Marvel's bigger summer event is 'Heroes Reborn,' a nearly line-wide event that celebrates the 25th anniversary of its namesake original event. This What If? style story paints a picture of a Marvel U if the main Avengers never became heroes, and as a result the Avengers never had a profound effect on their world.
"A WORLD WITHOUT AVENGERS! Welcome to a world where Tony Stark never built an Iron Man armor. Where Thor is a hard-drinking atheist who despises hammers. Where Wakanda is dismissed as a myth. And where Captain America was never found in the ice because there were no Avengers to find him," reads Marvel's description of Heroes Reborn #1.
Turns out, in their stead Marvel's preeminent superhero team looks a whole lot like DC's Justice League.
Yeah, Marvel's Squadron Supreme of America.
"Instead this world has always been protected by Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Squadron Supreme of America," Marvel's description continues. "And now the Squadron faces an attack from some of their fiercest enemies, like Dr. Juggernaut, the Black Skull, the Silver Witch and Thanos with his Infinity Rings. But why is the Daywalker Blade the one man alive who seems to remember that the entire world has somehow been...reborn?"
'Heroes Reborn' begins May 5 with Heroes Reborn #1, and Marvel has also commissioned a number of variant covers for the occasion. In addition to the primary cover by former X-Men series artist Leinil Francis Yu, there are variants by Ed McGuinness, Jeffrey Veregge, Mark Bagley (Blade), Stanley 'Artgerm' Lau, George Perez (a 'hidden gem' variant), Mark Bagley (Mephisto), John Tyler Christopher (action figure variant), Joshua Cassara (Stormbreakers variant), Carlos Pacheco, Iban Coello, and Lucio Parrillo (a Devil Dog retailer exclusive variant).
Here they are:
Marvel has high hopes for Heroes Reborn, but it has big shoes to fill. Read our list of the best Marvel Comics stories of all time.
