Jonathan Hickman’s Marvel Comics epic began during the “Dark Reign” event in 2009, when Norman Osborn was king of the world and superheroes were driven underground. The writer’s first ongoing series was “Secret Warriors,” about Nick Fury assembling a team of young heroes for covert ops. He then took on “Fantastic Four” and “Ultimates,” infusing the latter title with a much-needed boost.
In 2012, he started a new story spread across two ongoing titles: “Avengers” and “New Avengers.” In the former, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers decide to expand the roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, building an “Avengers World” to combat cosmic threats. However, this is all Stark’s distraction from the real threat. In “New Avengers,” the Illuminati discover the multiverse is collapsing; during events called Incursions, two parallel Earths collide, taking both universes with them. The conflict, in a nutshell, is superheroes vs. universal entropy.
Even in the crossover events, there are two strains: “Infinity” has the Avengers go off into space to fight the “Builders”, the universe’s first sentient race. The Illuminati, meanwhile, stay on Earth when Thanos invades. The epic culminates in the 9-part “Secret Wars,” which tore down and rebuilt the Marvel universe.
It’s a magnificent story, one as good as serialized superhero comics get and which no film can do justice. The story’s scope grew to encompass the entire Marvel Universe — and not just Earth-616. Even with such a wide canvas, Hickman did have to pick his favorites. Drawing on his history with the Fantastic Four, he turns Reed Richards and Doctor Doom into his centerpieces; the final clash in “Secret Wars” ultimately comes down to them.
However, the rivalry between T’Challa and Namor over how to handle the incoming apocalypse is also a prominent thread.
