Montag, 18. September 2017

How Marvel Should Have Concluded: SECRET EMPIRE

(Beware of Spoilers!)


How Marvel Should Have Concluded 


S E C R E T    E M P I R E

According to me, some random dude on the Internet



Alright, real Talk.
I loved the shit out of Nick Spencer's Steve Rogers book and the Storyline that saw said Hero to have his reality rewritten by Cosmic Cube trickery at the Hands of the Red Skull.
It was a clever and well written book which made even the lackluster Event Civil War II more interesting because every panel with "Stevil" in it was a possible case of him manipulating the Heroes to divide them further.

The whole storyline culminated  in the Event called Secret Empire. You might have heard about it. I mentioned it in the title. ;)

Now I won't recap what happened in the event, to anyone who isn't initially opposed to the idea of the ultimate good guy getting turned into the ultimate bad guy by whats basically magic and taking over the world, I say go on and read it yourself. It's a really good story for the most part, focusing more on character interactions and including more panels with massively emotional impact than most other Comic Events I've read.
Sadly the ending is ... actually kinda lame. 
After all the talk about the Heroes working together, finally doing what they are ment to do again and realizing that all this only happened because they had lost their ways it was a restored Version of Captain America that fought his evil self in the End. Meh...

And that's why this blog-entry exist, because I have a different ending in mind.

Let's get to it!

Now when I said I have a different "ending" in mind, I meant that. The Story in this scenario remains the same as in the actual Comic up until Issue 9.
I am truelly sorry, Nat. You remain dead.

The only changes in this issue are:


1) Hail Hydra!

Vision and Wanda aren't taken out of the Fight as early and additionally the Incredible Hulk will join Hydra.
I don't exactly know where he disappeared to after smashing the Resistance HQ a few issues earlier anyway.
The reason we wanna keep Hydras forces strong for the time being is simple:
We need the Heroe's Heavy Hitters to be occupied fighting them.
But don't worry we aren't gonna make things harder only for the good guys because...


2) You are no God!

Other than in the actual issue, Steve will get in his Iron Man rip-off armour much sooner but before he gets the Cosmic Cube installed inside said armour Black Panther intercepts him.
Time to fight!


3) All New All Different Issue #10

Issue 10 starts out with Black Panther and Steve fighting, given his new armour it is Steve who remains victorious, using a charged blast to send T'Challe flying high.
Wakanda's King crashlands to the feet of two of Secret Empire's mayor Players. Sam Wilson and Clint Barton.


Meanwhile, Cap gets a visit from Odinson who has switches sides at this point.
Coincidentally they are close to were Mjolnir happens to be.
After a short exchange of words were Cap tells Odinson that he is disappointed by his decision and that this is why he isn't worthy. They get in a fight (duh).
Now, Iron Man armour or not, this should be the point were Steve draws the short straw.
Or at least that would be the case if he didn't have control of the Hammer.
Using his own former weapon against him Cap smashes the Unworthy Thor to the ground and puts the Hammer on his chest so he can't get back up.

This is the point were we and Odinson find out that the Hammer has been changed by the cosmic cube as well and that it can only be picked up by someone who is strong/Hydra, not by someone who is worthy. An enraged God of Thunder shouts out in anger as Cap makes his way to the Cosmic Cube.

Again, he is intercepted. Incoming: Sam and Clint. Giving the Archer a ride the other Captain America flies low and fast while arrow after arrow explode in Steve's face.
Having taken on Odinson and T'Challa before, Stevil's green armour has cracks and missing pieces everywhere.
It looks like he is actually outmached this time.

Thats's when the Superior Octopus enters the Action smacking Sam out of the air.
He loses his grip on Clint who falls a few meter and hits the ground hard.
Before he can grab his bow, Steve kicks it out of the way and goes at Hawkeye with fierce punches and kicks. Barton is no stranger to fights between experts of hand to hand combat, being one of them as well thanks to training sessions with the very Guy who beats him up at this moment.
But after a fall like this, without his weapon and against an armored foe with superior skills, speed  and strength he doesn't stand a chance.
Before long Steve has him on the ropes grabbing him by the neck, ready to snap it.

Here Rogers recalls and mentions the time Tony Stark wanted to make Clint the new Captain America after the whole Civil War mess. He either assures him that he can see why Tony thought it's a good idea or mocks Iron Man for being a fool to think Clint would have what it takes.
Always the Joker Clint replies that Red, White and Blue aren't his colours, just lik Green doesn't fit Steve so well. He then adds that there is someone who rocks the patriotic look though.

In that moment a low flying Sam tackles Steve off of him, dragging Hydra's Supreme Leader away.
In the background we see Spider-Man fighting Superior Octopus while a beaten and bloody Hawkeye speaks to Bucky on his headset. Telling him that, if they want to go through with the plan they'll have to do that right now.


Steve and Sam fight it out. At this point Rogers shows signs of fatigue but he still manages to stay in control of the fight. He even manages to maneuver them into a hallway, more precisely, he maneuvers them into the Hallway he was aiming to reach the entire time.

Eventually Sam loses his wings and his Shield to Cap and falls to the Ground, barely able to move.
Both are in front of a huge metal door. Rogers puts his hand on the control panel and the door slides open slowly. Using the remaining time they have evil Cap tells good Cap that he is glad that he is here with him. He tells him of the World he wants to create with the help of the Cosmic Cube.
We get to see a few panels of his Vision and once again we see that this Version of Steve really thinks that he is doing all that for the good of the people.

Behind the now open door the incomplete Cosmic Cube rests on a podest of sorts.
As Steve wants to go and insert it into his armour he hears a familiar sound and dodges just in time before an Arrow hits him.
At the end of the hallway it's Hawkeye again, supported by T'Challa and accompanied by the Tony Stark A.I.
More and more Heroes join them, including the released Champions, Vision and the Scarlet Witch among others.
The Avengers have assembled.

Steve tells them that it is too late just before he turns around only to realize that the Arrow was never aimed at him. It sticks out of the podest directly under the position of the Cosmic Cube which is now in a completed state. At this point portals appear and out come Scott Lang, the Winter Soldier and Kobik.

We get a short flashback of Bucky meeting the real Steve and Kobik inside the Cube and maybe some nice dialogue if we still have enough pages for that (then again you could scrap most of Issue 8 so we'd still make it with 10 issues easy).

Back in the present, Kobik simply waves her hand and restores the real Steve Rogers inside the body of the man who had been Hydra's Supreme Leader for the last months.

Realizing what happened Steve breaks down and cries.


4) Secret Empire Omega

Cap is accompanied out of the building were a crowd of civilians is waiting. The moment they see him they want blood.
It is actually Sam Wilson who holds the Shield in front of Steve, who doesn't utter a word, clearly still in shock.
Sam explains to the people that it had not been Steve's fault. He tells them again about the Cosmic Cube. A few of the Heroes stand protective in front of both Captains but it is clear that not everyone can so easily forgive and forget. The civilians let the Heroes through and celebrate them but yet it's clear that among them too more than enough people can't forgive Captain America so easily.


It is clear that the road to redemption will not be an easy one for him.

Additionally the issue deals with the Vanishing Point and the Story of the Inhuman who got captured in the beginning of the event.



Conclusion:

And that is how I would fix the ending of Secret Empire.
Now of course I can come up with whatever I want since there is no Editorial I have to get back to, there are no Fans sending me death threats and I don't have to be in contact with artists and send them doable instructions for Comic issues with a limited number of pages.
Not to mention that a lot of people seem to think we only ever got the actual Secret Empire Ending because Spencer and Marvel got cold feet. Given how the rest of the Story was just really good and the Ending was not, that is a fair assumption. Or we are all crazy and see conspiracies where there are none.

And maybe someone reads this and thinks: "That would be awful, thank god that guy doesn't work for Marvel." And that's fine.
It's impossible to please everyone but this ending would certainly please me better.

If you have a better idea and you aren't a dick about it, feel free to let me know how you would have done it! ;)