War Is Over, King's Are Dead, What Now?

OK, a couple of weeks ago I had a little post to sort of sum up the current status quo in Cosmic Marvel, post-War of Kings. I thought that for today, we could look at what sorts of stories could be told based on the situation.

OK, obviously the Fault offers all sorts of potential for bringing characters into the fold, or writing characters out for awhile. Anyone or anything can come out of there, and either be a source of conflict, an ally, or simply someone lost and uncertain of what to do. One idea, and it's already been touched on a little bit by the arrival of Monark Starslayer, is what do you do with beings that start coming through the Fault? Not criminals or bounty hunters, but say, refugees, fleeing from a dictator. Or maybe they say they're refugees, but representatives of the ruler claim they're criminals. What kind of authority can the Nova Corps (or the Kree, Shi'ar, etc.) exert? Don't they have to respect other kingdoms' laws? Does anybody really want to start up another war, with people not even from their universe?

There can be stories about characters getting lost in the Fault (I think Nova will be doing this by December), and maybe we could find out what's on the other side. Another universe? Lots of other universes? Space between universes? Cynosure? The Exiles Crystal Tower headquarters? All of the above?

Seangreyson told me that a Raptor is passing itself off as the Araki (first minister) of the Shi'ar. OK, so what can be done with that? Gladiator is currently running the show, and I imagine the Raptor will wait and see how he does before taking action. If the Araki offers advice, will Gladiator listen, or does he follow a different course? The Raptors were willing to back Looney Tunes Vulcan until he proved too erratic and unwilling to listen, so I have to think Gladiator will be afforded the same chance.

But there's the question of Darkhawk. He's out there, having sworn to find all the other members of the Hierarchy of Raptors and stop them. Except he's also a wanted criminal for being the killer of Lilandra (well, it wasn't him, but it looked like him). It's doubtful Gladiator would need encouragement to order his capture and execution, but will the Araki press its importance anyway, concerned that Darkhawk might track it down? Or would it actually dissuade Gladiator, preferring he focus on the overall health of the Shi'ar Empire, and trust it's hidden well enough that Darkhawk won't find it?

Nova's going to have to adjust to being not only the top Space Cop, but a leader, and a teacher. Plus, he's got to deal with his brother being in the Corps as well. So part of Rich is gonna want to protect Robbie (he's seen too many Novas die already, and you know he doesn't want to have to explain to their parents how he let little brother stay in outer space and get killed), but Robbie will certainly buck against that, and it'll render him useless. But Rich also can't give Robbie too much free rein. He may have the best grasp of gravimetric fields the Worldmind's seen in two centuries, but he's still a rookie, and one who really wants to be a big-time hero, which is a dangerous combination.

Eventually the Kree are going to learn what the Inhumans had planned with that T-Bomb, and how the Kree would have been left behind, and that's sure to cause problems. Yeah, the Kree/Inhuman alliance beat the Shi'ar, but it tore a giant freaky hole in space, that anything can come through, and the Inhumans were prepared to leave the Kree as the least evolved species in the universe. The Kree have too much pride not to get riled. Who knows if Medusa's playing with a full deck after Black Bolt's death, and there's always the possibility Maximus will have a relapse into being dangerously crazy, instead of helpfully crazy.

I think the two potential wild cards are the Badoon, and Blastaar. During Star-Lord's absence at the start of this year, the Badoon stepped up a bit and started testing their weapons on nearby worlds, while keeping their appearances hidden behind cloaking devices. Back when Annihilation wrapped up, I thought the Badoon would play a big role in what came next, simply because I couldn't see them not capitalizing on all the damage the Skrulls, Kree, and the Annihilation Wave inflicted upon one another. It didn't happen, but they're still there, and it only seems proper, with a Guardians of the Galaxy book, for the Badoon to be a growing concern. But will they make a big, splashy attack on the devastated Shi'ar military, or would they opt to sow dissent amongst the Kree populace? Or form an alliance with Blastaar? Or do all three at once (since they could use Blastaar to draw attention away from themselves).

As for Blastaar, he's the one I'm most interested in. Nova's bravado aside, everyone has to be concerned about Blastaar, if for no other reason than everyone remembers what happened the last time an army came out the Negative Zone. He was already pretty powerful, and now he's sporting a Cosmic Control Rod (though that raises its own issue). He certainly wants to conquer, and he's now set up right on the border of the Kree Empire, having taken Ravenous' Territories away from him. But more than that, he seems to want respect. He wants to be recognized as a true monarch, worthy of respect. So that means that you can't be sure what he'll do in a given situation. Yes, he might attack you during a moment of weakness, but he might decide (or could be convinced) that it would be better for you to owe him one, and he could come to your rescue. Of course, having allied himself with you, he might later stab you in the back when he felt it appropriate, but he might as readily not. So you never know what you get.

Might as well address that little issue I mentioned. See, the Cosmic Control Rod was being used by a usurper to keep the baby Annihilus we saw at the end of Annihilation from growing up. The Raptors killed the usurper, took the Rod, and gave it to Blastaar, to convince him to help the Shi'ar. Which he did, until he stopped feeling like it. But without the Rod, the baby Annihilus will have started growing again, and I'm not sure Blastaar realizes that. I don't know how fast an Annihilus grows up, but he could prove a rather rude surprise for Blastaar. And everyone else.