Marvel’s big Event (from last year) has finally come to a close (on the Marvel Unlimited app), so here are my thoughts on the big, multi-versal ending story.
Official Synopsis:
The end of the Marvel Universe has arrived. The final incursion is happening. The Marvel Universe is colliding with the Ultimate Universe, and neither will survive!
Note: Full Spoilers From Here On Out!
The Good:
“Bow before Doom!” … literally this time!
What can you say about an event that starts off with the destruction of the entire multi-verse? Well, I guess you can say that, somehow, that soon becomes irrelevant! As the final universes collided, Doctor Doom (with the Molecule Man and Dr. Strange) confronted the Beyonders, the ones behind the destruction, and as it turned out, Doom gained Godhood in the final moments (due to Strange chickening out at the prospect of all that power). This lead to him grabbing what pieces of the multi-verse still existed and ramming them together to create his “Battleworld”. A lot of the early issues show this strange mix of a world, with Doom as God and various powerful Marvel characters ruling over different Kingdoms, all while being under the watchful eyes of the “Thors”, literally multiple incarnations of Thor as a police force. This does create some very fun ideas and it was an interesting world to visit.
The few 616 survivors (both good and bad) soon arrive and eventually cause havoc. A giant version of The Thing, Franklin Richards riding a custom version of Galactus, Black Panther gets his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet, the Marvel Zombies break out across the battlefield, various Hulks rampage… the final fight gets pretty crazy. I have to say though that my favourite thing about all this is that in the end it comes down to a fight between Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Doom. Given how a lot of people point to the Fantastic 4’s first issue as the real start of the main Marvel continuity, it was nice to see it all come down to this. It ends with Doom’s defeat and soon the now christened “Earth Prime” (I know the people at Marvel never liked the “Universe 616” moniker, so this new name wasn’t a surprise) being pretty much exactly how we left it, but with one or two Ultimate Marvel characters in it.
The Thors celebrate a new member.
Now you can speculate the reasons why Marvel has gone off the Fantastic 4 (the comics weren’t selling, they don’t have the rights to make the movies, etc.) but the truth is, they have. So it was nice seeing them as the focal point, even if it did write Reed, Susan and their children (as well as the Molecule Man) out of the plot for the foreseeable future (they are now in charge of rebuilding the multi-verse, one universe at a time, apparently…) On that note, I have to say I always liked Owen Reece, the Molecule Man, and how over-powered he is. I was happy to see him get focus again, just like the original Secret Wars.
The Bad:
Yep, this happened…
I really enjoyed the build up to this event, the “Time Runs Out…” storyline than ran in the Avengers. It felt like the multi-verse really was ending and there was nothing anyone could do about it. That’s why its kind of a shame that all we got out of it was a few months in a new world and then everything reverted back to normal, pre-Secret Wars (again, with one or two absences and inclusions). Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want a “New 52” style complete reboot or anything, I’m happy the continuity is pretty much intact, it just … I don’t know, seemed a little anti-climactic.
Overall Thoughts:
The final confrontation.
While this wasn’t the grand finale as much as it was a slightly more unique event, I still enjoyed it. Seeing Doom literally play God was good fun, as well the weird Battleworld setting. The final confrontation between Richards and Doom was also satisfying; it’s just a bit of a shame that in the end everything is pretty much back to the status quo, getting ready for a new Civil War event like nothing ever really happened…
Hogan Reviews 
comics in general have a problem with concluding things. Endgame wrapped up Tony and Steve’s arc and is better for it.
Secret Wars works as a bow for the Fantastic Four’s storyline; they leave to rebuild the multiverse, Doom finally lets go of his hatred and tries to be a real hero…..if they’d truly let the Fantastic 4 leave it would have been great.
Hell Ultimate Reed was active and it would have been a blast to see him and 616 doom face off; Maker is the man he used to be but worse so seeing him defeat Evil Reed would be both something he always wanted to do and a genuinely heroic act.
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