Quote Originally Posted by jphamlore View Post
Marvel encourages writers on its list for rapid promotion to think big: Look at the carte blanche they've given to Hickman.

This is Jason Aaron's time, his turn to write the Marvel crossover event after Secret Wars. I would guess he has been given hints that it's perfectly fine to tear down much of the Thor universe given Ragnarok will happen in the movies, and he may have been given a hint as to Marvel's direction in phase 3 of the movieverse.

I'm also guessing that Disney's / Marvel's marketing has told them there is one new / old big bad perfectly suited for this modern age: an oil company. And Marvel has a perfect candidate, Roxxon.

I'm curious whether fandom will cheer for a new direction when villains start to be villains in a crossover because they are mercenaries working for profit for an oil company versus what we are seeing in today's Marvel comics with entire universes being winked out of existence with a wave of a hand. The contrast to say the least will be quite jarring I suspect.
One of the faults of "The Last Days of Midgard" was the criminal underdevelopment of Dario Agger as a villain. It was rather goofy seeing Ulik and other trolls basically turned into mere mercenaries. I would've rather Aaron stuck with Agger and developed him much more, but it was clear that arc was rushed to make way for the relaunch.