Comic book events are one of the biggest strengths of the shared universe that Marvel’s characters inhabit. These major events bring anywhere from dozens to all of Marvel’s superheroes and villains together under a single comic, where they either duke it out with each other or fight to save the day from a threat bigger than any of them. These events are often celebrations of the heroes themselves and their storied continuities, and epic clashes where we get to see our favorite hero team up with so many of our other favorites. These events are Marvel’s big stories of the year, and often define the stories of every character who is in them.
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Marvel releases a lot of these massive events. There is at least one a year, although recently there has been an uptick to between two and three a year. These events can shape the comic book landscape around them, often taking up months of a run’s issues to focus on tying into it. To celebrate making it through the first half of the 2020s, there’s no better time to look back at the five best events that Marvel has put out in this decade and see what made them so great. Without further ado, let’s stroll down the not-so-distant memory lane.
5) “Age of Revelation”
The “Age of Revelation” is an homage to the original “Age of Apocalypse” event, celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. The present-day Cyclops and Beast were pulled into the bodies of themselves ten years in the future, where the heir to Apocalypse, Douglass Ramsey, now called Revelation, has taken control of a vast majority of the United States and declared himself a mutant dictator, bridging on messiah. The core story of this event has been a lot of fun, between Cyclops forcibly taking command of the future X-Men, the mysteries surrounding Beast, and Revelation’s master plan of converting the entire world into himself.
However, while fun, this event is held back by its tie-in issues. The vast majority of them fail to actually use the setting’s premise to its full potential, just acting like the world was mostly normal. The whole idea of there being two Rogues is plain stupid, and the controversial depiction of Magik has raised some serious concerns amongst some fans. Still, overall, this event was fun, and while it definitely won’t be a legend like its predecessor, it will still be remembered as a great time for the most part.
4) Blood Hunt
Blood Hunt kicked off when the Darkforce Dimension blotted out the sun, letting vampires come out and rule the day, led by the one man who was supposed to stand between the undead and humanity, Blade. It’s an all-out invasion of vampires from beyond this realm, and while Marvel’s heroes muster together to fight, it even results in some of their number turning to the enemy side. In the end, it was revealed that Blade was possessed by Varnae, an ancient Atlantean sorcerer and the original vampire. Marvel’s heroes were able to pull tougher and banish Varnae, but this event left some serious changes on the world.
Miles Morales was left a vampire, Doctor Doom had been gifted the title of Sorcerer Supreme, and the sun had lost its deadly power over vampires, allowing them to walk in the daylight. This event, simply put, is a whole lot of fun. It’s the Avengers and many of Marvel’s other heroes joining forces to beat back an army of the night, and it is filled with hype moments for every character involved. This event set up major plot threads for other storylines, so that impact alone makes it an epic event that has to be read.
3) A.X.E.: Judgement Day
This massive event saw three distinct storylines come together in an awesome explosion. The Eternals discovered that mutants had achieved effective immortality and declared open war on them. While the rest of the world turned on Krakoa for hoarding immortality, to stop the war, the Avengers woke up the dead Celestial they used as a base. Unfortunately, once the Porgenitor woke up, it declared that it would judge everyone on Earth individually and collectively in twenty-four hours. If humanity failed, it would destroy the world. To begin, Captain America was judged first, and he failed.
The stakes and emotional core of this story are beautiful. It boldly asks if humanity deserves to keep going in spite of our many flaws, and finds an answer without ignoring the nature of the world. This event saw everyone’s secrets be laid bare and picked up to save everything in a magnificent way, but it ultimately takes third on our list because it has zero impact on the rest of the universe. Where all the other events here had major consequences, this one lacked them, despite feeling like it should have had the most.
2) King in Black
While the Symbiote god Knull gets an awful lot of flak for being a one-note villain, there can be no denying that his original takeover of the world in King in Black was anything short of a masterpiece. After years of buildup in the Venom comics, Knull finally arrived on Earth and lived up to all of the impossible hype he was given. This was a deeply personal journey for Eddie Brock and Venom, where they were forced to confront their inner darkness and find a way to be heroes in spite of their past and resist their darker nature.
As Venom took center stage in the Marvel Universe for the first time, he proved that he deserved the spotlight. The finale to this event was nothing short of fantastic, with Eddie retiring from the hero role to guide the symbiotes to a peaceful future, perfectly setting up his son, Dylan, to take charge as the new Venom. It was a wonderful, epic event that sent chills down my spine the first time I read it, and it definitely deserves the high praise for its masterful setup.
1) Devil’s Reign
When Wilson Fisk was declared mayor of New York City, everyone knew that an event like this was on the horizon. It all kicked off with the Kingpin finally cracking down on Marvel’s New York-bound heroes and declaring vigilantism illegal. He enforced his rule with an iron fist and an irresistible voice, using the Purple Man’s control to manage everything. Everything centered around his arch-rival Daredevil, who rose to show everyone what being a hero in the face of adversity meant. This was a downright brawl between these two characters, celebrating the intense, unequivocal hate they hold for each other.
Wilson Fisk regained his memories of Daredevil’s identity and killed Matt’s brother Mike, aiming for the lawyer himself. In the end, Daredevil beat Fisk and retained his soul, freeing New York from the Kingpin and showing everyone how to be without fear. This was a part of Chip Zdarsky’s modern classic Daredevil run, bringing Matt’s rivalry with Fisk to a close and letting both characters move on to other chapters in their lives. It was a messy, broken, beautiful final chapter for the two of them, and definitely a fantastic event that every Marvel hero fought hard in.
So there we have five of Marvel’s best events over the first five years of the 2020s. Which of these events was your favoirte? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
