Ryan Ottley is ready for the next big thing. The legendary artist is best known for his 127-issue run on Invincible, where he helped design many iconic characters such as Battle Beast and Conquest. This was followed by a thrilling run on Amazing Spider-Man, where he worked alongside writer Nick Spencer to create the terrifying villain Kindred. Recently, Ottley concluded a run on Hulk where he scripted and penciled some cosmic adventures for Marvel’s jolly green giant.

What’s next for Ottley? A return to Invincible, or something even greater? We caught up with Ottley this summern, where the artist shared some of his plans. Ottley discussed the possibility of returning to Invincible, his thoughts on the upcoming second season, the rise of AI, and more. Let’s dive in…

Popverse: We just finished your Hulk run, which was crazy in the best way. It was like this whole psychic mindscape thing, but also a space opera. What inspired you to go there? And obviously, you had to take over writing duties after Donny Cates left. What was that like?

Ryan Ottley: It's very different. It's a whole different part of the brain to write, but quite fun. Quite rewarding. And just a whole different mindset. I only had four issues left to finish the series for my contract. So we had to cut everything short. I had to stack seven issues into three issues time. I just wanted to answer every single question that the readers had, and what I had. I just kind of started tying things together. And that was really fun to kind of figure it out. I threw in Despair, as the antagonist.

You had the Hulk break a planet! That was awesome!

Yeah, I had to do that! I really wanted to show how powerful Titan was. I had a lot of fun. And then of course, since I'm writing for myself, I get to really write what I want to draw. The biggest scenes, the splash pages, and just however you want to go. It was pure freedom.

Now that Hulk has wrapped up, what's next for you?

The next up is something that's not announced yet, but I'm working on it now. And it's definitely something I've been wanting to do for a while. It's a blast. It is an Image comic, so I'm back on creator-owned work.

During your run on Amazing Spider Man, you helped co-create the villain Kindred. At the time, did you know who Kindred was going to be?

No, Nick Spencer didn't tell me anything about it. He just said he wants this kind of character, and this kind of villain. And I just went to town on it. I had no idea how it would end up at all.

Can you describe what it was like designing Kindred?

It was just a back and forth phone call. Nick said it would be cool if they could be in a hood. I first designed them without the hood. He's like, 'Oh, man, I want a hood on them.' I just made little changes. And he wanted a giant centipede, so it was just a back-and-forth kind of collaboration.

Now, there's a lot of rumors - and when I say rumors, I mean fans guessing online, that the end of the run was supposed to be something else involving the 'One More Day' storyline. And it wound up being something else. Can we put that to rest, there was never any plans to undo One More Day?

I have no idea. I really don't know. You'd have to ask Nick that question.

What were some of your favorite memories from working with Nick on Amazing Spider Man?

My favorite part to work on was definitely the three-issue Gog story. I loved how he was a giant and they made him small. It was just super fun. I thought that was a blast. And then of course the Carnage stuff.

Could you ever see yourself returning to Invincible?

Possibly. if Kirkman is down, maybe an annual or something? We'll see. Anything is possible.

How do you feel about the success of the cartoon? Have you enjoyed their takes on some of the characters that you drew?

Of course, yeah! I get to be a consultant for the show. It's really fun to watch it all come to fruition and see how they handle it all. They're killing it. Season 2 is even better than season 1. It's unbelievable.

Have you gotten to see season 2?

Yeah, I'm a consultant so I get to see everything. I get to see the toys, video games, animation, and everything else. It's insane how it's blowing up and there's so much more content now.

Have you seen any of the memes online? Do you have any favorites?

There's a lot of good ones but none pop into my brain. the one that probably sticks in your brain the most is the Omni-Man bubble butt one. I don't understand what the hell that one is about, but it's funny.

As an artist, do you have any concerns about the rise of AI in the industry?

Not really. I'm really into storytelling. Maybe it's possible, I have no idea. But I just can't imagine pushing a button and saying create the movie Avatar or create Watchmen. Maybe it's possible to train a computer to create such emotion and drama. Maybe it's totally possible, I just don't see it yet. Right now it seems like it's most good at doing digital, just a one piece kind of thing. And so that probably affects the artists that have more of a digital fully rendered type of art, which I don't do. I do line art. I do storytelling, sequential art, you'd have to plug in cinematography, and composition and all that kind of stuff.

How have you evolved as a creator in the last decade?

I think that's the goal. Every month I try to get better at my craft. I'm always looking at my older work and be like, I need to improve here. I have to be super honest with how I do things with drawing or writing or whatever. That's the goal. I'm always trying to get better. It's like that saying, the more you learn, the more you learn what you don't know. There is just so much to learn about everything.

What are your biggest ambitions as a creator?

Right now, the main thing I want to do is just creator-owned. Just stuff from my own brain and collaborate with another writer, and that's what I'm doing right now. The current thing I'm working on is my dream projects right for sure.