42 Years Ago Today, Marvel Released the Crossover That Could End The MCU

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Forty-two years ago, Marvel Comics revolutionized the world of comic books with a groundbreaking crossover event – a type of story that could dramatically alter the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Marvel now releases large-scale crossover events annually – with three happening almost simultaneously in 2025, including One World Under Doom, Empyre, and Age of Revelation – these kinds of stories were rare until then. Previously, major storylines, like the Kree-Skrull War, usually unfolded within the pages of a single comic series, such as The Avengers.

Everything shifted on January 24, 1984, with the release of Secret Wars #1 by Marvel Comics. It was a groundbreaking moment for Marvel readers, unlike anything they’d experienced before. The miniseries brought together nearly all of Marvel’s major heroes and villains, and the events within Secret Wars significantly altered the course of many comic book storylines.

Marvel’s First Real Crossover Appeared 42 Years Ago

I remember when Secret Wars first came out – it completely blew my mind, and everyone else’s too! It was so unexpected. Marvel did something truly innovative. One minute you were reading the end of your favorite comic in December, and the heroes would stumble upon this strange portal… then they’d just vanish! Then, in January, the comics started coming out again, but everything was different, and no one knew why. The biggest shock? Seeing Spider-Man suddenly sporting this awesome new black costume that seemed to move on its own. It was incredible!

The Fantastic Four gained She-Hulk as a member, while The Thing was missing. The X-Men also had some changes, but Marvel didn’t offer any explanations at the time. They simply stated these shifts were a result of an upcoming event called Secret Wars. Readers needed to follow the new Secret Wars series to understand the reasons behind these changes and their implications.

This story marked the very first time Marvel Comics brought all its heroes and villains together in one big crossover event – something we see frequently now. An incredibly powerful alien named The Beyonder gathered everyone on a planet called Battleworld and forced them to fight, with the winning team getting a wish fulfilled. The Beyonder was essentially running an experiment to understand humanity, treating the whole conflict as a game. The stakes were high, featuring major villains like Kang, Doctor Doom, and even Galactus. It was a huge, groundbreaking event that fundamentally changed the direction of Marvel Comics.

While a previous attempt to follow up on the original Secret Wars didn’t measure up, a true sequel arrived in 2015, 31 years later. This new Secret Wars saw Doctor Doom defeat the Beyonders and use their power to build Battleworld, a new reality where he ruled as God Emperor Doom, saving a portion of Earth’s population in the process, after events known as the Incursions.

The upcoming Marvel movies, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, will be inspired by a recent comic book series. Although the original Secret Wars story had a big impact on the comics, the 2015 sequel was even more significant, completely reshaping the comic universe. It appears this new version will do the same for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, essentially giving it a fresh start. While the films will draw from the later comic series, the original miniseries, which debuted 42 years ago, first introduced the ideas that are now driving these changes.

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2026-01-24 21:12