Review: Three things Marvel’s reboot will mean for you
Many of you are only familiar with Marvel through the movies or series such as “Daredevil,” but for those of you who are interested in the comics, a major change is happening this summer. The big news is that Marvel is rebooting large parts of the comic universe, a move that only DC has done thus far, and not well I should add. While I support Marvel’s old way of doing a moving timeline, there are a few changes you can expect.
1. We get both Spider-Men
In 2000, Marvel created the “ultimate universe,” a fresh take on all your classic heroes, showing sides of them we have never seen before. One result of this was a new Spider-Man named Miles Morale. Morale had a slightly different power set than Peter Parker, and most visibly not the same cookie-cutter mold that we see in most classic heroes (a white male with dead parents). Well, the ultimate universe is ending and most signs point to the possibility of seeing Morale in the main universe, where we will be seeing Parker as well. For fans of both Spideys, this is exciting. Maybe Parker will mentor Morale, and just maybe we’ll see Morale in an upcoming marvel movie or TV show.
2. They are retooling classic stories
Comic books are confusing to say the least, and sometimes they drag. But every once in a while, you’ll get an amazing story or event that will make you fall back in love with the genre. Marvel is taking these classic stories, like “Planet Hulk,” and rewriting them so they’ll be different. Then they’re rereleasing them to the public. I value these classic stories and am all for rereleasing them for those who weren’t around when they were released, but rewriting classic stories seems a little like revisionist history to me.
3. We might lose some characters and storylines that were recently created
What I love about Marvel is that it has been bold lately with its decisions not only taking characters in new directions (Tony Stark reverts back into an arrogant playboy) to new characters (the new female Thor who has outsold the old issues by 20 percent). It has done this tastefully without isolating the fan base. I fear that we will lose new great characters such as Ms. Marvel, a young Muslim-American teenager from New Jersey, or “The Runaways,” a Joss Whedon comic that explores teenagers learning their parents are not so perfect.
I am not saying change is bad, and I think some good will come out of this, but the old saying of “throwing out the baby with the bath water” comes to mind. All we can do is hope that Marvel doesn’t go the way of DC and end up in endless cycles of re-booting and fan isolation, but rather follows through and amazes us once more.
If you want more news about pop culture and comics, check out my show PopCorn Culture on Fridays at 12-1 p.m. on Aggie Radio found at radio.usu.edu.
— Riley Thompson studies marketing and is the marketing director for Aggie Radio. He enjoys everything about pop culture but especially likes to write reviews on comics and Apps. He claims to be the No. 1 Disney fan at USU and will challenge anyone who says otherwise. Contact him at rileymcmurdiethompson@gmail.com.