Popverse's top stories

• Will Avengers: Doomsday see Doctor Doom get his hands on Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet? A cryptic message from Robert Downey Jr. has us wondering
• Critical Role has (lovingly) tortured DM Matt Mercer for years. His Campaign 4 character is revenge
• Amazing Spider-Man #1000 will be "a really big blowout" that will kickstart" the next chapter" of the Marvel's Spidey saga, says Joe Kelly

Alex Ross is one of the most beloved comic artists of all time thanks to his wholesome, Norman Rockwell inspired painting style, but Ross says he's been cautioned against digging too deep into the themes of his upcoming Marvel Dimensions OGN in a public forum as some of the underlying ideas could get him "canceled."

In addition to showcasing Ross' takes on the origin stories of classic Marvel characters, Marvel Dimensions also introduces a whole world of characters who are twisted reflections of popular Marvel heroes, which seems to be the root of Ross' concerns.

"I've already been warned, by the way, that if I've got people out there figuring certain things out, I shouldn't be confirming everything in interviews," Ross says in an interview with Word Balloon. "Not so much to be cagey, but that if I literally said what my subtext was, that I'm going to get myself in social media trouble. It was in part kind of conceived for the times we're living in. So it's itself meant to be kind of a contemporary work reflecting our world of the moment. So in some ways there's overtones that are very peaked, and that's one of the reasons I was warned, don't go into all this. Don't explain to people what you were thinking because then you're going to piss off somebody, and eventually, there are enough things in here to get one cancelled over. I guess."

Without Ross explaining what's so senses-shattering about Marvel Dimensions that he fears speaking it aloud could jeopardize his social standing in the comics community, we can only speculate based on what we know so far. Ross' comments are prompted by a discussion of his inverse take on Captain America, the American Sword, who leads an apparent team of Avengers consisting of Thor analog "Godhammer," and a Wolverine variant based on art shown in the interview.

"He is called the American Sword and he's one of the biggest details in here, that in some ways, if you could figure out what a version of America he's from, you might realize a whole other subset of the story," Ross explains. "So there's a lot contained with what you're supposed to interpret from him. So, he has a sword instead of a shield. What does that mean? Well, you know, there's symbolism that's loaded up in here, and I'm hoping people can determine my key."

According to Ross, there's a visual tic taken from Star Trek that may offer a clue as to the nature of the American Sword and his allies, which is giving facial hair to a character who is usually clean shaven, saying, "Your biggest indicator of what makes a bad person? A goatee."

Indeed, the American Sword and his Wolverine variant ally both sport beards. Marvel Dimensions is due out on September 1.

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:

• Upcoming movies
• Upcoming TV shows
• Upcoming comics
• Upcoming games
• Upcoming fiction books
• Upcoming comic conventions