Stop us if you've heard this before, but in 2018, Marvel Comics plans to reshuffle its publishing deck with number one issues, new series and creative teams. Coming as it does only months after Marvel Legacy -- which purported to blend the old and the new -- the announcement last week of the publisher's "Fresh Start" reminded everyone just how often Marvel has relaunched, rebooted and rebranded over the past several years.

The company's thought process regarding multiple reboots makes sense -- in theory. After all, it would seem to be easier for the general public to walk into a comic book store or open a digital app and begin their reading adventure with an Issue #1 rather than a higher number. Former Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso would often say the Marvel Universe mimicked the seasonal format of a TV series, where things would end and then start over with a new agenda or mission statement.

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Considering Marvel's naming scheme for previous brandings, it's understandable to get your Marvel NOW!'s confused with Marvel NOW! 2.0. That's why we've created a handy guide recounting each and every initiative, along with what they were supposed to accomplish.

Heroic Age

Our first Marvel rebrand started in 2010 with the Heroic Age, which saw the return of a more hopeful Marvel Universe. After watching Earth's Mightiest Heroes come to blows in the Civil War event, and the villains rise to power in Dark Reign, fans began to wonder if their favorite comics would ever return to the glory days of good guys fighting bad guys. From 2006 to 2009, if storylines didn't revolve around Iron Man versus Captain America, then there was Norman Osborn as the head of a global task force in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s replacement, H.A.M.M.E.R.

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Marvel recognized its universe had, indeed, strayed too far from its core values. The solution was Siege, a short four-issue miniseries that brought the Dark Reign to a close, and set the stage for the Heroic Age. With Osborn defeated and H.A.M.M.E.R. shut down, Steve Rogers stepped up as head of S.H.I.E.L.D., allowing Bucky Barnes to continue being Captain America alongside Iron Man and Thor in a new volume of Avengers.

The Heroic Age also debuted Marvel's use of a promotional image showcasing those characters set to have a high profile during the relaunch. As you can see, Marvel kept the number of heroes rather light, with big names like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Spider-Man featured. The Fantastic Four and X-Men are represented by the Thing and Beast, respectively, with Avengers teammates Black Widow and Hawkeye possibly foreshadowing their big screen debuts in 2012's The Avengers. And last but not least, Gorilla-Man from the Agents of Atlas got some love.

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Marvel NOW!

Following a conflict between two of Marvel's biggest franchises in Avengers vs. X-Men, the publisher decided not only would it overhaul its comic book universe with Marvel NOW! in 2010, but also the creators behind the scenes, as almost every major title got a completely new creative team (and new number one issues). Perhaps the biggest change came when writer Brian Michael Bendis -- who helped reshape the Avengers for a new generation by adding Spider-Man and Wolverine to the team -- left the Avengers for the X-Men.

Two of the higher profile comics to kickstart Marvel NOW! were Bendis and artist Stuart Immonen's All-New X-Men and Uncanny Avengers from writer Rick Remender and artist John Cassaday. All-New X-Men brought Charles Xavier's original team of X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast and Angel) from the past to the present, while Uncanny Avengers picked up the story beats from Avengers vs. X-Men by having Captain America form an Avengers Unity Squad comprised of X-Men and Avengers to help alleviate mutant/human relations.

Another aspect of Marvel NOW! was an attempt to introduce new designs for fan-favorite characters: Captain America looked more like Chris Evans' Sentinel of Liberty from the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Iron Man's armor pallette switched from red and gold to black and gold; Nick Fury, Jr., who had a striking resemblance to Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in the MCU, became an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.; and Hulk decided to add some extra bulk to his frame with armor... for some strange reason.

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Though Marvel NOW! only ran for two years, it unfolded in four waves, with one called All-New Marvel NOW! (and a bevy of comics adding "All-New" to their titles), and another Avengers NOW!. If one era can be blamed for Marvel's reliance on renumbering stunts and marketing terms, it's right here. As the MCU became more popular, each piece of artwork going forward included its cast of characters. Avengers NOW!'s featured image may have had different versions of Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, but the remaining characters minus Angela (Winter Soldier, Medusa, Scarlet Witch, Deathlok, Inferno, Doctor Strange and Ant-Man) were all connected to a film or TV project in the MCU's past, present or future.

All-New, All-Different

2015 featured what is probably Marvel's biggest shakeup in recent history once Secret Wars concluded. The event gave Marvel the opportunity to add new concepts to its catalog, while also doing away with its multiverse, save for a few specific realities like Spider-Gwen's home turf. One of the more popular universes was the Ultimate Universe, home of the Miles Morales Spider-Man. The Ultimate Universe and the Marvel 616 Universe were combined together to form a Marvel Prime Universe, one that incorporated multiverse remnants from Secret Wars' Battleworld, such as Old Man Logan, Weirdworld, Red Wolf and more.

The problem with All-New, All-Different Marvel is, well, there wasn't anything really different about it. Sure, there were now two Spider-Men and Captain Americas occupying the same space, but they were still characters fans were familiar with. What's more, delays to Secret Wars meant All-New, All-Different kicked off before the event properly finished, leading to mass confusion among readers. Marvel would keep this trend going with 2016's Civil War II and 2016's Secret Empire as additional issues were added to expand the stories.

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Marvel NOW! 2.0

You'll remember there was already a rebranding with the name Marvel NOW!. Apparently, it was so successful that Marvel decided to use the name again in 2016. By this time the tactic of a publishing relaunch had lost its luster, as Marvel couldn't be bothered to come up with a unique title. Of course, one could say it was a growing trend, as Civil War II and Inhumans vs. X-Men -- named after Avengers vs. X-Men -- displayed.

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Aside from Captain America being turned into a secret Hydra agent, there wasn't too much notable about Marvel NOW! 2.0, though there was Marvel's valiant effort to expand Deadpool's family of titles with SoloSlapstick and Foolkiller. For what it's worth, the Marvel NOW! 2.0 promotional material piled on the characters, splitting them up between the younger guard of Ms. Marvel, Riri Williams and Squirrel Girl, and Doctor Doom's side of more "questionable" antiheroes like Elektra, Gamora, Cable and Hydra Cap.

Marvel Legacy

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If a return to original, high-count numbering of comics and covers that homage ones from a bygone era, then Marvel Legacy was for you. Many saw the late 2017 initiative as Marvel's answer for DC Comics' Rebirth, which revitalized its competition by getting back to the core of its characters and reintroducing many concepts that were initially lost when the New 52 began in 2011.

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Unfortunately, Marvel Legacy ends up feeling like a placeholder until the company could figure out what it was doing next. The rollout of legacy covers that recreated iconic covers from the past didn't exactly light the comics world on fire, either, due to the generally poor quality of the lenticular gimmick. Marvel Legacy also came with the promise that Marvel would take an 18-month break from crossover event stories, though Infinity Countdown and "Avengers: No Surrender" certainly seem to qualify as events.

Fresh Start

The Marvel NOW!'s and Marvel Legacy's bring us to May 2018's Fresh Start, although it's not exactly clear whether "Fresh Start" is its actual name. Information on what the latest initiative will entail is scarce at the moment, but it will, of course, include various titles relaunching and new creative teams. After the initial announcement that legacy numbering would disappear in Fresh Start, Senior VP and Executive Editor Tom Breevort clarified that “we’ll be maintaining the classic Legacy issue counts as dual numbering on these titles as well.” This will seemingly serve to bridge the gap between the two initiatives and hopefully help ease the transition for retailers and fans.

After being absent from promo image campaigns for the last several years, the X-Men and Fantastic Four return in Jim Cheung's Fresh Start artwork. Again, minus an X-Man or Fantastic Four hero, every Fresh Start character is either heavily tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe of films and television, or they potentially will be. But if Disney's purchase of Fox goes through, we could see the day where the X-Men and Avengers finally fight side-by-side on the big screen.

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We're too early into Marvel's Fresh Start to know if it will be more of the same as we've seen from past relaunches. Marvel does have a new Editor-in-Chief in C.B. Cebulski, so perhaps changes to the same cycle of publishing are in the works. For now, we're left to wait for additional announcements of what Marvel has in store for fans.