A New Marvel/DC Crossover? 5 Years Later, The “Secret Crisis” May Finally Be Here

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In a surprise announcement, Marvel and DC Comics are joining forces once more for new crossover comics, and the “Secret Crisis” may finally be here. It’s been over 20 years since Marvel and DC came together for a crossover with 2003’s JLA/Avengers. However, it looks as though both major comic book publishers are preparing to unite again in 2025, presumably as an exciting push to reinvigorate the comics market in general.

At the annual comic book retailer summit known as ComicsPRO, DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins and Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski spoke after the keynote speech. Together, the EICs initially alluded to a modern-day Marvel/DC crossover event before fully confirming that the publishers were indeed uniting to do just that. Coming as a major shock and surprise, it will be very exciting to see what this new 2025 Marvel/DC crossover brings, and whether it will tie into a major tease made 5 years ago: “Secret Crisis”.

Marvel and DC Comics Have Announced Brand New Crossover One-Shots

Marvel/DC and DC/Marvel

According to the new announcement from Cebulski and Javins, Marvel and DC Comics will each publish a respective one-shot, which have thus just been titled Marvel/DC and DC/Marvel. Currently, it’s not yet known which creative teams will be attached to the project, specific plot details, or which characters will be incorporated into these new crossover comics. Nevertheless, the level of excitement and hype surrounding the project is already quite high from Marvel and DC fans alike.

It’s been over two decades since Marvel and DC Comics have worked together on a crossover comic. This is largely due to the decisions of past Marvel and DC editors like Joe Quesada and Dan DiDio, both of whom were largely reluctant to bring their respective universes together. That said, the publishers have a rich history (before the early 2000s) of bringing their characters together with exciting encounters and showdowns between Marvel and DC’s greatest heroes.

A Brief History of Past Marvel and DC Crossover Comics

It’s Been Over 20 Years Since The Last Crossover Event

Marvel and DC first came together in 1976 for Superman/Spider-Man, an exciting crossover event that kickstarted several more crossovers, including Batman & The Incredible Hulk, a handful of Batman/Punisher crossover comics, Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans, Spider-Man/Batman, the major DC Versus Marvel event featuring multiple heroes from both universes, and more. The publisher even created the Amalgam Universe where their universes and characters were merged, creating new heroes such as Dark Claw (Batman/Wolverine), Super-Soldier (Captain America/Superman), and Dr. Strangefate (Doctor Strange/Doctor Fate).

JLA/Avengers was one of the first big crossovers envisioned by Marvel and DC in 1983. However, disputes behind the scenes meant that it would ultimately not be released until 2003 by Kurt Busiek and George Perez. This was the last Marvel/DC crossover apart from special reprints and omnibuses which have only recently been released, with JLA/Avengers receiving a 2022 reprint in honor of Perez (who at the time was battling cancer), and Marvel and DC coming together to release the omnibuses in late 2024.

On the business side, the stage has been set for a new Marvel/DC crossover for some time now. The recent reprints certainly serve as solid proof that the publishers are more excited about working together than they have in the past. However, there was also a pretty big in-universe tease made in 2020 by DC Comics that’s absolutely worth mentioning.

5 Years Ago, A New Marvel/DC Crossover Was Teased: “Secret Crisis”

As Revealed By Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan

Released in 2019-2020, DC’s Doomsday Clock by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank was both a sequel series to Alan Moore’s Watchmen while also being a crossover between the heroes and characters of the Watchmen Universe with the DCU proper. Culminating several storylines from the New 52 and Rebirth eras of the DC Universe, it was revealed that Watchmen’s incredibly powerful Doctor Manhattan was responsible for manipulating the post-Flashpoint universe, specifically when it came to the life of Superman, whom he saw as a universal cornerstone and someone who would eventually destroy him.

In the final issue of Doomsday Clock, Superman finally meets Manhattan face-to-face and renews Manhattan’s hope. In turn, Manhattan resets his manipulations of the DC Universe, restoring the Justice Society of America, Superman’s Earth parents, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, all of whom had been missing in the new post-Flashpoint timeline up until that point. However, Manhattan also looks at Superman’s future in this final issue, referencing events in the DC Universe that had yet to pass. This includes a reference to Earth-5G, a DC Universe event that has since been scrapped and reworked into other events like Future State and Infinite Frontier.

However, the big tease was Doctor Manhattan’s reference to a “Secret Crisis” event occurring in 2030, involving Superman joining forces with Thor and a “green behemoth” (Hulk), who’s as strong as Doomsday and dies protecting the Man of Steel. Naturally, this was likely just an Easter egg from Johns, merging Marvel’s major Secret Wars event and DC’s various Crisis events into one brand-new Marvel/DC crossover of epic proportions. However, it’s possible that “Secret Crisis” may finally become a reality 5 years later in 2025, albeit 5 years early, based on Manhattan’s prediction.

Secret Crisis Would Be The Perfect Name For Marvel and DC’s New Crossover

Merging Into One Mega Comics Event

Marvel and DC Comics’ new crossover one-shots don’t need to follow Doctor Manhattan’s tease to the letter (and they probably won’t). That said, I do hope “Secret Crisis” is used as a title or referenced in some way within the books themselves. It’s too good of a title, and what better way to market what will undoubtedly be the biggest comics event of the year than by combining the names of Marvel and DC’s biggest events of all time? It seems like a no-brainer, though I’m excited to see what Marvel and DC’s upcoming new partnership has in store either way.

Marvel and DC’s crossover comics are expected to be released later this year in 2025.

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