Marvel Announces Divided We Stand

After weeks of teasers, Marvel Comics has announced “Divided We Stand,” the new status quo that will follow the events of Civil War II. The initiative was announced with the reveal of a teaser image created by Mike Deodato. The image depicts two group of Marvel characters on opposite sides. The first group has Doctor Doom in the forefront. Doom has Iron Man’s helmet in his hand while Tony Stark himself is entirely absent from the image. Foolkiller, Solo, Jessica Jones, Maria Hill, Captain Marvel, Thor Odinson, Elektra, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Slapstick, Gamora, Cable, Black Panther, and a massive, green, reptilian foot that we can only assume is Fin Fang Foom’s stand behind doom.

On the opposite side of the image is Riri in her homemade armor suit. Mosaic, the all-new Wasp, Miss America, Gwenpool, Squirrel Girl, Prowler, Moon Girl, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Doctor Strange, the totally awesome Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) stand behind her.

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso explains in an interview with CoCreate that the war, that war being Civil War II, is over. These sides aren’t lining up for a fight, they’re just representative of the new state of the Marvel Universe and who the characters to keep an eye on will be in that new status quo.

“This is not an event. It’s the status quo of the Marvel Universe in the aftermath of the war,” Alosno says. “It’s a glimpse as to whom we can point to in the coming year, with just enough ‘What the heck’s going on there’ spots to get people speculating. ‘There’s no Tony Stark in that picture, but who’s that guy holding the helmet? Is that Doctor Doom?’ ‘The young girl in the gray armor looks a lot like the new War Machine.’”

Marvel fans will notice that the publisher has reached deep to pull out relatively unknown characters like Solo and Foolkiller as well as newcomers like Gwenpool and Moon Girl to stand alongside movie grade characters like Black Panther and Doctor Strange. Alonso says they’re all there for a reason.

“They’re all there because they matter,” Alonso says. “They’ll either be in a solo series, or they’ll be a key member of a team, or they’ll do something that you will be talking about in a Marvel book that will bring them into a position of prominence. They’re there for a reason. Including that big, big, big what appears to be a Godzilla foot.

“Our catalog rolls deep,” he continues. “We have an incredible catalog of characters. I think that some of our C-, D-, and F-list characters are the coolest, for very different reasons than the guys who you see up on the silver screen.”

Fans will learn more about these characters were chosen to represent the new Marvel era when Marvel NOW! Previews is released on June 13. In the meantime, get a closer look at the teasers in the gallery below.