Where Are They ‘NOW!’? 10 Marvel Characters MIA Since SECRET WARS
WHERE ARE THEY (MARVEL) NOW?
1 of 12The onset of Marvel NOW! in the wake of Civil War II signals another relaunch for Marvel Comics, and as with most of their relaunches, they've teased a group of characters who will be important to their line coming up.And that's not a new tactic - they did the same thing for "All-New, All-Different Marvel.". But some of their top characters - and a few minor ones that they teased - still haven't shown up since the end of Secret Wars.
Here are ten characters still M.I.A. in the new Marvel Universe.
Sorry Ka-Zar fans, you'll have to scour the Savage Land for him on your own time.
CAPTAIN BRITAIN
2 of 12Captain Britain has been a major player in the Marvel Universe off and on for the last few years, leading his own title a few years back, and spending a stint on the Secret Avengers. He also served as a latter-day member of the Illuminati in the direct lead up to Secret Wars, but he hasn’t been seen since.Considering Captain Britain’s magical origins and Marvel’s focus on that side of its universe, as well as his Multiversal pedigree, Captain Britain seems like a no-brainer to bring back into the spotlight – perhaps when the time is right for Marvel to start exploring other worlds again.
EMMA FROST
3 of 12Prior to Secret Wars, the former villainess turned Mutant matriarch was a major part of the X-Men universe, but she’s been M.I.A. since the crossover wrapped in early 2016.Maybe her absence has something to do with her ally and off-and-on paramour Cyclops’s death after an attack on the Inhumans. With her fate still a mystery, could Emma stay gone for long?
RICHARD RIDER
4 of 12If there’s one question certain Marvel fans are constantly asking, it’s “Where is Richard Rider?” The original Nova has been gone for several years now, with Sam Alexander, his successor and current Nova joining the Avengers and headlining several volumes of his own series.Marvel has repeatedly answered questions about Rider’s return with vague teases, promising nothing but refusing to rule out a comeback. However, considering Sam is still in the helmet as of "Marvel NOW!," Rich’s return may not be in the cards for a while.
CITIZEN V/DEATH'S HEAD
5 of 12Marvel released a pair of “All-New, All-Different Marvel" teasers to signal characters that would play a part in the company’s post-Secret Wars relaunch. And to date, all but one of them has appeared – Citizen V.The former alter ego of the villainous Baron Zemo was shown in one of the teasers, but he has yet to pop up anywhere. Now, to be fair, Zemo is currently appearing in the Captain America titles, but in his classic guise. Likewise, there is a new Thunderbolts team, the group in which Zemo first used his Citizen V identity, though neither he nor a new Citizen V are part of it. Perhaps plans for his identity changed – or maybe someone else was supposed to take on the Citizen V name, like the new leader of the Thunderbolts, Bucky Barnes.
Like Citizen V, a series of character images shown at Comic-Con International: San Diego in 2015 signaled a return for the intergalactic bounty hunter Death’s Head, who had previously appeared in Iron Man. He never showed up either, so he’s presumably still lost in space.
BLADE
6 of 12A new Blade ongoing series was announced as part of “All-New, All-Different Marvel" at Comic-Con International: San Diego in 2015, but the idea faded and was never solicited before reportedly being scratched outright according to Newsarama's sources.But that series was to focus on the original Blade’s daughter, leaving the Daywalker himself as a mentor figure. Neither Blade, nor his offspring have shown up at all since the relaunch, leaving a vampire-slayer-sized hole in Marvel’s magical wing.
THE WATCHER
7 of 12The Watchers are a group of cosmic observers dedicated to recording all of history while never intervening in its events. Uatu, Marvel’s main Watcher, has broken that edict time and time again – but not since his death at the hands of Nick Fury in Original Sin. While Fury supposedly replaced him, wandering the moon as “The Unseen” – but he’s also stayed true to that title.You’d think some version of the Watcher would have wanted to observe the collapse of the Multiverse, or at least the aftermath, but Uatu and his ilk have remained out of the spotlight. Maybe Marvel has something even bigger in the works to draw out the eternal observers of its timeline.
NICK FURY, SR.
8 of 12Yeah, we just talked about this – Nick Fury, Sr. was last seen wandering the moon as “The Unseen,” the replacement for Uatu the Watcher (whom Fury murdered). But even that status aside, he’s still M.I.A.Sure, there’s a new Nick Fury in the form of Sr.’s son, Nick Fury, Jr. running around, but with the amount of legacy heroes on Marvel’s roster, surely there’s room for both of them in the world of espionage. Maybe Steve Rogers’s turn to Hydra, Fury’s old enemies, will draw him back into the fold.
GHOST RIDER
9 of 12Robbie Reyes, the "All-New" Ghost Rider, was a major launch for Marvel in 2013. His title ran for a little over year, and gave way to a Secret Wars spin-off, Ghost Racers, before Robbie and his title were lost after the crossover.It’s odd that Robbie hasn’t appeared, as he’s a favorite of Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. But more odd is that no version of Ghost Rider has appeared at all, especially considering Marvel now has the movie rights to the character back in house.
WOLVERINE
10 of 12OK, technically there are two Wolverines running around right now in the form of X-23 (who has officially taken the costume and codename), and Old Man Logan, an older version of Wolverine from an alternate future, but the genuine article remains all Han Solo’d up in Adamantium and out of commission.Marvel may have technically doubled down on the IP, but the absence of the genuine article of Marvel’s arguably most popular character is a glaring omission. Knowing how death works in the Marvel Universe, and the built-in out of Logan simply being encased in Adamantium, how long can it be before he’s 'The Best There Is At What He Does' again?
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
11 of 12It’s odd that Marvel’s First Family haven’t really appeared since Secret Wars. Yes, we know the Richards family is in a pocket dimension rebuilding the Multiverse, and of course Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are appearing in separate team books. But the fact that there’s still no Fantastic Four is kind of glaring.Of course, there’s another relaunch on the horizon – one that divides the heroes of the Marvel Universe. Who better to bring them back together (you know, in time for the next next relaunch) than the team that launched the Marvel Age back in the 60’s?
