One of the most disrespected and poorly reviewed projects in Marvel Cinematic Universe history may be on the verge of a comeback in the comics. Yes, it’s hard to look back at all the successes that the MCU has accomplished and find misfires, but they certainly are there. It even happens in the comics. The one good thing about the comics is that there is more room for experimentation and trial and error. A character or team can be reintroduced or pushed as part of a larger story before even sniffing an ongoing series. This scenario may be happening with one of the worst MCU projects in recent memory.
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Marvel’s Inhumans. was released in 2017 on ABC and had a pretty short lifespan of just one season. Originally announced as a feature film, Inhumans was reworked for television, though it had a lackluster reception. Inhumans currently sits with an 11% Tomatometer rating and a 42% Popcornmeter rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which says it all. Around this same time, the comics started pushing the Inhumans as well, with several titles launched and events tied to the powerful group. However, the death knell for the Inhumans came in 2018 with the event series Death of the Inhumans, which essentially sidelined the franchise and put the Inhumans on the shelf to collect dust. But all it takes is one good story to capture audiences and revitalize what was once deemed a lost cause. There may be a clue pointing to this happening with the Inhumans in Imperial.
Imperial May Be Leading to the Return of the Inhumans
Marvel released the cover and solicitation for Imperial #4, the final issue of the four-part event series by writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini. What’s notable about the cover by Marco Checchetto is that it features the teleporting Inhuman dog Lockjaw, holding Ronan the Accuser’s hammer in his mouth. That by itself isn’t a sign that the Inhumans are returning, but what Marvel reveals about the contents of Imperial #4 does.
The press release for Imperial #4 highlights the major players in the cosmic conflict that appear on the cover, like Hulk, Nova, Shuri, Star-Lord, and Super-Skrull, but it also mentions that it “also teases the involvement of a powerful group that has yet to make their presence in the conflict known…” Since we can clearly see all the characters on the Imperial #4 cover, and they’re all called out except for Lockjaw, the only conclusion we can come to is that this powerful group who has yet to appear inside Imperial will be the Inhumans.
Why else would Lockjaw show up in the middle of the cover? We have all these intergalactic empires taking part in Imperial, like the Skrulls, Kree, Shi’ar, Spartax, Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, and Sakaar, but the Inhumans are nowhere to be accounted for. Imperial is the perfect opportunity to bring the Inhumans back and freshen them up, since the entire purpose of the event is to lay the foundation for a new line of space-set series.
San Diego Comic-Con already revealed five of these Imperial spinoffs: Planet She-Hulk, Nova: Centurion, Black Panther: Intergalactic, Exiles, and Imperial Guardians. While Inhumans doesn’t appear to be part of these titles, they could be part of a second wave. Plus, Marvel may not be ready to reveal how Imperial will end, thus ruining the surprise of the Inhumans’ return.
Of course, this mystery group could also be the Elders of the Universe, since it appears that Grandmaster may be one of the two individuals orchestrating events behind the scenes. Grandmaster is known for his intricate games, so organizing the assassination of galactic leaders all for a personal game falls right in line with his way of thinking.
Imperial #4 goes on sale October 29th. Do you think we’ll see the return of the Inhumans? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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