Marvel has been living and dying by its event comics for most of the 21st century. Event comics are one of those necessary evils of the comic industry. Fans love the big crossovers, and want to see their favorite characters who don’t usually hang out get together. It’s cool to see the most powerful heroes facing off against a huge threat, so event stories have become a huge part of the Big Two’s publishing schedules. Marvel has gone even further down this road than their distinguished competition, and it’s honestly done some damage to the fan perception of the Marvel Universe. Marvel used events so much that it honestly got kind of annoying; fan favorite books were getting put on pause for months at time so they could crossover with the big events happening elsewhere, which didn’t make a lot of fans happy.
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Even with all of that, events can still be a lot of fun. A well-written event is a thing to behold, and sometimes even bad events are fun to read. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe in full effect, there’s a chance to see events in entirely new ways. Marvel Studios has adapted a few events, their quality ranging from amazing (Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame) to terrible (Secret Invasion), and there are plenty of events that could make for some cool movies. These ten Marvel events still deserve their own movie, despite the mixed reputation of them and the MCU’s adaptation skill.
10) Siege
Siege is the only Brian Michal Bendis-written event I’ve unironically enjoyed (I do like Age of Ultron, but mostly because it’s a huge swing that missed and I enjoyed the spectacle). The story is the end of the “Dark Reign” storyline. Asgard was put on Earth in the beginning of the J. Michael Straczynski run on Thor, and Norman Osborn and Loki, working together as members of the Cabal (the villain Illuminati), decide to attack it with the Dark Avengers and the Hood’s villain gang. This drove the heroes, who had been driven underground while battling Osborn’s machinations, to fight back and work with the Asgardians to defend the Golden City. The story by Bendis and artist Olivier Coipel balanced drama and action well, and has some epic moments. While it would definitely need some build-up to work — Osborn could be subbed out for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine — the MCU has already brought Asgard to Earth. This could be a great little movie for fans who want balls to the wall action.
9) The Age of Apocalypse
The Age of Apocalypse is one of the most important stories in the history of the X-Men. This alternate universe story was created after Legion accidentally killed his father Charles Xavier when he went to the past to kill Magneto. On this Earth, Apocalypse revealed himself much earlier and began a war of conquest, with Magneto bringing together the X-Men as an homage to his long dead friend. The Age of Apocalypse was 40-parts long and would be very difficult to adapt because of its length. However, it is possible. X-Men Alpha #1 and X-Men Omega #1 could be movies, with the rest of the series’ that tell the main story adapted into Disney+ shows. With the X-Men in Marvel Studios’ hands, this could be the event that makes people love the MCU again if its done right.
8) World War Hulk
The Hulk hasn’t been served the best by the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hulk fans feel that the MCU has never really given them the kind of Hulk story they want, but adapting World War Hulk could finally give them what they want to see. Written by Greg Pak with art by John Romita Jr., this story took place after “Planet Hulk”, with the Hulk going to Earth to take revenge on the Illuminati, who had sent him to Sakaar and who Hulk blamed for its destruction. This story is basically five issues of the Hulk beating on everyone in his way and that’s honestly the main thing that Hulk fans have wanted to see. They’re tired of seeing the Hulk jobbed out to everyone, and this story definitely doesn’t make Hulk look like a pathetic jobber. Hulk works well as a villain, especially when he’s justified, and World War Hulk could show the world that. While it couldn’t be exactly like the comic, this is the story that could finally give Hulk fans the Green Goliath that they want.
7) King in Black
Venom: The Last Dance teased fans with the character of Knull, the God of Symbiotes. It’s failure at the box office means that there’s a very slim chance of ever getting King in Black, by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, on the big screen. This story was a sequel to Absolute Carnage and the events of the Venom ongoing series, and saw Knull attack the Earth with an army of symbiotes. Now, obviously, this would be a hard story to adapt because of the film rights to Venom. However, we know that all of the other film universes exist in the Marvel Multiverse of the MCU. A King in Black movie could be a universal crossover. Maybe Knull decides to attack the mainline MCU Earth because it doesn’t have symbiotes and doesn’t know how to deal with them. Maybe there’s a Knull in the main universe who could attack, and Venom makes the trip from his universe to stop him. Whatever they decide, it is possible to do a King in Black movie, and if Marvel and Sony play their cards right, they could bring back the Venom movies with it.
6) “The Dark Phoenix Saga”
“The Dark Phoenix Saga” is a legendary Marvel story, and there have been multiple tries at adapting it. It’s gotten to the point that most don’t even believe that it can be adapted. However, there’s a reason none of these adaptations have worked — no one took the time to actually build the story. “The Dark Phoenix Saga” worked so well because it was the culmination of years of stories. With the X-Men finally in the hands of Marvel Studios, it’s now possible to build up the story correctly. Say what you will about the quality of the MCU and the times it has tried to adapt stories, but Marvel Studios has shown that they don’t have a problem with long term storytelling, using multiple films and projects to bring a story to fruition. This is what “The Dark Phoenix Saga” needs to succeed, and if it’s set up correctly, it can be an event that could pull in the entire MCU — the Dark Phoenix is powerful enough to challenge the most powerful heroes in the MCU. Fans deserve to get a great adaptation of this story (beyond the one from X-Men: The Animated Series) and Marvel Studios can give it to them if they’re willing to do the work.
5) Infinity
Jonathan Hickman’s time writing the Avengers was perfect, and the MCU looks like it’s going to use some of its ideas for the next Avengers films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Hickman’s Avengers and New Avengers took the team to new heights and Infinity, by Hickman, Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver, and Jim Cheung, was its amazing sci-fi halfway point. The story saw the Avengers help the galactic empires of the universe battle against the Builders, an ancient race of beings who helped create everything and decided to destroy it all as the Incursions destroyed the Multiverse. There would need to be some changes made to the story, but Infinity is exactly the kind of spectacle that the MCU loves to dust the Avengers off for. Infinity could introduce MCU fans to the greater Marvel Universe, and act as the culmination of a couple of Phases of movies and TV shows.
4) Infinity War
Infinity War is criminally underrated, a rather complex story that is in my opinion better than Infinity Gauntlet. The story sees the return of the Magus, an evil alternate universe Adam Warlock, and his scheme to gain godhood, with the heroes of Earth and beyond working together to stop him. Now, this would be a very hard story to adapt. Marvel Studios would have to do a lot of work building up Adam Warlock. However, Adam Warlock is low key one of Marvel’s most important characters, so that would be a really good thing. It’s definitely going to be an expensive undertaking getting to the movie (which obviously can’t be named Infinity War), but it would be an amazing movie if its done right.
3) “Inferno”
“Inferno” is one of the biggest events in the history of the X-Men. The story revolved around estranged wife of Cyclops Madelyne Pryor leading an invasion of the Earth with the demons of Limbo, with the X-Men and the heroes of New York City working together to save the day. X-Men ’97 gave readers a micro-“Inferno”, but the Marvel Studios could make it work as a major film event. In fact, “Inferno” itself could be an entire Phase on its own, with movies and shows telling its story as the heroes of the Marvel Universe team up with the X-Men to deal with the demonic invasion. It would be a little something different than most Phases so far, and it would be awesome to get in live-action. This is the kind of story that could bring the MCU back to prominence.
2) Avengers Vs. X-Men
Avengers Vs. X-Men, by Brian Michael Bendis, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel, and Adam Kubert, doesn’t have the best reputation with fans. There are lots of reasons for this — the mischaracterization, the sometimes disappointing fights, the huge leaps in logic to make the story work — however, Avengers Vs. X-Men has aged very well. The Avengers and the X-Men go to war over the Phoenix Force, with the battle taking a drastic change in the middle. It’s just an excuse to have the two teams fight, and we need to see it on the big screen. Fans love the X-Men and the Avengers, so giving them this story as a movie would make so much money.
1) Original Sin
Between 2013 and 2015, there were four different Avengers-centric event books, which was way too much. Original Sin is one of these. It’s reception wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t as hated as Avengers & X-Men: AXIS. Original Sin, by Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato Jr., saw the Watcher murdered and his eyes stolen. Suddenly, secrets that the heroes never wanted revealed are brought to the light of day, forcing them to try to find out who murdered the Watcher. MCU fans know how the Watcher is now, so that’s easy to do. Nick Fury plays a huge role in this story — the old school white version of the character, not the Samuel L. Jackson (in fact, this story was basically a way to write out the old Nick and completely replace with the new) one — but that can be dealt with pretty easily. Original Sin isn’t perfect, but it’s really cool and would make for a pretty great movie.
What Marvel events do you think should get their chance on the big screen? Sound off in the comments below.
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