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lokiondisneyplus · 3 years

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Most Marvel post-credit scenes hint at the future. Loki opted for a blunter approach: the God of Mischief would return in season 2.

Based on the final turn of events, there was really no other choice: Loki (Tom Hiddleston), having journeyed to the furthest point in spacetime with his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) to meet the founder of the TVA, a scientist-turned-survivor-of-multiversal-war known as He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), finds himself zapped into a new reality when his lady self slays the omnipresent being. The mind reels!

Creator Michael Waldron takes delight in the endless possibilities of Loki’s core premise. And as a veteran of Rick and Morty, he knows what anchors a mind-bending show, and what will keep Hiddleston’s character hurtling through his chaotic, rewritten future. Below, Polygon talks to Waldron about landing on the key choices of Loki season 1, what to expect from season 2, and a bit on his next project, the wrestling drama Heels, which is set to premiere on Aug. 15.

Did you know there’d be a second season of Loki from the beginning or was that choice made later in the process?

Michael Waldron: We always knew that it was a possibility. We always knew that we wanted to propel Loki and these characters out into the MCU after this, into further stories. But that didn’t really crystallize as a sure thing until we were in production and everything. And as we were really figuring out the finale.

So you were still cracking the ending as you shot the show?

There was a hiatus due to the pandemic. So things were constantly being retooled because of that. I think, by and large, everything with He Who Remains and the Sylvie-Loki conflict was always there. But that cliffhanger was the sort of thing that suddenly became a really appealing opportunity, a chance for that to lead into a second season.

What element of the series helped you crack the macro story of Loki, and made all the other pieces fall into place? Each episode almost feels like a standalone adventure, similar to Rick and Morty, but what helped it all click?

The first couple of weeks in the writers room was just laying out the individual episodes. It was very important to me that each episode stood on its own, and you could say “This is the Lamentis episode,” “This is the apocalypse moon episode,” “This is the Void episode.” I didn’t want it to just be cut up chapters and have one long continuous story. Obviously, we had to figure out the time travel for things to slot into place. I think a big idea for us was the way you get around the TVA by hiding in apocalypses. That felt like such a big, cool, exciting idea that it drove the action of episode 2, episode 3, and in a way it’s like Alioth is the ultimate apocalypse that He Who Remains is hiding behind. That sci-fi idea cracked a lot open for us. I know that after we had that I went home and I slept a little sounder.

Did adding the multiverse to the Marvel Cinematic Universe feel like blowing something up or expanding it, in terms of narrative possibilities?

In the same way that after the first couple Iron Man movies, and with the first Avengers, suddenly these movies were kind of going to space. Then we had Guardians. I think of the multiverse as another version of that. It’s new ground to cover, and particularly interesting because characters meeting other versions of themselves and other versions of people they know is... cool. That’s just a cool sci-fi concept! But I think with anything, as you expand outward, it only works if the humanity remains. It’s exciting to watch characters dealing with big crazy multiversal conflicts because we can see ourselves in them. I think you just have to hold on to the humanity that makes these stories work in the first place.

Did you go back to the Thor movies for Loki? Was there anything to find in the past of Marvel as you were paving the future?

Absolutely. I mean I watched them many times, contrary to what Twitter might think because I did some bits on there saying that I’ve never seen Avengers and I upset some people [laughs]. I have seen it many times. “Confirmed: Loki writer has seen Avengers and saw it before writing Loki show.”

In fact, I was watching all these movies on a loop in the writers’ room. I gleaned so much because you watch the evolution of the character. Avengers was particularly informative because our story picks up Loki right after that, but I also I found a lot of inspiration in Thor: The Dark World, a maybe sometimes maligned movie that I actually really enjoy. I just think there’s great stuff with Loki being tangentially responsible for the death of his mother, how he reacts to that. That is the start of his journey of that version of Loki’s redemption, so I was inspired by that.

What’s propelling the characters into season 2? Where are you headed in basic terms?

In season 1, you saw a lot of characters reckoning with and questioning their own glorious purpose, and that glorious purpose changing, [characters] realizing that that can change. Everybody except for Sylvie. I think she holds onto hers, which is vengeance, and to the detriment of us all, perhaps. And we’ve got a Loki who, at the top of our show, assessed himself as a villain and, I would argue, at the end of our show, has become a little bit of a hero. There’s nothing more heroic to me than fighting for the right thing and losing. You see that washing over him as he’s there back at the TVA, after Sylvie has knocked back there. And then he gets up because that is what heroes do — they keep going. So I think that you’re gonna see a Loki that looks at himself in a different way certainly that at the top of this.

Do you hope to explore more of Sylvie’s backstory in season 2?

I guess we’ll see. We certainly have our own rich backstory for her, stuff that didn’t get to make it into the show. Elissa Karasik, our episode 2 writer, wrote a lot of amazing backstory for Sylvia and everything. So those ideas exist out there.

And her version of Thor?

Tune in.

How did He Who Remains come about? Did you bring the character to Marvel or was that a character Marvel hoped to introduce?

I was pushing and our team was pushing early on in the writers’ room that it should be a version of Kang up in that Citadel, sort of fusing the mythology of He Who Remains with a little bit of the Immortus mythology. And that was a thing we were excited to do. And it became clear that it actually made sense for our story. The only way we were going to do it was if it made sense, but it was like, who had a better argument for creating the TVA to prevent other versions of themselves from existing then a guy as evil as Kang the Conqueror?

You wrote the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — did Marvel hire you for that after Loki? Does the movie feel like a continuation of the show?

Yeah, that opportunity came as we were getting ready to start production on Loki. It was a pleasure. I got to work with Sam Raimi, a hero of mine. I was in London for five months making that movie at the top of this year. We had a blast. I think that it’s a continuation in as much as ever every Marvel movie is to some extent a chapter in an ongoing story, but these things are meant to stand alone and the most important thing about Doctor Strange too is making the most kick ass Doctor Strange movie we could.

Is Loki a two-part show now or are you invested in telling a longer story with future seasons beyond season 2?

Time will tell, but I do my hope is that season 1 stands on its own. We always wanted to tell a complete story there. And in whatever the next chapter may be will stand on its own as well.

Your next show, Heels, is already on the way. We got a big preview out of Comic-Con this year, but I’m curious about the scope of this story. You’re starting with two brothers running an independent wrestling franchise, but you’ve dropped the name “Vince McMahon” a few times — is this about the building of an empire? Would you liken it to The Godfather or Breaking Bad?

I always thought about it a little bit of a Scorsese-sort-of rise, and we’ll see if there’s a fall. Starting from humble beginnings and trying to build some crazy. Wrestling was certainly not always the empire that it is and that’s what’s interesting, to watch the evolution of a family-run wrestling business from something you do in your small towns and perhaps a national, even global empire. That would be a really compelling arc for a show over the course of several seasons. I’d be excited to explore that.

What’s the most dramatically fulfilling wrestling moment you’ve witnessed? What’s the bar for the wrestling drama of Heels?

It’s gotta be Hulk Hogan turning heel in the WCW. There was an invasion storyline, these guys from WWF, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, came over and they were the bad guys. It was at a Pay-per-view and and they were beating up on the good guys that you love, and here comes Hulk Hogan in the yellow and red and he’s the hero. “The Hulk’s gonna get ‘em! The good guy’s here!” And then the Hulk just leg drops Randy Savage. That was the original Red Wedding. I just think about the boldness of turning him heel. To a little kid... I wasn’t even like a massive Hulk fan, but he was just such a mythological figure. What a chance that Hulk Hogan took as a performer, as a bankable kind of movie star at that point. That was bold, risky storytelling and it set off two years of amazing storytelling with Hogan just playing a craven, cowardly heel and just being so evil. I really respect the hell out of them for doing that. That was a great storyline.

#michael waldron #interview #loki #s1 #s2

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eddycurrents · 5 years

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For the week of 4 March 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #8 gets creepier as Paul tells his story, raising huge questions of how deep a conspiracy may go to have covered up his brutal history. Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, and Rob Steen are delivering one hell of an atmospheric horror story with this series.

| Published by AfterShock

Amazing Spider-Man #16.HU is really another prelude to the “Hunted” event, but this one gets its branding and special interstitial “.HU” suffix, from Nick Spencer, Iban Coello, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna. This issue follows Black Cat as she is sent to free the Owl from Taskmaster and Black Ant to square things away with Hammerhead. It does a good bit to redeem Felicia’s behaviour of recent years, explaining exactly why she’s more or less been acting out of character as a hardened criminal kingpin.

| Published by Marvel

Astro Hustle #1 is a pretty good start to this space opera from Jai Nitz, Tom Reilly, Ursula Decay, and Crank! It reminds me a lot of Barbarella crossed with Sword of the Swashbucklers, mixing space and pirates with some oblique sociopolitical commentary. Also maybe a bit of The Incal. This issue largely introduces us to Chen Andalou (yeah, I’m not sure if there’s a significance to the Un Chien Andalou reference) and the band of pirates he falls in with and it’s rather entertaining. Reilly’s art reminds me a bit of Moritat, Goran Parlov, and Goran Sudžuka and it works very well for the story.

| Published by Dark Horse

Avengers #16 continues the war of the vampires. I really like the new design for Ghost Rider from David Marquez. It’s more in line with how Vengeance used to be portrayed and the flame and shadow from Marquez and Erick Arciniega really works for a harder edged version of the character.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: No Road Home #4 sees Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz begin their three issues handling art duties and it’s gorgeous. Like Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco, and Jesus Aburtov for the first three issues, the artists are really giving this story their all and delivering some incredible artwork. Great layouts and panel compositions as we get to see Nyx’s own side of the story.

| Published by Marvel

Batman #66 resumes “Knightmares” with an issue of the Question trying to get to the bottom of Selina leaving Bruce at the proverbial altar. Illustrated by Jorge Fornés, with colours from Dave Stewart, it leans hard into Year One imagery to begin with, evoking David Mazzucchelli, and just goes through Selina’s history with Bruce from there.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Hammer ‘45 #1 expands the Black Hammer universe out further with the addition of a Blackhawks analogue, along with nods to Enemy Ace and Rocket Red, from Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, Matt Kindt, Sharlene Kindt, and Marie Enger. There’s a compelling mystery set up across the present and the past regarding the Black Hammer Squadron’s final mission and the art from the Kindts is gorgeous.

| Published by Dark Horse

The Black Order #5 concludes the series focusing on Ebony Maw’s betrayal, the end of the Grandmaster’s game, and Carlos Magno, Scott Hanna, Jay David Ramos, and Dono Sánchez-Almara providing the artwork. This has been an interesting series, telling a relatively simple story of the Black Order executing a contract to topple the Sinnarian Emperor, but Derek Landy has been telling it through issues each largely from the viewpoint of each of one of the members of the Black Order. It’s been a good insight into what makes these villains tick.

| Published by Marvel

Blossoms 666 #2 continues to be an entertaining read from Cullen Bunn, Laura Braga, Matt Herms, and Jack Morelli. This chapter lightly deals with the fallout from the disappearance of Ethel and Reggie, while setting up Betty to investigate. The story is definitely taking a slow burn approach, but it’s quite compelling. The horror of a devil cult infiltrating a small town vibe going on is wonderful.

| Published by Archie

Champions #3 goes in a few directions as the new bigger team get some training in, an enemy from Sam’s past comes calling, Dust apparently didn’t get sucked into the Age of X-Man and is dealing with anti-mutant hysteria, and Miles is racked with guilt over his decision. I love the layers that Jim Zub is adding to the script and the art from Steven Cummings, Marcio Menyz, and Federico Blee captures the youthful action very well.

| Published by Marvel

Conan the Barbarian #4 might be my favourite issue of this series yet with glorious guest art from Gerardo Zaffino, evoking memories of his father’s work on Savage Sword, and presenting a gritty, visceral, and dark tale of King Conan alongside Jason Aaron, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. The idea of Conan becoming sick over peace is humorous and there’s a wonderful nod to the Punisher.

| Published by Marvel

The Curse of Brimstone #12 brings the series to an end with a final confrontation between Brimstone and a member of the “home office”, Infernal. The revelations about who Infernal is a twisted alternate version of is interesting, as well as their means of ingress into the regular DCU. The series also goes out with a bang with the very impressive artwork from Denys Cowan, John Stanisci, and Rain Beredo. Cowan is a legend and that shines through in this final arc. I do hope, though, that we see Brimstone and the effects of this series pop up somewhere else in the DCU in the future.

| Published by DC Comics

Deadly Class #37 continues “Never Go Back” with the spotlight shifted back to Quan and Kenji, bringing back Saya in a pretty big way. The action in Wes Craig’s artwork (with colours from Jordan Boyd) is pretty much peerless.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Deathstroke #41 serves as a prelude to the “Terminus Agenda” crossover with Teen Titans, with Slade a fugitive in Gotham, trying to figure out the reason behind one of his recent contracts, from Christopher Priest, Fernando Pasarin, Cam Smith, Sean Parsons, Jeromy Cox, Carrie Strachan, and Willie Schubert. There are some interesting mysteries being set up here, even as Slade is being targeted.

| Published by DC Comics

Die #4 is another brilliant issue from Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles. The depth of the storytelling, character and world building, and overall narrative is staggering in this series. The amount of thought and attention to detail that seem to have gone into constructing the story is just amazing, as what feels like a fully-realized fantasy world cognizant of itself comes tumbling out.

| Published by Image

Eclipse #13 begins the final arc of the series, from Zack Kaplan, Giovanni Timpano, Flavio Dispenza, and Troy Peteri. If the spark lit in this issue is any indication, it looks as if the series is going to end in fire with a lot of death.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Giant Days #48 gives us that rare issue also illustrated by John Allison, I think for the first time since the original series, for a wedding. Very funny look at some of Susan’s hang-ups and Daisy confronted by possible feelings for Esther.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

The Girl in the Bay #2 gets weirder as the younger Kathy navigates, from her perspective, the future. Melting doppelgangers, creepy old guys that killed you, ghosts of rock and roll legends, and flat screen televisions stymie her as the mystery deepens. This is some intriguing stuff from JM DeMatteis, Corin Howell, James Devlin, and Clem Robins.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

The Green Lantern #5 is more glorious madness from Grant Morrison, Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff, and Tom Orzechowski. Easily one of my favourite things to read every month. This issue dives headlong into Hal’s test of recruitment to the Blackstars, a trial of having to survive a gauntlet across the vampire planet, Vorr. Though definitely part of a larger narrative, I’m still impressed by how this series is being constructed through largely satisfying, mostly self-contained stories. And, of course, the astounding artwork from Sharp and Oliff. There’s also some wonderful vampire Easter eggs in this one.

| Published by DC Comics

Immortal Hulk #14 is one hell of an issue, burying Thunderbolt Ross (again) and giving us the reunion of Bruce and Betty. All with glorious guest art from Kyle Hotz, delivering some of his best artwork pretty much ever. Dark, moody, and evocative. This is a big one, once again underlining how sick, twisted, and downright evil General Fortean and the forces hunting Bruce really are, even if they’re supposedly the “good guys”.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League #19 begins the “The Sixth Dimension” arc from Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Tom Napolitano, as the League tries to get help from Mr. Mxyzptlk in regards to the broader problems with the Source Wall, Perpetua, and the nefarious plans of the Legion of Doom. Interesting bits of humour in this issue, especially since the end moments give us a rather dark turn.

| Published by DC Comics

Killmonger #5 concludes what has been an excellent series reintroducing a movie-influenced Killmonger back into the Marvel universe from Bryan Hill, Juan Ferreyra, and Joe Sabino. This finale shows just how brutal and calculating he can be when exacting revenge.

| Published by Marvel

Morning in America #1 is the debut of a new ‘80s teen horror drama from most of the Kim & Kim team of Magdalene Visaggio, Claudia Aguirre, and Zakk Saam, with Aguirre providing full illustrations on this series not just colours. It’s good, setting up our lead characters nicely and presenting a compelling mystery for the disappearances of the children.

| Published by Oni Press

Oberon #2 launches Bonnie on her quest, first testing her with a labyrinth, while Oberon and his man-servant deal with some complications. I’m loving the artwork from Miloš Slavković, who is proving equally as adept with fantasy as he does with the sci-fi of Lightstep.

| Published by AfterShock

Red Sonja #2 is a bit more traditional in its approach than the first issue subverting some of the conventions of sword and sorcery, but is no less entertaining as Sonja prepares to defend Hyrkania from the Zamoran invaders. Mirko Colak’s art makes it seem like he was born to draw this sort of adventure.

| Published by Dynamite

Ronin Island #1 is an entertaining debut from Greg Pak, Giannis Milonogiannis, Irma Kniivila, and Simon Bowland, featuring an island of survivors who think they’re the only remnants left from the collapse of the Japanese shogunate. Great art from Milonogiannis and Kniivila, along with a very interesting twist as a cliffhanger.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Self/Made #4 makes another turn as Rebecca manages to “fix” Amala’s data files and brings her programming online in the real world. I love what Mathew Groom, Eduardo Ferigato, Marcelo Costa, Mariana Calil, and Troy Peteri are doing with this series. It’s very good sci-fi, populated with some compelling characters, and raising some important questions about self-determination, creation, and the purpose of life.

| Published by Image

The Six Million Dollar Man #1 is a rather light-hearted take on the franchise from Christopher Hastings, David Hahn, Roshan Kurichiyanil, and Ariana Maher (with special thanks to Zack Davisson). Nice bits of humour in the start to this spy thriller.

| Published by Dynamite

Star Wars #62 begins “The Scourging of Shu-Torun” and what I believe is the final arc from Kieron Gillen. This issue is largely a gathering of the team, with Leia laying out the plan for the regular crew and then going on a recruitment drive of many of the faces that we’ve seen throughout Gillen’s run

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Age of Republic - Padmé Amidala #1 is another one-shot set during the Clone Wars, from Jody Houser, Cory Smith, Wilton Santos, Walden Wong, Marc Deering, Java Tartaglia, and Travis Lanham. It briefly touches on Padmé’s relationship with Anakin, but largely deals with attempting to secure a partnership with an unaligned world for the Republic. Things naturally don’t go as well as planned.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions #1 begins a mini-series written by Dennis Hallum and illustrated by different artists per issue, essentially giving us standalone stories from different perspectives on Darth Vader. This first one is from Paolo Villanelli and Arif Prianto, lettered by Joe Caramagna, and is told from the perspective of an inhabitant of an unnamed world that’s been ravaged by a kaiju. It’s a different take on Star Wars, but the art is wonderful.

| Published by Marvel

Vampirella vs. Reanimator #3 sees things get significantly worse for the planet as Herbert West enables Mictecacihuatl’s and Vampirella raises her husband to try to stop her. Things don’t exactly go to plan. I’m still loving the black and white art with spot colours from Blacky Shepherd, it really gives the series a unique visual feel.

| Published by Dynamite

Vindication #2 complicates thing a lot more, delving into Chip’s past and revealing that there’s definitely something shady about Turn, though there are hints that whatever problems he’s got himself in it might be due to protecting his criminal brother. MD Marie, Carlos Miko, Dema Jr., Thiago Goncalves, and Troy Peteri are doing a great job of creating a compelling crime story here, showing that pretty much no one in this story is squeaky clean.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Witchblade #12 closes out this arc, mostly, and sets up a new world as a spell to get them out of their predicament goes awry. Though this story continues to move at a relatively slow pace, Caitlin Kittredge, Roberta Ingranata, Bryan Valenza, and Troy Peteri are still delivering a compelling, engrossing story as they build Alex’s rapport with the Witchblade and throw some unique complication at her.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Young Justice #3 gives us a touching reunion of Impulse and Superboy, before explaining how Conner got to Gemworld. It still doesn’t explain anything about why these pre-Flashpoint variations (other than a possible hint that Superboy isn’t “our” Superboy, although it’s presented in such a way that it seems more like in-story misdirection), but it’s still entertaining. Brian Michael Bendis, Patrick Gleason, Viktor Bogdanovic, Jonathan Glapion, Alejandro Sanchez, Chris Sotomayor, Hi-Fi, Carlos M. Mangual, and Josh Reed continue to slowly tease out the main plot on Gemworld while giving character-specific flashbacks.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Other Highlights: Cemetery Beach #7, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #5, The Dreaming #7, Female Furies #2, From Hell: Master Edition #4, Gasolina #16, GI Joe: A Real American Hero Yearbook 2019, Kill 6 Billion Demons - Volume 3, Meet the Skrulls #1, Night’s Dominion: Season 3 #4, Noble #16, Paper Girls #26, Unnatural #8

Recommended Collections: Avengers - Volume 2: World Tour, Curse Words - Volume 4: Queen Margaret, Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman, Fantastic Four - Volume 1: Fourever, Justice League Dark - Volume 1: The Last Age of Magic, The Last Siege, Polar - Volume 0: Black Kaiser, Star Wars: Ewoks, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Volume 10: Life is too Short, Squirrel Girl, The Wicked + The Divine - Volume 8: Old is the New New, Xerxes

d. emerson eddy has seen the rise and fall of kings.

#This Week in Comics

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eddycurrents · 7 years

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Marvel Legacy is the next in a line of rebranding promotions from Marvel akin to Marvel NOW!, All-New Marvel NOW!, Avengers NOW!, All-New All-Different Marvel, All-New Avengers Marvel Brand New NOW! 2.0 NOW!ER 2099, and you get the idea. Usually these initiatives involve a relaunch of a bevy of new number one issues, a few new titles or a family of titles popping up out of a singular previously successful title, and occasionally some shuffling of creative talent.

Marvel Legacy only really differs from this in that the titles aren’t being relaunched as new number one issues, rather they’re gaining “legacy numbers” with some series seeing numbers as if their first volume was never cancelled/relaunched.

Also, many of the Marvel Legacy story-arcs, much like the ad copy and homage covers, look to tap into Marvel’s “rich history of storytelling”. Otherwise, it’s pretty much the same as previous rebranding initiatives.

Marvel Legacy #1

Writer: Jason Aaron | Artist: Esad Ribić with Steve McNiven | Colourist: Matthew Wilson | Additional Artists: Chris Samnee, Russell Dauterman, Alex Maleev, Ed McGuinness, Stuart Immonen & Wade von Grawbadger, Pepe Larraz, Jim Cheung, Daniel Acuña, Greg Land & Jay Leisten, Mike Deodato Jr., David Marquez

Published September 2017

Marvel Legacy #1 functions a lot like the Point One issues that previous Marvel initiatives and relaunches have had, in that it focuses primarily on one central story, and then shows bits and pieces of the rest of the world spinning out into other titles.

Jason Aaron splits the issue into four main interwoven narratives.

The first was used as the selling point of the book and one of the primary marketing campaigns, the introduction of the “One Million BC Avengers”. It’s a team of gods and super-powered beings including Odin, Phoenix, Agamotto, an Iron Fist, a Ghost Rider, a Starbrand, and a Black Panther. Aaron sets them up in battle with a Celestial and, unfortunately, that’s all we really get of them. They’re interesting, but the story doesn’t go particularly in depth with them besides introducing them as the archetypes for the “hosts” we’ll see in one of the other threads.

The second narrative spins out of the one million BC flashback, with Robbie Reyes awakening thinking the events prior as being a dream. Then he gets attacked by Starbrand and most of this sequence remains a long, extended fight scene. In terms of story, it’s probably the weakest part of the book. While it’s heavy on action and allows the art the breathe, it’s a little disjointed. Robbie is displaying powers that he shouldn’t have (he’s technically not a spirit of vengeance) and Starbrand is acting wildly out of character. The former is addressed in story, so both are likely to be intentional character beats, but they don’t lead anywhere.

There is a redeeming quality of this thread, though, because it dovetails an excavation that leads to the modern day reveal of the Celestial.

The third narrative begins with Loki rousing a band of frost giants to fight on his behalf, then spirits them away to a SHIELD storage facility. This follows a trio of legacy heroes in Jane Foster, Sam Wilson in one of his last turns as Captain America, and Riri Williams as they battle the frost giants trying to get whatever happens to be in the box Loki sent them for. It’s entertaining, and also allows Aaron to provide a gentle rib on legacy heroes sometimes not getting everything right through Riri’s inability to get “Avengers Assemble!” correctly. I also think that “Iron Ma’am” should be adopted over “Ironheart”.

Like the second narrative, this one dovetails a broader story with the return of a character lost for some time, along with what looks like an even larger quest than some solicitations have led us to believe. I won’t spoil the return, but it’s suitably epic. Especially in how Ribić handles the revelation. Just overall it’s a great sequence.

The fourth narrative provides the narration and glue to the issue. The reveal of who’s narrating the story, why, and how it ties together all of the disparate parts including the teasers isn’t revealed until the end of the book. It also features the return of a character I’ll not reveal, but it hints at something more hopeful, more optimistic coming in the future.

Aaron’s Thor: God of Thunder collaborator, Esad Ribić handles the lion’s share of the art here and it’s beautiful. Ribić is deft at action and the weird & wonderful world of gods and monsters, making the sequences with the “One Million BC Avengers” vs. the Celestial and Loki & the Frost Giants look amazing. The design for the Celestial itself is impressive, inviting many returns to its reveal page.

Matthew Wilson does an impeccable job with his colour work here. He changes styles and approaches to suit each sequence and each artist in the book, that you’d kind of think he’s multiple people. While much of the colour over Ribić’s work is somewhat ephemeral, the Ghost Rider/Starbrand sequences take on more bright primary colours, and the more explicit superhero portions show other textures and colour-schemes to differentiate them from the rest.

Steve McNiven lends a hand to what looks like primarily the Jane Foster, Sam Wilson, and Riri Williams sequences at one of SHIELD’s storage facilities and it acts as an interesting counterpoint to the softer pages with Ribić’s work. It features more flat colouring from Wilson and acts more like “traditional” superhero art, adding a different take on the story. Where much of the rest of the book has an almost ethereal quality to it, these sequences feel much more grounded in reality.

The teasers for other forthcoming stories and characters are pretty nice.

We get teases for Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Deadpool, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Norman Osborn, The Avengers, Thing & Human Torch, Black Panther, Totally Awesome Hulk, Jean Grey, Guardians of the Galaxy, and a few other hints here and there, and it serves its purpose fairly well in whetting your appetite for some or all of these stories.

The art alone on these pages is incredible. Particularly the pages from Ed McGuinness, Pepe Larraz, Mike Deodato Jr., Chris Samnee, and Daniel Acuña. These tease really make you want to check out what’s coming in the other Marvel Legacy branded titles. It’s just a shame that in some cases these artists aren’t going to be the ones associated with the forthcoming titles.

It’s not a bad overview of some of the corners of the Marvel Universe, but I think some of the connectivity could have been a bit better in regards to why they’re being included in-story. There’s a reason revealed at the end of the book, but some of the vignettes seem disconnected.

Now, where Marvel Legacy #1 really fails is where it goes next. This issue is incomplete in its story and we don’t know where to look next. The one page vignettes by various artists are relatively self-explanatory, but the story of the 1 million BC Avengers? No idea. The narrative of Loki, the Celestial, and the legacy hosts? Likewise, there’s no indication where this is going to be picked up next. I have a feeling that some of it is going to be followed in the Phoenix Resurrection: Return of Jean Grey series by Matthew Rosenberg and Leinil Francis Yu and another part in Gerry Duggan and Marcus To’s All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, but there are no clear sign pointers.

For something that is meant to lead people further into the wide world of the Marvel Legacy relaunch/rebranding, not having a clear direction for the main story spinning out of the book, at least at launch, is highly detrimental. It just leaves people confused as to what and where they can read further stories. It’s well and good to promote the other Marvel Legacy titles, even obliquely or simply as text pieces at the back of the book, it’s another thing to introduce a major story and not give readers a direction for where to continue reading that story.

It’s one thing to leave an audience wanting more, it’s something else entirely to leave them wanting more wondering if, where, and when there’s even going to be anything more.

This Week’s Legacy Titles

Eight titles kick off the Marvel Legacy repackaging proper, with two titles sporting new legacy numbering, four titles continuing their existing numbering, one new series, and Venom that kind of started the legacy numbering “craze” for Marvel a few months ago.

All of the series purport to start off new storylines, to ease readers in to these jumping on points, although two of them at least are definite continuations of the stories to date. Avengers #672 begins its “Worlds Collide” crossover with its sister title Champions. Jesus Saiz joins the book on art, providing a more traditional style compared to Mike del Mundo. Iceman #6 looks back to his Champions days, with the start of “Champions Reassembled”. Iron Fist #73 begins “Sabretooth: Round Two”, invoking one of the legendary battles in Marvel history from the introduction of Sabretooth back in Iron Fist #14. Jessica Jones #13 hearkens back to one of the most harrowing points in her life with part one of “Return of the Purple Man”.

Royals #9 continues its ongoing story since the first issue, but provides a point for new readers to pick up the series with Javier Rodríguez joining the series as its new regular artist, while plunging headfirst into the Inhuman Progenitor arc. Spirits of Vengeance #1 begins a new mini-series of a team-up of some of Marvel’s horror mainstays by Victor Gischler and David Baldeon. Venom #155 gains Mark Bagley as an artist while it continues its look backwards to Eddie’s days as a “Lethal Protector”, reconciling it with his and the symbiote’s attempts to be more heroic. And finally, X-Men Gold #13 begins its “Mojo Worldwide” crossover with X-Men Blue, bringing back Mojo, who really didn’t go anywhere in the first place. But Mojoworld is fun and equals ratings, right?

d. emerson eddy has no legacy numbering, has never personally been rebooted, and probably doesn’t have any iconic stories anyone remembers.

#Marvel Legacy #Jason Aaron #Esad Ribic #This Week in Marvel

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