SDCC News.  The 40th anniversary of the Secret Wars crossover event is coming up, and at the Diamond Retailer Appreciation Luncheon at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Comics VP of Print & Digital Publishing David Gabriel announced Secret Wars: Battleworld, the first of several planned Secret Wars events.

Secret Wars: Battleworld will be an all new story that will take place in the time frame of Secret Wars and will show what was happening with some of the villains who haven’t been seen before in the original series.  The creative team for Secret Wars: Battlefield will be writer Tom DeFalco and Spider-Girl artist Pat Olliffe.  DeFalco was the editor of the original Secret Wars and also the writer of Amazing Spider-Man, including issues #251-252, which crossed over with Secret Wars and introduced Spider-Man’s black suit.

Gabriel showed two covers, the main cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli and a variant by Ryan Stegman, as well as some interior art.  “As 2024 approaches, we have a lot more Secret Wars things that we're going to be announcing,” he said.  “So we're really going to be celebrating Secret Wars and the black costumed Spider-Man for the entire year.”

Click Gallery below for covers and interior art! [Updated w/ additional cover images]