Secret Wars

''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'', is a 12-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with art by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. It was tied in with a similarly named toy line from Mattel and a role-playing game of the same name from TSR, Inc.

Publication history

The series was conceived by Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. The series was announced under the title ''Cosmic Champions'' in the eleventh issue of the '' Marvel Age'' news magazine, cover dated February 1984. The series was renamed following feedback from Mattel's focus group, which indicated that children responded positively to the words 'wars' and 'secret.' Mattel's involvement influenced the storyline and character design, including making Doctor Doom and Iron Man's armor more high-tech to appeal to kids. They also requested new fortresses, vehicles, and weapons to increase play value and promote playsets. Shooter believed he was the only one capable of writing the series.

Crossover titles include ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #249–252, '' The Avengers'' #242–243, ''Captain America'' #292, '' The Incredible Hulk'' (vol. 2) #294–295, ''Iron Man'' #181–183, ''The Thing'' #10–22, ''Fantastic Four'' #265, '' Marvel Team-Up'' #141, ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #178–181, and ''Thor'' #341. In 1987, ''Thor'' #383 was presented as a previously untold tale from ''Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars''.

Plot

A cosmic entity, the Beyonder, becomes fascinated with Earth's superheroes in the mainstream Marvel universe. He creates " Battleworld," a planet in a distant galaxy, and stocks it with weapons and technology. He teleports groups of heroes and supervillains against their will to Battleworld, declaring: "I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all that you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!"

The heroes include the Avengers (Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Thor, the Wasp, and the Hulk), three members of the Fantastic Four (Human Torch, Mister Fantastic and the Thing), solo heroes (Spider-Man and Spider-Woman) and the mutant team the X-Men ( Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, and Lockheed the Dragon). Magneto is featured as a hero, but immediately becomes non-aligned when the Avengers question his presence. In 2015, '' Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars'' revealed that Deadpool was also a chosen hero, but the Wasp accidentally caused the other characters to forget his involvement.

The villains include the Absorbing Man, Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, the Enchantress, Kang the Conqueror, Klaw, the Lizard, the Molecule Man, Titania, Ultron, Volcana, and the Wrecking Crew. The cosmic entity Galactus also appears as a villain who immediately becomes a non-aligned entity.

The heroes (with the X-Men choosing to remain a separate unit) and villains have several skirmishes. Ultron is drained of energy by Galactus, who then tries to confront the Beyonder while Doctor Doom observes, but both are easily defeated and sent crashing down to Battleworld. When everyone else reaches Battleworld, Magneto leaves the heroes feeling rejected and Kang blasts Doctor Doom to the heroes' base when he tries to rally the villains. The heroes win the first skirmish, causing the villains to fall back, only to be assaulted by Ultron, having been rebuilt by Doctor Doom. The heroes then attack Magneto, but he captures Wasp and takes her to his fortress where they are trapped by the weather; the X-Men decide to join Magneto. Doom creates villainesses Titania and Volcana, then leads the remaining villains in a successful assault on the heroes and their base, which they bury under a mountain. After Thor and the Enchantress return from elsewhere, Thor vanishes trying to fight the villains. Doom also has Ultron kill Kang as payback.

When the X-Men arrive to fight Magneto, they form an alliance but Wasp leaves. The Hulk is revealed to have saved everyone from the mountain. Thor also returns, having hidden his escape with lightning. The heroes find a village brought to Battleworld where Galactus has summoned his ship so he can consume the planet. Everybody fights him. Doom's faction returns and attacks the heroes, while he sneaks onto Galactus' ship and persuades Klaw to join the villains. Professor X has the X-Men fall back and then attack the villains who are attacking volcanoes set off by Cyclops. Colossus falls in love with an alien healer named Zsaji. Wasp befriends the Lizard but is gravely wounded by the Wrecking Crew before being returned to the heroes. The second Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter, is introduced.

The X-Men win another battle against the villains. Galactus sends Doom back to his base, where he notices the volcanoes and tries to fix the planet. Professor X tells Captain America to fight the villains while they take care of Galactus. Zsaji revives Wasp. In the villain's base, Hulk and Thor show Spider-Man an alien device that they have used to recreate their clothing. Spider-Man finds and wears his black costume for the first time. Galactus begins to devour the planet. Mr. Fantastic suggests they let him, then the Beyonder will take away his eternal hunger, but Captain America and everyone else convinces him against it. Back at the heroes' base, Doctor Doom uses Klaw's body to create a machine that absorbs Galactus' power, even after he absorbs his own ship instead. With his newfound power, Doctor Doom steals the Beyonder's power.

Molecule Man brings the villains to Volcana's apartment on Battleworld then takes the suburb of Denver back to Earth. Doom summons the heroes to his new "Tower of Doom" where he revives Kang and sends him back to his own time in front of them and reveals that Galactus was taken away by Nova. He kills all the heroes with a bolt when they refuse to join him and attack. Zsaji revives them at the cost of her life, and they battle Klaw and monsters he created, including Ultron, while Doom's powers go out of control thanks to Klaw convincing him to use them again. While Wasp destroys Ultron and the others take care of the rest, the Beyonder, who had possessed Klaw, takes back his powers and teleports Doom and Klaw away. After Zsaji's funeral, everyone finds out that the energy from the Beyonder that was released has turned Battleworld into a place where wishes are granted. Soon Mr. Fantastic builds a portal that can take everyone home. However, the Thing, having gained the ability to revert to his original human form of Ben Grimm at will, chooses to remain on Battleworld for a year to explore the galaxy.

The next issues of series tie-ins with ''Secret Wars'' open right after the return of the Marvel combatants. Immediate developments include: She-Hulk replaced the Thing in the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man has a new costume initially unaware that it is actually an alien symbiote (the symbiote would subsequently bond with journalist Eddie Brock, giving birth to the villain known as Venom), Colossus ends his romantic relationship with a heartbroken Kitty Pryde, and the Hulk has an injured leg from Ultron in addition to the Hulk's savage side re-emerging (culminating in a totally animalistic, inarticulate, and mindless Hulk in #299–300).

Reception

''Secret Wars'' was a best-seller when it was published in 1984, selling more copies than any other comic in the previous 25 years. While it was a financial success, it was not well received by critics when it was published, being criticized for its uninspired and juvenile content. An announcement of a sequel series, ''Secret Wars II'', from Carol Kalish, Marvel's Direct Sales Manager at the time, was first met with boos. Kalish was even quoted saying: "Let's be honest. ''Secret Wars'' was crap, right? But did it sell?"

In 2011, IGN listed ''Secret Wars'' as one of the best comic book events. Their writers found the action and goofiness of the story to be enjoyable. They also highlighted the effect it had on the Marvel Universe by introducing the symbiote and new characters. In 2011, Alex Zalben of MTV News ranked ''Secret Wars'' as the second biggest comic event ever, after only DC Comics' ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' event. Zalben praised the ''Secret Wars'' story and its lasting effect on the Marvel universe, as well as honoring the storyline as the "semi-official first Event Comics ever."

Battleworld

Battleworld is a fictional patchwork planet that serves as the setting in Secret Wars. There have been three Battleworlds in total. The first was created by the Beyonder, the second was an imitation created by the Stranger pretending to be the Beyonder, and the third was created by Doctor Doom by stealing the power of the Beyonders.

Publication history

The first Battleworld debuted in ''Secret Wars'' (1984) #1, and was created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck.

The second Battleworld debuted in ''Beyond!'', and was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Scott Kolins.

The third Battleworld debuted in ''Secret Wars'' (2015) #2, and was created by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić.

Fictional planet biography

First Battleworld

The Beyonder merged dozens of fragments from many planets (including a suburb of Denver, Colorado, from Earth), to create Battleworld, intended to provide an unfamiliar environment where all contestants could use their powers to the fullest. Many peoples, both alien and human, were brought along "for the ride" by this method; it was because of this that Spider-Woman II was on Battleworld, as was Zsaji, the healer, who had brief romances with both the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four and Colossus of the X-Men.''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'' #1. Marvel Comics.

In the aftermath of ''Secret Wars'', the planet became infected with cosmic energy when the Beyonder reclaimed his stolen power from Doctor Doom. This led to a "wish fulfillment" phenomenon whereby force of will could alter reality; for example, repairing Captain America's unbreakable shield or allowing Mister Fantastic to create a way to take them quickly home. This may be due to the Beyonder's nature as an incomplete Cosmic Cube, which allows the wielder to alter reality by force of will, or was an aspect of the "heart's desire" promised by the Beyonder and granted to the winners of the ''Secret Wars.'' All the heroes left the planet, except for Ben Grimm. He stayed behind because he was able to change to and from his human form while on the planet's surface; his adventures were recounted in his own side-series while She-Hulk took his place in the Fantastic Four.''Secret Wars'' #12. Marvel Comics. After Ben returned home—he had defeated Ultron and slain his manifested dark side Grimm the Sorcerer—the planet had no more reason to exist and broke apart.''The Thing'' #22. Marvel Comics.

It is unknown whether all pieces returned to their home planets; the fragment of Colorado was ferried back to Earth with its citizens and the ''Secret Wars'' villains by Molecule Man.

Second Battleworld

A mock Battleworld appeared in the miniseries ''Beyond!'' It was constructed by the Stranger posing as the Beyonder for the purposes of studying various combatants from Earth under the guise of battle. This faux Battleworld was destroyed at the end of the miniseries by the departure of the irate Stranger with Gravity holding it together long enough for his group to escape at the cost of his life.''Beyond'' #1–6. Marvel Comics. Gravity was later resurrected by Epoch as the new Protector of the Universe.

Third Battleworld

A third Battleworld appeared in the 2015 series ''Secret Wars''. Before the incursions destroyed the Multiverse, Doctor Doom, the Molecule Man, and Doctor Strange had defied the godlike entities behind the catastrophe: the Beyonders. Doctor Doom used a secret weapon made up of a multitudinous number of Molecule Men to defeat these Beyonders and usurp their omnipotence for himself.''Secret Wars'' #4–5. Marvel Comics. Afterwards, he salvaged the remaining realities and merged them into Battleworld, made in his own image and filled with mindwiped residents who worshipped him as God Emperor. In truth, it was actually the Molecule Man who had absorbed the Beyonders' power and Doom was being lent it. To hide this, Doom kept the Molecule Man hidden away and claimed that he had died.

Battleworld was divided into domains which are ruled by an appointed "Baron" or a "Baroness"; while most domains have the ability to interact with each other, the borders of each domain are clearly defined and travel between different domains is discouraged as it requires special dispensation from the local Baron or from God Emperor Doom himself. Only the Deadlands (which contains the Marvel Zombies), Perfection (which contains the Ultron Sentinels), and New Xandar (which contains the Annihilation Wave) are separated from the rest by the Shield (a giant version of Ben Grimm) because each contains threats that if loosed would destroy the other domains.

Battleworld is protected by the Thor Corps who serve as Battleworld's police force and answer to God Emperor Doom. Battleworld is orbited by a small Sun, in fact the Human Torch, consigned to the role for acting against Doctor Doom. Knowhere acts as Battleworld's moon. Besides these two and Battleworld itself, there were originally no more celestial bodies in its universe until Singularity, a mysterious young girl who actually represents a pocket universe that gained sentience during the multiversal collapse, appears to give her life to save the citizens of Arcadia from a horde of Zombies which made the stars appear in the sky.

This Battleworld would eventually collapse after God Emperor Doom's Beyonders' power was transferred to Reed Richards, who was considered by Doom himself and Molecule Man to be more worthy, and rectified the artificial reality.

As part of the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" event, it is revealed that the reality where Battleworld was fashioned was identified as Earth-15513 and became a distorted portion of time and space after the destruction of the planet, however due to Battleworld's reality having been the epicenter of this Multiversal renewal, it became rich in a substance known as Iso-8, a material identified as the byproduct of creation itself. When the Elders of the Universe of the restored Earth-616 realized that the Multiverse had endured a death and a rebirth, the Collector and Grandmaster discovered the remnants of Battleworld and resolved to fight for the possession of the Iso-8 and used the broken shell as the arena (known as Battlerealm) for their Contest of Champions, a competition where several individuals, taken from Battleworld and the reborn Multiverse, fought to the death on behalf of each Elder. The highest prize was the Iso-Sphere which contained within the Power Primordial, the concentrated and most powerful form of the Iso-8. After assuming control of the Power Primordial that the Grandmaster and Collector were competing for, the Battleworld version of Maestro recreates Battleworld to its previous form as he had previously vowed that he would become the God-King of Battleworld. To combat the remaining players, Maestro summoned the remnants of the Avengers and Thunderbolts from an alternate reality where Iron Man became President of the United States after winning the superhuman civil war as well as summoning Sentry of Earth-1611 to deal with the remaining Contest of Champions competitors.''Contest of Champions'' (vol. 2) #10. Marvel Comics. When the Iso-Sphere was stolen from Maestro by Outlaw, he used its power to banish Maestro from Battleworld and teleport the contestants to wherever they wanted to be. As a consequence of Outlaw wishing that the Contest of Champions end, the Iso-Sphere shattered. A group of the contestants decided to remain in Battleworld, forming the Civil Warriors to guard the Iso-8 and the shards of the Iso-Sphere.

Known locations

First Battleworld's locations

* Baxter Building – A replica of the Baxter Building where Thing had his final battle with Grimm the Sorcerer.
* Leenn – A location of Battleworld taken from Thing's subconscious that was based on Latveria. Thing fought a variation of Doctor Doom called the Wizard. It vanished when Thing destroyed the device that the Wizard was guarding.
* Muab – A kingdom of white magic that was attacked by Grimm the Sorcerer.

Third Battleworld's locations

The following is a list of the domains and the Marvel Comics event titles that are their basis or reimagining as fully revealed on Marvel Comics' Interactive Battleworld map in ''Secret Wars'' #2:

Sequels

One year later, '' Secret Wars II'' was published, with the Beyonder visiting Earth and having a tie-in with almost every Marvel comic book written at the time.

Marvel published a third ''Secret Wars'' tale written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Keith Pollard within two issues of the ''Fantastic Four'' series: the "Secret Wars III" story in ''Fantastic Four'' #318–319 (September–October 1988).

In 2006, a six issue series entitled ''Beyond!'' was published by Marvel. Written by Dwayne McDuffie and illustrated by Scott Kolins, it referred back to the original Secret Wars event with a similar premise as the Beyonder again transported superheroes and supervillains of Earth to fight on Battleworld.

''Spider-Man & the Secret Wars'', a Marvel Adventures all-ages non-canonical miniseries, was released in 2010. It tells the story from Spider-Man's perspective and features major discrepancies with the original event. These tales include him receiving the Beyonder's power and creating "New Parker City", Spider-Man and the Thing spying on Dr. Doom, and a story featuring Spider-Man's suspicions concerning the Hulk. It was released in conjunction with ''Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet'' and ''Captain America & The Korvac Saga'', similar self-contained, all-ages re-imaginations of past events, that appear to take place in their own separate continuities in the standard "Marvel Adventures" manner.

The four-issue miniseries '' Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars'' was released during the 2015 ''Secret Wars'' event. It retold the events of the original miniseries from Deadpool's point of view and used retroactive continuity to fix inconsistencies with later stories. In the end, the Wasp accidentally caused everyone to forget his involvement in the storyline, creating the inconsistencies.

A four-issue miniseries titled ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld'' was released in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the original series, beginning in November 2023. The series starred Spider-Man and the Human Torch and claimed to "expose never-before-told secrets" from the 1984 storyline.

Other versions

''What If?''

Some issues of '' What If?'' revolve around the Secret Wars:

* "Brave New World" by Jay Faerber and Gregg Schigiel explored what would happen if the heroes became stranded on Battleworld Faerber, Jay (w), Schigiel, Gregg, '' What If?'' (vol. 2) #114 (Nov. 1998). Marvel Comics. after Galactus and the Beyonder destroy each other in battle. The battle continues for a while, but after the deaths of Bulldozer, Captain Marvel, Cyclops, Doctor Octopus, Kang, Magneto, and Spider-Woman, both sides declare peace. The Hulk heads into the wilderness to find a way to get everyone back home while Doctor Doom builds a replica of his Latverian castle. The Enchantress disappears, Mister Fantastic somehow dies, and Spider-Man's black costume causes him to turn cold and accelerates his aging to the point of becoming a skeleton. Eventually, some of the inhabitants have children who inherit some of their powers including Bravado (the son of Thor and Enchantress), Chokehold (the daughter of Absorbing Man and Titania), Crusader (the daughter of Captain America and Rogue), Firefly (the son of Human Torch and Wasp), Gator (the son of Lizard), Malefactor (the son of Doctor Doom and Enchantress making him the half-brother of Bravado), Moleculon (the son of Molecule Man and Volcana), Mustang (the son of Hawkeye and She-Hulk), Raze (the son of Wrecker), and Torrent (the son of Storm and Wolverine). By Bravado's 18th birthday, Malefactor disposes of his father and gathers Chokehold, Gator, Klaw, Moleculon, and Raze in a plot to take over Battleworld. Bravado, Crusader, Firefly, Mustang, Torrent, and the heroes and reformed villains defeat them. The Hulk and Doctor Doom (who faked his death when Malefactor attacked him) return to help end the conflict. The Hulk has used 30th century technology from the deceased Kang to create a portal that will take everyone home with the help of Thor's hammer. Uatu soon appears and warns them of the bad thing that will happen if they return to Earth. Though the adults call off the trip, the younger heroes sneak out at night and end up on Earth, which is overrun with Sentinels. The five agree to stay on Earth as the Avengers and liberate Earth. On a related note, these five had appeared in the '' Destiny War'' storyline.
* In another alternate universe, Doctor Doom retains the Beyonder's power and takes over the universe.

''Secret Wars'' (2015 comic book)

In May 2015, Marvel published a new ''Secret Wars'' miniseries, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribić, that picked up from where the "Time Runs Out" storyline running in '' Avengers'' and ''New Avengers'' at the time had ended. The storyline involved the Marvel Universe combining with other alternate universes, including the Ultimate Universe, as well as the 2099 Universe, to form Battleworld, a world which exhibits aspects of the various universes. The core limited series was nine issues long, and ran for eight months, ending in January 2016. One of the core miniseries, ''Ultimate End'', had ended the Ultimate Marvel imprint after 15 years at the time. ''Ultimate End'' is written by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley, the team that began the Ultimate Marvel universe with ''Ultimate Spider-Man''.

''Spider-Man: Life Story''

In ''Spider-Man: Life Story'', which depicts an alternate version of the Marvel Universe (designated Earth-19529) where characters aged in real time and debuted in the same year as their first issue publications, the Secret Wars began in 1984 when a number of United States-based superheroes were transported to Battleworld by the Beyonder. This causes the start of the "Russian War" (the World War III of this reality) on Earth due to the absence of the majority of America's superheroes. Among them was Spider-Man, who received the Venom symbiote/black costume like his Earth-616 counterpart.

In other media

Television

* "Secret Wars" serves as inspiration for a self-titled three-part episode of '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series''. In this version of events, the Beyonder and Madame Web task Spider-Man with leading the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, Storm, and the Black Cat in liberating Battleworld from Doctor Octopus, Doctor Doom, Alistair Smythe, the Lizard, and the Red Skull to test his capability in saving the multiverse from Spider-Carnage. Amidst production of the episode, the cast of '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' were due to appear. However, the cost of transportation from Canada to Los Angeles proved too costly, leading to most of the X-Men being dropped. Moreover, the Hulk and She-Hulk were excluded due to '' The Incredible Hulk'' being on UPN. Additionally, Spider-Man obtaining his black suit is adapted into the earlier episode " The Alien Costume".
* "Secret Wars" serves as inspiration for the fourth season of '' Avengers Assemble'', ''Avengers: Secret Wars''. After learning of Earth from Loki, the Beyonder uses the Bifröst to take and combine parts of Earth, Asgard, and the multiverse to form Battleworld as part of an experiment. After getting caught in this, the Avengers and New Avengers, among others, join forces to undo the merge and defeat the Beyonder and Loki.

Film

A film based on the storyline, '' Avengers: Secret Wars'', is in development and is scheduled to be released on December 17, 2027.

Video games

* Battleworld appears in '' Marvel Contest of Champions'' and its 2020 spin-off '' Marvel Realm of Champions''.
* A variation of Battleworld, renamed Primary Earth, appears in '' Marvel Future Revolution''. This version was created after Vision sacrificed himself to save his Earth from multiverse-destroying incursions.

Literature

In 2016, ''Secret Wars'' received a novelization written by Alex Irvine.

Merchandise

* Mattel released three waves of action figures, vehicles, and accessories in the ''Secret Wars'' toy line from 1984 to 1985.
* An original page of the 1984 ''Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars'', showing Spider-Man wearing the black suit for the first time, was sold by Heritage Auctions in January 2022 for over $3 million.

Miscellaneous

* Funko released a collectible card game called ''Marvel Battleworld'', which is loosely inspired by the ''Secret Wars'' comic book events.
* Battleworld appears in a self-titled web series.

Collected editions

References

External links

Secret Wars
at Marvel.com

Battleworld
at Marvel.com

Battleworld I
at Marvel Wiki

Battleworld III
at Marvel Wiki

{{Jim Shooter

1984 in comics
1984 comics debuts
1985 comics endings
Comics set on fictional planets
Crossover comics
Secret Wars