War Of The Realms Event!

[GodThor]

So what are the realms? Who are the villains?

Malekith.

although he probably won't be the final one.

[Ezyo1000]

Okoye is one of the Agents of Wakanda, aka the Secret Avengers. The team's existence was revealed in this week's issue 10 of Avengers, and the full team will be in focus in issue 12.

I guess I should clarify. I'm surprised she is showing up on the cover of the big event. Pre BP movie you would have a hard time finding anyone even knowing who she was. I know she is apart of the agents of Wakanda, but I'm surprised (and happy) to see her in a big event cover. Hell you couldn't even find T'Challa on these covers a couple years ago

[Factor]

I'm excited, especially for Jane and Jen's roles in it. More Dauterman is never bad.

[Raye]

Exactly, because as was revealed by Donny Cates in Venom, Knull forged All-Black the Necrosword as the precursor or prototype to the symbiotes that were spawned from his shadow, tempering its blade inside the head of the Celestial he slew all those eons ago. Jason Aaron capitalizing on that connection could be very good, if done well, or maybe Cates writing a tie-in as a "Web of Venom" miniseries or one-shot?

I already said similar in the Loki thread, but I very much doubt the Necrosword will appear, though Knull might. The Necrosword along with Gorr made a trip to the future in the Godbomb arc so the MU is currently a Necrosword free zone. For it to make an appearance here would cause a full blown time paradox, where the future would end up with 2 Necroswords, and then if one got sent back, but the future gets changed because the future is a result of them losing the War of the Realms, and then they win here, then the send it back event can't happen, and.... Paradox. (and yes, this does mean that the events of the Godbomb arc could play out differently as well should they win, and I am sure they probably will) Unless they got real complicated and confusing about it. That is probably just Malekith's magic, which has frequently been shown as black.

Anyway, looks fun!

[Raye]

These are the heroes. Loki is, believe it or not, a villain.

Former villain, current anti-hero. He is doing bad things, but for good intent, his goal is to, believe it or not, save the world. He just thinks that goal justifies some shady methods. Spelled out blatantly in the most recent issue of Avengers, and it was even said by Wolverine so you can't even say he was lying. He has already betrayed Malekith at least twice, he siccced Jane on some Frost Giants preparing to invade Midgard in Dr Strange (where he also fixed Earth's magic so they would have a fighting chance) and the Hel arc of Thor, where he sent Thor to Hel in order to stop the invasion there. Sure it was stated he was doing it in exchange for something but all he took was a picture of his mom, so it was pretty clear he only said that to get Thor to go along with it, and his actual goal there was to thwart the invasion of Hel.
Basically, it has been hinted pretty blatantly that he is working with Malekith so he can stab him in the back. So I can understand why he is not on this image, but he is also not the villain of this story.

[Jabare]

The best Loki is a bad Loki. Hero and Anti-Hero Loki are weak sauce

[Hypestyle]

The best Loki is a bad Loki. Hero and Anti-Hero Loki are weak sauce

I'm not a fan of "semi-good" Loki, this basically provides an excuse for him to not be held accountable when he does something that is blatantly jacked up (which is still frequently)...

[Raye]

Strenuously disagree there, this is my absolute favorite version of the character. Old School Loki served his purpose, but just doing that over and over would be so boring. And anyway, your opinion doesn't change what is on the page, which is anti-hero Loki if you pay attention to more than just his surface actions.

[Frontier]

Strenuously disagree there, this is my absolute favorite version of the character. Old School Loki served his purpose, but just doing that over and over would be so boring. And anyway, your opinion doesn't change what is on the page, which is anti-hero Loki if you pay attention to more than just his surface actions.

I liked Ewing's Loki but I do kind of miss having the petty and vicious Loki who would constantly be a thorn in Thor's side.

Aaron's Malekith has more and more started to remind me of old Loki, especially as he's been primed as the main villain of his run.

[Jabare]

I'm going to agree with Frontier here. Going by Aaron's run I wouldn't call him anti-hero or hero. If you don't want to use the term villain fine (subjective) but he's clearly the antagonist

[Snoop Dogg]

Old school Loki bowed out with Siege, and I think if they wanted to retire him entirely that was the perfect spot. However, the modern Loki who is extremely greasy but has developed into a relatable person and become an anti-hero is way more interesting for stories because it makes him so much more unpredicatable. And I think that's what a God of mischief and lies should be. He's been so crafty and extreme in the ways he accomplishes a goal in modern stuff compared to before where he went for simpler manipulation all the time.

[Raye]

I think he will come out on the right side of things in this. He is doing deep cover double agent, he's not actually helping Malekith, he's gonna stab him in the back something fierce, and I am very confident I will be right about that in the end. If you pay attention, he clearly hates what he's doing, but is doing it anyway, because he thinks the stakes are that high, and certain things need to happen for things to work. I'm not saying i necessarily agree with his approach, but that's what he thinks. I also think this was likely diluted a bit because I think the Jane arc got drawn out longer than originally intended, so the Malekith sub-plot, and by extension Loki's ended up treading water in the background. But I think it is sitll on track. And as already mentioned, it was blatantly spelled out in Avengers just this month what he was doing in regards to the Avengers. If you add in non-Aaron stuff like Dr Strange, Asgardians of the Galaxy, infinity Wars, it becomes even more clear. His actions just don't make sense if you look at it from the perspective of him actually wanting to cause harm. If that was his goal, he would not have fixed magic, he would not have brought Bats back, he would not have warned Strange of what was coming, he would not have saved Cap from incinerating inside the sun, he would not have helped Thor in Hel, he woudl not be doing what he's doing in Infinity Wars, and on and on.

edit - and yes, Malekith is filling at least part of Loki's old role, and other characters, such as Cul or Enchantress, can fill other parts, so I just don't think he's needed in that role anymore, there are others that can step in and fill that role in any story the writers would want to tell. This has been going on since about 2010, and I don't think they are going to abandon it anytime soon.

[kilderkin]

The best Loki is a bad Loki. Hero and Anti-Hero Loki are weak sauce

I agree, this Loki seems a pale imitation for me

He's a different character essentially and that's ok

But I prefer the one the avengers needed to band together to deal with and plotted the acts of vengeance

[comicscollector]

Dauterman doing the art makes this event quite interesting.
Going to be interesting to see Venom role for example in this story.

[CaptCleghorn]

Forgive me for shifting into "get off my lawn" mode, but even back in Walt Simonson's day, Loki alklied with the good guys if he had to. The Asgardian family in one panel.