Marvel 2099 question

[FrogMan]

The Marvel 2099 universe we get nowadays, is it the same one from the original line? Doesn’t seem to be, but they are both called Earth 928. I’m confused.

Did Earth 928 get altered or something? If so, where and when did this happen? And how did it happen? Did I miss a comic somewhere in my travels?

[Huntsman Spider]

To make a long story short, yes. Marvel 2099 has been revisited a number of times over the last 20-odd years since the line came to an end, and each time has put a different twist on it. Marvel Knights 2099 was centered on 2099 versions of the characters that launched the Marvel Knights line back in 2004, then Timestorm 2009-2099 introduced different versions of the original 2099 protagonists (including Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man, who started off as a high schooler like Peter Parker did and counted spider-sense as one of his powers). In 2013/2014, the Superior Spider-Man book by Dan Slott reintroduced the original Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099, though he diverged somewhat from his original path due to the time-traveling mechanics used --- which also got him stranded in the present and led to a new Spider-Man 2099 ongoing by his original writer Peter David centered on Miguel coping with life in the present and trying to find a way back to 2099.

Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman interrupted that for a few months, with Secret Wars 2099 introducing the 2099 version of the Avengers, who were incorporated into the Spider-Man 2099 ongoing when it resumed. A couple of years after that ended, there was an attempt at relaunching 2099 spinning out of Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer, with the timeline being rewritten due to a scheme of Doctor Doom in the past or by his 2099 counterpart, and that ended up retelling the stories of Miguel O'Hara and Kenshiro "Zero" Cochrane/Ghost Rider 2099 while introducing new 2099 versions of Venom, Punisher, the Fantastic Four, and Doom himself. Now, for Marvel 2099's 30th anniversary this year, we have Spider-Man 2099: Exodus by Steve Orlando, which has so far revealed that there is a seemingly all-powerful Cabal responsible for all the ills and corruption endemic to the 2099 era and that Cabal first made its power known by slaughtering the Avengers, which has since cowed the populace into submission.

spoilers:

Norman Osborn is leading this Cabal, having somehow survived all the way to 2099.

end of spoilers

[Iron Maiden]

I've found all the later day attempts to bring back the 2099 to be disappointing. I don't know if they can ever capture that again. The Doom 2099 arc was esp compelling with his rise to retake Latveria and then take over the corrupt government of the United Corporate States of America. Spider-Man 2099 was the flagship title IIRC and had the biggest sales.

[Ravin' Ray]

…then Timestorm 2009-2099 introduced different versions of the original 2099 protagonists…

My favorite has got to be the Atlantean Human Torch Relur (Namor/Roman Relur/Ruler) who is close in age to Miguel O'Hara. It would be fun to see him time travel to Earth-616 and cause all sorts of confusion for the F4 and Namor.

[Huntsman Spider]

My favorite has got to be the Atlantean Human Torch Relur (Namor/Roman Relur/Ruler) who is close in age to Miguel O'Hara. It would be fun to see him time travel to Earth-616 and cause all sorts of confusion for the F4 and Namor.

That would be interesting to see.

I've found all the later day attempts to bring back the 2099 to be disappointing. I don't know if they can ever capture that again. The Doom 2099 arc was esp compelling with his rise to retake Latveria and then take over the corrupt government of the United Corporate States of America. Spider-Man 2099 was the flagship title IIRC and had the biggest sales.

Spider-Man 2099 was the flagship title of the Marvel 2099 line, mainly because (a) Spider-Man was the protagonist and given that Spider-Man was and is the flagship character of Marvel Comics overall . . . That aside, I can see your point, which is kind of a shame given that 2099 being a future where megacorps have taken over the government and dominate society has become increasingly and chillingly plausible in light of more recent real-world developments. It kind of reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077 by CD Projekt Red, which was ultimately a botched effort at capitalizing on the resurgence of the cyberpunk genre in videogame format, somewhat similarly to how 2099 revivals have generally failed to launch or sustain themselves. Then again, the major issue with adapting cyberpunk for these times is that nowadays, almost all intellectual property is in the hands of constantly consolidating corporate conglomerates, so it would be rather hard, I think, to push a story that really challenges that paradigm in the way it needs to be challenged.

[Iron Maiden]

There are some elements that you can see in the World of 2099 as shown back in the 1990s that are happening today. In 2099, the Megacorps like Alchemax and Stark-Fujikawa essentially ruled most of the world except Wakanda for one IIRC. Today we see how the gun lobby has a stranglehold on Congress so we can't get even the most minor restrictions on guns. Corporate interests essentially buy the loyalty of members of Congress by contributing to the campaign coffers. During Tump's administration they got a tax cut from 35% to 21% and none of that "trickled down" as they claimed it would do.

[Huntsman Spider]

There are some elements that you can see in the World of 2099 as shown back in the 1990s that are happening today. In 2099, the Megacorps like Alchemax and Stark-Fujikawa essentially ruled most of the world except Wakanda for one IIRC. Today we see how the gun lobby has a stranglehold on Congress so we can't get even the most minor restrictions on guns. Corporate interests essentially buy the loyalty of members of Congress by contributing to the campaign coffers. During Tump's administration they got a tax cut from 35% to 21% and none of that "trickled down" as they claimed it would do.

Pretty much, sadly. Speaking of the 1990s and 2099, Cardiac from the 1990s Spider-Man comics was a unique vigilante whose primary targets weren't relatively common street thugs, but corporate malefactors who used their wealth and position to manipulate laws and lawmakers to their own benefit and profit, even if that came at the cost of innocent lives, which Cardiac sought to avenge, with Spider-Man only having to stop him because Cardiac's solution to those corporate malefactors wasn't to drag them into a court of law, but instead to kill them, as the law was all too often in their pockets, which meant the chances of them facing legal or criminal penalties for their corruption and misdeeds were virtually nil. Given that 2099 shows the corporate malefactors becoming the dominant powers and authorities of the world, I'd love to see someone in that era taking up the mantle of Cardiac to fight against them.

[Iron Maiden]

Pretty much, sadly. Speaking of the 1990s and 2099, Cardiac from the 1990s Spider-Man comics was a unique vigilante whose primary targets weren't relatively common street thugs, but corporate malefactors who used their wealth and position to manipulate laws and lawmakers to their own benefit and profit, even if that came at the cost of innocent lives, which Cardiac sought to avenge, with Spider-Man only having to stop him because Cardiac's solution to those corporate malefactors wasn't to drag them into a court of law, but instead to kill them, as the law was all too often in their pockets, which meant the chances of them facing legal or criminal penalties for their corruption and misdeeds were virtually nil. Given that 2099 shows the corporate malefactors becoming the dominant powers and authorities of the world, I'd love to see someone in that era taking up the mantle of Cardiac to fight against them.

I see Marvel is revisting the world of 2099 in June but I never have very much confidence in those attempts. In any case it looks like Spider-Man 2099 only will be revisited. I doubt it will be a follow up to the original 2099, whose last issue IIRC was 2099 World of Tomorrow. Towards the end as Marvel was cutting back due to the financial crisis of the mid 1990s, all the titles would be cancelled in rolled into the one title.

[Huntsman Spider]

I see Marvel is revisting the world of 2099 in June but I never have very much confidence in those attempts. In any case it looks like Spider-Man 2099 only will be revisited. I doubt it will be a follow up to the original 2099, whose last issue IIRC was 2099 World of Tomorrow. Towards the end as Marvel was cutting back due to the financial crisis of the mid 1990s, all the titles would be cancelled in rolled into the one title.

Technically, they already started earlier this month with Spider-Man 2099: Exodus, although the opening Alpha issue had Ghost Rider 2099 and then issue 1 proper brought in Winter Soldier 2099 and Crossbones 2099. As for the original 2099 lineup and how it ended, World of Tomorrow ultimately wrapped up with a one-shot called 2099: Manifest Destiny, which was a surprisingly happy ending for an otherwise dark and fairly dystopian setting.

[Iron Maiden]

Technically, they already started earlier this month with Spider-Man 2099: Exodus, although the opening Alpha issue had Ghost Rider 2099 and then issue 1 proper brought in Winter Soldier 2099 and Crossbones 2099. As for the original 2099 lineup and how it ended, World of Tomorrow ultimately wrapped up with a one-shot called 2099: Manifest Destiny, which was a surprisingly happy ending for an otherwise dark and fairly dystopian setting.

IIRC Manifest Destiny came out quite a while after World of Tomorrow ended it all. I am pretty sure it was a hard comic to find too. I think I have it packed away with my 2099 titles. Here's its listing on the Grand Comics Databases AKA comics.org This site is pretty thorough and it's a bit unusual for them to have so little information on a title that isn't really that old compared to the others in its listing. World of Tomorrow #8 had a cover date of April 1997. The GCD has Manifest Destiny listed with March 1998 as the release date.

[Huntsman Spider]

IIRC Manifest Destiny came out quite a while after World of Tomorrow ended it all. I am pretty sure it was a hard comic to find too. I think I have it packed away with my 2099 titles. Here's its listing on the Grand Comics Databases AKA comics.org This site is pretty thorough and it's a bit unusual for them to have so little information on a title that isn't really that old compared to the others in its listing. World of Tomorrow #8 had a cover date of April 1997. The GCD has Manifest Destiny listed with March 1998 as the release date.

Thanks for the clarification. 2099: Manifest Destiny was basically an epilogue to Marvel 2099, and as said before, a surprisingly happy ending, too.

[Iron Maiden]

Thanks for the clarification. 2099: Manifest Destiny was basically an epilogue to Marvel 2099, and as said before, a surprisingly happy ending, too.

I think one of the purposes of the comic was some housekeeping. Fantastic Four 2099 was the last comic to launch before the cancellations hit. Much like Doom, they were the original Fantastic Four. IIRC in Manifest Destiny, they were retconned into clones of the original that were created by the Watcher.

[Huntsman Spider]

I think one of the purposes of the comic was some housekeeping. Fantastic Four 2099 was the last comic to launch before the cancellations hit. Much like Doom, they were the original Fantastic Four. IIRC in Manifest Destiny, they were retconned into clones of the original that were created by the Watcher.

Mostly because one of the FF 2099 died and the rest just went back to the past (what they thought was their present) without them. Speaking of Fantastic Four 2099, in light of the issues surrounding privately funded spaceflight, that could be a good springboard for a Fantastic Four 2099 relaunch, have their transformations be the end result of one of the megacorps in 2099 funding a project to terraform and colonize the other planets in Earth's solar system.

[Iron Maiden]

Is Reed still considered wealthy? You don't read much about it in the current FF runs.

I don't know if Marvel is going to invest much in a separate 2099 line but it would be fun if they tried with the right people working on it. Warren Ellis was just starting out when he got into and I thought he carried on the Doom 2099 title quite well after John Francis Moore moved over to the X-Men 2099.

[Huntsman Spider]

Is Reed still considered wealthy? You don't read much about it in the current FF runs.

I don't know if Marvel is going to invest much in a separate 2099 line but it would be fun if they tried with the right people working on it. Warren Ellis was just starting out when he got into and I thought he carried on the Doom 2099 title quite well after John Francis Moore moved over to the X-Men 2099.

I think he is, but it's rather understated compared to someone like Tony Stark, who's most known for his multibillion-dollar corporation as well as his suits of armor. That said, I'd agree it could be fun to see a proper 2099 revival with some good, or even great, people working on it.