Will MARVEL Comics Continuity Reboot With SECRET WARS Align The Comic And Movie Universes For Good?

Written By Admiral Duke For DisFanReview.com

Since New York Comic Con a lot of speculation has been bandied about in regards to MARVEL Comics SECRET WARS event due out this summer. Many had speculated that this would bring about the end of MARVEL's Ultimate universe. Many others speculated that SECRET WARS would have such far reaching implications as to even have a major effect on the MARVEL Cinematic Universe. All of which seems like a distinct possibility.

What was absolutely solidified in todays press conference was that SECRET WARS will be a reboot of sorts. Bringing to an end nearly 15 years of Ultimate Universe Continuity and over 50 years of classic MARVEL Universe continuity. What will we end up with? Well, it's hard to say, but if the internet rumors are to be believed the result will torpedo any possibility of MARVEL comics having any correlation with MARVEL character films NOT made by MARVEL Studios. In short, MUTANTS will be no more. 

With the MARVEL Cinematic Universe already setting the stage for the INHUMANS with AGENTS Of SHIELD and AVENGERS: Age Of Ultron, internet speculation has this mysterious and often underrepresented group taking a major role in the comics universe. The theory is that fan favorites like Wolverine, Cyclops, and other X-Men will be recast as INHUMANS. Thus liberating them from the context of being Mutants and possibly freeing the characters from the contractual hell that they have been stuck in, and allowing these new versions of the characters to appear in films. That is of course only a theory. However, the theory does have a very recent precedent. In the upcoming film AVENGERS: Age Of Ultron, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be at the center of the story. Originally, those characters were MUTANTS. For the film though they will be classified as INHUMANS. Thus laying the ground work for this contextual shift for the larger MARVEL comics universe.  The theory seems even more credible given that MARVEL Comics CEO Isaac Perlmutter was the driving force behind ending the Fantastic Four comic book series this April with no plan, what so ever to bring the characters back to the comics. Presumably because 20th Century Fox who owns the film rights to the Fantastic Four and X-Men films has never shown any interest in making a deal to free them up.  Perlmutter has been outspoken in his frustration with MARVEL comics essentially acting a free promotional materials for films that are not being made by Disney and MARVEL.

With all of these factors being present, there is the distinct likelihood that the MARVEL Comic Book Universe that emerges from the SECRET WARS event will either strongly resemble or actually be the MARVEL Cinematic Universe. If indeed that were the case, it would mean that all MARVEL Comic Book stories would be cannon in a shared universe with the films. Much in the same way that MARVEL and Disney have recently aligned the STAR WARS comics and film universes as one cohesive whole. We of course will begin to see what will happen when SECRET WARS begins this May.