We’ve known for some time that Avengers: Doomsday will be largely based on Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers storyline, “Time Runs Out.” First published as the lead-up to Secret Wars (the 2015 version), it ran through several issues of Avengers. It’s where Marvel Studios lifted the term “incursions” to describe one universe colliding into another, possibly destroying both. Now, in a bit of corporate synergy, Marvel has announced they are revisiting that storyline, with a new series of one-shots. These detail the final battles of the Multiverse before Secret Wars, titled Incursions. You can read the details from Marvel below, as well as check out several covers.
This November, return to when Time Ran Out! Five multiverse-shattering Incursions one-shots will harken back to Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić’s Secret Wars (2015), revealing the untold battles from the Marvel Multiverse’s final days. The series kicks off with X-Men: Incursions #1 by Alex Paknadel and Jim Towe, pitting two iconic mutant realities—Days of Future Past and House of M—against each other. The series continues with Spider-Man: Incursions by Christos Gage and more; Fantastic Four: Incursions #1 by Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, and Paco Medina; X-Men ’92: Incursions #1 by Chris Yost, Craig Kyle and more; and Avengers: Incursions #1 by Al Ewing and Fran Mariscal Mancilla.
In each one-shot, worlds from Marvel history collide, with only one left standing. Fans will journey across a wide range of universes from Marvel storytelling, including classic eras, alternate timelines and beloved media adaptations. It was the catastrophe that led to the end of both the Ultimate and Marvel Universes and birthed the conflict known as Secret Wars, but not every story of those dark days has been told!
The first one-shot released will be X-Men: Incursions. This story pits the reality of Days of Future Past, where mutants are near extinction, against the world of House of M, where mutantkind rules. And Kitty Pryde will find herself caught in the middle. We’re not sure what the other one-shots entail, but one has the name X-Men ’92. Which almost certainly means the animated series versions of the team. Could we see them fighting their Fox X-Men movie universe counterparts?
Yes, this is all blatant fan-service. But it could be the kind of fan service that winds up being very fun. Original Secret Wars artist Esad Ribić illustrated one variant cover, showcasing God Emperor Doom. Another variant comes from Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch, which seems to homage the cover for Secret Wars #1. A cover which itself pays tribute to DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. We expect more details from Marvel on the rest of these Multiverse-shattering one-shots very soon.