So, did you hear about this new Marvel thing: Marvel Legacy?
You can read about it here, but it's basically a return to form for Marvel. Classic characters back in their status quo (yay?), a return to legacy numbering (thank fucking God), corner boxes on covers, fan reach out stuff (like FOOM and hopefully bullpen bits); basically it's Marvel's version of DC Rebirth. Which, hey, I'm all about.
Don't get me wrong, I hate to see the House of Ideas become a recycling center, but I love the basic intent: energize the base, tell good stories, and expand from there. No joke, DC Rebirth was one of the best comics I read in 2016 and had one of my favorite moments ever in all of comics (I'm a sucker for big, heartfelt returns). And that's coming from a life-long Marvel zombie! To think that Marvel might actually pull something off half as good fills me with all kinds of optimism I haven't felt since… Well, at least a decade.
And just to head you off at the pass, while I'm excited for things like legacy numbering and fan reach out stuff, I'm less excited for the return of the classic status quo. While I don't read a lot of books right now, I like the idea of JaneThor, Miles, and SamNova and most definitely don't want to see those rolled back. However, if we could see Sam and Miles develop a strong rogues gallery all their own so they could become their own heroes not living in the shadows of their predecessors, well that'd be just peachy.
Anyway, I'm not here to give you unsolicited opinions about Marvel Legacy. I'm here to mindlessly speculate about Marvel Legacy. And everything begins with these quotes:
"Let's just say there's a last-page reveal that's probably gonna break the Internet." - Axel
Alonzo
"[It's] the return of a central piece of Marvel mythos that readers have been mourning in recent months" - Tom Brevoort
So yeah, at the end of the big relaunch book will be a huge reveal of a Marvel Mythos that will break the internet. People are already speculating that it's the return of the Fantastic Four (which is the easy money right now) or the first 616 appearance of Miracleman (or Marvelman, if you're a traditionalist), but they're both wrong.
The reveal is totally going to be about Mephisto and the Spider-marriage.
I know, I know, it's totally insane, but hear me out and you'll realize just how sane it sounds.
1- "Readers mourning" = Readers loving Renew your vows
Undoing the Spider-Marriage by way of demonic intervention was always a bitter pill to swallow and it made me (a staunch supporter of the marriage) vow to never buy another Spider-book until it was undone. And then they launched Renew Your Vows which was the exact book I (and presumably many others) was looking for. Reading it has reminded me just how great that Peter MJ relationship is and why it was such a shitty idea to get rid of it in the first place. Which is probably why…
2- Mary Jane is returning to the Spider-books
After being sidelined for years and most recently getting shipped off to Iron Man, MJ makes her triumphant return to the world of webs in Chip Zdarsky's new 'back to basics' Spectacular Spider-Man book. However, it also said that he's modeling Peter and MJ's relationship after his with his ex-wife, so they could just end up being weirdo pals. However…
3- Mephisto has been a plot point in Spider-Man/Deadpool
This, well, let me show you two excerpts from Spider-Man/Deadpool #5 from Joe Kelly and Ed Mcguiness:
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| Click to embiggen so you can read it! |
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Sounds like a man (er… demon) with a plan. Maybe someone who has the power, ability, and motive to bend reality around a person (or people because it's both him and Mary Jane) to make them experience a vast emptiness and therefore unhappiness with their life. Which almost sounds like what DC is doing with Dr. Manhattan in Rebirth. I mean, after all, if you're going to copy something, why not go all out:
4- Mephisto will be the Dr. Manhattan of Marvel Legacy
In Rebirth, the big reveal was that some God-like creature stole time from the universe, rejected happiness, and generally put the heroes onto the path of despair. In a meta sense, it was a great way to explain away some terrible story decisions and gently reset the world as if they never happened. Who's to say Mephisto couldn't be the same kind of force for Marvel? Maybe his deal with Peter and MJ was less "I'll take your marriage for your Aunt's life" and more "I'll take everyone's happiness for your Aunt's life". Which would explain why fs all of the big company wide crossovers have been increasingly about heroes fighting other heroes as opposed to, you know, bad guys.
I guess we'll find out this Fall what the reveal is. Oh, which reminds me, there is one big anniversary coming up this November:
5- November is the 10th Anniversary of One More Day
Huh. Can you believe that. Ten years since they shoved the Spider-Marriage 'genie' back into the bottle. It was such a big deal that then-EiC Joe Quesada took time out of his busy schedule to pencil the whole thing and give us that one iconic cover:
Crazy. And who's doing the big, four-page foldout cover for Marvel Legacy?
Right. I'm sure that doesn't mean anything.
So… do you still think I'm totally insane?
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