Things We Hope to See in Marvel’s Secret Wars

Did you hear about Marvel's Secret Wars? No, not that one. The one in 2015! It's going to be the conclusion of Hickman's Avengers arc, wherein the multiverse is collapsing in on top of itself. It's like DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths except with more Iron Men and less Supergirl cropses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FQRDW3IaZ4 In the video above, you'll see that a whole bunch of Marvel titles have been smushed together into a single "Battleworld". Everything from X-Men '92 (ba na na naaa na na!), Old Man Logan, Future Imperfect, and The Amazing Spider-Man will share one space. It's going to be interesting, especially with Hickman writing. Now, obviously, they probably won't have time to get into every kind of scenario. This is a Big Time Money Making Event, after all, so they'll have to keep things big picture. Never the less, here are a few things we'll hopefully see in its pages:

Current Cyclops vs. '92 Cyclops

Scott Summers has been one of the most interesting Marvel characters of the last five years. Driven mad by the Pheonix Force, he killed Charles Xavier, his mentor and all-around-father-figure. After getting sprung from prison, he set out to start another mutant school to carry on Xavier's memory. He's angry, complex, slightly confused, but above all: trying to do the right thing. '92 Cyclops is, like, the most opposite. He's by the book, he's the glue of the team, he's got his father figure and his lady love, Jean. Plus he's got a be-pouched blue-and-yellow costume instead of current Scott's sleek black and red. They're different ends of the spectrum. That's why I want them to meet. In some ways, '92 Cyclops represents Scott's ideal Cyclops, and, at the end of the day, current Scott has become a dark reflection of that. There could be a ton of really great moments between the two, moments that show our current Scott where he has gone wrong. That illustrates, even to Scott himself, the extreme that he has gone. Although, it may go the other way too. Our current Scott could be a living example that by-the-books idealism isn't enough. That the world will tear you down all the same. In order to survive, one has to sacrifice everything one has. After all, Cyclops Was Right. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="393"] Straps are as bad as pouches, Jim Lee[/caption]

Hulk-a-mania

Hulk is going to fight people. Of course he is. He always does. That is the function of Hulk. However, there are a couple opponents current 616 Hulk, or I guess "Doc Green" (Extremis enhanced Hulk with access of Bruce's intellect), needs to fight. The first is, obviously, Maestro. Sure, there've been a couple of Hulks that fought him over the years, but this "Doc Green" Hulk would be really cool to see. It's implied he's the beginning of Maestro (just without the nuclear holocaust bit), so it'd be much more evenly matched than ever before. Second, I'd love to to see Hulk, our Hulk, battle what's ever left of the cannibal redneck Hulk Gang from Old Man Logan. A bunch of super strong Good Ol' Boys vs. Doc Green? Perfect. Each one is weaker than Hulk, sure, but they're in greater numbers and just full of PBR. That alone would make anyone think twice. [caption id="attachment_65603" align="aligncenter" width="406"] The least bloody picture I could find.[/caption]

Evil Tony vs. Armor Wars Tony

Thanks to the Axis event, Tony is now kinda evil. He's the Superior Iron Man. He has delved into the person he always was just about to become. Ruthless, ambitious, even more arrogant. Somehow this also translated into some dumb looking armor, but even superior iron men can't win them all. During Armor Wars, Tony was consumed with stopping armored villains who had gotten a hold of his designs and were using them to wreak havoc. It was a pretty good example of the dark side of Tony's crusade. He brought all these powerful weapons into the world to stop bad men from doing bad things, but once you let the genie out of the bottle, there's no going back. Just like Cyclops, it'd be two opposite ends of the spectrum meeting. Armor Wars Tony was so affected by his designs being used for evil that he had sworn off Iron Man just because it was too dangerous. Superior Iron Man is handing out Extremis and sight-restoring technology like they were Werther's Originals and he was the most visited grandpa in the whole nursing home. The sense of responsibility is gone. It'd make for a really interesting meeting. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="304"] Why so glum, chums?[/caption]

Just About Anyone in Old Man Logan

I'm not sure if you got it from my description above, but Old Man Logan is a nightmarish Elseworld where supervillains have taken over the United States and divided it up amongst themselves. It's kind of a worst case scenario. Superheroes are dead. Red Skull is President. There is a dinosaur in a symbiote. Horrible. It would a real shock to most of the 616 heroes. Maybe not the X-Men, they see a lot of dark alternate realities, but most of them, sure. I'd love to see how they handle the possibility, what it could do to them. Even better, I want to know how the villains take it. Do they see it as some kind of paradise, or is a hellscape they never intended to make.

Any of the Main 616 vs. Marvel Zombies

In a similar vein, I'd like to see a lot of 616 villains face off against the "Marvel Zombies". More than Machine Man, anyway. I mean, look, I like the Marvel Zombies as much as the next guy -- I own the hardcover collection -- but I fell like it was a little implausible how they succumbed to the... zombie... ism? In the book there's a lot of plot armor and some straight-out "luck". But there's a Marvel universe out there were everyone's werewolves, so I guess I'll give them a pass. Anyway, I'd love to see how some of our main characters deal with the Zombies.  Especially people like Reed Richard or Doctor Strange. C'mon! Neither one of those guys could stop a zombie apocalypse-- okay. I may be too close to this. I just think it could be a cool to see how the actual characters deal with the situation. You can't even break Reed's skin to make a bite-- alright, alright, I'm done. Also, while we're thinking about it, It could be cool to see how other universes deal with the Zombies too. '92 X-Men versus the Zombies? Old Man Logan fighting Zombie Hulk? Yes please. The possibilities are endless! Though I still refuse to believe Doctor Doom could be taken out by something as lowly as a zombie plague. But what are you looking forward to? Let me know in the comments below!