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  1. Comics
  2. Marvel Comics
  3. Fantastic Four

Meet the new (old?) villains of Marvel's The Reckoning War event

News
By Chris Arrant published 21 October 2021

A first look at Marvel's next big villains, from The Reckoning War

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Fantastic Four #40 cover
Fantastic Four #40 cover (Image credit: Carlos Pacheco (Marvel Comics))
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Marvel Comics' The Reckoning War event begins in January 2022, featuring the return of a mysterious villainous force which writer Dan Slott tells Newsarama hasn't been around in over 40 years. And while the identity of these antagonists remain Marvel‘s (and Slott's) closely held secret, Newsarama has the first look at four of them.

Meet Rapture, Wrath, Reject, and Ruin - all designed by RB Silva:

Reckoning War villains

The Reckoning War villains designed by RB Silva (Image credit: RB Silva (Marvel Comics))

While the villainous force of The Reckoning War apparently ges back to the '70s (or even earlier), these four are newly-designed characters - meaning they're new characters part of an already-estabished Marvel villain group, or they're people fans might know but under new names and new clothes (hey, everybody deserves a makeover!)

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  • Avengers: Secret Wars - three Spider-Men during the Marvel movie No Way Home Avengers: Secret Wars release date, cast, plot, and more news

The Reckoning War Alpha #1 primary cover

(Image credit: Carlos Pacheco (Marvel Comics))

"These are characters that have not really been around since their original appearance," Slott tells Newsarama. "The very fact that they're back, is something. The minute they walk onto the comics page... once people realize who they are and what they've done in the past, every part of your body will clench. These characters should not be back. The very fact that they are back means doom."

These villains (and The Reckoning War) are all somehow connected to what Slott is calling Marvel Comics' "first war," eons before Secret Wars, The Kree/Skrull War, and more.

"There's going to be a seminal moment at the start of The Reckoning War which will really define the stakes of it all," Slott says. "And once we realize who the antagonists are, what they want, and why, everything will be understood."

The Reckoning War Alpha is drawn by Carlos Pacheco, with Rachael Stott drawing the Fantastic Four issues.

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"One of the most fun things about this job is writing 'holy crap' moments. In The Reckoning War Alpha and the Fantastic Four issues, there's a 'holy crap' moment every couple of pages," the writer continues. "'WHAT?! Did they just do that?!' Yes, we did."

The event kicks off January 5, 2022 with The Reckoning War Alpha.

It looks like we might have to make some adjustments to our best Marvel supervillains list in the near future.

Chris Arrant
Chris Arrant
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Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)

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