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In 2015, Marvel dropped a series that promised to be the biggest story in the publisher’s history: Secret Wars, from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. The story spun out of Hickman’s blockbuster Avengers run, and from the beginning seemed more indebted to DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths than it did Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, the story it took its name from. This tale is not only one of Marvel’s best event stories, but it also was a turning point for the publisher. They made a choice that doomed them to where they are, one the MCU shouldn’t ignore: they didn’t reboot their universe.
Secret Wars Was Marvel’s Only Chance to Fix What Was Broken
Secret Wars took place in the aftermath of the Incursions, an event that destroyed the entire multiverse. Doctor Doom was able to steal the powers of the Beyonders with the help of Doctor Strange and Molecule Man, and created a world composed of the destroyed pieces of the various Earths. The Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Marvel Universe were both destroyed, and the only people who remembered the two universes were people in Reed Richards/the Maker built life rafts. These two forces were able to destabilize Doom’s reign, and his power was taken from him, with Molecule Man, the Richards family, and their scientist friends rebuilding the multiverse.
At the time, nearly everyone thought that Marvel was finally going to be do a DC-style wholesale reboot of their continuity. Things at Marvel had been going in this direction for a long time. The Marvel Universe had been growing and changing for 54 years at the point of the story and continuity had grown out of control. Even the most dedicated Marvel fans found the whole thing unwieldy. The sliding time scale of the universe was meant to make things easier, but in the end, it made things make less sense. Marvel needed a fresh start of sorts.
