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USA Today Minorly Spoils The Heroic Age (Or Does It?)

By | January 27th, 2010
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Remember a while ago when I did this huge rant complaining about spoilers, and how it’s not a good idea for publishers to put out certain things before the actual release? Well, looks like Marvel has done it again, thanks to some help from USA Today. Well, this morning I clicked on a link touting itself as an interview with Joe Quesada about the Heroic Age, and was greeted by a rather spoilerific image! Great! I have put all the spoiler-ish content behind the cut, but I figured as long as I had already seen it (as much as I didn’t want to), there might be some people out there interested in the article’s contents.

Click the cut for the mysterious reveal…. (or don’t, your call!)

Ta da! Meet your Avengers! I think, anyway. I’m actually not sure if this line-up is supposed to be the final Avengers team, but never the less, we can look at the roster. First we have Bendis’ holy trinity… kind of. Thor is there, as well as Iron Man in his new armor, but the biggest surprise is obviously Bucky Cap standing in place of Steve. Those of you who read Captain America #602 now know that, despite New Avengers, Invincible Iron Man, and Siege heavily implying Rogers will take back his mantle upon rebirth, Bucky does continue being Cap (as David claps behind me in excitement). We’ve also got Spider-Man, Beast, Hawkeye, Thing, Black Widow, and … the monkey guy from Agents of Atlas? Gorilla Man? Spider-Man, Beast, and Thing are all odd to have up there, but Gorilla Man? Huh.

That of course leads me to believe that this actually isn’t the Avengers… just a promo showing off some fun characters. But still. The fact that four (five-ish) of the characters up there are classic Avengers line-up, as well as everyone on there (except Gorilla Man, I believe) being card carrying Avengers at one time or another does imply.

But wait, there’s more! Here’s some quotes from the article to discuss:

The change begins with a relaunch of Avengers #1, which will reunite Iron Man, a reborn Captain America and Thor as comrades rather than foes.

Huh? Well, ok, first off – Avengers #1? We saw that coming, and that’s still cool. All Avengers titles are being cancelled and put into one book, as far as we all know. There will probably be a mini or two, or maybe an attempt at a side series, but Avengers #1. Ok, cool. Now – “a reborn Captain America”? Do my eyes deceive me, or do I not know the difference between Bucky Cap and Steve Cap? I mean, I’m pretty sure I know the difference… That quote leads me to believe there is a possibility both Cap’s will be present in the universe. Or that this image is just wrong and was assembled by someone simply as a quick promo… which would explain Gorilla Man to me much more.

Quesada pushed a complete makeover for Spider-Man two years ago in a “Brand New Day” story line, which wiped out Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane and repositioned the hero as the teenage loner he was in the 1960s.

In the upcoming Avengers’ story line, however, the changes will remain in continuity and will not be a “reboot” of the franchises involved.

Hmm. We know that Marvel is planning to do something to Spidey and MJ, so it’s an interesting choice of words. I could be reading too much into it though. Regardless, I’m sure that this not being a reboot will make people happy.

Likely to give the “Heroic Age” considerable fanboy cred will be the participation of writer Brian Michael Bendis, who was chief architect of the “disassembly” of the Marvel Universe in the first place. Most recently, he has overseen the “Dark Reign” story line where villain Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) has taken charge of the superhero community. That approach ends with the “Heroic Age.”

“The ‘brand new day’ of the Heroic Age presents a tonal shift to optimism, a world filled with hope but quite hellish villains,” Bendis says. “The heroes realize it’s a blue-sky world worth protecting.”

Bendis says the story line was approved long before the sale to Disney. “This was always the plan, and I have the memos to prove it,” he says with a laugh.

“This was always the whole point – the reunion, the Avengers getting back together, because this is what the world needs right now,” Bendis says. “Now we get to the good stuff.”

Continued below

NOW we get to the good stuff?? So what was the last 7 years? I guess we all know what this means: MORE SCARLET WITCH! (/inside joke)

Anyway! Some interesting stuff up here! As much as the image could be a major spoiler, I’m glad I got the chance to read the article, and for those of you that dared click behind this cut for information, what do you think about some of this stuff? Are you excited or are you dreading the changes? And are you hoping that now is finally the time Warren Ellis will put Bambi on the X-Men team as he promised on Twitter?

source


Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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