COMICS: Expect The Marvel Universe To Look A Lot More Like Its Old Self By The Fall
To longtime readers, the Marvel Universe is pretty much unrecognisable these days. Well, following the success of DC Rebirth, it appears as if they'll be taking a back to basics approach later in 2017.
With the political climate so, well, controversial right now, it appears as if Marvel will be taking a step back from that sort of storytelling. While Secret Empire - a very political title thanks to the involvement of writer Nick Spencer and a character like Captain America - is too far along to be changed, Bleeding Cool reports that the company will be taking a different direction with stories moving forward.
Why should you care? Well, if you're fed up of seeing a teenage girl and villain as Iron Man or an "Unworthy" Thor, you'll be glad to know that a recent Marvel creative summit reportedly led to the decision to follow DC Rebirth by returning to the Marvel Universe to a place fans actually recognise.
According to the site, "as Marvel brings back the X-Men line with a bang, to expect a return to more of a status quo for titles such as Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and more. A more familiar looking Marvel Universe by the autumn – although, just as with Captain America, as classic-look-characters return, expect new characters to keep a number of their books." That's definitely some welcome news.
However, it barely scratches the surface of Marvel's problems. Sales are plummeting, retailers are furious with them, and they're still launching new titles which confuse the hell out of new and old readers alike (after five issues of Rocket Raccoon, Rocket launches in May with a #1 issue). Will this back to basics approach make a difference? Time will tell, but it may be a good start for them.