The Future of Marvel and DC

So IGN has posted this great article (I know I give them enough love as it is, but come on, it’s not like they don’t deserve It.) about predicting the end of the major events Secret Invasion, Final Crisis, and some others. I know they did the same thing with Civil War early last year and I want to throw in my two cents. Again, as I’ve said before, I don’t mean to be ripping them off or anything, but I am giving them credit for this.

If you want to read the great article, just click the link in this sentence.

We’ll start in order they go with, first up, Secret Invasion

There’s been a lot of talk as to last minute deaths and moments, by now, it’s fairly obvious the biggest reveal they could do is either kill a power hitter (Iron Man comes to mind for sure) or reveal Nick Fury as a Skrull. IGN seems set that Fury is a Skrull, I’m still not sure. SI#4 would be evidence to him being one, but on the other hand, it would be rather odd to reveal the biggest power hitter in SI to be a Skrull.

There was some speculation, at first, that War-Machine would die at the end of his story in SI, until they announced the new ongoing series. But there is still room to kill off some of the Initiative’s finest soldiers; I’m just not sure who.

The cover to #8 is minus one armored Avenger, and there is high speculation that Iron Man is going to die. I think that would be funny more than anything, here Cap dies at the end of Civil War, then Iron Man does at the end of Secret Invasion, both 2 earth shattering events through the Marvel universe.

The Skrulls are finished, that much is obvious, everyone knows it. But for one, the key to their defeat is interesting. One could speculate that it’s simply Reed Richards and his magic fun time gun, or Captain Skrull-Vell saves the day, no one is quite sure just how this will pan out for the Skrulls defeat. That is one major interesting aspect so far, just how will the Skrulls go down? Will it be in a blaze of glory, or the whisper after a gun shot?

One thing that I think people are overlooking is the upcoming Spider-woman mini. Bendis has promised us that it premiers early 2009, with Alex Maleev on art, and that it will very much deal with the Marvel U recoiling form the events of the Invasion. No matter what cheap tie-in one shot they produce in December, from the sounds of it, Spider-woman is THE post-Invasion book to look out for.

This makes sense since Spider-woman was obviously the biggest casualty of the Invasion. A character Bendis had built up so much, only to take her down with the reveal that she was the Skrull Queen. It would make sense that Jessica Drew’s replacement (it can be safe to presume she’s long gone) would be dealing with the fallout as the next Spider-Woman.

Another thing brought up is Iron Man no longer being the Director of Shield. It’s been a fairly strong aspect to the character, so a part of me hopes this doesn’t get taken away forms the shell head, but if Iron Man doesn’t die, there is a good chance that he may retire from Shield, and maybe even super heroics in general. If anyone’s had it hardest though the Invasion, it’s Iron Man.

In the end, it’s hard to tell just how badly hit the Marvel Universe will be, or if it’s even really all that damaged in the end. Look at World War Hulk, massive damage to New York, everywhere else when it came to comics New York was just fine. So it’s hard to tell if the damage is really done, and if it will even stick. That’s the problem with Marvel, timing is never on. I expect some major repercussions that shake up the MU, but for now, just what those are it’s too hard to pinpoint.

Now onto Batman RIP.

So apparently the Batman in Final Crisis is Bruce Wayne, and that RIP takes place before Final Crisis…so then…what the hell is the damn point of RIP?!

Confusion aside (With DC? Get outa Dodge) IGN had some speculation as to who the Black Glove. I honestly disagree with 2 of their suggestions, Tim Drake and Joe Chill, but as to Black Glove being some alternate persona of Batman…well…

I’m not sure. It could be a fairly interesting twist, and let’s face it, even back in the day; Batman was crazier than a mango man on fire. Batman has always been insane; there is nothing to say that Batman’s tragedies, his pain, his loss, and his suppressed desires to kill wouldn’t manifest an alternate villainous persona.

Yes, a persona who has all of Batman’s skills, his trained mind, his focused fighting abilities, but without any of the way to hold back. A Batman who not only kills, but wants to, who enjoys it. As time goes on, as more of his hatred and despair is suppressed, this alternate state of mind grows stronger and stronger and eventually the Black Glove is born.

It sounds a little crazy, I know, but with Grant Morrison you never know what to expect. This is the man who brought is Ninja Man-bats with swords.

Now the writer of the IGN article (sorry I don’t know his name!) brings up Bruce possibly quitting being Batman, simple as that. I can see that happening, even someone as focused as Bruce Wayne could snap one day and say “Enough, I can’t do this anymore” before he gets himself actually killed. Maybe Final Crisis is Batman’s last hurrah.

One really cool thing he brings up is Bruce leading the league of assassins. Now…this would be cool. I could see this happening. As we know, Talia made him an offer to come join her and lead the league, with Damian as well, the three as a family. I actually felt a little confused as to why he turned down that offer.

Either way, I could see a later on storyline brewing from this, Bruce leading a league that wants to save the world and kill as little as possible, against Ra’s league of villainous assassins, and this creating a war between the long time enemies. While I’m not sure where that would lead, it would certainly make heads spin (hopefully for the better, though)

Finally, there is the question as to just that will be left standing as Batman come Battle for the Cowl. I already speculated that Heart of Hush ties in more to Battle for the Cowl than RIP really. Seeing as the teaser image shows Hush and Catwoman. Then again, Catwoman may die come Heart of Hush’ end, so I’m not quite sure what to believe really. At least not when it comes to that aspect.

If Hush is involved, he could be more of the villain in Battle for the Cowl, whereas it’s a competition almost, and whoever can stop his evil plans first get the cowl. Though that sounds pretty cheesy, with DC, you never know what you’re going to get. Either gritty and real, or cheesy and fun, it’s hard to tell these days.

I personally think Dick Grayson deserves the cowl more than anyone, though he’s earned his wings as Nightwing, he’s the only person I can see as Batman aside from Bruce. Tim Drake fits the title of Robin too well, and Jason Todd…well…Jason Todd just needs to die again.

All right, that’s it for RIP, now onto our final prediction, Ultimatum.

No one is quite sure how Ultimatum will pan out. Some people believe to simply be an Armageddon like ending leaving the world barely in tact; with the super heroes the worlds only hope at survival. Similar to Wild Storm’s World’s End event.

Magneto is a key player in the story, we’ve been told this for quite some time, since shortly after Ultimatum was announced I believe. The big M is the main villain (somewhat) in Ultimates 3, and has proven to be a pain in the ass even in the past, with his help in developing Banshee. That coupled with that he is the second (?) ever Mutant speculates just how deeply seeded he is to the Ultimate U.

By now, it’s obvious that Ultimate Magneto is a far more key character in the creation of the Ultimate U than most characters, which speculates as to just what is his connection to the earth shattering event.

There is a good chance he’s behind the disasters that start up Ultimatum, possibly behind the X-men from the future that show up in this month’s crossover/Annuals between the Ultimate X-men and Fantastic Four. I’m still not sure how those will tie in and lead up to Ultimatum, really.

The title leaves the speculation that an ultimatum will be made, one which could lead to the end of the world, or saving it. No doubt key characters like Magneto will be involved with the resolution of that Ultimatum, even if he’s the one who creates it.

All we can really go on is that Ultimatum changes everything, and with the Ultimate Universe, a promise like that is much easier to keep, so don’t feel to safe while hugging your copies of Ultimate Spider-man #1.

My honest thoughts are this, shit is going to go down, people are going to go down, but we’ve yet to see just what will make that shit hit the fan, but you can bet I’ll be there, reviewing the chaos as you’re favorite characters drop like flies.

So that’s all I have to say, sorry I didn’t have much to say on Ultimatum, I thought up what I could, but in all honesty, I haven’t a foggiest clue as to the end of it all.

Thanks for reading, I had a great time writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Again, if you’ve yet to check it out, go read IGN’s article on this, it’s great. Now I’ll see you all tomorrow for my weekly reviews.