Marvel as a company is in an interesting place right now. In the comics, the publisher is faltering for the first time in years. DC has been able to take over the top of the sales chart and generate more buzz than the House of Ideas. Meanwhile, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’re on our way to the least hyped Avengers movie of all time. The MCU has been where the comics have just gotten to for several years now, as their movies are no longer the top of the charts and hype has largely died down for their projects. However, it didn’t have to be this way for the comics and it doesn’t have to be this way for the MCU either. Ten years ago, Marvel made a choice that changed things forever and nothing has been the same since.
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In 2015, Marvel dropped a series that promised to be the biggest story in the publisher’s history: Secret Wars, from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. The story spun out of Hickman’s blockbuster Avengers run, and from the beginning seemed more indebted to DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths than it did Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, the story it took its name from. This tale is not only one of Marvel’s best event stories, but it also was a turning point for the publisher. They made a choice that doomed them to where they are, one the MCU shouldn’t ignore: they didn’t reboot their universe.
Secret Wars Was Marvel’s Only Chance to Fix What Was Broken
Secret Wars took place in the aftermath of the Incursions, an event that destroyed the entire multiverse. Doctor Doom was able to steal the powers of the Beyonders with the help of Doctor Strange and Molecule Man, and created a world composed of the destroyed pieces of the various Earths. The Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Universe were both destroyed, and the only people who remembered the two universes were people in Reed Richards/the Maker built life rafts. These two forces were able to destabilize Doom’s reign, and his power was taken from him, with Molecule Man, the Richards family, and their scientist friends rebuilding the multiverse.
At the time, nearly everyone thought that Marvel was finally going to be do a DC-style wholesale reboot of their continuity. Things at Marvel had been going in this direction for a long time. The Marvel Universe had been growing and changing for 54 years at the point of the story and continuity had grown out of control. Even the most dedicated Marvel fans found the whole thing unwieldy. The sliding time scale of the universe was meant to make things easier, but in the end, it made things make less sense. Marvel needed a fresh start of sorts.
The proof was the Ultimate Universe, which was being destroyed. The Ultimate Universe set the events in the present day, instead of the Cold War origins of the 616 universe, and fans loved it. It gave the books a modern feel and that paid off well. The first Ultimate Universe was ultimately a failure, but that had more to do with dumb decisions than anything else. Restarting the 616 universe at a more contemporary point and using the occasion to do continuity housekeeping would have allowed Marvel to redefine what their universe could have been.
The Marvel Universe, in 2015, had reached something of an apex. The Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four had basically had every kind of adventure they could. There was nothing new, and it’s been proven in the last ten years. Nothing Marvel has done since Secret Wars has felt fresh, it’s all just felt chained to a universe that has ballooned into something that no one can really understand. Taking the opportunity to reboot back in 2015 would have allowed creators to innovate without worrying about decades of continuity. It could have been grand, and it still can be for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The MCU Shouldn’t Let Their Secret Wars Possibility Slip By
The MCU has been in a downward spiral since the heights of Avengers: Endgame. While there were some successes and some great installments, nothing we’ve gotten can stand with the past. We’re missing loads of characters that we loved. Barely anything since 2019 has been worthwhile. Things haven’t gone well in a while and right now, the best thing for everybody would be a complete reboot. Even with the X-Men showing up, there’s no reason to keep this iteration of the MCU going.
Marvel isn’t terrible right now, but the comics would have been better if the publisher had rebooted things and recreated themselves in 2015. They had a roster of amazing creators and could have changed things for the better. They’ve missed that chance and now we’re where we are. The MCU can’t miss this chance; they’re already on the edge and they can’t survive as this shambling thing much longer.
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