Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s digital comics subscription service, is once again offering all fans free access to some of Marvel’s most iconic stories from recent years, including now-classic Marvel Comics events and critically acclaimed runs featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and more.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a look back at these classic stories and maybe help you decide whether or not you would like to check them out. Our next series brings most of our favorite heroes and villains together for one of the biggest fights in the history of the Marvel Universe.
Secret Wars
The Marvel Universe is coming to an end and there’s nothing our favorite heroes can do to stop it. The best they can hope for is to save a small group and start all over again, and that’s exactly what Reed Richards is planning. Unfortunately, for Mr. Fantastic, things don’t go exactly according to plan.
The result is a new world, forged from the power of the Beyonder which is now wielded by none other than Doctor Doom, now calling himself the God of his new world. Built with remnants of the old worlds, this new world is populated by Doom’s followers, his sheriff Doctor Strange, his new family which he stole from Reed Richards, his generals and his army of Thors.
This new world is about to get an array of visitors from the old world though. Reed and the remaining heroes he managed to save arrive shortly after the Cabal led by Thanos and an alternate version of Reed known as the Maker. The result of their visit, is maybe the biggest battle in the history of the Marvel Universe. And the future of the Marvel Universe rests entirely on the result.
“Secret Wars” is an incredibly complex Marvel story. If you want a simple superhero story fo hero vs. villain, this is not the one for you. On the other hand, if you’re familiar with most Marvel characters and you want to read something epic, this is perfect.
Just about all of your favorite character at least make an appearance in this series. And in some cases, a whole lot of different versions of your favorite characters make an appearance. Major villains from some of Marvel’s biggest stories join the battle and fight on different sides of this incredibly complicated war. All of that adds up to a sum that is nothing short of epic.
Of course, it helps a bit if you are also familiar with the original “Secret Wars” comic series from the 80s. That would give you a background on the beyonders and the concept of the Battleworld. In the original series, the Beyonder created the world for an experiment of good vs. evil, pitting a team of heroes against a team of villains.
The new series is much more complex, but when you accept that this is just a new Battleworld, it becomes a lot simpler. There are still multiple sides to the ensuing fight and there is a lot more on the line than the original series, but it helps to ground the story in some form of reality, even if it’s one entirely created by Doom.
You can read “Secret Wars” for free now. And be sure to check back as we look back the rest of these classic Marvel Comics stories over the next several weeks.