Marvel Legacy Renumbering, First Big Storylines Revealed

The Avengers are much older than you thought.

By Jesse Schedeen

New details have emerged regarding Marvel's upcoming Legacy relaunch. A new teaser image reveals which ongoing series will revert to their original numbering, and also the names of the new story arcs beginning this fall.

Marvel's press release also offers new clues as to how the Marvel Legacy #1 one-shot will set the stage for the Legacy relaunch in September. That issue (from writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribic) will introduce the very first team of Avengers, one that hails from the year 1,000,000 BC and includes characters like Odin, Iron Fist, Starbrand, Ghost Rider, Phoenix, Agamotto and Black Panther. The Legacy one-shot will span the history of the Marvel Universe and explore how that prehistoric team is connected to the present-day Avengers and the challenges that lay ahead.

“MARVEL LEGACY #1 isn’t simply a history lesson,” said SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort. “Rather, it’s the starting gun to a bevy of mysteries, secrets, and revelations that will reverberate across the Marvel Universe in the weeks and months to come! No character, no franchise will be untouched by the game-changing events that play out across its pages. Jason and Esad pulled out all the stops to fat-pack this colossal issue with as much intrigue, action, surprise, mystery, shock, and adventure as possible!”

Interestingly, while Marvel revealed a total of 52 series during last week's Legacy announcement, the press release indicates the real number will be 53. We're assuming the missing 53rd book is either Runaways (which also returns in September) or an unrevealed Captain America comic spinning out of the events of Secret Empire. We've reached out to Marvel for comment and we'll let you know when we learn more.

For now, we're intrigued by several of these new storylines and what they hint at as far as the future of the Marvel Universe. Here are a few observations:

• The fact that "The Death of Mighty Thor" kicks off in the milestone issue The Mighty Thor #700 only makes it seem that much more likely that Jane Foster's days are numbered.
• Invincible Iron Man #593's "The Search for Tony Stark" suggests that Tony will be waking up from his Civil War II-induced coma. Will Riri Williams and Victor Von Doom be forced to join forces to track him down.
• Does Cable #150's "The Newer Mutants" mean that Cable will be assembling a new team of militant mutant warriors? It is worth noting that there's no X-Force at the moment...
• Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #13 is titled "Eight Years Later," which could mean that the series is permanently jumping forward eight years and shifting focus to a teenage Annie May Parker. Interesting, but at what point does RNV become a rehash of the MC2 Spider-Girl comics?
• With Marvel Two-In-One kicking off with a story called "The Fate of the Four," maybe there's still hope that this series will set the stage for a new Fantastic Four comic. Between that and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur's "The Fantatsic Three," clearly Marvel wants readers to notice the FF's continued absence.
• With Moon Knight #188 being titled "Crazy Runs In the Family," are we about to meet Marc Spector's extended family? Perhaps even a child or sibling?

Let us know what you think of these new reveals and whether you're excited to meet the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC in the comments below.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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