Marvel NOW!: The Latest in Earth-Shattering Events at Marvel

Notice how Wolverine looks exactly the same? There are just some things you try not to mess with… like adamantium claws.

On July 5^th, as America woke up late from a night of explosive fireworks, comic book fans were watching as another kind of bombshell was going off in the Marvel Universe. Marvel CCO Joe Quesada revealed the new look and direction that the House of Ideas would be taking. He reported on Marvel’s homepage that just two years after launching the Heroic Age of comics, the publisher would be starting a fresh look and feel in what they are calling Marvel Now! Quesada told fans:

“Marvel NOW! is the next step in Marvel story evolution and character evolution. It’s not a reboot. It is a universe-shifting catch-all, which really just tells fans that if you enjoyed Avengers vs. X-Men, get ready for what the outcome is because there’s some major, major changes coming to the Marvel Universe. A lot of changes to the character status quos, alter egos, costumes, creator shifts, design shifts, the way that we do our covers, digital shifts and the way we start delivering our books.”

The news was accompanied by a single piece of promotional artwork (penciled by Quesada himself). It showed newly redesigned costumes for familiar characters that suggest that Marvel could be merging their popular, teen-friendly Ultimate line with the standard titles (which are set in a universe called 616, which is the one we are supposed to inhabit). The artwork shows Nick Fury and Captain America from the Ultimate universe amidst the heroes of ours. One highly noticeable figure is a teenage Jean Grey still in her X-men First Class uniform, which prompted the creators behind the project to reveal that the original five X-men would be time-hopping to the present to alter the isolationist/paramilitary perspective that Marvel’s merry band of mutants has had over the last decade. Iron Man’s armor has shed the familiar red and gold theme for what appears to be a cast iron black. Hulk is sporting purple armor. Cyclops, who received perhaps the biggest cosmetic alteration, sports all red and a helmet instead of his simple visor.

The new look has many fans worrying that this will be a universe cracking shift akin to DC Comic’s New 52, which saw half the universe re-launched and characters’ looks and personalities altered. Quesada  has repeatedly attempted to assuage fans that this will be a gradual transition and not a universe-wide retcon.

The overall effect that the creators seem to be hoping for is the realignment of heroes. They have promised that titles and teams will be shifting so that heroes who have never regularly fought together will now find themselves on the same team. As this is already lined up to be the aftermath of the Averngers vs. X-men event, the creators are hoping to shuffle the teams as a means of burying the hatchet and turning their attention back towards fighting the bad guys. And what better bad guy to fight than a Red Skull clone who still thinks it’s the 1940s?! Tom Brevoort and Quesada have revealed that the villain of the event is a clone that Dr. Arnim Zola releases from suspended animation who turns his fanatical hatred towards mutants, which creates a handy plot device for the Earth’s Mightiest and the Children of the Atom to shoulder together.

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