Marvel revealed more details for their upcoming “Generations” event today, revealing that the original Wolverine, Iron Man, Hulk, and more are returning to the main Marvel Universe. Teased last month with Alex Ross art, this series seeks to reunite the classic and legacy heroes in a series of one-shots written by creators currently working on those characters. The pairings include:
-Iron Man (Tony Stark and Riri Williams) – Brian Michael Bendis
-Spider-Man (Peter Parker and Miles Morales) – Brian Michael Bendis
-Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan) – G. Willow Wilson
-Thor (Odinson and Jane Foster) – Jason Aaron
-Hawkeye (Clint Barton and Kate Bishop) – Kelly Thompson
-Hulk (Bruce Banner and Amadeus Cho) – Greg Pak
-Jean Grey (young and older) – Dennis Hopeless
-Wolverine (Logan and X23) – Tom Taylor
-Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell and Carol Danvers) – Margie Stohl
-Captain America (Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson) – Nick Spencer
“We are looking to honor the legacy of the entire universe, so we are taking the iconic legacy heroes and pairing them with the new class,” Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso stated. “It very much indicates where we are going in the future with all of these characters and what we’ve been planning for some time for the universe.”
The current Marvel Universe sees many of these original characters dead or off the board. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Clint Barton all are still suffering the effects of “Civil War II” with Stark in some sort of techno coma, Banner dead, and Barton struggling with the guilt of killing him in “Occupy Avengers.” Odinson is currently running around unworthy, Kamala and Carol aren’t on the best of terms after “CW2,” Steve Rogers is hailing Hydra, Mar-Vell hasn’t been seen since “Chaos War” in 2011, and adult Jean Grey is dead for like the upteenth time. Perhaps the most high profile hero on this list, Logan the original Wolverine, has been dead since 2014’s Charles Soule/Steve McNiven event “Death of Wolverine.”
Alonso addressed this adding,
How did we do this is part of the fun,” he said. “Right now, Rogers isn’t much of a good guy. Why would Sam want to team up with him? Banner’s dead! Logan’s dead! These are questions that demand to be seen. What I will tell you is we have an ingenious device [to bring them back].
As Marvel has spent the last several years building up these legacy characters and promoting diversity across its entire line, questions abound. Can these characters coexist with one another? Does bringing back Marvel’s original (mostly cis-het white male characters) characters to prominence diminish the impact these legacy characters have made over the last several years? Is the answer the same for every character?
“Generations” kicks off in July and runs through September, setting the stage for the future of Marvel’s line and running concurrently with “Secret Empire.” No artists for the series were named in this announcement.
