Marvel Comics July 2025 comic book solicitations are here! With Marvel hitting the summer months they have some big plans. Those big plans are led by the publisher bringing back their greatest summer weapon in the form of the Marvel Swimsuit Special. That massive release will help lead a sleugth of other major stories being told like the X-Men: Hellfire Gala, Fantastic Four and Captain America’s new beginnings, and Godzilla reign continuing in the Marvel Universe. Let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from Marvel Comics July 2025 solicitations.
FANTASTIC FOUR FIRST STEPS TO FRESH START
The Fantastic Four have been well positioned to reclaim their spot as one of the premiere teams for Marvel. The last few decades they’ve been hovering just under that spot as the Avengers and X-Men have dominated things. Now with the Fantastic Four: First Steps movie coming out this summer there is all sorts of momentum that Marvel can’t miss on riding.
With that in mind, it is not surprising to find that Marvel is relaunching the Fantastic Four in July, timing it with the release of the MCU movie. The big relief with this relaunch is that Marvel is keeping Ryan North on as the writer. Ryan North has proven with his current Fantastic Four run that he understands how to write Marvel’s First Family. And the current One World Under Doom has been selling well to help further build his credibility with Marvel fans.
Now what will be interesting about this relaunch is that it is happening at the same time One World Under Doom is reaching its third act. How North navigates the state of the Marvel Universe as he is writing the big event will be very interesting. The Fantastic Four individually ending up in different time periods after a battle with Doctor Doom may answer that. We will see.
CHIP ZDARSKY TAKES CONTROL OF CAPTAIN AMERICA
The Fantastic Four aren’t the only ones getting a fresh start in July. Captain America is joining in on the relaunch fun. Though for Captain America this is not a new thing whatsoever. It has become a trend to see Captain America have his ongoing comics relaunched every two years. Even if it is not that is certainly what it feel like.
Now to Marvel’s credit they have lined up someone who can achieve that level of success last seen by Ed Brubaker. That person is writer Chip Zdarsky. The level of success Zdarsky has found over the last decade has been impressive. On the mainstream level Zdarsky has had notable runs on Batman, Daredevil, Spectacular Spider-Man, and X-Men/Fantastic Four. Each of these comics showed he has the capabilities to write a wide variety of stories.
Zdarsky’s time on Batman and Daredevil will probably give us the best idea of how he could be writing Captain America. And to set the stage Zdarsky is going to be telling an untold tale of Captain America’s first battle against Doctor Doom. Starting this way helps Captain America avoid addressing the current state of the Marvel Universe with One World Under Doom. It can also serve as a way for Zdarsky to establish his version of Captain America by writing the early days and comparing it to present day later.
MARVEL BRINGS BACK THE SWIMSUIT SPECIAL
You know Marvel may just be back when they bring back their Swimsuit Special. Nothing marks the summer like the classic Marvel Swimsuit Special comics. And of course, it would be none other than Roxxon Comics that would “force” Marvel to publish a new, Unauthorized Swimsuit Special.
This will be the comic book that everyone will be reading of course and not just looking at the gorgeous artwork. This is afterall the biggest, most compelling story that Marvel can tell all year long. It will dictate where the Marvel Universe will go, as hinted by the fact Mary Jane Watson is wearing a Spider-Man swimsuit rather than a Jackpot or Venom swimsuit. That alone is a massive hint at the importance of this Swimsuit Special’s charting the path for the Marvel Universe for the rest of 2025 and beyond.
GODZILLA DESTROYS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
The Godzilla money machine will continue to be going strong for Marvel. As we see with Marvel Comics July 2025 solicitations, Marvel will be transitioning to a Godzilla vs Marvel Universe. That comes in the form of “Godzilla Destroys The Marvel Universe”, a five-issue mini-series.
Leading up to Godzilla Destroys The Marvel Universe we’ve seen the King of Monsters take on Spider-Man, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Hulk, X-Men, and Thor. After it has been established that no one hero or team could stop Godzilla they will try to put up a united front against the King of Monsters. Though even that appears to be easier said than done as it does appear that Godzilla will be getting a power upgrade with the teased connection to Vibranium.
Now, we’ve seen Marvel do this type of story many times before. We are even seeing yet another Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe going on right now. And after we’ve seen Godzilla fight the best of the best from Marvel it puts even more pressure on Gerry Duggan and Javier Garron to do something new. They can’t just rehash what we’ve seen in the first half of the year of Godzilla vs Marvel Universe. Let’s see if they can rise to that challenge.
IMPERIAL ELIMINATES MARVEL UNIVERSE GOVERNMENT
When Jonathan Hickman takes on reshaping a part of Marvel he will live up to that expectation. We are seeing that with the latest cosmic event as Imperial #2 teases the deaths of all the current leaders of the galactic empires in the Marvel Universe.
It would not be surprising if by the end of Imperial we see all the galactic empires having to deal with being reset. It is something that has certainly been needed as Marvel has fumbled how to handle the cosmic leadership. There’s never been a clear focus to make them important parts of the Marvel Universe.
Hickman previously tried to reshape the cosmic leadership with his Avengers and X-Men runs. But even then Hickman’s focus was on the Avengers and X-Men, not necessarily all things Marvel’s cosmic corner. Imperial is that chance for Hickman to see his vision of the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe. And from the looks of it definitely seems like Hulk and She-Hulk will be major parts of how Hickman will be establishing the new powers for the cosmic corner.
X-MEN HELLFIRE GALA BECOMES A VIGIL
The Hellfire Gala will take a completely different turn in 2025 as it will become a vigil ceremony. This is not surprising because, as the X-Men: Hellfire Vigil solicitation states, the last time we had the Hellfire Gala it led to the destruction of Krakoa. What was once a time to celebrate and promote the greatness of mutants is a solemn reminder of what they have to always endure in the Marvel Universe.
Adding to the Hellfire Vigil’s importance is that it will be a transition point for the From The Ashes direction the X-Men are currently on. With every current writer of an X-Men series writing a segment in the Hellfire Vigil we will get hints at what the future direction for the franchise is. That’s important because other than X-Manhunt crossover all the X-Men titles have been off on their own direction. Now we will see how the X-Men interact in a setting that isn’t all about fighting.
While maybe looking to into things but it is notable that Storm and Emma Frost are focal points for all the covers of the Hellfire Gala. Storm in particular stands out since she decided to join the Avengers rather than one of the X-Men teams. In her own solo series Storm has shown she still helping out her fellow mutant. But now with how relationships have changed how Storm interacts with other X-Men will be interesting to see. Also would not be surprised if Emma Frost plays a big factor in how thing go down as she is synonymous with hosting the Hellfire Gala events.
STORM KICKS OFF THE THUNDER WAR
Speaking of Storm, her ties with the X-Men and Avengers will be needed as she prepares for her biggest story yet as a solo hero. That is coming in the form of the Thunder War begins with Storm #10. This is the story that has been teased by Murewa Ayodele and Lucas Werneck since the first issue.
Making the Thunder War even more intriguing is how it is tied to the Black Winter. The Black Winter is a being that is able to consume the likes of Galactus and Silver Surfer. It even was a challenge for Thor to take on. It will be the biggest challenge to Storm’s status as an Omega level mutant yet.
Given all that it won’t be surprising that the Thunder War will be what transitions Storm to be more on Jean Grey’s power level as Phoenix. Marvel has continued to emphasize how she has the potential to match Phoenix and Thor. This will further emphasize this as she gets more involved with the cosmic threats in the Marvel Universe.
IMMORTAL THOR NO MORE
From the very beginning of his run Al Ewing showed he was not going to hold back in Immortal Thor. That meant establishing Thor isn’t the ultimate power in his position as All Father of Asgard. There are more powerful threats like the Elder Gods ready to remind him of just that. All that was leading to something big.
Now we know what that something big is as Ewing is writing a big finale for Immortal Thor. That includes a tease of Thor’s fate being decided with Immortal Thor #25. The tease does not giveaway to much. But with “The Story Ends….” tagline its clear this whole epic tale narrative of Immortal Thor will end.
That brings to question what will be next for Thor. He is such an important part of the Marvel Universe. Whether its part of the Avengers or cosmic corner, Thor is a difference maker. So even with Immortal Thor ending it won’t be long before we get a new Thor series. Maybe Marvel will wait for after Imperial ends to fully tackle a new Thor series to align with the other cosmic stuff.
JMS RETURNS TO SPIDER-MAN TO FIGHT SINISTER SIXTEEN
Marvel Comics July 2025 solicitations revealed that none other than J. Michael Straczynski is returning to the Spider-Man franchise. JMS is not taking over Amazing Spider-Man, rather is writing a new comic book titled Spider-Man vs The Sinister Sixteen with Phil Noto as the artist.
JMS return 2025 continues to become a big year for the Spider-Man franchise. JMS had one of the most important modern day comic book runs on Amazing Spider-Man. Specifically with how he ended his run with One More Day and how the impact of that editorial decision is still felt close to 20 years later.
With that context, it’ll be very interesting to see what JMS does in his return to Spider-Man. Spider-Man vs The Sinister Sixteen could be JMS vehicle to remind fans that before One More Day he did have a run on Amazing Spider-Man that was a fan favorite. Getting to use villains that are beyond Spider-Man’s rogues gallery like Mystique will certainly open things up for the challenge Peter Parker will be facing.
MS. MARVEL EXPERIENCES HOUSE OF M DISASTER
Ms. Marvel’s X-Men history lesson will be coming to an end in July. First we will see what Ms. Marvel’s reaction is to the most impactful comic book stories to the X-Men in the last 20 years: House of M. Even twenty years later we still are feeling the impact House of M has had on where the X-Men and mutants as a whole are at.
House of M also happed ten years before Kamala Khan was introduced. So while she may have heard or seen from reports how “No More Mutants” impacted the X-Men nothing beats experiencing that. It makes the entire build up to the “No More Mutants” moment be the big hook for that Giant-Sized X-Men one-shot. Like the rest of this time traveling experience, this will hopefully further emphasize to Ms. Marvel how important being an mutant and X-Men is.
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