Last year at this time, all eyes were on DC as they were preparing to relaunch their entire publishing catalog with the New 52. This year, Marvel have a similarly ambitious relaunch planned for its superhero characters. Once Avengers vs. X-Men is finished, Marvel NOW! begins, with dozens of series launching or relaunching between October and February.
Unlike the New 52, however, Marvel NOW! doesn't involve any wiping away or rebooting or continuity. And even though AvX still has two issues and various epilogue material remaining, we're already starting to see the shape the Marvel Universe will take come October. We've broken down the new status quo of the Marvel Universe based on what's been announced so far and what's been teased in books like Avengers vs. X-Men and Avengers Assemble.
With the New 52, DC took the opportunity to clean house and either overhaul or completely reset a number of franchises, not unlike what they did after Crisis on Infinite Earths. A handful of characters like Batman and Green Lantern remained relatively untouched. Some, like Shazam and Firestorm, were completely reworked and modified from the ground up. The result is a new DC Universe that retains certain significant storylines from years past but features a largely new and streamlined continuity.
Various Marvel editors and creators have made it clear that they don't intend to follow suit. Marvel NOW! continues from the fallout of Avengers vs. X-Men, but doesn't wipe the slate clean or overhaul Marvel continuity. Given the nature of the Phoenix and its cycle of death and rebirth, we anticipate certain, specific changes being made. For instance, AvX may result in the mutant gene finally being restored or a handful of characters either dying or being resurrected. But even though the fact that the Phoenix is an agent of cosmic change and could conceivably facilitate some sort of massive, End of Evangelion-style reset of the human race, that's not going to be happening.
And really, as deftly as books like Mark Waid's Daredevil and Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force have been able to draw in new fans despite building on years of past storylines, why do we need a reboot in the first place? Just give us more of those.
Schism has been a compelling new direction for the X-books, and many fans have been worried that Avengers vs. X-Men might bring that status quo to an abrupt and premature end. We've seen many of Wolverine's allies flock to Cyclops' banner during the event, after all. However, we're not convinced there's much reason for worry. While the X-books will certainly change to accommodate the after-effects of AvX, the general Schism status quo looks to be sticking around.
For one thing, Jason Aaron has confirmed that he intends to remain on Wolverine and the X-Men for a long time yet. November's issue will mark the beginning of his second year on the series. Unlike most of Marvel's books, Wolverine and the X-Men won't even be renumbered. And though we're sure the cast will be evolving, the core direction of the book and the conflict with the new Hellfire Club looks to be continuing on. The most significant change appears to be that Wolverine's school will be joined by new teachers who are defecting from Team Cyclops.
The real question is what will happen to Cyclops' faction. At the end of the first conflict with the new, improved Mister Sinister in Uncanny X-Men #3, Sinister predicted that Cyclops would shortly become the most hated and feared man on the globe. Flash forward to the present, Cyclops is currently empowered by a large chunk of the Phoenix Force, hounding the Avengers, and forcibly remaking the world into what he wishes it to be. Even without knowing the final outcome of the event, it's safe to say that Sinister wasn't incorrect in his prediction.
We assume Cyclops survives the final battle given his appearance in the original Marvel NOW! teaser (though this could be the younger Cyclops from Brian Bendis' upcoming All-New X-Men). We're less optimistic about Emma Frost at this point. Whomever among Cyclops' Extinction Team survives the event, they're going to find themselves even more hated and feared by the human race than ever before.
The time may come for Cyclops and his dwindling allies to seek a future away from Earth entirely. Perhaps Magneto will raise Utopia back into orbit and recreate Asteroid M. Magneto is used to being the target of hatred and scorn by the world's heroes, but it would be a new sensation for Cyclops. Other former teammates might find solace among the stars as well. Colossus continues to deal with his possession by Cytorrak, while his sister Illyana has her own demonic issues. Storm just had her marriage to Black Panther forcibly annulled in Avengers vs. X-Men #9. Psylocke has been having a pretty rough go lately as well. These mutants, weary of life on Earth, could form the basis of a new cosmically-oriented squad of X-Men.
We know Marvel will be increasing its focus on cosmic characters and conflicts in the coming years, given the direction the Marvel Studios movies are headed. Having the X-Men serve as a bridge between the familiar areas of the Marvel Universe and these cosmic properties could be an effective way of getting casual readers more interested.
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