Starbrand:
Marvel Comics is going through some drastic level of changes in the pages of its superhero universe. Old Man Logan is about to die or is already dead. The original Wolverine was killed, replaced by one from another universe all the while marvel prepared for the return of the mainstream version back from the dead. There was also the case of King Thor and Old Man Phoenix going to war at the end of the Marvel Universe and Doctor Doom crashing in on the party with the greatest level of magical prowess the world had ever seen.
Loki found out that the Infinity Stones were just a prototype batch and the Celestials were mining and had successfully created millions of such stones which they seeded all throughout the multi-Verse. The Immortal Hulk was cut into pieces after fighting his fellow Avengers to a standstill and later regained back his bodily form after forming itself around the very guy who was experimenting on him.
And now this!! Marvel Comics has been going through some major restructuring – metaphorically and literally. As it turns out, this new superhero has been officially declared as the new center of the Marvel Comics Universe. Presenting – Marvel Comics Update – Starbrand is now the center of the Marvel Universe!!!
SPOILER ALERT: Major Spoilers for Avengers #700 up ahead. Jason Aaron, David Marquez, Ed McGuinness, Frazer Irving Justin Ponsor, Adam Kubert, Andrea Sorrentino, Matthew Wilson, Cory Petit, Erick Arciniega, and Giada Marchisio have done a splendid job on the storyline. So if you intend to read it and still have not, we suggest you look away!
Otherwise, you will not be able to gather up all the information for processing and might lose some critical detail that will be pivotal to the plot in one way or another. This Master Piece by Jason Aaron will surely be used as the clay tablet for a lot of future marvel storylines. Jason Aaron is known for his grandiose vision and his fierce Marvel loyalty.
He is one of the only writers who decided to stay behind when Marvel was having a fledgling comic book sales quarter and helped it survive all the way until it started making profits. Aaron’s stories were pure magic and he has done it yet again with another superhero. A Major superhero has now become the epicenter of the Marvel Comics Universe.
In the mainstream continuity, Marvel Comics has led the Avengers to face a variety of threats within and out of this world. In Earth itself, Namor’s Defenders of the Deep are wreaking havoc and chaos on the surface populace. Namor has decided to rebel against the Avengers after killing Stingray, a fellow Avenger operative and going rogue over the waters of Bahrain.
He is now one of the greatest threats of the Earth’s mightiest heroes and yet no one knows why he decided to go down the dark path. While the Avengers frantically try to top Namor and find out the reason for his newfound villainy, there are other threats form otherworldly regions that also have come to threaten the balance of life on the planet.
Loki now knows the true “malevolent Gods of the Marvel Multi-Verse” and these Gods have given out vibes that they will target Earth soon. On Earth, Russia has reinstated the previously disbanded Winter Guard and the Guard is now fighting the Avengers in open battle. And then there is the case of Odin Boron deciding to wipe Ghost Rider out of the face of the Earth.
Why is the All-Father hell-bent on killing the Spirit of Vengeance? Turns out, there is a long history between the two. This story arc is actually a flashback sequence to a time when both these supernatural behemoths were at each other’s throats for some unknown reason.
In a certain sub-plot storyline, Ghost Rider suddenly finds himself stabbed by the Odin Spear. As Ghost Rider barely survives that fatal wound and begins its healing process, Odin keeps violently ranting about Ghost Rider betraying Starbrand and that he has come to avenge him. His exact words in the issue were “He was your brother in arms since the dawn of the world!!”
Robbie Reyes, the new host to the Spirit of Vengeance tries to explain the situation to him but Odin is not ready to listen as he prepares himself to deal on the Rider another flurry of planet-shattering blows. The readers will then soon come to know that Reyes is indeed saying the truth and that somehow, he killing the Starbrand was justified. We have no idea how. This story will probably be explored in detail in the coming issues.
Marvel Legacy #1 shows how the Starbrand came face to face with the Ghost Rider and started attacking the latter. All the while the fight was going on, Starbrand seemed to have the upper hand and kept violently ranting about the coming of the Final Host.
Ghost Rider finally managed to defeat the Starbrand after using his penance stare to literally turn the Starbrand into dust. After looking at its own sins, Starbrand exploded into a billion pieces. Odin listens to this story from Reyes in Avengers #700 when he comes to take Ghost Rider’s life as an act of revenge for the latter taking Starbrand’s.
Odin theorizes that Starbrand, due to its cosmic awareness abilities, had realized that the Final Host was coming to destroy the universe which had somehow made him go insane. Odin leaves Ghost Rider to his devices after sparing him a world of pain.
He claims that Starbrand will be back since it is practically un-killable. But since Ghost Rider now has a weapon to slow it down and the experience to back it up, the Spirit of Vengeance will come in handy in these tumultuous times of war, chaos and bad guys.
In the same issue, we see Loki being tried for the unforgivable crime of waking up the fallen Celestial. As the Celestial Host is on the final stages of passing judgment on the Norse God of Mischief and stories, an unexpected visitor cuts the party short.
Old Man Phoenix, the Wolverine of the Future Timeline that has merged with the Phoenix Force, comes to Loki’s rescue. Old Man Phoenix reveals several heart-wrecking visions to Loki regarding the terrible future of the Marvel Comics Universe that is yet to come.
Numerous surprising twists are found within Logan’s visions. Loki sees Moon Knight leading an army of the undead. Thousands of hands raised in the air, all having the Starbrand on them. Does this mean that the future will see the rise of Multiple Starbrands?
This does put a chill down our spine. In yet another petrifying twist, we see man Thing holding the Mjolnir hammer in his hands. What the hell is going on?!?!? The visions are never clear, to begin with, but whatever faint picture it got through to us, it sure is something interesting.
The heroes of the Marvel Comics Universe are about to have a tough time on their hands soon. The things they have had on their plate until now would be nothing compared to what’s coming for them in the future.
All we can say is this – brace yourselves marvel fans. It is going to be a bumpy ride.
The last Avengers movie to be released under the MCU banner was Avengers: Infinity War. The official film synopsis for the movie reads:
Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers unite to battle their most powerful enemy yet — the evil Thanos. On a mission to collect all six Infinity Stones, Thanos plans to use the artefacts to inflict his twisted will on reality. The fate of the planet and existence itself has never been more uncertain as everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment.
