October will be our first real look at the state of the Marvel Universe following the events of Secret Empire and Marvel Generations. So are things more positive for the heroes of the Marvel Universe? From taking a quick look at Marvel’s October solicitations the answer seems to be “no.” On top of following up on Secret Empire it looks as though we will see several characters involved in their own mini-crisis. This includes a battle for the Iron Man mantle, Peter Parker trying to prevent his company’s downfall, the Avengers vs Champions civil war and much more. Now let’s take a deeper dive into Marvel’s October solicitations.
DAN SLOTT ENDING SPIDER-MAN RUN?
All good things come to an end and that looks to be the case for Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man. The wording of Amazing Spider-Man #789 and #790 solicitations make it at least seem as though Slott will be building towards whatever his final arc will be. The solicitation seems to indicate that Peter may have lost Parker Industries during the events of Secret Empire. That wouldn’t be to surprising given the recent issue of Amazing Spider-Man ending with Doctor Octopus using Hydra to help take control of Parker Industries.
If that is the case than Slott may end his run on Amazing Spider-Man by leaving Peter in the lowest state of his personal and Spider-Man career. Would Slott leave Spider-Man in such a state? And if so what does that mean for the Avengers, who Peter has been funding through Parker Industries? There are a lot of questions that “The Fall Of Parker” will have to answer.
SAM WILSON SAYS “CAPTAIN AMERICA NO MORE”
Though Marvel Generations will feature Sam Wilson as Captain America on an adventure with the classic Steve Rogers as Captain America, Marvel seems to be returning Sam to his Falcon identity. That can’t be made anymore clearer by giving Sam a new Falcon ongoing series. The solicitation for Falcon #1 indicates that Sam will be more of an underground hero, something he is doing in Secret Empire. That could be an interesting direction take the character on if the events of Secret Empire and Sam’s time as Captain America are used correctly. And as Falcon, Sam can further create his own path rather than trying to live up to that of his former best friend. At least that is what one can hope this new Falcon series will be.
WAR FOR IRON MAN’S HELMET
Secret Empire heavily features Tony Stark as a prominent character in the war against Steve Rogers and Hydra. While that may be the case, the Tony we are getting is an AI version of the character. Being an AI version of Tony has made it hard to care for his arc in Secret Empire. But finally we may see Tony return to the Marvel Universe as a real person. Though he will have some serious competition if that is the case with Riri Williams finding her footing as Ironheart and Doctor Doom acting as Iron Man since Civil War. Does that mean we should be looking for another sequel of the “Armor Wars” storyline down the road?
AVENGERS VS CHAMPIONS
The Avengers are supposed to be “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” but Marvel sure has an odd way of showing that by having them constantly fight other heroes. That trend is just continuing as we get a mini-version of Civil War as the Avengers clash with the Champions. This isn’t exactly what I was expecting given the fact both teams are coming off playing major roles in Secret Empire. You would think fighting together against Hydra Steve Rogers would’ve united both teams. Unfortunately that is not the case, making it hard to get behind either series as both teams continue to be busier fighting each other than saving the world from evil forces.
DEATH OF MIGHTY THOR BEGINS
Just like Dan Slott over in Amazing Spider-Man, it looks as though Jason Aaron is close to wrapping up his epic run on Thor. Before he does that Aaron wants to make sure he leaves his mark by killing of Thor. Which Thor that is will be the question. We have seen a lot of different versions of Thor Odinson running around. But the death may even be Jane Foster’s Thor given that recent events in Secret Empire have put the character closer on death’s bed since each time she goes between Thor and her regular form due to her cancer. That would be a big deal given how over Jane’s Thor has gotten in the last few years with fans.
MOJO UNITES X-MEN BLUE AND GOLD TEAMS
Joining the Avengers in the crossover trend is the two major X-Men titles as Blue and Gold teams cross paths thanks to Mojo. Marvel really makes it hard to get behind a direction by going from one major event to a crossover between multiple books right afterwards. This definitely won’t sell new readers on either series since both are required to read by those only interested in one X-Men comic. I almost feel for both X-Men comics as they try to find their footing but aren’t able to as since every comic has to be an “event” in Marvel’s mind.
RETURN OF PLANET HULK
With Thor: Ragnork being the closest we will ever get to a Planet Hulk movie it was obvious that the comics would revisit the story. Interestingly enough is that Amadeus Cho will continue being the main Hulk in the comics. This may be a big spoiler given the recent issue of Secret Empire featured the return of Bruce Banner, who was brought back to life by Hydra. That return doesn’t seem like it will last long due to Hydra’s process in returning Bruce to life.
Still it will be interesting to see how Amadeus deals with being placed in Planet Hulk. Amadeus version of Hulk is not a warrior like Bruce’s became by that point. With Bruce’s son, Sakaar, returning for the new Planet Hulk we may see Amadeus act more like Bruce’s version of Hulk.
SPIDER-GWEN BLACK COSTUME SAGA BEGINS
The appearance of Venom in the universe that Spider-Gwen exist in has been teased for several issue now. That storyline will be fully explored now as we see Spider-Gwen in her own Venom black costume. How permanent this change is will be the big question. Given the nature of the Venom symbiote in the 616-Universe it’ll be very interesting to see how it changes Gwen’s character. With Matt Murdock, the Kingpin of Crime, behind this change it definitely won’t be a positive change for Gwen Stacy and those around her if recent issues of Spider-Gwen are any indication.
SABERTOOTH LOOKS FOR REVENGE AGAINST IRON FIST
As much as I know about Marvel I didn’t even know Sabertooth first debuted in an Iron Fist comic. Sabertooth has been connected to Wolverine and the X-Men franchise for so long that it is surprising to learn this from a solicitation. That said, I’m very interested to see what Ed Brisson does with Sabertooth since we haven’t seen him clash with Iron Fist in the modern era. Also, how Sabertooth relates to K’un-Lun could add an intriguing layer to the character that did not exist before. At the very least it’ll make Iron Fist’s current journey much harder than it already is.
WOLVERINE FAMILY REUNION
As much as I complain about Wolverine being all over the X-Men comics, when it comes to the core Wolverine series Tom Taylor is delivering on all fronts. All-New Wolverine has been an excellent series thus far and seeing Taylor tap further into Laura Kinney’s history has been fascinating. Bringing her “brother” Daken into the fold should add a big time wild card into Laura’s life. Though a recent issue of All-New Wolverine seems to have indicated that Laura and Daken are on good terms now. If that is really the case then I wonder where “Orphans of X” will draw it’s drama from.
JEAN GREY AND EMMA FROST GO TO WAR
It’s surprising to think that we haven’t seen the young Jean Grey interact with the present Emma Frost very much since she was brought to the present. We saw some interactions between the two towards the tail end of Bendis’ run on the X-Men comics but that was cut short when his run ended. Now it looks like that will be quickly fixed as Jean and Emma go to war with each other, and this time it won’t be over Scott Summers. How these two Alpha psychics deal with each other could lead towards one of the more intriguing stories Marvel will put out in October. It’s definitely a story to look out for.
DEADPOOL VS OLD MAN LOGAN
It was only a matter of time before we got a crossover between Deadpool and Old Man Logan. We are finally getting that in October. Wasn’t expecting this series to be so soon since Deadpool 2 is still a ways out and Logan came out in the first part of the year. Weird timing aside, this should be a fun series since Old Man Logan will probably be less likely to put up with Deadpool’s crap that his younger self would. But given Deadpool’s obsession with Wolverine that doesn’t mean he won’t try. If that is the case then this may be a can’t miss series. Crossing fingers on that.
NOVA JOINING THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
The recent Nova ongoing that got quickly canceled had a rough start but a very strong ending as the series got better with each issue. Thankfully we may not have to suffer another disappearance from Richard Rider’s Nova for a long time. Hopefully this tease of Richard’s Nova joining the Guardians of the Galaxy comes true. Richard has a lot of history with each of the members on the team and would add a big powerhouse to the team. If he doesn’t join the team than maybe we riot? Or at least go on a long rant on Twitter like everyone does nowadays.