The first Secret Wars was in 1984, a twelve-issue miniseries written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Mike Zeck. The mini was intended to tie-in to a Marvel Super Heroes toyline that Mattel was releasing at the time.
In the mini, the Beyonder, a mighty cosmic being, gathers up the major Marvel superheroes and villains and takes them to an artificial planet known as Battleworld. He basically tells the heroes and villains to fight each other, stating the victors get their hearts' desires.
It was one of the first major comic book crossovers, and like DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths a year later, it did have consequences for the MU, albeit not as epic. The miniseries saw the first appearance of the black Spider-Man costume that would eventually become part of the supervillain Venom. It also featured the first appearances of the supervillainesses Titania and Volcana, and the second Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter. The Thing would stay on Battleworld for a while afterwards, and the She-Hulk would join the Fantastic Four in his place.
Secret Wars would spawn a sequel, Secret Wars II, in 1985. In the sequel, the Beyonder decides to search for enlightenment, and he believes he can find it on Earth. The story tells of his misadventures figuring out human life and his encounters with the superheroes and villains of the Marvel Universe.
The story crossed over with almost every title Marvel had published at the time, and it is considered somewhat inferior to the first, quality wise.
Thirty years later, Marvel has revisited the concept with a new Secret Wars miniseries, written by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic.
I'll admit, I like the cover. I'm a sucker for Alex Ross artwork.
This Secret Wars seems to also pay homage to Crisis on Infinite Earths, a story involving the various incarnations and alternate takes on the Marvel Universe, including the Ultimate Universe, being destroyed and melded together into a new Battleworld. With this series, Marvel has promised an "All-New" and "All-Different" Marvel Universe, launching with 60 #1 issues. With this, they released two teaser images. Here's the first one:
At least we now get the idea that the MU is not getting rebooted. Some of the stuff from the current MU is being carried on, which I think is very nice. We still have elderly Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson as Captain America and Jane Foster as Thor, which is great. This is pretty much how I felt that the MU would be after Secret Wars, still chugging along with some slight changes and new additions from other universes.
Phil Coulson - I admit, I like Phil. I'm glad he's sticking around. His presence may indicate that the SHIELD title will be one of the relaunched titles.
Spider-Gwen - Not surprising Marvel will want to keep her around, as she has become quite a popular character. Maybe her world will survive Secret Wars. I hope so, as she may be superfluous in an MU that already has a bunch of Spider-Man-connected characters.
Black Panther - I imagine he'll get his own title again due to him having a movie coming up.
Iron Man - Hopefully, Secret Wars will undo the damage the character had taken due to Civil War and Superior Iron Man. He's now one of Marvel's most popular characters, so I want an Iron Man that has an altruistic streak again. I have heard rumors that it may not be Tony in the suit. If that's the case, I'd be neat to see Jim Rhodes in the suit again...
Vision - Considering the Vision's big role in the latest Avengers movie, it's not surprising he will get a bigger role in the All-New Marvel Universe, as he will be joining the Avengers post-Secret Wars. Don't like the new look, though. I think it's a bit too busy.
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) - Marvel's not ditching this guy, not with his MCU debut coming thanks to the deal with Sony. Makes me wonder why they can't cut a deal with Fox to do X-Men and Fantastic Four in the MCU.
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) - He will be in the Avengers post-Secret Wars. I hope we get to see him interacting with Peter Parker.
Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) - I'm happy she'll still be around, and an Avenger post-Secret Wars. Girl is hitting the big time. In wrestling parlance, she's getting pushed to the moon. I hope she can handle being one of Earth's Mightiest.
Ant-Man (Scott Lang) - he's got a movie coming up, hopefully he'll get a series.
Red Wolf (Unknown) - At first, when I saw this, I had no idea who he was, didn't recognize him. A guy I knew on Twitter surmised it was Ka-Zar, but I said it wasn't as Ka-Zar was more like Tarzan than Turok. Only later did I realize it was Red Wolf, a Native American western character. There have been a couple of Red Wolves over the years, but this one is believed to be the original Wild West Red Wolf (Wildrun) instead of the modern one (William Talltrees). I wonder what his status will be.
And here's the second image:
Doctor Spectrum - Doctor Spectrum was originally created as an analogue to DC's Green Lantern. This was one that appeared in a Jonathan Hickman story he wrote earlier. I'm guessing Marvel wants a Green Lantern.
Citizen V - This one genuinely surprised me, as this was a disguise of Baron Zemo. This was the same costume he wore. Could this signal the return of the Thunderbolts?
The Thing (Benjamin Grimm) - So much for the rumors that Marvel is burying the Fantastic Four. Based on Ben's outfit, looks like the Thing is going to Guard the Galaxy. Why not, he was in the West Coast Avengers and New Avengers for a while. Seems to me they're just going to have the Fantastic Four break up and have the heroes join new teams, based on this...and I have been hearing Johnny Storm is hanging out with the Inhumans for reasons.
Karnak - The weakness-finding Inhuman has a new look...but wasn't he dead?
Rocket Raccoon - The raccoon is back! Enough said!
Inferno - An Inhuman. Don't know much about him.
Medusa - The Queen of the Inhumans. Considering that the Inhumans are getting a bigger role in the MU, and that they are getting a film. I think they're getting a title.
Daredevil - The Man Without Fear is getting a new look! My guess is it's a nod to the plain black sweats look he had in the Netflix series. I've liked Mark Waid's work on him, so hopefully we'll see more of that.
Wolverine (X-23/Laura Kinney) - You know, DC used to be the company that was about legacy, passing mantles and identities. Now in recent years, Marvel has become the legacy company, what with Laura taking up her father's mantle as Wolverine, it seems. Hopefully, things'll work out for her.
Starlord (Peter Jason Quill) - I expect the Guardians of the Galaxy to have plenty of spotlight in the New MU, mainly due to their popularity from the film. I wonder how his team is going to be shaken up..and what rockin' tunes will he be listening to for the whole thing.
Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) - Hopefully, we'll see Doctor Strange retake his rightful place as the Sorcerer Supreme, the main mystical defender of the world against all supernatural threats. Wouldn't mind seeing him have a big ol' magic brawl with Shuma-Gorath. Come on! The big ol' tentacled eyeball needs love! He's been in video games! And Strange has an axe. Neat.
Old Man Logan - My guess is this is their compromise between having Logan around, and keeping classic Logan dead. I want to see this guy running a bar the heroes frequent after battles to drink, rest, and have some laughs in. I also hope we get some nice interactions between him and X-23.
It seems the New MU wants to celebrate their universe of old, while embracing the new additions and the newfound legacies they created. That's good. I didn't want a full-on reboot because I felt Marvel didn't need it. I am quite excited for this, unlike DC's New 52, and I can't wait to see the New MU unfold!
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