Marvel's Time Runs Out Event Teases Possible Universal Reboot

Remus

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Nov 24, 2012
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I'm not a fan of the idea, but the Tribunal's dead, the Phoenix is dead....sorta, except for some nonsense with the cancerverse, in the future, and now Uatu's dead. This might explain why the new X-men - time-lost teenage Scott, Jean & Co can't go back - the universe is collapsing behind them, basic Dr. Who logic. Oh whatever, blow it up, or better yet, have Franklin step in and say "No More Multiverse". If they want to make it a thing where they retell old stories, lets slap a deus ex machina in there that's a repository for the events of the old verse. In Heroes Reborn, it was Franklin Richards. In House of M it was Layla Miller. Age of Apocalypse, it was Bishop. That way if things don't work out as they hoped, they have an exit strategy.

On the whole "Universe breaking" story, did anyone else notice that the latest universe set to go kaboom has carbon copies of the Justice League to face off against Marvel's Illuminati? I know it's kinda Marvel's thing to prod DC a bit by beating up Marvel versions of DC characters but come on, it's almost old hat after what happened with the Sentry. Hyperion's even an avenger now just cuz 2 super strong god beings on the team weren't enough.
 

SonOfVoorhees

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Aug 3, 2011
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So will this 8 months leap tie in with the main comic afterwards? Image did something interesting when it first started, they brought out issue 25 early for a number of titles. This was an official issue 25 like reading a comic from the future. An the current issue (say 15) would eventually lead up to events in that issue 25.
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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I wouldn't discount it, comics creators will do anything to sell books, and the whole "let's reboot, or shake up the continuity" is now a stock trick. As a general rule one of Marvel's big selling points has been not doing this to the same extent, though it's threatened to do it a number of times.

I'd imagine the whole idea is that they want to make the continuity of the comics match up with the movies more, and have seen people fairly accepting of "the Cinematic Universe". They however probably want to be able to have just "The Marvel Universe" without having to worry about the distinctions. Especially seeing as like pre-Crisis DC they have parallel dimensions which include all the incarnations and separate universes (Ultimate, Zombies, etc..). In theory I could see some marketing hot-shot deciding that they could do a "Crisis" type event and then decide to take what they think is the "best" of the various universes and put them together.

I just can't see it going over well though, as half the point of "Marvel" and what has kept a lot of people loyal was them staying away from this garbage, and keeping characters more or less stable across several generations now. Rebooting the universe just for millenials would be the idea, but at the end of the day they rely on the deep pockets and nostalgia of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers to keep these characters going, and the new generation has already kind of embraced them as they are, differences from the movies included.

I anticipate we might see something like this, along with claims that things will stay that way, followed by a backlash full of tons of publicity, probably timed to coincide with "Avengers 2", and eventually Marvel will "back down". Either that or they will use it as an excuse to borderline retire the publishing end of their business and focus entirely on other kinds of media properties which are supposed to be a lot more valuable (at least for the moment) anyway.

Not to mention that a big part of doing any such reboot is to make things more politically correct, and less controversial. I've noticed for example the whole "Lobo" reboot that was even linked to here (a DC character), with the new version missing the point of what made the character popular. That was probably done in part because of some of the more controversial aspects of the character, other than the violence, such as one of his powers being complete and total immortality given a divine technicality in neither Heaven or Hell being willing to take him. Now if you know DC's cosmology from having followed "Sandman" and such you can see how this kind of thing can happen, before you even get into Lobo. With Lobo though, to explain why things work this way your pretty much dealing with metaphysics that could offend some viewers just by mentioning Heaven and Hell (or seeing them interact with Lobo). Unlike say "Hellblazer" which an be done as a horror movie totally separate from the DC universe, Lobo is a character that kind of needs to interact with regular super heroes and "high camp" goings on to really work. The new version is more friendly to mass media properties down the road, and seems like a boardroom compromise, but one that of course is not likely to go over well with people who liked the character to begin with. The point here is that in going this way Marvel is likely to cause a lot of problems like this, and given it's more serious tone (on average) and that it's strength is it's relative continuity I don't expect a reboot to last.
 

Rawbeard

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Jan 28, 2010
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Comic book fans are a fickle bunch. Reboot is how you lose, not gain customers. Just ask DC.
 

Trishbot

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Rawbeard said:
Comic book fans are a fickle bunch. Reboot is how you lose, not gain customers. Just ask DC.
Precisely. DC's New 52 failed to do its job, and the "new, accessible" universe is now infinitely more complicated than it was before the reboot, a massive number of fans were alienated compared to the new readers that only bought #1 issues, and, almost universally, every last single character apart from Aquaman was WORSE than before the reboot (poor Starfire and Lobo).

Marvel NOT rebooting their universe every few years and making all these new characters and stories I had recently loved invalid and non-canon is one reason I prefer Marvel comics... even if I have been waiting well over a year for my favorite hero Nova to fly back into active duty.
 

Spaceman Spiff

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Isn't that why they had the Ultimates? So they could change/put new spins on characters without the 60 years of baggage?

Never having been a big comic reader (but always having been a marvel fan), I only recently caught up with most major events of the last 10-15 years. After hunting down compilations of many major events, I can't imagine trying to get into a rebooted continuity.
 

TiberiusEsuriens

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Fanghawk said:
But since we're at the rumor stage and rampant speculation isn't going to make a difference, let's just pretend that Time Runs Out is building to <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131985-Marvel-And-Star-Wars-Heroes-To-Appear-In-Disney-Infinity>a merging of the Marvel and Star Wars universes. Make it happen, Disney.
If they want to include Kyle Katarn or Mara Jade in The Avengers 3 I'd be totally down for that! I mean, since they've been pseudo erased for Star Wars canon they might as well get used somewhere else kick-ass.
 

Ace Morologist

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Apr 25, 2013
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Reboots are hot stuff in the entertainment industry right now, so it's not out of the question. Plus, Marvel has too much continuity for ALL of it to be expected to count.

Heck, maybe this event will solve that last problem. Retroactively split the various threads of Marvel's vast continuity into groups of alternate realities, weeding out the dumber or more problematic eras so the editors can determine what the "real" history is based on what works best, what people remember best, and what people like.

Thought Inferno was cool? That totally happened. Thought Spider-Man getting Captain Universe powers during Acts of Vengeance was stupid? That was an alternate reality. Daredevil's yellow costume? Never existed. Spider-Woman raised by a space cow? Nope. Thor was a frog man that time? He sure was. Asgard was transported to a spot high above New York City for a while? No. Gwen Stacey + Norman Osborne? Nuh-uh. Hank hit Jane? No. Peter Parker married Mary Jane? Coin-flip. Civil War? Never. No more mutants? Alternate universe. Heroes Reborn? Isn't that already an alternate universe?

Anyway, you get the idea. The awesome, radical, brilliant idea.

--Morology!
 

Vivi22

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Aug 22, 2010
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I honestly doubt they'll reboot since they've always avoided it and are perfectly happy to just retcon things rather than completely undo their entire continuity. Not to mention DC's New 52 was a dismal failure on almost every possible level. I guess that's to be expected when your universe wide reboot reboots some things, not others, and leaves any explanation for how and why some things are still canon utterly contrived and impossible to believe even by comic book story telling standards.

Anyway, I truly hope they don't reboot. Marvel has been doing some damn fine work amongst their best titles for years now, and to undo it for the sake of trying to grab a few new readers who don't give a shit anyway is just not a good idea. The people who want to read about their favourite characters will do so regardless of how hard it is to jump right into the middle of something. I started reading comics when I was 4 or 5 years old for example. Did I know the entirety of Superman or Spider-Man's back stories? Fuck no. But I knew Richard Donner's Superman was one of my favourite movies, and Spider-Man could web swing and climb walls. I didn't need to know anything else to get into it and I figured out the rest as I went along.
 

faefrost

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The one thing that actually stands against them doing a DC style reboot is believe it or not Disney. There is a reason IP owners like Lucas, Henson and Marvel sold out to Disney in particular. They tend to be very careful stewards of IP, and as a general rule frown on things like wholesale reboots. They have a stronger history of building off of the past, maybe giving it a new spin, and updating and moving forward from there. They may jetison some specific bits over the years (such as the EU) but typically frown and wiping everything out and starting over. Because that "everything" is what holds value to them. Not simply the characters but the history. While the editors at Marvel might wish to dive into a New 52 style reboot, I think their corporate overlords will take a lot of convincing. I somehow suspect that the current instructions around the Marvel offices are "You dudes are LOSS LEADERS. DO NOTHING TO FLUCK UP THE MAGIC MOVIE MONEY MACHINE!"
 

Johnny Novgorod

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This is why I can never fully get into comics. The "reboot threat" always looms about ready to fuck everything up.
 

Ukomba

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Is Peter talking to the devil again?

So It isn't just Star Wars Disney is retconning things out of existence for.
 

WickedFire

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I've just thought of a way that this could work out well, by maintaining a continuity, while ditching all the stuff that is basically crap. And allowing an easy way in for new readers.

If they have this large temporal/dimensional event, it be something that sent ripples back down the time line. As in everything that has happened so far in the entire history of the Marvel Universe has been realities constantly merging and dividing, creating what currently stands as continuity. This big event could then cause a continuity lockdown, which would alter what stays in continuity and what goes.

Therefore, characters do not have clean slates, as would happen in a reboot. Marvel could then establish the locked-down continuity through anthology series for each character, re-releasing (perhaps in a shorter form) all of the continuity that remains. This would allow new readers to get up to speed with the continuity, while maintaining the stories and events that old fans love. Plus it would be good from a business stand point.
 

Ieyke

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ShirowShirow said:
Don't do this!

I JUST GOT INTO MARVEL COMICS.

I'm JUST starting to get used to the status quo. I just got to know what the Civil War was all about, and what the initiative was and who Kamala Khan is.

DON'T hit the reset button now! I've just gotten invested, dammit!
Don't worry, this is nonsense.
Marvel won't reboot.