Entertainment Weekly have exclusively revealed that Marvel are indeed planning a relaunch following the events of Avengers Vs. X-Men, confirming that the initiative will be called "Marvel NOW". According to Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso, this will take place between October and February as creators finish off their current runs and start their new ones. However, he was quick to stress that this is NOT a reboot in the style of DC's "The New 52". The following image shows Spider-Man, Hulk, Marvel Girl, Nova, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Captain America, Rocket Raccoon, Wolverine, Cyclops, Invisible Woman, Cable, and Thor.
The artist behind this teaser (and Chief Creator Officer of Marvel) Joe Quesada had this to say about the new looks for these characters. "There are some costume changes. There are some new character attitudes. Some characters may be changing their identities altogether. There’s a reason Sue Storm is there. And why there’s a floating robot near Hulk. We’re trying a lot of fun and new different things, we’re exposing characters who we’ve had in our toy chest for a long time."
UNCANNY AVENGERS
Following
Avengers Vs. X-Men, Captain America will apparently decide that he hasn't done enough for the mutants over the years and this results in a new book from writer Rick Remender and artist John Cassaday. With a team including Cap, Thor, Wolverine and Havok, this is an exciting twist which will apparently see that latter,
"become one of the biggest players in the Marvel Universe." Their first villain will be none other than the Red Skull! However, it won't be the version most recently seen in comics as the writer explains.
"In 1943, Arnim Zola, who was this bio-fanatic engineer, recorded the Red Skull’s consciousness, and set it to wake up 70 years later. So the Red Skull [in Uncanny] is right out of 1943-44. Prime Nazi scumbag. In his mind, he’s taking that vitriol and hate and Nazi horror and methodology, and pointing it at the mutant species."
AVENGERS
"It’s not six Avengers, it’s 18 or more," teases writer Jonathan Hickman. The book will be pencilled by Jerome Opena, and the first arc will be entitled "Avengers World". Published twice a month, it will apparently tell five and six issue arcs as well as much smaller one-shot stories. There's currently no word on which heroes will make up the roster, but one of them WILL be Shang-Chi.
ALL-NEW X-MEN
"The X-Men is a tough nut to crack. There’s thousands of characters, all of which have a website dedicated just to them. I wanted to make sure I had a take that was unique," says series writer Brian Michael Bendis. As this is a time travel story, it will feature original X-Men, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, and Marvel Girl.
"Here’s the big question that the original X-Men are gonna be faced with: We’re gonna grow up, and this is what we’re going to get? That is not acceptable." Since her death in 2004, fans have been desperate to see the return of Jean Grey and that is obviously exactly what they'll get in this series.
"It’s the one thing X-Men fans have always asked for is: They want Jean Grey back. But they want Jean Grey. Not reincarnated Jean, or the ghost of Jean. Well, you’re getting Jean back. And Jean is gonna be looking at a world that rattles her." Stuart Immonen has been confirmed as artist.