Five brand-new Marvel characters who will be key figures to the entire universe, and perhaps multiverse, officially make their debut. Marvel comics, movies, and video games consistently place their focus on established icons like Spider-Man, the Avengers, and the X-Men to lead massive blockbuster films and flagship comic book titles. However, every singular Marvel icon had to start as a complete unknown. Characters like Wolverine in The Incredible Hulk #181, Blade in The Tomb of Dracula #10, and the entire modern international roster of the X-Men across different titles were all risky gambles at one point.
These past few years, Marvel has embraced this cycle of creation with the introduction of a highly diverse array of characters who have left indelible marks on the fandom. At one extreme sits the controversial Paul Rabin, whose romance with Mary Jane Watson secured him an immediate, near-universal notoriety among readers. Meanwhile, Earth-1610 Reed Richards’ transformation itno The Maker has been widely celebrated. Other newcomers like Justina LaGuardia, Maystorm, David Colton. Lady Henrietta, Eldest and the Mother of Horrors, Charli Ramsey, and the Outliers have all injected Marvel lore with fresh blood, if not with highly-regarded icons-in-the-making.
Marvel isn’t stopping this trend anytime soon, as the foundations for the world-threatening Armageddon event are laid with the introduction of five completely new characters, each with their own set of superhuman abilities.
Marvel Officially Introduces Five New Superpowered Characters Ahead Of Its Next Big Event
Ultimate Impact: Reborn #1; Written By Chris Condon; Art By Stefano Caselli, Marte Gracia, And David Curiel
Five new Marvel characters gain superpowers in Ultimate Impact Reborn #1
Although they didn’t save Earth-6160 from being harmed by the Maker’s twisted plans, the Origin Boxes served their purpose in the Ultimate Universe, and Miles Morales fulfills his duty of transporting them to Iron Man on Earth-616 for safekeeping. Unfortunately, in a recreation of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the Spot toys with the fate of multiple universes by stealing them from Miles. Miles and the Spot’s brief skirmish results in the Origin Boxes ending up in the hands of five completely unrelated human individuals, who are now set to develop their own superpowers.
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Knowing the Marvel Universe, there’s always the chance that at least one of these new characters is deeply intertwined with an established character. However, the main appeal of these new faces is that they’re all regular citizens, with different jobs, different social and economic backgrounds, and with different motivations before and after receiving their respective superhuman enhancements. The young journalist could become a new Spider-Man-like figure and the recently fired Boothe Media assistant could become a Venom-like villain, or they could subvert expectations and transform into wildly different superhuman archetypes.
Marvel’s Five New Characters Connect Multiple Universes In A Brilliant Way
Ultimate Impact: Reborn’s Five New Superhumans Are The Fruit Of Several Years’ Worth Of Build-Up
Miles Morales leads the Ultimate Avengers
The five new superhumans enhanced by the missing Origin Boxes represent the beginning of a new era for Marvel and a key event in the plot of Armageddon. However, they’re also the culmination of a long chain of events that can only take place in Marvel’s vast multiverse. A group of Earth-616 superheroes and supervillains receive their powers from devices made on Earth-6160 to defeat a villain from Earth-1610. This encompasses three rich timelines and twenty-six years of interconnected, continuous storytelling.
Rarely can any franchise build such a long interconnected series of major events without interruption or heavy retconning. While Ultimate Impact: Reborn was far from being planned back when Marvel’s original Ultimate Universe was launched in 2000, the debut of Earth-1610’s Reed Richards in 2004’s Ultimate Fantastic Four inadvertently kicked off a domino effect that directly leads to the current state of Marvel Comics’ three main timelines. Not even the MCU, which took a hard pivot halfway through the Multiverse Saga, can boast such an achievement.
What do you think about Marvel introducing brand-new characters as major players?
Ultimate Impact: Reborn #1 is now available from Marvel Comics
First Appearance
Amazing Fantasy
Alias
Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, Otto Octavius, Yu Komori, Kaine Parker, Pavitr Prabhakar, William Braddock, Miles Morales, Kurt Wagner
Alliance
Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Secret Defenders, Future Foundation, Heroes for Hire, Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Web-Warriors
Race
Human