Navigating Marvel's Secret Path to "Secret Wars"

[CBR News]

Have the hints been there all along? CBR looks through the last few years of Marvel comics and finds a number of indications of a "Secret Wars" long game.


Full article here.

[Chief Jon]

CORRECTION:The Iron Avengers on Alex Ross' Cover are not from Age of Ultron. They, like May "Venom" Parker (who appeared in "Ragnarok Now" and "Avenge the Earth" as part of Kang's Chronos Corps) are from the Earth X trilogy and were designed by Alex Ross for that (excellent) late '90s early 2000s maxi-series trilogy.

[urmyth]

Reading this just now, I wonder... has the earth/timeline of the all new xmen been destroyed? And that is why they cannot go back?

[EmperorDoom]

Reading this just now, I wonder... has the earth/timeline of the all new xmen been destroyed? And that is why they cannot go back?

Good question. Surprised I haven't thought of that possibility yet.

[SQuigley316]

Don't forget Hickman's run of SHIELD, the quote "This is not how the world ends" was used extensively and Galileo sent Galactus to another Earth so he would not devour his Earth.

[dzub]

Don't forget Hickman's run of SHIELD, the quote "This is not how the world ends" was used extensively and Galileo sent Galactus to another Earth so he would not devour his Earth.

i don't believe this was mentioned before.
now that makes things interesting

[neohuey89]

I may be wrong on this one, but I need someone to job my memory. In Uncanny Avengers (I forget the issue number) where Kang is going around collecting different people for his army, what was happening that he had to save them? They were all in white light when he was rescuing them, but what was the situation that put them in that predicament?

Also way back in Bendis Avengers run where they meet the Next Avengers, Kang had destroyed time trying to destroy Ultron, where he kept recruiting heroes from all different times to help him win. Do you think that was another form of the "end" or that battle secret wars is going to touch on?

[Ramsey]

Probably the most obvious but so far overlooked clue is in Brian Michael Bendis' ILLUMINATI series in 2006-2007 where they realize the Beyonder is still alive and it reveals he is an Inhuman with possibly the x-gene and his exposure to the Terrigen mist gave him his powers. With Marvels big push of Inhumans and upcoming movie, this is probably a big clue. image.jpgimage.jpg

[AC/DC]

about the x-men, in one of the last avengers (or NA) issues there is mention to a X-nation, where Beast hides and cannot be reached by shield... so some sort of X-nation is also happening before Time runs out and after AXIS, right?

[pad]

Reading this just now, I wonder... has the earth/timeline of the all new xmen been destroyed? And that is why they cannot go back?

That would make sense, but Bendis has said that the kids are actually the past versions of the original 616 X-Men, not alternate reality versions of them--which doesn't make sense at all. We saw how adult Cyclops almost ceased to be when his younger self almost died, but we haven't seen any of the living adult versions recalling events that have happened to their younger selves.

Also, it should be noted that the Original X-Men are in the Ultimate Universe because of a new mutant they were tracking, not because of Matthew Malloy as the article suggests. Bends is still not using Magik's time-travel power fully, and it could be interesting if her powers were screwed up because of her experience with the Phoenix and the problems with the time stream, but she was actually the only one of the five that got more control over her powers.

In the Cyclops series, Young Scott's optic blasts are being drawn the same as Old Scott's. I thought that was an artist's mistake since in the past, the difference in their optic blasts showed how Old Scott was changed by the Phoenix Force, but what if the Phoenix Force is changing him retroactively? And I wonder if Marvel will ever address why Namor was the only member of the Phoenix 5 not to be changed at all by the force. Maybe getting rid of the PF is what caused the incursions to happen in the first place. And I know this is just my wishful thinking, but maybe they will realise that Rachel Summers is the best host for the Phoenix, if the "Real Jean" doesn't come back.

Except for the Fantastic Four scenes listed in the article, we haven't heard much about Franklin's role in this. He can create universes and has been said to be the most powerful mutant on the planet. Since his parents have such big roles in the upcoming story, I hope he isn't forgotten.

[pad]

Probably the most obvious but so far overlooked clue is in Brian Michael Bendis' ILLUMINATI series in 2006-2007 where they realize the Beyonder is still alive and it reveals he is an Inhuman with possibly the x-gene and his exposure to the Terrigen mist gave him his powers. With Marvels big push of Inhumans and upcoming movie, this is probably a big clue. image.jpg

If Marvel has been planning Secret Wars and the Inhumans' rise in importance in the MU for a while, then this will be addressed (finally), but I really hope the Beyonder won't be an Inhuman. There was nothing wrong with the way he was before the retcon, besides the fashion.

[Hypestyle]

an Inhuman? did he have amnesia or something?

[Bafflement]

It's been clear for ages that Marvel was planning something a bit more dramatic than the standard event - a big tip-off was that they'd been contacting stores suggesting they increase preorders for next year as something big was coming.

What seems to be the case is that they've been encouraging writers to screw around with time and alt dimensions for a while because they knew they had a huge multiversal cataclysm coming up. This is particularly true of writers such as Bendis, who has enough influence to get all the info on upcoming plans and loves tying his writing to big company events. That's not to say all the time and dimensions stuff ties together - just that Marvel's been saying "go nuts guys, we're going to tear it all down in a year or two anyway."

[TimeCrash]

The more excellent write-ups and excellent fan theories I keep seeing regarding Secret Wars speculation makes me insanely excited about it. This is one of those times when I think comic books are simply fantastic. I only hope all this build up doesn't end in a disappointing story.

[resipsaloquitur]

The Illuminati's encounter with the Beyonder was set between Secret Wars I and II....which was weird, because the Beyonder was "playing out" events from Secret Wars II. No, the issue did not make any sense.