Revamp a Hero....

[Huntsman Spider]

That's not a bad revamp, actually. Miriam Sharpe being a Skrull . . . not sure how I feel about that, though. I can see her working as an agent provocateur of sorts to plant the seed of guilt and doubt in Tony's mind that leads him to side with the CSA, but making her a malevolent alien infiltrator feels kind of like invalidating the genuine grief and anger a lot of people in the MU were feeling after Stamford; she just happens to be the public face of it. Aside from that, Gyrich being a Skrull all along makes some sense, as it would be the perfect cover and given the actual Gyrich's usual characterization, nobody would suspect a thing was amiss about his actions or attitude. Plus, having the Cape Killers as a privatized anti-superhuman force wipes some of the moral stain off S.H.I.E.L.D. if the Cape Killers are the ones leading the charge and S.H.I.E.L.D. is just forced to play ball because they screwed up too many times, thus making it more believable for superheroes to continue working with them after the Civil War's been resolved.

[Michael Watkins]

That's not a bad revamp, actually. Miriam Sharpe being a Skrull . . . not sure how I feel about that, though. I can see her working as an agent provocateur of sorts to plant the seed of guilt and doubt in Tony's mind that leads him to side with the CSA, but making her a malevolent alien infiltrator feels kind of like invalidating the genuine grief and anger a lot of people in the MU were feeling after Stamford.

I see your point. i guess what I'd need is for someone to put it in Miriam's ear that she should take her case directly to Stark. the point is that Stark is somewhat being manipulated into his actions. the main thrust of my revamp was to allow these characters to act in a heroic capacity post-Civil War; without too much blood on their hands. they were duped; plain and simple. the Stamford deaths still happened. and it most certainly had an affect on people. as it is, creating a clone of your friend and using him as a weapon is the kind of thing permanently ruins relationships.

[Huntsman Spider]

I see your point. i guess what I'd need is for someone to put it in Miriam's ear that she should take her case directly to Stark. the point is that Stark is somewhat being manipulated into his actions. the main thrust of my revamp was to allow these characters to act in a heroic capacity post-Civil War; without too much blood on their hands. they were duped; plain and simple. the Stamford deaths still happened. and it most certainly had an affect on people. as it is, creating a clone of your friend and using him as a weapon is the kind of thing permanently ruins relationships.

Or at least it should. Hell, a lot of the things the pro-registration side did should have had the anti-registration heroes permanently putting them on their personal s*** lists, or the "team up only when absolutely necessary, otherwise they can go to hell" lists. Granted, Spider-Man and Julia Carpenter/Arachne, or Spider-Man and Anya/Arana, weren't necessarily close, but I think he'd be a little too outraged to flirt with Carol Danvers if he found out from either Julia or Anya that Carol deliberately separated Julia and her daughter Rachel just to spite Julia for betraying the pro-registration side, especially given that it was that same heavy-handedness (if not downright cruelty) toward the anti-registration side from Iron Man that pushed him to defect in the first place.

[Michael Watkins]

GHOST RIDER

I would merge the two most familiar Riders; the look of the Daniel Ketch Ghost Rider but with Johnny Blaze's name & carnival stunt man background. Johnny Blaze is just too cool of a name to not use. but I admit that the Ketch Ghost Rider is cooler looking. I haven't read that much Ghost Rider. so if there are beloved characters from either versions story, they could be worked in to the revamp; too.

----
I'd have Robbie Reyes take up the Phantom Rider name but be a spirit of vengeance/part of the Ghost Rider family. I don't know how much the agents of shield stuff adheres to the comic continuity (the Eli Morrow stuff seems to be different). but I thought that their version of Robbie was interesting enough. it was cool to see the Darkholde.

[KOSLOX]

The X-Men:

Total reboot. I'd get rid of the mansions, the funding, and completely reboot the original lineup.

Professor X would be a young "rebel" professor from Berkley who volunteers in Oakland during the late 1960s and 1970s. He'd have been repressed mutant, but spent his time supporting various rights groups. This is how he meets Magneto who run a group called the Brotherhood for the Betterment of Mutankind. During a rally that gets out of hand Professor X is shot an paralyzed by the National Guard while trying to protect some humans allies, however several young mutants are killed. He is arrested and spends 18 months in jail (this is prior to the Government being able to detect mutants or he'd have been sent to a Mutant Detention Facility). The news media begins ramping up attack narratives to criminalize mutants in the wake of the incident.

Upon release Charles resumes his activism, and eventual reveals himself to be a mutant telepath. He opens a small after school program similar to Boys and Girls Club and focuses at risk youth in the Bay area. At this program he teaches young mutants to use their powers, but also teaches philosophy, and has them engage in social activism (like feeding the hungry, building houses, peer mentoring). While this is going on Magneto has become increasingly disgruntled and decides that he will embrace the media narrative and becomes a counter-cultural group similar to the Black Panthers. They change their name to The Brotherhood of "Evil" Mutants, in jest, and ratchet up attacks on the establishment. He and Charles still maintain friendship, but Charles refuse to join in on Mags' Crusade.

The first group of kids Charles works with are:

Xi-an Coy Manh, Jean Grey, Angelo Espinosa, John Proudstar, Ororo Munroe.

[Michael Watkins]

The X-Men:

Total reboot. I'd get rid of the mansions, the funding, and completely reboot the original lineup.

I'd significantly limit their funding, let Charles keep his mansion/school, and leave the original lineup (but work a lot of other characters into the early history of the team). they definitely wouldn't have the benefit of Shiar tech. but someone like Forge could build them a Danger Room. and the school would depend on donations from the parents of the children attending & Charles own inherited wealth. there'd probably be less individualization of the costumes. because resources wouldn't be finite. there'd be more of them walking around in street clothes.

Professor X would be a young "rebel" professor from Berkley who volunteers in Oakland during the late 1960s and 1970s. He'd have been repressed mutant, but spent his time supporting various rights groups. This is how he meets Magneto who run a group called the Brotherhood for the Betterment of Mutankind. During a rally that gets out of hand Professor X is shot an paralyzed by the National Guard while trying to protect some humans allies, however several young mutants are killed. He is arrested and spends 18 months in jail (this is prior to the Government being able to detect mutants or he'd have been sent to a Mutant Detention Facility). The news media begins ramping up attack narratives to criminalize mutants in the wake of the incident.

I'm good with that. but does he have his telepathy? and is Magneto also a "young rebel?"

Upon release Charles resumes his activism, and eventual reveals himself to be a mutant telepath. He opens a small after school program similar to Boys and Girls Club and focuses at risk youth in the Bay area. At this program he teaches young mutants to use their powers, but also teaches philosophy, and has them engage in social activism (like feeding the hungry, building houses, peer mentoring). While this is going on Magneto has become increasingly disgruntled and decides that he will embrace the media narrative and becomes a counter-cultural group similar to the Black Panthers. They change their name to The Brotherhood of "Evil" Mutants, in jest, and ratchet up attacks on the establishment. He and Charles still maintain friendship, but Charles refuse to join in on Mags' Crusade.

sounds cool. I like the social activism angle. it was sorely missing from Xavier's comic book dream. in my revamp, I had Charles pick his original lineup; specifically choosing skillsets that the school would need, later. Bobby was steered towards becoming an accountant. Warren was the businessman/philanthropist. Jean and Hank were intended to be teacher; teaching humanities and the hard sciences, respectively. Scott was being groomed to replace Charles (and handle the more clandestine operations of the X-Men/their combat training). but he also had alliances throughout the United States with people like Fred Duncan, Forge, Kevin Sidney (Changeling), Interpol agent Sean Cassidy, etc.

The first group of kids Charles works with are:

Xi-an Coy Manh, Jean Grey, Angelo Espinosa, John Proudstar, Ororo Munroe.

that's the only part that I really differ with. I like all of those characters. but I prefer Skin to be with Generation X. and Ororo was essential to that second wave of X-Men; that seemed to (purposely) be imports from other areas of the world. I figure that Charles would have started with Americans and, then, branched out. either way, I think it's canon that he had already been in contact with Storm. she just wasn't brought into the fold until after the first wave of X-Men has been thoroughly tested. in my revamp headcanon, this happened because he knew that Scott could not (yet) handle the competition of another natural leader like Ororo. he would have psych profiled every one of the X-Men and assigned them to squads; accordingly. thanks for the revamp!

anyone else have an X-Men revamp or input for Thingsfallapart? the individual characters are fair game, as well.

[Michael Watkins]

BEAST

I'm really reluctant to do this revamp. as a disclaimer, I'm a fan of McCoy's original mutation; the enhanced musculature with oversized hands and feet. he was ape-like without being a muppet. that said, he's waaayy more known for his blue furry appearance (blue because it was easier to pull off than just making him black or gray). don't hate me. but my preference would be dark gray or black fur for McCoy IF they have to make him furry at all. it's an acceptable side effect of his self-experimentation. the blue fur bothers me because it is shared by Nightcrawler. he has more of a claim to the blue tinge because of his mother. it really makes no sense at all for McCoy. it's not like it's a naturally occurring color for fur. it doesn't have anything to do with evolution or devolution, either. yeah and I'm not a big fan of the cat look from Morrison's run. it was done specifically to ape Beauty and the Beast. there were just a lot of bad designs (imo) in that era; bare chested Wolverine, for instance. if they are going to keep evolving his look, I wish they'd keep to the caveman/ape-man theme. personality-wise, I see him as a good humored pragmatist. I think that they downplayed his intelligence in those Avengers stories; preferring to use Beast as a clown & sight gag. I'm cool with him being the life of the party. but I see him as someone who would also jump at the chance to strut his intellect. it's something that he had to hide in high school; to fit in. I'm good with him being kind of a sellout; more interested in being accepted by the mainstream than being stuck at the mutant mansion. that much at least ties back into his origins (he has a great origin story). definitely keep the friendship with Wonder man, as well.

http://www.comicsbulletin.com/review...809/beast4.jpg

[Michael Watkins]

I'm pretty sure that I've already done it. but, springboarding off of Thingsfallapart's take on the X-Men...

CHARLES XAVIER

I'd adopt much of what happens to the cinematic-universe-Fassbender-Magneto into the comic book continuity (mostly the Nazi killing); his version was very cool. but I'd make one significant change in removing Xavier from the equation. Magneto wouldn't have had any moral opposition during his early revenge quest. and it would eventually land him in that deep underground prison (for seemingly assassinating the President). that's where my Xavier revamp will pickup. I'd have Charles be a fairly young (well, comparable to Reed Richards) but extremely successful/well known psychologist. because of his reputation, he is given the opportunity to interview/profile 'Erik Lehnsherr.' they'd have long discussions about the mutant dilemma and come to be close; if not friends. by reading his mind, Xavier would become aware of some of the potential threats to mutantkind; that Magneto would have been actively searching for and proactively countering. this would directly lead to Xavier starting to actively search for mutants, mutant sympathizers, and the formation of the X-men. so the big change would be Charles Xavier being a much younger man (while keeping Magneto a Holocaust survivor). by the time that Magneto is sprung from prison, Xavier has already formed his first squad of X-Men. I'd eliminate some of the seedier stuff from canon. he's not perving over Jean Grey. he didn't strangle his twin (or have a twin) in the womb. and he didn't enslave an alien to make the Danger Room; Forge constructed it from military surplus. he would get his teaching degree (in record time) to strengthen his cover as a kindly private school professor. my version would be less of an idealist. he'd certainly preach tolerance and cooperation between mutants and humans. but his actions would actively segregate the two communities. in case you're wondering, Mystique enables Magneto to escape. but she doesn't work for or with him. she was motivated by one of Destiny's visions. Magneto's public displays of terrorism would provide cover for her own agenda.

Amahl Farouk, in retaliation to being defeated in psychic conflict, would corrupt a lot of Charles earliest pupils (the pre-X-Men candidates). some of his notable victims would be...

. Garebed Bashur/Commcast

. Addison Falk/The Gamesmaster

. Carter Ryking/Hazard

. Marvin Flumm/Mentallo

and maybe one or two others (David Haller, for instance)

[Michael Watkins]

RED WOLF



for starters, there's only Red Wolf. he's from far in the future; where he was also sort of an action hero top cop figure (think smarter demolition man). he followed one of his rogues gallery into the 1800s and was stranded there for some time. when an Avengers team or another time traveler passed through, he hitched a ride to the Marvel present. so he'd probably have some great stories and a versatile skillset; having had to adapt to the wild west and having thrived in a high tech future landscape. he is a descendant of Wild Run from the Anachronauts.


SHOOTING STAR

she doesn't need fixing per se. but I would establish that she has a genetic "mutation" (not the x-gene version) that allows for uncanny marksmanship; similar to Clint Barton. her gun would be tricked out in away to have more storage & lessen reload time. and, not to be too corny, but she could pull off that gun-fu stuff from the movie 'Equilibrium.' but it wasn't something that she was trained in. she just has the spatial awareness to see where and when to shoot; in order to disarm the most people. other than that, her costume could be update a little; maybe make her look less like a carnival act.

[Michael Watkins]

SHAMROCK

whoo boy! how many stereotypes can you fit into one character? just forget what you know about her; the green shamrock-decorated leotard and luck powers. Molly Fitzgerald would still be an Irishwoman. but she'd have an unusual regenerative ability that does stuff like fuse her broken bones back together; stronger every time it happens. conversely, rebounding from injury also progressively deadens her nerve endings. she's been a soldier, a bounty hunter, and an agent of interpol. she'd also be a fight hobbiest; known for taking hellacious beatings that would kill a normal person. someone better than me should find a new design for her costume; if she even needs one. hopefully it's something that doesn't have 4 leaf clovers on it. she still has light red hair; short and shaved on the sides. she'd be covered in minor scars; physical evidence of the decades of fighting. I altered her power to get as far away from "luck" or spirits as possible. her power is something inbetween Darwin and Sebastian Shaw; becoming stronger from physical damage. she would be a very good, if untrained, street fighter. she'd also be pretty good with a gun (but avoid them).

[Redjack]

'nuff said.

[Michael Watkins]

'nuff said.
MG]

is he serving the Shiar?

[Michael Watkins]

ever since re-watching Dead Poets Society, I've really wanted to incorporate the Knights of the Atomic Round Table idea (from the Heroes Reborn universe) into one of these revamps. I haven't thought of a clean way to do it; like I can't think of a good project for all of them to work on. I'd definitely remove the Rebel O'Reilly character; just unnecessary to the primary universe. problem is in deciding who fills that spot; there are a lot of applicants. Alyssa Moy and/or Victor von Doom would be kind of obvious. and it's a real shame that T'challa is absent. but he attended Oxford, earning a PhD in physics. maybe there was a rival Atomic Knights overseas that includes T'challa, Monica Rappaccini, and someone like Brian Braddock. and where would someone like Otto Octavius fit in? was there an earlier collection of smart people? if I were revamping the spidey-verse, I'd make a lot of his rogues younger than they are currently (still a lot older than Peter but not ready to collect social security).



http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Knights...ic_Round_Table

maybe Reed is a part of this group; only in spirit. like he's seen as the top mind in the United States. and the younger "geniuses" are kind of gunning for his record. he leaves an unfinished equation up; daring any of the new students to complete it. Stark's the aggressive alpha male. Banner's the quiet sensitive one. Pym's somewhere inbetween (and hiding his mental illness). they'd all have a crush on Susan Storm. Leonardo Davinci's incognito as the librarian of the University or something. maybe he plays chess with Uatu every once in awhile; both invested in witnessing the introduction of a new superhero age. this collection would be a big deal because the military would have lost a lot of its dependable scientific minds. The mathematician and strategist who became the Mad Thinker had been institutionalized. Doctor Adam Brashear seemingly disappeared from the face of the Earth. The Hortons and Erskines of the world had passed away (or been murdered) a long time ago.

Victor von Doom would have become almost an urban legend. there'd be whispered tales of someone who went mad trying to compete with Richards and tried to blow up the campus.

[Michael Watkins]

JESSICA DREW/THE SPIDER-WOMAN REVAMP

. part of my inspiration is the Dario Argento/Jennifer Connelly Italian horror movie "Phenomena"

. the setting of her origin would be a Hydra-run boarding school

. it's not that important but Jessica's birth parents were Hydra agents who were casually murdered and sent to hell by succubus Claire Voyant (the golden age Black Widow)

. I'd alter the "relationship" between she and Ophelia Sarkassian/Viper; making them "sisters" in the sense that they share a room at the boarding school

. my version would still be british but, naturally, have dark hair (not dyed or a wig)

. Jessica would also be naturally inquisitive (leading to her future employment); along with being well educated like the rest of the boarders (multi-lingual).

. Jessica would stand out because of her potential to be magically augmented; there are a lot of occult types roaming the halls of the school at night and, generally, keeping tabs on the students.

. it wouldn't be unusual for one of her classmates to flip out or attempt suicide; due to the magical perception altering and tests of their potential.

. she'd have a natural affinity for spiders and be considered a creepy headcase by some of the others.

. they are being groomed for counter-intelligence, as assassins, and (a select few) as potential future leaders of Hydra

. Ophelia naturally becomes jealous of the preferential treatment Jessica receives & they encourage her envy (those tagged as future assassins are emotionally & sometimes physically abused)

. at some point, Jessica is separated from the others and undergoes the experiment, a mix of genetic manipulation and sorcery, to become the Spider-woman.

. her powers aren't explicitly spider-like (enhanced toxin resistant immune system, super strength, reaction time, speed, agility, flexibility, and bioelectric projection; a lot of those "spidery" attributes were built into her costume and geared around Jessica's own affinity for spiders ex. the retractable fibers beneath the arms of the costume allow for gliding like the Selenops spider & adhering to surfaces. the occult part of the experiment resulted in her being able to tweak emotions in people; making her more alluring or inducing anxiety.

. she encounters SHIELD in much the same way as the original origin and after not going through with her graduation mission (that would have resulted in Jerry Hunt's dead).

. otherwise, there's not much that needs changing. I'd forgo the breast enhancement that Bendis had the skrull undergo. I don't know why it was necessary other than as a sight gag.

. I'm cool with Veranke impersonating her; as long as she's eventually an Avenger.

. I'm also cool with her having a child and/or hooking up with Roger Gocking.

[Captain Astounding]

Every time they announce a new Ronin, dating back to the first time I assume it will be Kasper Cole. I just read that apparently recently T'Challa finally took steps to bring him back into the fold. But I personally would've pounced on one of those Ronin chances to break him away from the Black Panther mythos and give him his own niche. He's had enough time off-screen to allow for additional training in various areas.

Plus while it distances him it also keeps a T'Challa link in the team when he can't be there.