The best part of Secret Invasion may have been the last couple of pages of its final issue. After the world watches Norman Osborn personally kill the Skrull Queen Veranke in the event's climactic battle, he becomes a national hero. He's appointed as the Director of HAMMER, a replacement for the disgraced SHIELD. Now powerful beyond measure, Osborn enters a secret meeting room in the refurbished Avengers Tower, where he is joined by his Cabal: Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki, and the Hood.
This is where "Dark Reign" begins. It's a frantic and sinister event set in a world where the bad guys have won. Marvel's heroes are either in hiding, dead, or being hunted by either HAMMER Agents or Osborn's twisted Dark Avengers. It's a perfect setup for some thrilling and brutal moments.
10 Doom vs. The Dark Avengers
Osborn's Cabal was a collection of oversized egos and imperious temperaments, so, understandably, there was friction between its members. While it was already a stretch that someone like Victor Von Doom would deign to treat a villain like the Hood as his equal, it's downright laughable that he would take orders from someone like Norman Osborn.
When an argument between Doom and Osborn becomes heated, they come to blows. Osborn releases Dark Avenger member the Sentry to take out the Latverian dictator only to find that Doom had sent one of his many Doombots in his place. Things get worse when the Doombot explodes into a swarm of nanite insectoids, forcing Osborn to evacuate Avengers Tower.
9 Mass Deportation of Extraterrestrials
When Osborn appoints Henry Gyrich, former U.S. Government Liason to the Avengers, as the new co-commander of Earth's galactic intelligence agency SWORD, it does more than tick off the organization's former sole leader Abigail Brand. Gyrich wastes no time in changing SWORD into an agency more in line with Osborn's agenda.
Soon after assuming his leadership role, Gyrich helps usher in legislation to deport any extraterrestrials who have taken up residence on Earth. As a result, heroes including Noh-Varr and Beta Ray Bill are taken into SWORD custody.
8 The Execution of Frank Castle
Osborn creates a list of people he wants HAMMER to dispose of, which includes Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. This is easier said than done, of course, since he's one of the most dangerous people in the Marvel Universe. When their early attempts to take out the vigilante fail, Osborn dedicates all of HAMMER's resources to bring him down.
Eventually, the Dark Avenger Daken (under the guise of his father's alter-ego Wolverine) is called in to finish the job. Even with a broken leg, Castle holds his own against the mutant assassin until Daken is able to wear him down and kill him. A group of Moloids find Castle's mutilated body and bring him to the underground city Monsteropolis, where the vampire Morbius stitches him back together into the undead Frankencastle.
7 Nick Fury Discovers the Truth Behind SHIELD
While in hiding, Nick Fury has been performing a series of clandestine operations to gather information and recruit former SHIELD agents who don't support the current intelligence agency HAMMER. During one of these raids on a covert SHIELD base, he makes a horrifying discovery: HYDRA has virtually controlled SHIELD since its inception.
Learning that he has essentially been working for the bad guys for the last several decades, Fury goes on the warpath. With the help of his strike force the Secret Warriors, Fury assembles a team of hundreds of former allies and colleagues to help in his crusade to bring down HYDRA and Osborn's new regime.
6 The Hood Goes All-In On The Zombie Craze
When the Hood learns about a mysterious zombie virus (the same that caused that whole Marvel Zombies thing), he decides that it can be a valuable tool to secure his place in the new world order. Along with his criminal cadre the Night Shift, he locates and tries to obtain the virus.
As one could have expected, it doesn't go well. With the threat of a zombie apocalypse on the horizon, the Hood is forced to team up with the supernatural good guys The Midnight Sons to stop the end of the world.
5 Deadpool vs. Bullseye
Deadpool has dirt on Norman Osborn: The moment where he "saved" the world by killing the Skrull Queen was only possible because he hacked encrypted SHIELD files and stole vital information Deadpool had collected for SHIELD while undercover. All through Dark Reign, the merc with a mouth tries to blackmail Osborn and things (obviously) get incredibly violent.
After a wild clash with the Thunderbolts, Osborn sends top-assassin Bullseye (in the guise of Hawkeye) to take Deadpool out of the picture. What results is a gonzo brawl through a butcher shop and finally across a crowded highway. When Deadpool gets a drop on Bullseye, the notorious hitman decides to pay him off rather than report failure to Osborn.
4 A Home Invasion At The Baxter Building
Unable to take out the Fantastic Four outright, Osborn attempts to shut them down legally. When an attempt by HAMMER agents to serve the FF with a court order to shut down operations fails, Osborn arrives himself (along with an army of goons) at the Baxter Building to order the group to disband.
Osborn is met by Franklin and Valeria Richards (as the Fantastic Four were trapped in a series of artificial realities at the time) who taunt him until he has a mental breakdown and chases them through the building with a gun. Thankfully, the team arrives just in time to stop him from murdering the two children.
3 Dark Beast's Experiments
Osborn's HAMMER sanctioned Dark X-Men included the Dark Beast (the evil version of Beast from the Age of Apocalypse reality) among its roster. With the backing of the new administration, Dark Beast begins a series of experiments on Alcatraz Island to remove Mutants' powers.
He uses the actual Beast as one of his test subjects for these horrifying experiments, which leave the hero weaker and progressively sicker over time. Dark Beast's experiments are shut down by the X-Force, with Wolverine dealing out some much-needed justice.
2 Molecule Man Sends Osborn On A Trip
When the Dark Avengers start on a trail to find the daughter of the politician that oversees HAMMER's funding, they trace her to a small town where they come face to face with the Molecule Man, who seemingly kills off the entire team leaving only Osborn.
The Molecule Man, having lost his ability to comprehend reality, then psychologically tortures Osborn, giving him a variety of nightmarish visions of the evil acts he committed throughout his career. He only stands down when Victoria Hand, Osborn's right-hand at HAMMER, convinces Molecule Man to stand down and restore the Dark Avengers (only to be killed by the Sentry.)
1 The Taking of 42
With the Fifty State Initiative falling under the jurisdiction of HAMMER, the hero training facility at Camp Hammond becomes a tool for Osborn to build his own super-powered private army. However, many of the Initiative recruits are C-list heroes and villains that HAMMER finds no value in.
When Blastaar and his crew of alien pirates take over 42, the U.S. run prison in the Negative Zone, many of these recruits are placed in a special unit to take it back. Unknown to them, they are to be used as cannon fodder to weaken the enemy forces before the big guns can arrive. It's a heartbreaking scene, all told from the perspective of former small-time villain Johnny Guitar.