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The series was conceived by Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. The series was announced as 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.[1][2]
The cover of Secret Wars #8, which featured the origin of Spider-Man's black costume, art by Mike Zeck
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!"[13]
The heroes (the X-Men choose to remain a separate unit) and villains have several skirmishes. Ultron is drained of energy by Galactus, who tries to confront the Beyonder with Doctor Doom, but both are easily defeated. 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,[14] 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.[15]
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.[16]
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 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.[17]
The next issues of series tie-ins with Secret Wars open right after the return of the Marvel combatants. Immediate developments include: the Thing replaced by the She-Hulk in the Fantastic Four,[18] 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),[19][20] Colossus ends his romantic relationship with a heartbroken Kitty Pryde,[21] and the Hulk has an injured leg from Ultron and the savage side is re-emerging (to culminate 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?"[22]
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.[23] 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 Secret Wars' story and lasting effect on the Marvel universe, as well as honoring the storyline as the "semi-official first Event Comics ever".[24]
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.[25]
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 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.[26]
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.
An additional four-issue miniseries Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld has been announced to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original crossover, beginning in November 2023. The mini-series will star Spider-Man and Fantastic Four member the Human Torch and promises to "expose never-before-told secrets" from the iconic 1984 comic 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[27] 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.[27] 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.[28]
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.[29] 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.[30][31][32] 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.[33]
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.[34]
In other media
Television
An abbreviated form of the 1990s "Secret Wars" storyline appeared in the animatedtelevision seriesSpider-Man, in which the Beyonder and Madame Web selected Spider-Man to lead a team of heroes (consisting of himself, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, Storm, and later the Black Cat) against the villains Doctor Octopus, Doctor Doom, Alistair Smythe, the Lizard (who later switched sides), and the Red Skull. The goal was to allegedly determine whether good or evil was stronger but was later revealed after the war that the real goal was to determine which of several alternate Spider-Men was worthy to lead a team to save the multiverse from the twisted Spider-Carnage. One completely written chapter of "Secret Wars" involved Spider-Man finding another black suit and the X-Men, but transporting the X-Men cast to L.A. (where production for the Spider-Man animated series was based) from Canada (where the X-Men animated series was based) was too costly in the previous episodes the X-Men appeared in, so the episode was dropped and only Storm was used for the rest of the chapters of "Secret Wars" due to the fact that Iona Morris (who was the first voice of Storm) lives in L.A.[35][36] The Hulk and the She-Hulk were not used in these episodes because the Hulk series was on UPN.[35][36] Furthermore, Quinton Flynn was the only voice actor to reprise his role from the Fantastic Four animated series.[36]
The fourth season of the animated show Avengers Assemble is titled Avengers: Secret Wars, after the storyline but focuses only on the Avengers. As it turns out, Loki had told a powerful being, who comes to be known as the Beyonder, about Earth's existence. To Loki's dismay, the Beyonder uses the Bifrost Bridge to take various parts of Earth, places across the universe such as Asgard, and other realities including the one where Tony Stark was stranded, and then combines them in order to form Battleworld for his "experiment", taking those who live there with them, including the Avengers. With Iron Man back with them, the Avengers must form an unlikely alliance with Loki to rebuild the Bifrost Bridge and get everyone back to Earth. During the final battle against the Beyonder, Doctor Strange gives Loki the Orb of Agamotto to begin activating the Bifrost Bridge and Thor throws Mjolnir to Jane Foster to save her from the quicksand transforming her into a female Thor. Through their efforts, they finally undo the Beyonder's experiment, but Loki reveals that Doctor Strange giving him the Orb of Agamotto was the purpose of his telling the Beyonder about Earth, and with his new power plans to conquer Asgard, Earth, and other locations. With help from Jane Foster's Thor form, the Avengers defeat Loki, who is consumed by the All Dark. After Thor regains Mjolnir, Odin has a new weapon created for Jane Foster, where her weapon is dubbed Thunderstrike.[37][38]
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.[41]
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld Box Set
Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-12, Amazing Spider-Man #251–252, Incredible Hulk #294-295, Iron Man #181-182, Thing #10, Uncanny X-Men #180-181, Captain America #292, Avengers #242-243, Thor #341 and material from Fantastic Four #265. Also includes Thing: Battleworld, Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars Aftermath, Secret Wars II Vol. 1-4, Secret War, Beyond the Secret Wars and Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars: Behind the Scenes.
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the primary Marvel continuity. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48.
Doctor Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5. In his comic book appearances, Doctor Doom is the monarch of the fictional European country of Latveria whose goal is to bring order to humanity through world conquest. He serves as the archenemy of Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four, though he has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, the Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers. While usually portrayed as a villain, Doom has also been an antihero at times, working with heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him. Doctor Doom was ranked #4 by Wizard on its list of the 101 Greatest Villains of All Time and #3 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time. In a later article, IGN would declare Doom as Marvel's greatest villain.
The Avengers are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1. Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the original Avengers consisted of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Thor and the Wasp. Captain America was discovered trapped in ice in issue #4, and joined the group after they revived him.
What If, sometimes stylized as What If…?, is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics whose stories explore how the Marvel Universe might have unfolded if key moments in its history had not occurred as they did in mainstream continuity. Since What If debuted in 1977, the comics have been published in 14 series as well as occasional stand-alone issues. In 2024, Marvel announced that What If…? would expand to include alternate explorations of continuity within other non-Marvel Universe properties owned by their parent company The Walt Disney Company from its fifteenth volume onwards, beginning with Aliens: What If…?, based on the Alien franchise.
The Infinity Gems are six fictional gems appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, named after and embodying various aspects of existence. The gems can grant whoever wields them various powers in accordance to the aspect of existence they represent, and have the potential of turning the wielder into a god-like being when the main six are held together. Thus, they are among the most powerful and sought-after items in the Marvel Universe; playing important roles in several storylines, in which they were wielded by characters such as Thanos and Adam Warlock. Some of these stories depict additional Infinity Gems or similar objects. Although, the Infinity Gems altogether give its user nigh-omnipotence, the Gems only function on the universe they belong to and not on alternate realities.
Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe. Those characters include Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Ultimates, the Fantastic Four, and others. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for the characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse.
Ultron is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared as an unnamed character in The Avengers #54, with his first full appearance in The Avengers #55. He is a self-aware and highly intelligent artificial intelligence in a robot body who develops a god complex and a grudge against his creator Hank Pym. His goal to destroy humanity in a shortsighted attempt at creating world peace has brought him into repeated conflict with the Avengers. Stories often end in Ultron's apparent destruction, only for the character to be resurrected in new forms.
Klaw is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a human physicist who has been transformed into solid sound, and who wears a sonic emitter on his right wrist as a prosthetic device. He is often in conflict with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, and he is also an enemy of the Black Panther and Ka-Zar.
Volcana is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Secret Wars #3 and was created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck.
The Molecule Man is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Fantastic Four #20 in November 1963 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. An enormously powerful entity, he is often portrayed as a supervillain, but sometimes takes the role of a reformed outlaw or reluctant hero.
Marvel Zombies is a five-issue limited series published from December 2005 to April 2006 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Robert Kirkman with art by Sean Phillips and covers by Arthur Suydam. It was the first series in the Marvel Zombies series of related stories. The story is set in an alternate universe where the world's superhero population has been infected with a virus which turned them into zombies. The series was spun out of events of the crossover story-arc of Ultimate Fantastic Four, where the zombie Reed Richards tricked his Ultimate counterpart into opening a portal to the zombie universe only for the latter to contain the former from ever coming to his universe.
"Acts of Vengeance" is a comic book crossover storyline running through several titles published by Marvel Comics from December 1989 to February 1990.
Titania is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck, the character first appeared in Secret Wars #3. MacPherran is the second character called Titania. She is the rival of the superhero Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk. Originally a supervillain, in later years, she has reformed into more of an antihero. The character has also been a member of the Masters of Evil and the Frightful Four at various points in her history.
Battleworld is a fictional patchwork planet appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It serves as the setting in Secret Wars comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics.
Marvel Zombies is a comic book metaseries published by Marvel Comics. The series features zombie versions of Marvel Universe superheroes and supervillains who have been portrayed as both protagonists and antagonists through the different limited series within the metaseries.
The Avengers are a superhero team created by Marvel Comics that appear in comic books. Aside from comics, the Avengers appear in various forms of media such as in novels, television shows, movies, videogames and stage shows.
The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American superhero animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman based on the Marvel Comics superhero team. The first season debuted on Disney XD and online in the fall of 2010. The second season was one of the inaugural shows of the Marvel Universe programming block alongside Ultimate Spider-Man.
"Secret Wars" is a 2015–16 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It recalls the 1984–1985 miniseries of the same name. Released on May 6, 2015, the storyline includes a core Secret Wars miniseries, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribić, which picks up from where the "Time Runs Out" storyline running in The Avengers and New Avengers ended. The event also served as a conclusion to the Fantastic Four after Marvel decided to cancel the title due to a film rights dispute with 20th Century Fox.
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