"Secret Wars" Event To Merge Mainstream And Ultimate Marvel Universes Together

[ZariusTwo]

Marvel Comics have revealed the game-changing events of the forthcoming Secret Wars event by Jonathan Hickman will see the death of the mainstream and Ultimate Marvel universes, with both merging and forming part of Battleworld, where various other universes will seek refuge on to hold off extinction for as long as they can.

The big news delivered during the event is that the Marvel Universe and Ultimate Universe will combine in the inciting incident of "Secret Wars," in an "incursion" as described in Hickman's "Avengers" and "New Avengers" run. The end result is Battleworld, which has been previously partly revealed by a series of teaser images drawing off of past Marvel history -- and it's not just those two prominent universes that will be colliding.

"The Ultimate Universe, the Marvel Universe, they're going to slap together," Alonso said. "Imagine two pizzas: They're going to combine toppings, some toppings are going to drop off. And that is the Marvel Universe moving forward. It's more than the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe, it's all the universes you can imagine. That is the Marvel Universe going forward."

The series of previously released teasers only represent about half of the Battleworld landscape, as revealed by Marvel. Multiple announcements are planned over the next two weeks for more stories tying in to "Secret Wars."

"Once you hit 'Secret Wars' #1, there's no Marvel Universe, there's no Ultimate Universe," Brevoort said. "It's all Battleworld." "None of these stories are What Ifs are alternate reality stories," Alonso added. "And they will have legs. They will impart new things into the Marvel Universe going forward."

Today's news raises plenty of more questions, including what Marvel's publishing line will look like as a whole during the course of "Secret Wars" -- and what shape the Marvel Universe will be in after the event. CBR's full coverage of the presentation follows, and check back soon for more from the event.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=58625

[CyberCubed]

So its happening, even the Ultimate universe is too old now they have to do another full reboot.

Between DC's New 52, the Star Wars continuity being restarted at Marvel with Dark Horse continuity being "non-canon", and now Marvel its all happening.

Makes you wonder if comics as a whole are a dying medium and should be put out to pasture.

[Amaranthus]

I'm not sure what to think about this.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

This is why I don't read comics except for TMNT ever. (Well, and Skullkickers.)

Mainstream comics, be it DC or Marvel, are not a satisfactory medium for storytelling. Actions have no permanent consequences; death, identity revelations, love relationships... none of it is permanent. A new writer comes on board, and previous editorial directions are ignored. If you like a series or a writer, just wait; it will change. And if you don't like a series or a writer, just wait; it, too, will change.

I love Batman and all of his supporting characters, Iron Man, Captain America, Flash, Green Arrow, but I don't read the comics. To me, they are nothing but source material from which to create amazing television shows, cartoons, and movies. Because there, actions have consequences and I don't have to worry about the next six months being nothing but build-up to the next big crossover event which is there only to boost lagging sales and B and C-list characters.

Oh, and that's another thing: far too many comic stories rely on characters outside that particular series. If I'm a Batman fan, I may not be interested in Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, et al. I understand the occasional crossover, but mainstream comics seem to do them to death.

For examples (all from Batman, the only comic series I keep tabs on but don't read):

• Court of Owls/Night of Owls: the main storyline is great, but the majority of the crossover issues (Robin, Batgirl, Red Hood, etc) were forgettable
• Death of the Family: ditto
• Zero Year: again, ditto
• Eternal: dragging on way too long, now existing only to drag out a story to 52+ issues

But hey, for those of you who disagree and like mainstream comics, more power to you. Glad you can enjoy them!

[CyberCubed]

The rule of reading mainstream comics is to make your own "canon." You decide which storylines and characters "count" and which don't.

You can't follow continuity of everything anyway and everything is retconned or done away with every 10 years anyway. Make your own personal canon, that way you can pick and choose which stories count in your personal universe.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I understand the "headcanon" thing... heck, a lot of us do that with TMNT (Image Volume 3)!

But I think it's still disingenuous to readers to flood the market with a lot of stuff that goes nowhere or cancels out pre-existing stories. Whereas movies, television, and novels, which are more limited by the amount of work involved, are much more deliberate in crafting an ongoing continuing story. It takes longer to do things, but those things have weight.

Of course, not collecting comics does have its disadvantages, too; for example, Jason Todd is probably my favorite Batman character, but he's still only appeared in one DC film so far: Under the Red Hood. Never shown in the Batman TAS cartoon, nor any of the live-action films. The odds of me seeing a dynamite "Under the Hood" movie in theaters? Slim.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

The rule of reading mainstream comics is to make your own "canon." You decide which storylines and characters "count" and which don't.

You can't follow continuity of everything anyway and everything is retconned or done away with every 10 years anyway. Make your own personal canon, that way you can pick and choose which stories count in your personal universe.

[CyberCubed]

DC/Marvel comics should follow their cartoon/movie counterparts where a universe goes on for a few years and has a concrete ending, and then a new series comes along as a reboot.

For example we don't have one continuous Batman show going on since the 30's. No, there are different shows "60's Batman," B:TAS, The Batman, etc. and they all end. Then a new series comes along as a reboot.

Comics are intended to go on forever but after a decade writers and the fanbase changes so they should just end the series and do a reboot

[snake]

Looks like the house of ideas is out of ideas.

[Galactus]

I'm not sure why they bothered with an announcement. We already knew that two were merging together as well as with a bunch of other alternate earths to create the new Battleworld.

We know they'll all become un-merged at the end of Secret Wars since we know of at least one title confirmed post Secret Wars that takes place an alternate universe and several more 616 based books that will carry on their story lines from before the event.

At most I can see some elements of the other universes particularly the Ultimate Universe permanently merging with the main Marvel Universe. I think we can safely assume Miles Morales' history will be transferred to the regular Marvel U.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by Galactus

I'm not sure why they bothered with an announcement. We already knew that two were merging together as well as with a bunch of other alternate earths to create the new Battleworld.

We know they'll all become un-merged at the end of Secret Wars since we know of at least one title confirmed post Secret Wars that takes place an alternate universe and several more 616 based books that will carry on their story lines from before the event.

At most I can see some elements of the other universes particularly the Ultimate Universe permanently merging with the main Marvel Universe. I think we can safely assume Miles Morales' history will be transferred to the regular Marvel U.

Yay! ....though I kinda liked him being THE Spiderman of his universe....(then again Peter Parker came back anyway so I guess that doesn't matter now)

[Spike Spiegel]

Originally Posted by CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy

This is why I don't read comics except for TMNT ever. (Well, and Skullkickers.)

Mainstream comics, be it DC or Marvel, are not a satisfactory medium for storytelling. Actions have no permanent consequences; death, identity revelations, love relationships... none of it is permanent. A new writer comes on board, and previous editorial directions are ignored. If you like a series or a writer, just wait; it will change. And if you don't like a series or a writer, just wait; it, too, will change.

I haven't bought a monthly superhero comic in years, with the exception of the recent She-Hulk series. And that's going to cancelled soon...

I also recently started picking up the new Superman run, but I'll drop it whenever John Romita Jr. leaves (his storytelling and world-building is very subtle).

What about indie stuff? Even TMNT sort of counts as a superhero book. Like what often happens with people's perception of animation, I wish the general public saw comics as a medium rather than as a genre. The reason these reboots happen is because they are a surefire way to generate money from a dwindling hardcore fanbase.

I love comics--I even have a webcomic that I write/pencil/letter/color--but the business end of it sickens me sometimes.

[ZariusTwo]

There's a whole lot of secrecy with Marvel's upcoming event, SECRET WARS. Fans know what the titles are, for the most part, but where does everything fit in? Some of Marvel's greatest stories are coming to SECRET WARS and in some ways, being re-imagined, but what does that mean for the Marvel universe as a whole? In an interview with Comicbook.com, Marvel's SVP of Sales & Marketing, David Gabriel, talked about some of the inner-workings of the upcoming event SECRET WARS.

Gabriel tells readers to compare SECRET WARS to what Age of Apocalypse did, during the 90s. All of the X-Titles didn't exist during that time period and only AoA books were around. This is obviously going to be on a much grander scale though and Gabriel says that this will affect the Marvel universe in some shocking ways.

Gabriel went on to break down each of the banners for SECRET WARS. In a nutshell, books under LAST DAYS are the past. LAST DAYS will let creators bring the stories they're telling to a conclusion prior to the Marvel universe being destroyed. BATTLEWORLD titles are the present. These will be like regular, monthly titles and are the core continuity. WARZONES series are the future. These stories will lay down the foundation for the new Marvel universe.

These books are called "series" over "titles" because they will exist as long as Battleworld exists. They're not limited to the story as much as they are limited to the world these stories take place in. However, while the 616 is ending, they want to take the time to announce all of their May and June books before even talking about what is coming next.

Finally, here is the full list of books for LAST DAYS, where creators get a chance to finish their stories before SECRET WARS:

All-New Captain America
All-New Ghost Rider
All-New X-Men
Amazing Spider-Man
Amazing X-Men
Angela: Asgard’s Assassin
Avengers
Avengers World
Captain Marvel
Cyclops
Deadpool
Elektra
Fantastic Four
Guardians 3000
Guardians of the Galaxy
Hulk
Inhuman
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon
Legendary Star-Lord
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man
New Avengers
Nightcrawler
Nova
Rocket Raccoon
Secret Avengers
Spider-Man & The X-Men
Spider-Man 2099
Storm
Superior Iron Man
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
Wolverines
X-Men

http://www.comicvine.com/secret-wars...ec-1654836/#33

[CyberCubed]

So Marvel is basically doing the same thing DC did with the New 52? Ending all current series and doing a clean slate for a new continuity/universe, only keeping some elements from past series around as canon?

[ZariusTwo]

Seems so. I read this is a direct mandate from Disney to synch it all up with the MCU

[snake]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Seems so. I read this is a direct mandate from Disney to synch it all up with the MCU

F*ck that. A plain reboot would be fine I guess, but connecting it to the MCU? No.

[ZariusTwo]

Civil War is being brought back for this too, in a scenario where the war never ended even after the registration act came and went.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

That is the most depressing news since OMD.... I think I'm done with Marvel now- unless they can REALLY convince me it's worthwhile again, which I doubt. Guess I'll just be sticking with TMNT until then.

[ZariusTwo]

Spider-Island is being revisited, the same book will also feature a back-up story featuring the MC2 universe coping with the events of Battleworld and the aftermath of Spider-Verse, with Mayday in her new role as Spider-Woman grieving her father's recent death and adjusting to Uncle Ben being a part of her family.

Also, on Free Comic Book Day, there will be a taster issue for "All-Different Avengers" which will feature the line-up for the team in the new Marvel Universe. Confirmed so far are Kamala Khan, She-Thor, Vision, and Kid Nova.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Spider-Island is being revisited, the same book will also feature a back-up story featuring the MC2 universe coping with the events of Battleworld and the aftermath of Spider-Verse, with Mayday in her new role as Spider-Woman grieving her father's recent death and adjusting to Uncle Ben being a part of her family.

Also, on Free Comic Book Day, there will be a taster issue for "All-Different Avengers" which will feature the line-up for the team in the new Marvel Universe. Confirmed so far are Kamala Khan, She-Thor, Vision, and Kid Nova.

I saw that!!



I'm hoping the one in the middle is Miles.....(please be Miles....) though he looks like he's wearing pants...

I love Kamala and like Nova so if Miles is on the team I will totally be checking this comic out! *___*

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

(initiating Old Man Voice)

Back in my day, we had one Marvel universe, and one DC Universe in comics.

What went wrong?