Marvel Turns Two Best Friends Into Bitter Rivals

One of Marvel’s most iconic twosomes is going to hit a rough stretch in the future. When it comes to fan-favorite pairings in the Marvel Universe, plenty of names come to mind. For example, there’s the Captain America and Bucky Barnes, Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Ant-Man and Wasp, and many more. But just like in the world of professional wrestling, best friends sometimes come to blows. This has never been more evident than in the 2023 iteration of Timeless #1, which offers a sneak peek at storylines set to play out in the Marvel Universe in 2024.

*WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Timeless #1. Continue reading at your own risk!

Timeless #1 is from the creative team of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Juann Cabal, Edgar Delgado, and VC’s Travis Lantham. The special one-shot is framed as a matchup between Power Man (who we know is Luke Cage) and the Immortal Moon Knight in the far-flung future, but what we quickly discover is Danny Rand / Iron Fist is the new Moon Knight. The beginning of the comic shows a flashback to the early days of the Power Man/Iron Fist team-up as the Heroes for Hire, to give readers a sense of the bond they used to have, and how much has changed to them fighting in the future. 

What broke up Marvel’s Luke Cage and Iron Fist?

The mystery of what happened between Luke Cage and Iron Fist will have to wait until later this year. They refer to all the heroes grieving from a “white sky event” and Danny Rand buying Stark Unlimited. This allegedly led to Danny turning the world over to Khonshu, for which Moon Knight is the avatar. It appears some tragedy befalls Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, causing a fracture in their ranks and sending Iron Fist down this dark path. 

This is truly sad since Power Man and Iron Fist are one of the classic Marvel duos. They’ve worked together as part of the Heroes for Hire, Defenders, and Avengers. It’s hard to imagine what could break them up, but it must be pretty significant to force an altercation such as the one in Timeless.

Luckily, readers should get some hints as to what leads up to the events in Timeless as storylines play out in 2024. There is a lot to look forward to, including a Prisoner X in the X-Men’s Danger Room, the upcoming Blood Hunt event with the Avengers fighting vampires, Tombstone reigning over New York in the aftermath of Gang War, a new Ghost Rider, and Doctor Doom standing over Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The rivalry between Luke Cage and Iron Fist is only one of the conflicts to keep an eye on.