Marvel Comics after "Time Runs Out" feel pointless

[Celestialbeyonder]

The Time Runs Out arc was one of the best arcs in Marvel history, everything after it feels just pointless.

The Beyonders were so powerfull that they easily destroyed the Celestials, Eternity, Inifnity, Galactus and even the Living Tribunal, they destroyed Decillions of Universes and nearly wiped out the entire Marvel Multiverse. It was/would have been fitting for a Grand Finale. (How they were defeated is a different matter, but oh well)

What comes after them? The First Firmament - stronger then even the Beyonders and wants to destroy the Multiverse......
Thanos with the Astral Regulator can suddenly absorb the Living Tribunal AND even the One Above All...
The Griever at the End of All Things effortlessly kills the Molecule Man who absorbed the collective powers of all the Beyonders....

Its just to much. You cant just spit out one foe after another that can crush the Living Tribunal (the manifestation of the entire Multiverse) without effort. You just cant threaten the destruction of the entire Multiverse again and again after it was averted allready. In terms of power and destructivness Marvel has reached the Top. Raising the stakes by threatening to destroy more than the Multiverse/Everything? Comical. Raising the stakes by introducing an enemy stronger than the Living Tribunal/The One Above All? Ridiculous.

What can Marvel Comic offer now that they reached the absolute top?

[Snoop Dogg]

Marvel books aren't battle shounens.

[your_name_here]

I agree the Beyonder should be the top-dogs when it comes to powerful.

[Tien Long]

I was just thinking about this since I'm right in the middle of rereading Time Runs Out. A lot of what the initial post said does ring true. Beyonders destroying universes, Celestials, and the Living Tribunal that's powerful, amazing stuff. Still, though a little hazy on the details, I think that the Marvel heroes didn't pull off an easy victory in this situation. (Going to reread Secret Wars this spring break). Victory came through moving pieces in the right place, a little bit of luck, and ultimately, it came down to Richards and Doom, two humans.

And that's what makes a good Marvel story, isn't it? The human, personal element. What do these characters do when faced with the extraordinary. Seeing Spider-Man in conflict, wondering how is he going to solve the problem, whether stopping a thug on the street or fighting against a Celestial, that's always the main draw. (In terms of the spectacle though, hey, doesn't matter if it's Doc Ock or Eternity, I still think those things are cool. They're a lot more amazing than what I see in my daily life).

So does everything feel pointless after fighting against beings that destroy whole universes? Not at all. Because for a lot of Marvel characters, everything has a point.

[myownlittleusername]

What can Marvel Comic offer now that they reached the absolute top?

Forget about the overblown cosmic crap for a long time and continue to make stories (preferably good ones) about their characters?

And the readers can do the same, but read instead of make.

[Celestialbeyonder]

What do these characters do when faced with the extraordinary.

There have to be stakes though. After the Marvel Heroes managed to prevail against forces that were far superior to the Living Tribunal and managed to save the entire Multiverse from destruction, lesser threats really dont have that much of an Impact:

"Oh no if we dont stop this villain the entire Planet will be destroyed/enslaved" - Just one Planet? You just saved the entire Multiverse from beeings superior to the Living Tribunal. Even if you dont manage, its no big deal.

"Oh no if we dont stop this villain the entire Universe will be destroyed/enslaved" - Just one Universe? You just saved the entire Multiverse from beeings superior to the Living Tribunal. Even if you dont manage, its no big deal.

"Oh no if we dont stop this villain the entire Multiverse will be destroyed/enslaved" - Wait again? Booooring. Also how are there suddenly popping up cosmic beeing that can mop the Floor with the Living Tribunal - in the case of Thanos, even with the One Above All?

[PlatinumThorns]

It doesn't matter. Stories can be taken in isolation.

[Tien Long]

There have to be stakes though. After the Marvel Heroes managed to prevail against forces that were far superior to the Living Tribunal and managed to save the entire Multiverse from destruction, lesser threats really dont have that much of an Impact:

"Oh no if we dont stop this villain the entire Planet will be destroyed/enslaved" - Just one Planet? You just saved the entire Multiverse from beeings superior to the Living Tribunal. Even if you dont manage, its no big deal.

"Oh no if we dont stop this villain the entire Universe will be destroyed/enslaved" - Just one Universe? You just saved the entire Multiverse from beeings superior to the Living Tribunal. Even if you dont manage, its no big deal.

"Oh no if we dont stop this villain the entire Multiverse will be destroyed/enslaved" - Wait again? Booooring. Also how are there suddenly popping up cosmic beeing that can mop the Floor with the Living Tribunal - in the case of Thanos, even with the One Above All?

These aren't guarantees though. Many of these heroes have saved the world multiple times. We've had multiple wars this and Infinity that throughout the years, well before Time Runs Out. Yes, the heroes won. But there's always the potential they won't next time. Hell, there have been instances of that. The Beyonder blowing up all the heroes in the first Secret Wars, Thanos killing off all the heroes during the Infinity Gauntlet. I'm interested in seeing how they can overcome that.

Now to be fair, the heroes have experienced many of these "end of everything" scenarios. Reading War of the Realms, I felt that many heroes believed this invasion to be normal. There's a level of confidence, a belief there's a solution. But they still treated it seriously, because the consequences are serious.

And that leads to the next point. Thinking that "just one universe" or "just one planet" is not a big stake, not a big deal.......that rings a little hollow. For Spider-Man, Captain America, and probably every other hero, one life, one moment, is always a big deal.

The best stories are like that. And the best stories will always be about that.

[CentralPower]

The problem is not unique to post-Hickman Marvel.

Comics have always had a problem with over-drawn cosmic bullshit. The best way to deal with it is to skip the comics that are likely to have that the problem.

[Ptrvc]

I didn't read Time Runs Out. Felt pointless to me.

[Celestialbeyonder]

The entire Multiverse was at risk of beeing destroyed - thats far from pointless.

[Ptrvc]

The entire Multiverse was at risk of beeing destroyed - thats far from pointless.

Meh.

That stuff never matters in the long run. Its always just the writers plot devices smashing into each other while characters react.

[gurkle]

I think it's one of the great insights of Marvel that who wins a battle or who lives and dies in comics is always pointless, and what we actually care about is the impact on the characters.

Which means that the multiverse being in danger isn't a "bigger" story than one old man being killed by a burglar. (If anything the old man being killed has more impact because it feels more real to us.) It all depends on how it affects the characters.

[Digifiend]

Secret Wars was meant to destroy the Ultimate Universe, but now it's been restored. So yeah, the whole Incursions thing has been undone.

[Noodle]

The entire Multiverse was at risk of beeing destroyed - thats far from pointless.

By it's own concept, the multiverse can't be destroyed. If it was, there would be an alternate universe where it wasn't.