honorific is something we did that was additive, but it’s already been established that when someone in the Imperial Guard is killed, they get replaced by someone who suspiciously looks almost just like them. So what we did was build off what was there to give Akihiro something that was truly his own.
+ first look at Marauders #8 — illustrated by Eleonora Carlini
