What's The Heroic Age Going To Be About?

What do you think the overarching thread of Marvel's "Heroic Age" is going to be? Is there going to be any specific thing that could connect the books? Let's reflect and speculate!

The Initiative was generally about the characters adjusting to Iron Man being in charge of SHIELD, and there being super-teams assigned to every state, and the government generally asserting more control of costumed vigilantes (or trying to at any rate). There were heroes in the system trying to do their best, but realizing they have to work closely with people with very different ideas about how to do things (Gyrich). The heroes who wouldn't toe the line were largely interested in doing things their way. I didn't have the feeling the New Avengers were looking to drag Stark down from his position so much as they simply weren't going to follow him. They'd fight crime, he and his group would fight crime, but one side is following specific rules and regulations, and the other is following whatever code they think best.

Dark Reign seemed to be about exposing the weaknesses in Iron Man's plans to consolidate power in one person's hands. Instead of Iron Man - who kept looking the other way when it came to his renegade former friends - in charge, now it's crazy-ass Norman Osborn and his team of loons running about. It largely established that if you thought things were bad under Tony Stark, you hadn't seen anything yet. The few heroes still inside the system are now vastly outnumbered by corrupt superiors, and either compromise themselves trying to stay alive, or defy their bosses and risk turning up as collateral damage. Now the renegades are more actively trying to bring Osborn down.

With the Heroic Age, it looks as though people in the Marvel Universe finally appreciate the good guys. Finally. I know I said it twice. Is there still going to be an attempt at government regulation? If so, will it be a more open one, where the people making the rules, if they aren't folks used to donning costumes and fighting crime, at least receive input from people with experience at that on what are reasonable expectations? Are we going back to the heroes acting independently, saving whoever they happen to see in distress? I feel it would be the latter, perhaps under the reasoning a "heroic" stance would involve not compromising one's principles. I could see the conflict being certain folks trying to undermine the newfound confidence of the public in their heroes, either through smear campaigns, or specific acts designed to make the heroes look bad.

It could just be a banner to slap on the cover to try and boost sales, with no theme connecting the stories. Can't rule that option out, unfortunately.

Place Your Bets For The Great Downfall!

Who is going to bring down Norman Osborn? It has to happen eventually. The New Avengers are after him. Spider-Man as a solo player is gunning for him. Throw in the Agents of Atlas, Moon Knight, Songbird, Iron Man, maybe Deadpool in a roundabout way, and I'm sure the X-Men will take notice of him now that he's going to start screwing with their reputation. Maybe Speedball gets out of wherever Moonstone shipped him off to and brings the hurt. Then there's the villains like Doom, who at some point will have to be fed up with being ordered around by a loon.

Maybe it will be a plucky reporter*, like Ben Urich, who will (again) have to educate the citizens of the Marvel Universe that hey, Norman Osborn is evil, and crazy, and it is a bad thing for Osborn to have any power, let alone as much as he does. Or Betty Brant, she's been working hard to be a big-time reporter, right? Maybe Peter Parker will bring down Osborn through the power of the camera. That would be pretty sweet actually. Norman's (mostly) hung up the Goblin costume, and trying to present a legit face to the public, so Pete beats him through his civilian occupation.

Norman could always just self-destruct, but that would be a weak payoff. After all he's done, I think it would be better for the readers if the heroes actively defeat Osborn, rather than essentially stall until his house of cards falls in on itself.

Maybe it will be some unforseen factor. Perhaps Rocket Raccoon will zoom down from space, shoot Osborn in the face, then teleport back out. Problem solved, and once again we are reminded that when you want something done right, call Rocket Raccoon.

* Please do not let Sally Floyd be the savior of the Marvel Universe. If my choices were between Ms. "Captain America is out of touch because he doesn't use MySpace" ending Osborn's Reign, and Osborn staying in power indefinitely, I will take the guy with stupid hair running the show. And this is coming from someone who has reached the point he really wishes they never brought Norman back from the dead.

It Probably Wouldn't Jibe With The Point Of Brand New Day

I saw a cover that promised the New Avengers were going to have to fight it out with Osborn's Dark Avengers. I really don't care too much about that, but the cover showed Spider-Man squaring off with someone that is supposed to be the Dark Avengers' Spider-Man. I imagine he's wearing the symbiont, though whoever it is reined in the alien, given the absence of huge teeth or a really long tongue. I suppose this team is even more public than the Thunderbolts, so Norman needed someone who can control the symbiont better, less attempted cannibalism in front of cameras, and the like.

Anyway, what I thought about was Spidey, during that battle, offering to let the symbiont join with him again. Everything I've ever read says it wants Peter, first and foremost. More than Brock, or Gargan, or whatever sucker it happens to latch on to at any particular moment. And given some of the folks on the Dark Avengers, Spidey could probably use a power boost to get through that battle.

Yeah, it's unlikely Spider-Man would ever willingly bond with the symbiont* again, and doing so would probably go against the tone that Brand New Day has tried to establish for Spider-Man. After all, if being married is going to cut down on his ability to have girl trouble, what's being permanently bonded to an alien goo-thing going to do? Though I suppose you could hi-jinks where the symbiont gets jealous of whatever girl Pete happens to be dating, or gets sore if he spends too much time hanging out with Harry. Still, seeing Norman Osborn in a position of considerable power, in spite of all the things he's done, might just make Pete a little depressed, perhaps a little frustrated or desperate. I doubt Norman would expect Peter to willingly pair up with the symbiont again, so that would probably be quite a surprise.

* Assuming the Dark Avengers' Spidey analogue is wearing the symbiont, as opposed to one of those Iron Spider suits. Those do have camouflage abilities, but they were also Stark tech, so according to Secret Invasion, they all should have crashed and burned when the Skrulls got more openly aggressive. Plus, Norman already had the symbiont, and I can't imagine he would let a weapon like that out of his grasp.

This Is That Moment Before Dawn, Right?

Looking at the Marvel Universe, things have been in a downward spiral for the heroes for awhile now, haven't they? And most of that has been them squabbling amongst themselves, or being under attack from their friends and allies. So is Dark Reign the point all that turns around?

From Disassembled, to House of M, to Civil War, to World War Hulk, to Secret Invasion, the people that wind up causing trouble for the heroes are people who were either their friends, or were pretending to be their friends. It's Wanda going out of her gourd, or Iron Man vs. Cap, or the Hulk looking for some payback, or oops! Jarvis was a Skrull, oh no! The heroes can never get on the same page. They're divided on what to do with Wanda, or they disagree about the Registration Act, or they aren't sure about helping the Illuminati with the Hulk 'cause maybe they deserve it*. When the Skrulls stupidly dropped an army in New York and started blowing crap up, the heroes got their act together for awhile, but once the fight ended, it fell apart again.

Now it appears they'll be up against a cabal of evil** that is, in theory, going to be more subtle. A brief team up to punch people won't fix things (again, in theory). The good guys might actually have to play well together for some time to turn the tide and get things straightened out. Who knows, they might actually talk over the differences they have with each other, mend some friendships.

It seems that with the people who'll be driving Dark Reign generally being outright villains, the heroes should all be on the same side in this one. Actually, this would be a good test of Cyclops' new style. Hey Scotty, Emma's gone evil again, will you send X-Force after her like you did Cable and Bishop? Or will you be soft on her?

As for why everyone is listening to Norman, I've only been able to come up with one (in-story) explanation. Post-Secret Invasion, Norman's in charge of all the governmental super-stuff. SHIELD's gone, the Initiative's gone, everything has been, as far as I can tell lumped into one big group that Norman runs. So theoretically, he could threaten to just send wave after wave of this army he now has at anyone who won't play ball until they're destroyed. He's already demonstrated he can play the media, and the imbeciles that make up the public in the Marvel Universe, like a harp from hell, if I may steal from Batman Returns. He can make up some line of b.s about why he has his people burning the X-Men's shiny San Francisco headquarters to the ground, or why they're invading Latveria or Asgard, and people will buy it. And sure, lots of his resources will get killed, but it's not like Norman would care. He's crazy enough to do that, and the others might simply figure it's better to go along with him than waste time on big stupid fights that will drain their available resources.

I'd be fairly disappointed if most of the others aren't at least planning how to stab Norman in the back. Loki certainly is, while Doom is probably settling on a scheme where he tricks Norman into doing what Doom wants, without that being readily apparent to anyone else.

* Hey, that would be what I'd be thinking if the Hulk says he wants to smash them for tricking him shooting him into space, and then blowing up his planet. Granted they did not actually do that last one, but I'd have serious doubts about getting between them and the Hulk. Which is why I'm not a superhero.

** That's perhaps unfair to Emma and Namor, who may well be there just to gather information for their allies, but given the way things have gone the last few years, until they actually demonstrate that's what they're up to, I'll assume they showed up because they're on board with Norman.