Welcome to the New Marvel Universe
Entertainment Weekly broke the news yesterday afternoon that there’s a big ol’ fashioned mix up awaiting the Marvel Universe on the other side of Avengers Vs. X-Men. This new initiative, called Marvel NOW!, certainly smells like a New 52 style relaunch…
If you’ve been following ACB’s review of Avengers Vs. X-Men, you know that Victor and I are very passionate about what’s going on. We’ve both taken our slings and arrows over how we feel the coming of the Phoenix and that that means for the Marvel Universe as a whole. Well, our first major clue as to what is awaiting us on the other side of the massive event was dropped yesterday.
In a move that is very reminiscent of last year’s bombshell from DC, Marvel has announced that their universe will be relaunched in the wake of what appears to be a relatively devastating conclusion to the Phoenix’s visit. But what does this mean? What is happening to our heroes we grew up with? Are there just going to be a bunch of new #1′s or are they totally rebooting the line?
From what I gathered, this isn’t a total reboot. Instead, it is a relaunch. Yeah, I already know what you’re thinking… DC said the same thing only for us to find that so many characters we recognize were changed a whole bunch. This looks to be less of a change and more of a pure “starting point” for readers to get into Marvel Comics. There will be a shake up in titles, but if you read Amazing Spider-Man or Daredevil, you don’t have to worry about a new creative team or a brand new continuity. It will simply be a new #1.
However, the biggest shake up will be in the Avengers titles and the X-Men titles. Here is the rundown of the new titles:
Uncanny Avengers: Written by Rick Remender with art by John Cassaday, this book will be the flagship title of the Avengers franchise and will feature Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and Wolverine. The focus of this book will find Cap coming out of AvX with the thought that he hadn’t done enough to help mutants and as this book focuses on human/mutant relations, the title will also feature Havok, Cyclops’ little brother.
Avengers: Jonathan Hickman is slated to write this title and it’s going to be big and bombastic. Instead of having a half dozen or so Avengers, he plans on building a giant team of 18 or more members ranging from the well known to the hardly known.
All New X-Men: Oh boy… This one reveals some potential spoilers. Brian Michael Bendis jumps from Avengers to the X-Men as he brings the original team – Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast – from the past to the present. Why the past? What?!? I’m guessing things aren’t going to end well at the end of Avengers Vs. X-Men. Bendis promises this is a character-driven tale where these teenager versions of the X-Men are forced to look at the bleak future of themselves and they don’t like what they see one bit.
I’m sure more will come and reveal even more about this relaunch as October draws near. I’d keep an active ear out for news during Comic Con as this appears to be Marvel’s big initiative for the future.
Included with the article is an image by Joe Quesada featuring 13 major players in the upcoming Marvel Now! initiative. You probably won’t be surprised to see Rocket Raccoon there considering the news from last week about their next movie franchise. Check it out…
To keep my thoughts on this brief, I’m sure there will be many who will pitch a major fit over this relaunch. I can feel their pain, however, back before the end of the year last year, I considered writing an article suggesting Marvel do something to reach out to readers to tell them “Hey! You can start reading here!” that wasn’t the Marvel.1 idea. Some will cry foul on this just being a money grab gimmick. Hey, guess what… Marvel is a business. A business, I dare say, we want to see continue. So, that being the case, I welcome this move. As long as it isn’t a total reboot like the New 52 turned out to be for DC, I’m for anything that will get people to buy comics. Considering there isn’t anything really changing as far as continuity, bring it on!
Now that I’ve shared my two cents, please share yours! Let us know what you think!
11 Comments
I fear for long standing Marvel fans… but perhaps Marvel will have learned from DC’s massive mistakes.
Hahahaha! Seems like they copy the Reboot of DC shame on you marvelites! But still DC is the best!
“Some will cry foul on this just being a money grab gimmick. Hey, guess what… Marvel is a business.”
Sure, but the trick is to do business without the consumer feeling “took”. That implies quality and not just the neon signs.
I personally don’t mind the relaunch. I’ve already accepted the fact that Marvel has no respect for numbering which is my biggest pet peeve in comics. I hate the fact that issue numbers stop, restart at 1, and then later get renumbered back to the original number over and over again. It is confusing as hell to any new reader trying to pick up a run of back issues. But the problem today is that there are NO new readers. Marvel took a look at the DC Reboot, saw that it worked and decided to cash in. Anyone thinking otherwise, is blind. For once, Marvel completely jumped on the DC bandwagon!!
I look forward to the new titles. I pray they don’t suck as much as the majority of the DC Reboot titles. I hope this is not an alternate Universe, or else this is a complete waste and I wish Marvel the best of luck. Anything that gets new readers into comics and keeps the industry alive and thriving will get my full vocal support. Monetarily, I will still buy what I can afford and that’s that.
Upon further review and more information that has already come out since the announcement, it appears the Marvel NOW! initiative will roll out over time. Not everything will get relaunched in October, but, instead, happen over a few months. It appears New Avengers relaunches in January with some other titles.
Hi Guys,
In the pic… that looks like ultimate Nick Fury to me. So… huh? Maybe at the end of AvX, the Phoenix will make the two Nick Furys switch universes. also… Cap look like CRAP.
Anyway, it looks like Marvel is at least going to try to make this a story driven change, so maybe it’ll work out fine. it’ll give me a good excuse to drop my avengers titles!
That’s actually Nick Fury Jr. Nick Fury’s black son who didn’t know his true identity. Then, five seconds after he found out, he lost his eye, his dad retired from SHIELD, and Nick Jr. took his place.
I’m not kidding.
It was a mandate from “upstairs” for the comics to match up with the movies, especially since Sam Jackson’s Fury is so popular.
so, this is going to be the 4th daredevil relaunch. I know you say they’re not going to change anything, but is that necessarily a good thing? I think that bendis and malleev had the best take on our horned hero. I’m not saying that the current series isn’t good, but it’ll never really have the same feeling.
Well, as more information has come out, the more it looks like maybe not every series will see a relaunch. Understandably, Avengers and X-Men will be shaken up, but not all their relaunches are happening in October. What I figure will likely happen is that each series will be have some sort of banner (I know, I know, we all love those) that will be meant as the actual jumping off point for whatever series to be brought into Marvel NOW! That said, some series will have a story reason for a new #1, but others like Daredevil or Spider-Man may not get that relaunch for a long time if ever.
No matter what, this week will be very interesting as Marvel rolls this out during Comic-Con.
I agree with you about the numbering but that seems to be a lost cause reading Axel’s comments. With this news about nMarvel Now I’d be lying if I didn’t say it seems a bit terrifying, especially in the context of Brubaker’s departure from my beloved Cap. Still, as long as continuity is repsected, yes no alt universe please, I do like Hickman taking on the Avengers.
Well, the X-titles have been kind of crappy of late; now Marvel wants to mix X-men and Avengers ???
This doesn’t bode well…..
The X-men of the past ..in the present ??!!
A new Nova ?
Why did they “kill off” Rich Rider in the first place ?
The last Nova series was very good but it got the axe . WTF ?
Now Hulk is an Agent of Shield !!??
THor lost the cape!!?? Doh, big deal….
MARVEL just decided to commit seppuku.
Long live DC.