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| Source: Talk Android |
Marvel Comics have today announced the publication of a series of new comic-books which could herald major changes for their long-running narrative universe of interconnected superhero storylines. Whereas Detective Comics recently rebooted their rich (if overly dense, an attribute which could easily be cast in Marvel's direction too) continuity so as to enable themselves to forge more innovative story arcs for their central players whilst simultaneously reducing the number of crossover events (albeit to debatable effect given the sheer number of DC multi-franchise tales currently available on the comic-book market), the creators of characters such as Captain America, Spider-Man and the X-Men have (up until now, at least) stuck to their guns and continued to offer yarns stuffed to the brim with references to past events, characters and locales alike.
Where and when could everything shift in this respect, then? If this tweet from the publishing house's resident Executive Editorial Director is anything to go by - and we're willing to bet that it's just that - then the times could be a'changing sooner than any of us might originally have expected (although in light of the fact that this interconnected continuity began life with the marriage of Reed and Susan Richards storyline back in the 1960s, fans would equally be forgiven for asserting that it's about time):
Everything Ends -- Spring 2015 #seeeekrits pic.twitter.com/9WNmO6MUV9
— Ryan Penagos (@AgentM) November 4, 2014
Now, in fairness, we'll concede that there's little to be taken away from this particular promotional image (and indeed Penagos' words) save for that the arc in question - supposedly entitled "Everything Ends" - will be with us in the early stages of 2015. What might be of more significance, however, is Marvel's recent secretive marketing scheme, wherein they've released a series of seemingly unconnected images teasing the returns of classic 20th Century storylines such as "Days of Future Past" (now going by the name "Years of Future Past" - see what they did there?) and "The Infinity Gauntlet" as well as more recent efforts like "Civil War" and "Avengers Vs. X-Men", many of which fans reckon will serve as spin-offs to the recently-announced universe-wide crossover reprisal of the "Secret Wars" arc of old. Perhaps "Everything Ends" will signal a multiverse-spanning reboot or indeed a transition towards another Marvel Universe where key events played out differently - this would, of course, allow for the all too convenient return of the recently-deceased Wolverine - and where character arcs can thus head off in a different trajectory to their predecessors a la "The New 52" (that's the brand which DC used to signify their rebooted tales, for those who hadn't already heard).A central talking point that's likely to be raised in light of this controversial and oh-so-vague marketing campaign, however, is whether or not the potential decision to nix decades' worth of continuity will truly benefit Marvel Comics in the long run, especially given that DC look set to either renege on their own decision to do so or at least reintroduce elements from their pre-reboot multiverse in their Spring 2015 crossover event "Convergence". For all the former comics corporation's gusto, if "Everything Ends" were to be received poorly, it'd hardly bode well for such an overhaul, yet Marvel would quite likely have very little choice in the matter due to the fact that they'll presumably have mapped out a relatively rigid structure for their 2016 and 2017 output. Regardless of the immediate ramifications of their still-to-be-announced plans, though, On-Screen readers can rest assured that we'll have all the latest details on the future of Marvel and DC's printed (and digital, of course) works as and when they hit the web in the days ahead.
The opening issue of the "Everything Ends" arc will be published via all good US and UK comic-book retailers in Summer 2015.
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