Marvel has released their new November solicitations. In a bit of a change up Marvel latest solicitations aren’t just for comics coming in November. Their newly released solicitations have many comic books with release dates for December. Because of that this solicitation breakdown will be a bit different in that it won’t include the titles releasing in December. The ten biggest takeaways for Marvel’s latest comic book solicitations will stick to the comic books releasing in November, though you may see some commentary mention the December teasers. With that in mind, scroll down to check out what are the biggest things to look forward to in November from Marvel Comics.
10) NEW PUNISHER RISES
Punisher is one of the most well-known Marvel characters. With his iconic status there was no way Marvel was going to keep Punisher’s death as a long-term status quo. As Marvel has done many times in the past, they have figured the best way to keep Punisher going is to keep Frank Castle dead and give the title to a brand-new character.
While normally I don’t mind exploring the legacy of a hero with others trained or close to the character picking up the mantle Punisher is not a character I consider as someone who should be a legacy character. Because of the nature of the Punisher character it is a name that should live and die with Frank Castle. It is not made to be a mantle character like other Marvel superheroes have been able to achieve.
Not helping matters is the fact that the person picking up the Punisher name is some random guy. Everything about the design for the new character screams generic dude with an attitude problem. This is definitely a title that would be surprising becomes successful. My guess is we will see Frank Castle back sooner rather than later to reclaim the Punisher identity.
9) CAPTAIN MARVEL GETS NEW VILLAIN RIVAL
One of the struggles for Captain Marvel’s ongoing adventures is the lack of a rogues gallery. Normally the threats that Carol Danvers has faced are either Kree or Avengers related. While Kelly Thompson tried to introduce new villains like Vox Supreme and Ove neither had iconic villain status.
Because of the lack of a rogues gallery it makes the introduction of Yuna Yang as a new villain standout even more. Yuna using the Nega-Bands for her villainous transformation immediately sets the bar high for what kind of threat level she will bring. This will not be an easy fight for Captain Marvel.
Yuna’s appearance will be an important tone setter for Alyssa Wong’s run on Captain Marvel. This will either show that this is a long term run that will introduce many new and old villains in great or disappointing ways. Making sure Yuna’s character is presented strong and making Captain Marvel look great is a early test for Wong on Captain Marvel.
8) AVENGERS SETTING UP VISION EVENT
Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa kicked off their run by setting up the Tribulation Events warned by Kang. With this warning Kang gave predictions that included related names of “the King of Magic,” “the Death Moon”, “the Cannibal Culture,” “the Endless Night,” and “the Impossible City” with the possibility of more events to take place. Kang being the one to give this warning does create a greater seriousness to this, especially with the fear he spoke these predictions.
With Kang mentioning there are many names not named there is a possibility one of the things that will happen during the Tribulation Events will center around the Vision. The solicitation for Avengers #7 certainly emphasizes Vision going through a transformation that may not be a good thing for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. This wouldn’t be the first time Vision has taken a dark turn. Which could work into the Avengers Inc. series where one of Vision’s alter egos is a lead in.
7) SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK VS INCREDIBLE HULK
One of the surprising things that Marvel has surprisingly unintentionally accomplished the last few years is keeping Bruce Banner and Jennifer Walters from interacting with each other. Even with the popularity of the She-Hulk and Immortal Hulk series they have been kept separate. That is addition to She-Hulk being a core member of the recent Avengers.
Now finally cousins will reunite, though not in ideal circumstances. That is because a mysterious villain will cause the Sensational She-Hulk and Incredible Hulk to clash. Given how much damage just one of them can cause you got to hope that whatever location they fight in has good insurance.
6) MYSTIQUE GETS LONG OVERDUE X-MEN SPOTLIGHT
Mystique has consistently been one of the most interesting characters in the X-Men franchise. That has been proven time and time again. In recent years Mystique has shown this to be a fact through her actions in Inferno, where she ultimately took down Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Moira X’s secret planning. But for some reason Marvel has never really picked up on that momentum to see if Mystique could carry her own mini-series or ongoing, whether as a team lead or solo.
Now with the latest X-Men Blue comic book Mystique is going to get the chance to show why she deserves the spotlight as a long-term lead character. Adding in Nightcrawler to Mystique’s X-Men Blue provides the opportunity to see the parental side of the character rarely explored. Mystique and Nightcrawler’s dynamic is more than enough to sell this comic book. Hopefully this will set-up Mystique to have a bigger role in Fall of X.
5) X-MEN HUNT FOR FIRESTAR INTENSIFIES
One of the biggest sub-plots coming out of Hellfire Gala 2023 was Firestar being embedded as a triple agent within Orchis. This was done with the help of Jean Grey, who in her last act made an arrangement with Firestar to make it look like she has been working with Orchis all along. With Firestar status as an X-Men already being controversial within Krakoa it made her the perfect choice for this role.
But while this triple agent status quo may appear as the natural role for Firestar it also meant that all of the X-Men would be targeting her. That is because when Jean Grey used her powers to alter the members of Orchis to believe Firestar worked for them she did not have the time to inform anyone on the X-Men. That made Firestar one of the most hated people in the mutant community.
Now with X-Men #28 Firestar will have to deal with being considered mutants greatest enemy other than Orchis. And she won’t have an easy time surviving as the one coming after her is Juggernaut, who survived Orchis attack on the new X-Men team announced at Hellfire Gala 2023. How this sets up Firestar’s future for the rest of Fall of X and beyond certainly makes X-Men #28 one of the more important comics in this current direction for the franchise.
4) THANOS VS THE ILLUMINATI
Thanos is back with his own mini-series from Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari starting in November. And Thanos looks to be making his presence known by going after the biggest targets he can as he takes on the Illuminati. This battle with the Illuminati should help with refocusing Thanos character after he was previously set-up for a big storyline involving Thor and the symbiotes. That story of Thor’s future vision involving Thanos not coming to pass meant the Mad Titan needed a new story.
On that topic, Thanos, like the Avengers, has lost a lot of luster as of late. Marvel did everything to milk Thanos popularity during the MCU’s Infinity Saga. That came with the ramification that Thanos was no longer a special villain saved for only the biggest storylines. This new mini-series will hopefully refocus Thanos back to reclaiming his big bad status.
This will also be the second series where we will see the Illuminati uniting to take on a threat to the Marvel Universe. We saw that with the Illuminati reforming to deal with The Maker in Ultimate Invasion. The Illuminati once again appearing does put into question if this is setting up for an Illuminati series sometime in 2024. Given what has been going on in the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men titles the Illuminati returning to operate on a full-time basis may be what the Marvel Universe needs.
3) SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN RETURNS
When it comes to revisiting things that were once popular in the comic book world no one does it like Marvel. Especially with how hot the Spider-Man brand is it is not surprising that they would revisit the Superior Spider-Man era. Other than the original Spider-Verse storyline, Superior Spider-Man is arguably the most remembered part of Dan Slott’s Spider-Man run.
Now in November we are seeing Dan Slott return along with Mark Bagley for a new Superior Spider-Man series. Based on information released for the series, the Superior Spider-Man comic looks to be taking place in the past to tell previously untold stories during Doc Ock’s takeover of Peter Parker’s mind and body. It is all to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Superior Spider-Man series.
With all that said, ever since the original Superior Spider-Man Marvel has had a tough time figuring out what to do with Doc Ock. They haven’t fully committed to Doc Ock returning as a villain. There have been instances like the short-lived Superior Doctor Octopus but even that seemed to petter out. But guess we’ll have to wait and see what Marvel plans to do with Doc Ock moving forward.
2) WILL JEAN GREY RETURN AS THE PHOENIX
During Hellfire Gala 2023 Jean Grey was one of the first X-Men to be taken off the table as Moira X killed her during Orchis attack at the Krakoa hosted event. Now as we saw in Jean Grey #1, from a creative perspective, this was done to explore Jean’s character in a new way. That character exploration in the first issue brought up a lot of questions about Jean’s history and possible future.
One of the biggest questions is if the new mini-series is all a set-up for Jean Grey to return to being the Phoenix. This isn’t out of the realm of possibility since Echo burnt all of her Phoenix Force powers at the end of Avengers Assemble: Omega. That meant that the Phoenix Force is without a host right now.
Now in the cover for Jean Grey #4 we see Jean reaching out to what appears to be the Phoenix Force. Jean returning as the Phoenix would easily explain how she returned to life. Which is something being teased for December’s Immortal X-Men issue. Jean returning as the Phoenix would also be a major game changer and exactly what the X-Men need to turn their luck around against Orchis and other villains.
1) SPIDER-MAN CREATES NEW TEAM TO BATTLE LATEST GANG WAR
After Spider-Man goes through his villain era he will be dealing with a massive gang war that Zeb Wells has been building up since the beginning of his run. It certainly has felt like Wells has been building up to Marvel’s latest Gang War for years even though he has only been on Amazing Spider-Man for a little over a year. Not sure if that is credit to Wells work up to this point as much of his run has been a jumbled mess.
That said, Gang War appears to be much more than a Spider-Man event. Because beyond Amazing Spider-Man and Miles Morales: Spider-Man we see that heroes like Spider-Woman, She-Hulk, Elektra Natchios’ Daredevil, and Luke Cage will be involved. Having these heroes and others involved does give Gang War a big event feel to help the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 for Marvel.
Luke Cage in particular sticks out as Marvel have done nothing to explore his new role as Mayor of New York City that became his status quo at the end of Devil’s Reign. How Marvel treats Luke Cage’s career as Mayor of NYC is something to watch. It is hopefully a sign Marvel will be integrating this status quo more into all their comic books based in NYC.