The Marvel Universe's next Secret War erupts this September in Battleworld, a five-issue limited series by writer Christos Gage (Superior Spider-Man) and artist Marcus To (X-Force).
In the tradition of 2015's visionary Secret Wars event by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, as well as the original classic Secret Wars, Battleworld will see shattered fragments of infinite worlds unite to form a single planet that will play host to an epic conflict.
This time around, the players will be handpicked from across space and time, including some of the most iconic universes in the Multiverse.
Along the way, we'll see fan favourite characters like the original Starbrand, Days of Future Past's Storm, Kushala the Spirit Rider, and Maestro alongside exciting new versions of Wasp, Captain Marvel, and Spider-Man. Based on the cover art below, at least one of the latter's Variants will be "Night Monkey," based on Spider-Man: Far From Home's stealth suit (an original creation for the MCU).
In the series, the battle lines are drawn as a mysterious force sets this awesome assembly of heroes and villains against each other in a war for the ultimate prize. Here's the official description for Battleworld #1:
"SLAY YOUR ENEMIES, PROVE YOUR WORTH AND ALL YOU DESIRE SHALL BE YOURS IN THE WORLD TO COME!" The Battleworld from Secret Wars returns! Heroes from across the Multiverse are thrown together on a patchwork world to engage in their own Secret Wars for the survival of their timelines! Who or what has created this Battleworld, and for what nefarious purpose? Enter Maestro. Is he friend, or foe?
"I was a rabid consumer of the original Secret Wars when it came out in 1984, so a chance to revisit the Battleworld 'destroy your enemies' concept was irresistible," Gage said today. "Then they offer me Hank Pym, one of my favorite Marvel characters to write, and the amazing Marcus To on art?"
"When Wil suggested that the fragments of Battleworld could come from different timelines, I jumped at that, because Marvel has so many awesome ones, from Days of Future Past to 2099. Using Hank gave me the idea to build a team of characters with mistakes to atone for or tragedies to overcome."
"So we added a very young Spider-Man whose guilt over Uncle Ben is as raw as his inexperience; a newly sober Carol Danvers; King Thor, who rules over a dead future Earth; a fugitive Luke Cage, Hero for Hire; Bucky Barnes, fresh from the front lines of WWII; and more. But then, when I thought I was already in nerd heaven, they let me have Star Brand. The ORIGINAL Star Brand, Ken Connell!"
"I haven't even mentioned our Big Bad, Korvac, and Hank Pym's first encounter with Arcade since he kidnapped a bunch of Hank's Avengers Academy students," the writer teased.
Check out the covers, including the full connecting variant by Nick Bradshaw that will run on all five issues of the series, and stay tuned for more on Battleworld as we have it.
BATTLEWORLD #1 (OF 5)
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE
Art by MARCUS TO
Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
Variant Cover by Greg Land
Star Brand Variant Cover by MARK BAGLEY
Wraparound Connecting Variant Cover by NICK BRADSHAW
Promo Variant Cover by ROD REIS
On Sale 9/24