What will the Marvel Universe be like after the end of the Avengers vs. X-Men event? The House of Ideas has revealed some of its post-AvX initiatives to Entertaiment Weekly for EW’s just-released "Comic-Con" issue. Details are still sketchy but some of the 20 plus new Marvel NOW titles (which will also include both #1 renumbered relaunches of existing titles as well as the return of some books that haven’t been published for years) have been revealed by EW including an Uncanny Avengers #1 by Rick Remender and John Cassaday, All New X-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuary Immonen, and a bi-weekly Avengers by Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opema.
Unlike DC's "New 52," which basically remade the DC Universe in a single month, Marvel is taking a gradualist approach to to rebooting its universe. Marvel plans to unveil one "relaunched" title a week from October through February, switching creative teams as they finish current projects.
Unlike DC's "New 52," which basically remade the DC Universe in a single month, Marvel is taking a gradualist approach to to rebooting its universe. Marvel plans to unveil one "relaunched" title a week from October through February, switching creative teams as they finish current projects.
The Marvel NOW titles will all feature "cinematic" cover designs and the digital editions of these new comic series will include a full range of the latest technological innovations including imbedded recaps of previous issues. The denizens of these new Marvel NOW titles will be wearing newly redesigned costume, some of which were exhibited in an illustration by Joe Quesada (check out Cyclops and Iron Man, and what's the deal with Thor's twin katanas?) that accompanied the EW article.
The Marvel NOW titles will start to debut in October and will continue to trickle into the marketplace through February of 2013. Though the Marvel NOW initiative appears to be a direct response to DC’s "New 52," Marvel doesn’t want it called a "reboot” and indeed as currently understood, it appears to be a far less drastic change than DC’s wholesale remaking of its entire superhero lineup. But Marvel is planning to shake up the creative teams on the publisher’s biggest franchises (and many fans will agree that it’s time for a changing of the guard), and the Marvel NOW initiative provides a way to do so in a systematic manner that is tied in to the changes wrought in the Marvel Universe by the Avengers vs. X-Men event.
Remender and Cassaday’s Uncanny Avengers, which bows in October, will feature a team that includes Captain America, Wolverine, Havok and a few wild card surprises. It will function as a "bridge book" between the AvX event and what’s to come as the new team attempts to overcome Cap’s longtime menace the Red Skull.
Bendis and Immonen’s All New X-Men #1, which streets in November, will bring the five original members of the X-Men team to the present day. How will they adjust to the realities of the 21st Century Marvel Universe, and what will happen to Jean Grey?
Marvel has revealed very little about Hickman and Opema’s rebooted Avengers #1, which debuts in December, except to note that the lineup of the Avengers promises to be very different in this post AvX world, and much bigger with the supergroup expanding to as many as 18 members. To meet the narrative demands of a title that will be published every two weeks, Hickman plans to alternate 6-8 issue story arcs with issues featuring self-contained stories about a single member of the team.
Only the sketchy outlines of Marvel NOW, which Entertainment Weekly described as “a massive restructuring of the Marvel Universe,” are public now, but is should eventually involve more than 20 renumbered or relaunched titles, so look for more details in ICv2’s coverage of Comic-Con.
