Gillen adresses 'Akira' similarities

Kieron Gillen has addressed concerns about the similarity of his current Generation Hope storyline to the iconic anime Akira, claiming that the pastiche is intentional.

Gillen's first arc on the new X-Men ongoing series sees protagonist Hope Summers attempting to help a new mutant called Kenji Uedo from hurting the residents of Tokyo when his powers of transformation become unstable.

In Generation Hope #2, readers saw Kenji grow into a monstrous mass of techno organic matter, reminiscent of the finale of Akira, in which the main character Tetsuo also morphs into a giant creature.

"That resemblance is deliberate and highly stated, Gillen told CBR. "What I'm trying to do with Kenji is show that he's an artist, and I wanted to talk about the idea of creation."

"He could have created anything, but he hasn't," the writer continued. "He's acting like he's in Akira, because he's watched Akira."

"It's how he thinks he should act - it's the only way he can process the horror of his body starting to warp," Gillen added.

'The Future is a Four Letter Word' concluded in this month's issue of Generation Hope, which is on sale now.