Marvel is merging all of its universes into one big mish-mash called Battleworld in this May’s Secret Wars event – but it looks like not all current comics are going to make it out the other end alive, including several of our current faves. Sad. Face.
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Marvel’s SVP of Sales and Marketing David Gabriel said this big “616 finale” (616 being Marvel’s current main canonical universe) will be “ending th[e]se stories and the characters as you knew them – for now!” So all hope is not lost for the following titles – but he did list 33 books that will end in one form or another after Secret Wars.
Here’s the whole shebang in alphabetical order, and we’ve bolded the lady-led titles:
- All-New Captain America
- All-New Ghost Rider
- All-New X-Men
- Amazing Spider-Man
- Amazing X-Men
- Angela: Asgard’s Assassin
- Avengers
- Avengers World
- Captain Marvel
- Cyclops
- Deadpool
- Elektra
- Fantastic Four
- Guardians 3000
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Hulk
- Inhuman
- Iron Fist: The Living Weapon
- Legendary Star-Lord
- Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man
- New Avengers
- Nightcrawler
- Nova
- Rocket Raccoon
- Secret Avengers
- Spider-Man & The X-Men
- Spider-Man 2099
- Storm
- Superior Iron Man
- Thor
- Uncanny X-Men
- Wolverines
- X-Men
Now, we know that Thor is selling incredibly well, and that Captain Marvel has a movie coming out, so I’m not too worried about whether or not we’ll see them again – it’s likely they’ll just take a new form or start big new arcs after the event ends. But for older (the all-female X-Men) or lesser-known titles (A: AA), I am a bit concerned about their immediate future. Gabriel did say that Marvel originally wanted to end/re-start all of their titles post-Secret Wars for a “fresh start,” but that it just wasn’t realistic with the number of comics they’re publishing. That’s really unfortunate, because I think it ultimately would have made a lot more sense than what they’re doing now.
What I find interesting is the AU titles aren’t listed as “ending” post-Battleworld; only these 616 titles are getting “finales.” Books like Spider-Gwen will be “deal[ing] with it in their own ways.” But how does that even work, given that essentially all of Marvel’s titles will be given a soft reset once Secret Wars ends? What makes these titles’ reboots more “final” than the rest of Marvel’s books?
Gabriel clarified (?) by saying, “Some [titles] may take a hiatus for a month or two (something the industry is accustomed to); some will reach their ‘616 finale;’ some become Battleworld transformed; and still others… well we’ll get to those!”
So… Captain Marvel and Thor are ending, but not ending, probably, but rebooting, but maybe after a several-month hiatus? Okay. Great. Gotcha.
What do you make of this news, folks?
(via THR)
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