Late last week and into the weekend Marvel started releasing a teaser for their next big direction under the ‘Heroes Reborn’ banner. This isn’t the first time that Marvel has done the ‘Heroes Reborn’ direction. Whereas the previous ‘Heroes Reborn’ created another universe for the Avengers and Fantastic Four titles to exist this time around it looks like it will Marvel’s next big event. Let’s take a closer look at what Marvel’s newest ‘Heroes Reborn’ event is about and how it could be received
WHAT IS MARVEL’S ‘HEROES REBORN’?
In its previous incarnation ‘Heroes Reborn’ acted as spinoff banner used by Marvel in the aftermath of the Onslaught event where the Avengers and Fantastic Four related comic books set in a whole new universe. In creating a whole new universe for the Avengers and Fantastic Four to exist in Marvel contracted former talent who formed Image Comics during that time like Jim Lee and Rob Liefield to handle these ‘Heroes Reborn’ comic books. This direction took place between 1996 and 1997 until Marvel brought both the Avengers and Fantastic Four back into the regular Marvel Universe alongside the X-Men, Spider-Man, and other of their regular heroes.
There is a whole history to all the details of what happened during this 1996 to 1997 period with the original ‘Heroes Reborn.’ Now for the 2021 version of ‘Heroes Reborn’ it looks like this will be a whole new universe created in the aftermath of the current Avengers ‘Enter The Phoenix’ storyline. Because of that the focus of this new ‘Heroes Reborn’ direction will be specifically an Avengers-related story where we will get a world where the Avengers were never founded.
As Jason Aaron put it in the announcement with Marvel.com:
“Maybe the wildest story I’ve ever put on paper. I got to cut loose on this and release my inner comic-reared child in a really profound way, and together with a cadre of immensely imaginative artists, we built a world that I’m pretty confident in saying is quite unlike any version of the Marvel Universe you’ve seen before. It grew out of the pages of my AVENGERS run, but kept getting bigger and bigger as it went, and the more pieces I put in place for this Reborn world, the more gleeful and excited I became. This project really stoked the fires of my love for comics in all the right ways.”
WHAT WILL THE NEW ‘HEROES REBORN’ BE ABOUT?
As of now the only comic book that has been announced for Marvel’s big event is Heroes Reborn #1, which will be written by Aaron and drawn by Ed McGuinness. At the moment there are no other comic books that have been placed under the new ‘Heroes Reborn’ banner. That is likely because this event will officially kick off in April’s Avengers #44 that will conclude the ‘Enter The Phoenix’ storyline that Aaron is currently working on
Based on all the different promo material Marvel has released we do get an idea for what will take place in this new universe where the Avengers not existing. It looks as though whatever Marvel Universe we are getting is one where Tony Stark, Carol Danvers, and other Avengers do not become the heroes we know from the normal continuity. In addition to that it looks like the lives of iconic characters like Peter Parker and the Fantastic Four will all be impacted as they do not assume their normal superhero roles because of Phoenix universe reset that the Avengers cause.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ‘HEROES REBORN’
Taking a look at everything that is announced thus far it does look like ‘Heroes Reborn’ will be yet another big event that will impact a majority of Marvel titles. What current ongoing titles will be involved in ‘Heroes Reborn’ is what I’m most worried about. Because a lot of the promo materials point to comics like Amazing Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Fantastic Four getting brought into the ‘Heroes Reborn’ direction. That is not confirmed but it would not be surprising since Marvel is well-known for making their events appear as big as possible by involving as many other comic books in the story.
Just looking at the visuals from the promos released none of this screams new and exciting. Everything about what we see here is Marvel just recycling old ideas and trying to present them as new. But the problem is that it is not. It wasn’t too long ago where we saw a similar “New” Marvel Universe where different character were merged or changed. That took place Marvel’s 2018 big event ‘Infinity War’ where we saw due to events that took place in that crossover, we got amalgamation characters called “Infinity Warps.” When looking at one of the first key visuals released of Doctor Doom and Juggernaut merger just comes across as something Marvel has given to fans two years ago.
What worries me about this is that it will cause all the creative teams for their current publishing line to stop all their storylines to tackle the ‘Heroes Reborn’ story. Which would be incredibly disappointing because Marvel entered 2021 with several ongoings like Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, and X-Men just beginning the next phase of their storytelling. Halting all of those plans for a direction that I wasn’t previously invested in will more than likely cause me to not buy anything ‘Heroes Reborn’ related like I did with Marvel’s last summer event, Empyre.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Normally I want to give Marvel, like DC Comics, the opportunity to get me invested in their new directions. That’s why I’ve been so invested in what DC Comics is doing with their Future State and upcoming Infinite Frontier directions. Those things from the first announcement grabbed me because it seems like DC Comics is taking the opportunity to take a risk and tell new and fun stories with their iconic characters.
That is not the feeling I’m getting from Marvel’s ‘Heroes Reborn’ direction that was announced. We are still a few months away from Marvel changing my mind and build excitement for this direction. But right now this isn’t a good first impression for the upcoming Heroes Reborn #1 and the direction that follows it.
SOURCE: Marvel.com
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