SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Marvel Legacy #1, out now.


Marvel loves to ask “What if…?”

What if there have always been Avengers? What if the Earth has been under constant alien threat since the beginning of time? What if the current generation of legacy heroes who we know and love is only the latest in a succession of beings who have held the title Sorcerers Supreme, the Ghost Rider, or the Iron Fist?

These are some of the questions that Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic answer in Marvel Legacy #1, the soft reboot of the Marvel Universe that takes us from the distant past to a present that was twice reset in recent memory: once when the multiverse collapsed and coalesced during Secret Wars, and again when Kobik reset reality—on multiple occasions—during Secret Empire.

So what is the new status quo that emerges out of these questions? Let’s take a look at what happened and shed some light on what it means.


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The Way-Back Machine

Legacy starts off at the beginning of the Stone Age, in the year 1,000,000 B.C. The first thing we see is Mjolnir, and one of our early ancestors—of the species homo erectus, to be precise—trying to lift the mystical hammer. He is chased away by Odin, who is chided by the Phoenix for this lack of control over the implement. We then meet the rest of the earliest incarnation of the Avengers, the sorcerer Agamotto, and the earliest versions of Starbrand, Black Panther, and Ghost Rider.

Assembled, the team squares off against one of the oldest beings in the universe, a Celestial who is digging underground in search of something unknown. We know from Marvel history that the first Celestial Host came to Earth at approximately this era, and created the two offshoots of humanity, the Eternals—who include Eros and Thanos of Titan—, and the Deviants, the original inhabitants of the lost city of Lemuria.

Whether this Celestial is part of that first Host isn’t made clear. However, we do learn that the earliest Avengers did not heed Odin’s advice to pin the corpse of their fallen foe to the dark side of the Moon, as a beacon to others who might seek to attack the Earth.

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We know that the Celestials have since returned thrice. Twenty-five thousand years ago to destroy the Lemurians for failing to live up to their potential (in the process also sinking Atlantis); a thousand years ago to check up on the human race and to battle the gods of Asgard and Olympus (who subsequently withdrew from human affairs); and in the last fifty years to judge humanity’s worthiness upon the activation of mutant DNA in humans due to rising radiation levels. But as we’ll learn, the repercussions of that first encounter with those long-ago Avengers will reverberate in the present, as the first link in a chain of events that will alter the course of the Marvel Universe.

Desert Storm

The action then shifts to the present day. Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes wakes from a dream about his prehistoric predecessor. Having fallen asleep at the wheel of his supernaturally-possessed vehicle, he discovers that he is no longer in East L.A. but somewhere in the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. After a brief high speed chase involving the local police, Reyes clashes with the current Starbrand, Kevin Connor, who seeks to prevent him from accessing an archeological dig in the Great Karoo region of the country, which lies on the highway between Capetown and Johannesburg.

The location of the site is significant for two reasons. The first is that the Great Karoo is home to the Wonderwerk Cave, where archeologists discovered the oldest use of fire by hominids. The implication here is that the Phoenix and Ghost Rider brought fire to humanity’s forebears. The second may be pure coincidence, or a case of Aaron having fun with readers. The region is also home to the headwaters of the River Groot.

Starbrand warns Reyes to not disturb the fallen, lest he trigger the return of the Host. As he prepares to use lethal force against Reyes, the Rider unleashes the Penance Stare and kills Connor, leaving only the glowing imprint of the Starbrand on the ground.

The pair are not the only descendants of those first Avengers to zero in on the site. After a failed attempt to steal an undisclosed artifact from a top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, Loki makes his way to South Africa, ostensibly, as he tells readers, to save the world.

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The Road to Area 51

We aren’t told what Loki sent his stunted Frost Giants to steal, but it is contained in an unlisted crate that is part of a shipment of items being transferred to Area 51.

The mysterious crate, labeled 4-1939, is another Easter egg. Namor the Sub-Mariner made his first appearance in the April 1939 issue of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, a planned promotional giveaway for movie theatres that never saw print (other than a few test copies). Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett expanded the origin story and it was published in the first issue of Timely’s Marvel Comics a few months later.

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Whatever its contents may be, the crate is precious enough to attract the current Avengers, who try to prevent its theft. But they fail, and one of the Frost Giants runs off with the bounty, only to be run over by the beer truck that had been tailing the S.H.I.E.L.D. convoy sent to transfer the items to Area 51.

The alien challenges the driver of the vehicle to a fight The figure that emerges is wearing a cowboy hat and a tank top. His muscular arms are hairy. The signature ‘SNIKT’ of emerging adamantium claws confirm the suspicion that Wolverine is back.

Logan’s return is only a part of the story, though. The object stolen by the murdered Frost Giant was the blue Infinity Stone, the Mind Gem, which grants psychic powers, including telekinesis and telepathy to its owner. It also once housed the consciousnesses of Rick Jones and Mar-Vell. In a story full of returns, it may signal a way to bring Jones back from the dead after the events of Secret Empire

The Road to Knowhere?

Deprived of the Mind Gem, Loki looks for an alternate way to “save the world,” and finds himself in the presence of the downed Celestial, who is intoning, “Summon the final Host.” The trickster tells his “new friend” that they should do just that. We don’t know what he’s up to, but a line is drawn, and he and Wolverine may be on opposite sides.

Aaron and Ribic may have also shed light upon one of the enduring mysteries of the Marvel Universe, the origin of Knowhere, the space station at the end of time. When a pair of tomb raiders enter the excavation site, they not only encounter the sigils of those earliest Avengers inscribed on the walls of a cave, they also encounter what appears to be a headless giant.

In defeating their Stone Age foe, the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC may have figured out how to decapitate a Celestial. Although the scale is all wrong, could this be the origin of the place that the Guardians of the Galaxy call home base? Or is the behemoth only partially excavated?

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Many Returns - Some Happy, Some Not

There are many returns in Marvel Legacy #1, and a series of vignettes brings us up to speed on the whereabouts of some of our favourite Marvel characters.

An aimless Steve Rogers is travelling the country on motorcycle, trying to find a focus after the events of Secret Empire. He’s got his shield in his backpack, but as we saw during the melee at the secret facility, there’s a duplicate on its way to Area 51. Will it be stolen by Hydra Cap to be used in a future confrontation?

Odinson is wallowing in his unworthiness in Asgardia. As he drinks his sorrows away, one of the realm’s viziers, who can foresee the future, has a vision of Mangog, and jumps off the Rainbow Bridge to his death. Known as The Hatred who Walks, Mangog is the combined vitriol of billions of being who were killed by Odin. He feeds off hatred, fear and devotion, and was awakened by the Challenge of the gods that occurred during the Asgard/Sh’iar War in pages of Aaron’s The Mighty Thor.

Over at Stark Industries’ Dover, New Jersey facility, Mary Jane Watson is alerted to the fact that the comatose Tony has gone missing. We know he’s coming back, but has he been taken or has Iron Man woken up?

Meanwhile Deadpool is treating a New York City toilet stall as a confessional while a trio of cops send a hail of bullets his way as they try to arrest him for the murder of Agent Coulson. Clearly he hasn’t squared his crime with all the other assassinations he has carried out.The amoral mercenary is seeking atonement.

Outside the Sanctum Sanctorum, Doctor Strange and Iron Fist share memories of caveman dreams after Norman Osborn fails to penetrate the building’s defences.

At Avenger’s Mansion, Jarvis stares wistfully out a window at a statue of the team and tells Nadia that some insignificant detail is somehow wrong. He calls it “jamais vu.” A play on “déjà vu,” it is French expression that roughly translates as “never seen” and is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a disorder of memory characterized by the illusion that the familiar is being encountered for the first time." Of course, eagle-eyed fans will note that the Wasp is no longer on Giant-Man's finger, while a recently teased addition to the Marvel Universe, Voyager, has apparently been retconned onto the team.

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On the Roof of the Baxter Building, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm wonder if they’ve been forgotten. Johnny jokes that the hero community could make a whole team just out of Thors and Hulks. In memory of the family members who have gone off to explore the Multiverse, Ben fires the Fantasti-Flare—which made it’s first appearance way back in Fantastic Four #1, and last appeared in 2006’s Thing #6 during the first Civil War. But is it merely a tribute or is anybody listening?

In deep space, we are given a glimpse of something entirely new to the Marvel Universe, yet very familiar. In the Benhazin star system (named after a former ruler of Wakanda), on the planet Bast (bearing the monicker of the Panther God), we see Birnin T’Challa, Throneworld of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda. Is this the present? Does it belong to the future? Is it one of the unanticipated consequences of Kobik’s rewriting of reality?

Somewhere out there, Gamora is also tracking the Infinity Stones and preparing for war.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, the teenage Jean Grey travels to Canada to confirm that Wolverine has come back to life; an operator at an Alpha Flight Deep Space Monitor in New Mexico abandons his post to watch wrestling, as a signal comes in from Sakaar begging the Hulk to come home to the world he once rule; Wilson Fisk pulls ahead in the mayoral race. And, oh yeah, Sam and Thor make out while Riri fumes.

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We Are Family

Of course, the biggest return and the best change to the status quo is saved for last, as the narrator of the entire issue is revealed to be Valeria Richards. Yes, the person who has been asking the profound and febrile questions is a child, but one who happens to be a super-genius with an I.Q. that's off the scale.

The daughter of Susan and Reed Richards is shown tooling through the space between universes with her older brother, Franklin. Her questions may be precocious, and her rumination on the meaning of the past, and the building of a legacy, may show wisdom beyond her years, but her reflections are also the inner monologue of a child who is about to do something forbidden.

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In short, her narration is a version of a cartoon devil and angel debating on the shoulders of a little girl with super-human intelligence.

So what does Val do? Like any kid, she chooses fun. She turns her space sled toward a beckoning hand in the distance, closes her eyes and imagines her way home.

But what is the beacon that appears between realities? Is it the hand of Galactus the Lifebringer calling her back? Is it a cosmic manifestation of her uncle’s Fantasti-Flare rendered as a metaphor. Or is it the fallen Celestial summoning the Host but finding instead the girl and her Brother?

Perhaps it is all of the above. But for the moment, the status quo of the Prime Marvel Universe, or at least the foundation of its future, is in the hands of its first family. And what a glorious future it is.

This new status quo is reflected in the words of a little girl who marvels at everything:

"We stand on the shoulders of super geniuses and gods, close our eyes imagine a better, brighter, more amazing tomorrow. Then bring it to life.

Something grand and fun, and mind-staggeringly ridiculous. Something full of hope and compassion.

Something both real and profoundly unreal. Something mad. Something magical.

Something Fantas—"

Ultimately, it is up to every one of us to complete Valeria’s thought, and make it the status quo of our everyday lives.