10 Post-Secret Wars Wishes & Expectations

So, Secret Wars is quickly approaching, and with it, the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it, as it will be merged with the Ultimate Universe in a sort of pseudo-reboot. However, it seems that other worlds in the Multiverse are also involved, as are various points in time throughout the mainstream Marvel Earth (Earth 616). It’s pretty clear that the HUGE Multiverse in Marvel Comics is being shrunken down with this. Most people are saying it’ll disappear altogether, but let’s keep this in mind: The Marvel Cinematic Universe is considered part of the Multiverse, and they aren’t ending anytime soon. Same goes with the other movie and television franchises featuring Marvel characters. On top of that, Spider-Gwen is only JUST starting next week, though she has been part of the Spider-Verse event all along, so I doubt it’ll only last as long as it takes to get to the end of Secret Wars. And frankly, doing away with the Multiverse altogether seems like a waste, as it takes away a lot of potential story-telling possibilities.

Either way, though, we can expect the Marvel Universe to be vastly different post-Secret Wars, with Earth 616 and Earth 1610 (the Ultimate Universe) merging together and their histories becoming blended, and with probably a few things being rebooted back to square one and others being retconned out of existence. Now, this prospect is more than a little frightening, especially because we’ve seen something like this done a few times before (mostly by DC). However, one advantage there is that Marvel can look at everything that did and didn’t work with DC’s various reboots and learn from those instances. Plus, this is a good chance for them to bring back old ideas and give them a new twist. So, with that said, here’s a few things I wouldn’t mind seeing post-Secret Wars, as well as some that I expect will happen whether they sound good or not. Let’s start with probably the most obvious thing people expect to happen…

#1 – Wolverine Brought Back

Face it, bub, you KNEW Wolverine wasn’t going to stay dead forever. It was just a matter of the right scenario to come along and justify his re-existence. Well, Secret Wars could prove to be just that. My one concern going into this, though, is that this puts us right back in the same position we had with the character prior to his losing his healing factor, and that’s that, after a while of being shown he’s all but invincible and immortal, it’s hard to get invested in his stories. As such, I’m hoping that some sort of limitation is put on his healing factor so that he’s at least given SOME kind of vulnerability. Also, I wouldn’t try to demote X-23 with his return in any way, and have the two continue to act as equally important characters, but I’ll get back to her in a bit…

#2 – Tony Stark Becomes Good Again

Okay, really, this isn’t even just a matter of me not liking Superior Iron Man. This is a matter of me not liking a LOT of what’s been done with the character for years now, starting with Civil War. If you haven’t noticed, I’m more than a bit concerned about the fact that Captain America 3 is going to be a loose adaptation of that story, and ultimately, it comes down to one point: Tony Stark should not be a villain. Now, they could maybe do something neat where we get good Tony back and Superior Iron Man becomes his own evil character spun off from him, but there HAS to be a good Tony we can root for that isn’t held down by crap like the Superhero Registration Act or having Captain America’s mind wiped. I want THAT Tony Stark back.

#3 – Ms. Marvel Sticks Around

Yeah, if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big Ms. Marvel fan. Kamala was easily the best newcomer of last year, and I would HATE to lose her. Now granted, I’ve been told by writer G. Willow Wilson that there’s “nothing to fear”, but at the same time, I’m seeing advertisements for her tie-in to Secret Wars being about how “Kamala has to grapple with the end of everything she knows, and discover what it means to be a hero when your whole world is on the line.” So I guess we’ll just see, but either way, I’m hoping she sticks around, and we have our inevitable Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel crossover, along with something else I’d like to suggest…

#4 – A New Young Avengers-like Team Book

Let’s face it, folks, there are still plenty of younger heroes out there that could form a new team of heroes. Ms. Marvel, X-23, Miles Morales, Kate Bishop, and who knows how many more? Is Marvel REALLY going to wipe them ALL away post-Secret Wars? And frankly, I don’t care what they call themselves. Young Avengers, Avengers Academy, the Ultimates, whatever works for them. I would just love to see this team. And speaking of one of them in particular…

#5 – Miles Morales Stays

I’ve said it before, and I will continue to say it for as long as it’s the God’s honest truth: The best thing going for the Ultimate Universe (and the only thing nowadays, in fact) is Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man. The question is immediately brought up, then: What do you do with the character after Secret Wars? Tossed aside? Probably not. Do you have him continue to act as Spider-Man, and just have two of them, having him operate in a team with Peter? Tricky, but doable. Do you perhaps make use of the fact that Kaine recently died in Spider-Verse and make him the Scarlet Spider? Sure, I could see Miles fitting into that role just fine. However, there’s one other avenue they could take…

#6 – One More Day Reversed

Recent info dumps have revealed the existence of a version of Peter Parker on Battleworld that hasn’t made the deal with Mephisto yet. This could be where we finally undo all that nonsense, and have Peter and MJ be brought back together, possibly having Mayday, and hell, Pete could even pass the role of Spider-Man down to Miles, though he’d likely be able to come out of retirement from time to time to help him out. If nothing else, though, Marvel, please, hear my cry, in the name of all Spider-Man fans that know him to be better than the one who made that almost 100% literal deal with the devil, undo this terrible act. And if you need any more incentive to do so, Linkara has gone on record in saying that, if the deal with Mephisto is ever reversed, not even necessarily that Peter and Mary Jane get married again, but that the deal itself is nullified, he will buy every Spider-Man story that’s come out since. That’s 8 years worth of comics he’d be purchasing from you guys. May not seem like a lot of money, but from one person, could you ask for much more?

#7 – A Simpler History

Yyyeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhh, one problem Marvel has with its LONG history is just how complicated some stories can get. Probably the most notorious of all is Jean Grey’s entire history, as well as that of the Phoenix. In fact, most of the more complex and overly complicated and difficult to follow stories can be traced back to the X-Men. So, if there’s a chance to simplify some of those stories without changing too much or taking too much away, I’d suggest Marvel takes this opportunity to do so now.

#8 – Old Heroes Retaking Their Mantles

For better or worse, I think we all see this coming. Granted, I don’t see Carol Danvers giving up the role of Captain Marvel, since she’s got a movie coming up, but Steve Rogers is probably going to be Captain America again, and Mjolnir will likely find its way back to Thor Odinson. Hopefully, though, their recent replacements aren’t tossed aside, and are instead given whole new leases on life now that they’ve been established as characters deserving of being among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, particularly the new female Thor (‘cuz somehow I doubt I have to worry too much about Falcon).

#9 – The A-Force

When I first heard about A-Force, I immediately adored the idea, so much so that I’m hoping it sticks around long past Secret Wars. Just the idea of seeing all these kickass Marvel women teaming up, without even really needing a set roster and just being about them all coming together to fight injustice, I just LOVE the idea SO FRAKKING MUCH (seriously, you can’t see me, but I’m fanboying out SO BAD right now, lol).

#10 – Character Histories Merged

Lastly, one thing I kinda expect to happen is that characters that exist on both Earth 616 and Earth 1610 will have their histories and elements of their personalities merged together. Somehow, I suspect that, when the dust settles, there’ll only be one Nick Fury, and he’ll be the one that physically resembles Samuel L. Jackson (‘cuz let’s face it, the movies DO still dictate a lot of what happens in the comics, for better or for worse), unless they plan on revealing him to be Nick Fury, Jr. in said movies. Also, I’m personally kinda hoping that the mainstream Aunt May gets downsized in favour of her more awesome counterpart. Seriously, words cannot describe how much I prefer Ultimate Aunt May to her counterpart.

Anyway, that’s all I can think of for right now. Got any I haven’t thought of? Perhaps even a few concerns? Leave in the comments below, and we’ll see what happens when Secret Wars hits. Ja né!