Marvel unveiled big plans at this year's Comic Con in New York. Coming back from a 30-year hiatus, the biggest comic-book crossover mega-series of the company's best and greatest heroes and villains is coming back. The Secret Wars will be relaunched and revamped -- and it's going to be massive.
The Secret Wars first debuted in 1984 and it turned the Marvel universe upside down and inside out. Fans of the comic back then were horrified as they watched their favorite heroes plucked by the powerful being, the Beyonder, and flung to the far reaches of the galaxy to a place called Battleworld.
The Beyonder fragmented pieces of different worlds together to form Battleworld for the heroes and villains to fight each other, in order to understand the concept of desire. The victors of each match were given their heart's desire.
The ground-breaking series ran for 12 issues and brought both heroes and villains scrambling to fight for their survival. Sworn enemies, superheroes and mutants who would otherwise not meet in their own respective universes were pitted against each other, or forced to form alliances which surprised and shocked fans.
The limited run series was also a tremendous hit, according to Marvel historian Peter Sanderson, because the life-altering changes that happened to the characters in the series would affect them in their own respective worlds as well. For example, fans thought Spiderman's new black suit would be a permanent change to his character due to the events in the Secret Wars.
The new incarnation of the Secret Wars promises to be bigger, better and more mind-blowing than the original, says executive editor Tom Brevoort.
"However massive you think this is, let me assure you it is bigger than that. It's by far the craziest thing that I've dealt with," he said.
The Secret Wars will not only influence the story arcs of the comic books, but potentially the movies, television series, interactive exhibits and everything in the Marvel universe franchise. Even shows, attractions and comic books that are still in development or yet to be released will definitely be influenced by the implications of the Secret Wars when it has its grand re-debut.
Heroes and villains from Marvel's 75-year history will be making it into the new Secret Wars, which will be released in Spring of next year.
