In 2019, while Marvel was also in prolonged negotiations with Jonathan Hickman to take over the X-Men line in the aforementioned 'The Krakoan Age,' Remender was also courted to return to Marvel after a multi-year hiatus. Marvel ultimately accelerated negotiations with Hickman, getting him onboard to relaunch the X-Men line.
Imagine that, somewhere across our actual multiverse, there’s a world where the Krakoan era of X-Men comics never happened. I wonder what that world’s X-Men are doing now.
At No. 1, again, was Sony and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” It earned $22.2 million through Sunday, dropping just 44% from last week’s earnings. That figure pushes the superhero epic’s domestic total to a staggering $891 million.
“Brand-New Day” is on the cusp of two major box office milestones. After surpassing $936 million, it will become the highest-grossing movie of all time at the domestic box office. That record currently belongs to 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” When it clears that benchmark, “Spider-Man” will be on its way to becoming the first movie ever to hit $1 billion in North America alone.
The film stars Tom Holland and Zendaya at the height of their popularity. It lands at a time when moviegoers are desperate for a return to the must-watch events of the MCU. For more evidence of this pent-up MCU desire, I’ll remind you that 77 million people have watched the Avengers Endgame: Encore trailer. Also, there’s just something about a film where the two stars don’t end up together in the end that keeps viewers coming back for more. Brand New Day has this in common with Titanic, another film that held for so much repeated viewing.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day couldn’t hit all those marks any better. The question now is how much longer can the film hold on. Surely we’re not still talking about this when Avengers Endgame: Encore releases at the end of September. Literally, time will tell.
Gomez tries to determine why the trailer has gotten all this attention.
We heard the conversation around the social volume was spurred by eagerness for Doomsday footage, nostalgia for the theatrical experience of Avengers: Endgame in 2019 when the film first came out, fans’ personal connection to Endgame, and jokes about Endgame spoilers.
Also, this is testament to how much people love this franchise. Movie goers and fans alike are begging for a reason to go see a great Marvel film. I never bought the line that the MCU was dead. It’s just been hard to know where it was headed the last few years. Now that the vision is clear, people are excited.
Avengers Campus unveiled the plaque on Kirby’s 109th birthday, paying tribute to his decades of vision and storytelling. The plaque also features a quote from the artist himself: “If you look at my characters, you will find me. No matter what kind of character you create or assume, a little of yourself must remain there.”
Hear, hear. I’ve never been but going to Avengers Campus is on my list. Now I’ve got even more reason to go.
This quote from her interview with writer Benjamin Percy caught my eye:
This is an origin story. Reed doesn’t know Sue and Johnny and Ben, and even as their stories intertwine, a very different breed of “family” is born. Far more toxic and complicated. These characters are all facing horrors within that will help them pursue the horrors without. Their backstories are all different, and so are their futures, so whatever you think you know about FF is about to be revised through the lens of cosmic horror.
I’m not sure what “cosmic horror” is, but yes please.
In addition to our original Battle Reborn suit, designed by Insomniac Games, we’re talking legendary stuff inspired by Weapon X, Old Man Logan, Ultimate Wolverine, Patch, or even down to civilian staples like a tank top or a leather jacket. And you can choose to toggle some of those cowls and hats on or off. Acquire more suits for health upgrades or gain access to new claws: bone claws, notched claws, curved claws, reflective claws, angled claws, and more claws. Look sharp, stay sharp.
Collecting suits was one of my favorite parts with Insomniac’s Spider-Man games. The suits they show here look good, too.
There are lots of other great embedded videos here. Definitely worth checking them all out!
I’m a couple weeks late here, but I just noticed today that Marvel is getting killed by DC in comics sales. I mean, killed. I knew DC’s Absolute Universe was the hottest thing in comics currently, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. The only comic Marvel had that cracked the top 10 for July was Queen in Black #1.
On the video where Atom Freeman and Brian Garside discussed these numbers, they noted that Queen in Black was Marvel’s big summer event, and coming in at #6 was a surprise when they had done so much promotion for it.
Ouch. That new editorial regime at Marvel better get cracking.
Next week is Dragon Con. I want to call it “Atlanta’s largest and best comic and fan convention,” but it’s more than that. There’s no other con like Dragon Con. My plans include a bit of cosplay, a focus on socializing, and then ending the con with some gaming. It’s going to be a jam-packed week, as Dragon Con always is.
Cosplay
I’m going to cosplay three out of the con’s five days. Friday to Sunday I’ll go as the MCU version of Old Man Logan, the “Age of Apocalypse” version of Cyclops, and then Puck from Alpha Flight. I tried to find costumes that would work without me having to shave my beard.
Inspiration photos for my Dragon Con cosplays
Socializing
Since I’m running this site now, I really want to meet as many fellow Marvel fans as I can. Dragon Con has a tradition of collecting badge ribbons, so I’m going to create a “Six Sixteen Cosplay No Prize” ribbon to pass out to great Marvel cosplays. If you’re at con and see me passing out ribbons, come say “hi!”
It should be a lot of fun, help me meet fellow Marvel fans, and maybe even introduce some folks to this site.
Marvel Multiverse RPG
I love playing the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. I usually run my own games with friends and family, but there’s a few sessions at Dragon Con this year. They’re all full now, so I’m glad I got in one when I did. It’s a great opportunity to lean back and just play the game, rather than be on the hook for the story.
I intentionally went for this session on the last day, thinking it would be a great way to wind down the con on Monday. After a busy week of cosplay and meeting folks, it will be great to just sit back and play around in an imaginary version of the Marvel Universe for a little while.
Moreover, will this ultimately lead to the long-awaited Maximoff family reunion? It's looking likely. Rumor has it that Agatha All Along duo Joe Locke and Kathryn Hahn will reprise their roles as Billy and Agatha Harkness, and as those two set out to search for Tommy in Agatha's finale, there is a pretty strong possibility that they will appear, crossing paths with Tommy and Vision. If this does happen, it will likely set up their attempt to locate Wanda herself and reunite the entire Maximoff family while they're at it.
The suggestion of this excerpt and the story's headline is that Wanda is coming back to the MCU and that we’ll see a family reunion by the end of VisionQuest. I have my own suspicions that Wanda will return but not in VisionQuest. It’s no accident this is the lead-in series to Marvel’s biggest film of the year. VisionQuest is setup for Avengers: Doomsday.
Dr. Doom is the ultimate combination of magic and technology. Wanda and Vision represent that same mix. Clearly, there’s a connection here between the series and the film, both in terms of timing and theme. We’ll get a gentle nod to Wanda’s return in VisionQuest, a suggestion that she could be alive, but nothing that would ruin a potential big reveal for Avengers: Doomsday.
Doomsday is when magic and technology ultimately collide to reshape the Marvel universe. That’s when we get our Wanda and Vision reunion, a magic/technology force of creation to parallel the destructive force of Dr. Doom.
The X-Men are having something of a cultural moment right now, thanks to Marvel Studios. Avengers: Doomsday will be the last appearance of the FoX-Men, Jean Grey made her first MCU appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and the first X-Men movie’s release date has been announced, with casting underway. X-Men ’97 has been holding the line of new MCU X-adventures, with the second season just ending. This season focused on the rise of Apocalypse, one of the X-Men’s greatest villains, a character who really hasn’t been doing much in the comics Marvel Universe since he made Doug Ramsey his heir Revelation, leading to the disastrous “Age of Revelation”.
I couldn’t disagree more with calling "Age of Revelation" disastrous. It had its faults, sure, but it was a fun ride. Disastrous is a bit hyperbolic. Right from the jump here, I can tell Harth and I don't view comics through the same lens.
He continues the same blunt force language throughout.
I’ve been yelling about giving Jubilee more attention for a while now and this book is giving me the Jubilee action I want. Allen was, strangely enough, both the best choice to write this book and also not the best. She brings the character stuff with Jubilee but cloaks it in what is a standard tomb-raiding story. Carbone’s art is good, but the fact that it’s so reminiscent of Pepe Larraz hurts it because it’s not on that level.
There’s a lot of nostalgia in Harth’s review. The parts of the story that live up to that nostalgia—like always wanting a Jubilee story—are praised. The parts that miss the mark of his expectations and memory—like saying Carbone is no Pepe Larraz—don't fair as well. The problem with memory and nostalgia is that they are as reliable as ghost sightings. Someone swears they saw something for real, but we end up having to take their word for it.
It's the same in this review. I'm left with Harth's expectations and what he thinks he wants in an X-Men comic, but I've got no real sense of this issue itself, as it is in the present moment. I'm left with one older fan pining for the 90's and early 00's version of the X-Men he imagines he should have. Those are some hard expectations to live up to, and it makes for a terrible review.
