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Welcome to the Watcher Report, our weekly breakdown of Marvel’s biggest comic book moments from the current batch of releases. Like Uatu the Watcher, each week I observe everything that goes down in the Marvel Universe. That means reading every Marvel release and cataloging the most startling, exciting, and amusing developments.
This week, we learned that Miles Morales gets his best moves from Jujutsu Kaisen. Plus, Jean Grey became a father (?!). Let’s dive into the Watcher’s Report for the week of May 15 for more..
Keep up to date on Popverse’s Marvel coverage, with these highlights: Marvel Comics’ return to fun, How 2024 is a pivotal year for Marvel Comics & Marvel Studios, the 3 big challenges facing Marvel Studios in 2024 (and what they could learn from Marvel Comics), Inside Marvel Comics’ plans to fix its pricing issues, Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel’s X-Men can’t evolve past their ’90s commercial peak, and the biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios’ movies & TV shows.
This week’s Maury moment: Jean Grey is (kinda) Hope Summers’ father
Last week it looked like Marvel was about to reveal the truth about Hope Summers’ parentage. X-Men Forever #4 (written by Kieron Gillen and penciled by Luca Maresca) gives us our answers, and it’s not what any of us expected.
As detailed in our column last week, Enigma traveled back to the night Louise Spalding (Hope’s mother) got pregnant. Enigma hoped to impregnate Louise, which would allow him to control Hope’s genetics (it’s a complicated X-Men thing). Jean Grey got wind of this plan and traveled to the same moment. Once there, Jean and Enigma both tried to convince Louise to let one of them impregnate her.
To Louise’s credit, she took this all in stride. Maybe it was the alcohol she was guzzling, or maybe it’s because she lives in the Marvel Universe, where conversations like this are the norm. Either way, Louise knew Enigma’s plans were sinister, and decided to let Jean impregnate her.
Yes, Jean uses the Phoenix Force to impregnate Louise Spalding. This technically means that Jean Grey is Hope’s father. Don’t forget, Hope is Cable’s adoptive daughter, which means that Hope is her own aunt and her own niece. Since Hope has become an avatar of Phoenix, it also means she’s responsible for her own creation. So yes, the Summers family tree just got a bit more convoluted, but I kind of love this reveal.
It’s worth noting that this is the second time this year that a female X-Men character has been revealed to be another X-Men’s father. Jean and Mystique have a lot to talk about.
This week’s most epic battle: Doctor Doom takes on Galactus
If you’re a Marvel Universe fan, don’t sleep on Doom #1 (written by Sanford Greene and Jonathan Hickman, penciled by Sanford Greene). This giant-sized one-shot features an epic battle between the planet devouring Galactus and Doctor Doom. The story is set in a “near future” which may or may not happen.
First, we see Galactus battle EVERY Marvel hero on Earth. The X-Men, Avengers, and every costumed hero (including Howard the Duck) team up to stop Galactus from devouring Earth….and they’re killed. After turning Earth into a lifeless husk, Galactus fights Marvel’s intergalactic heroes. The Asgardians, Nova Corps, Inhumans, and Guardians of the Galaxy all fall to Galactus. Even the mighty Celestials were no match for Galactus.
The only one left is Doom. With the help of Valeria Richards (who survived Earth’s apocalypse), Doom gets an upgraded suit powered by three Cosmic Cubes. “I hope you’re strong enough,” Valeria says. “Strong enough? At my weakest, I am strong enough to face any foe. Even should it mean my end,” Doom replies.
Doom then faces Galactus in a battle to end all battles. The issue ends before we could see the outcome, but something tells me Doom came out on top.
Is this Hickman and Greene planting seeds for a future storyline? The issue is said to be in the “near future,” so you never know. Marvel would never kill off all their characters, but in a world with magic and time travel, anything is possible.
This week’s most unexpected moment: Loki becomes a stripper
What If…? Venom #4 (written by Jeremy Holt and penciled by Diogenes Neves) puts Loki in a new role – stripper. The limited series is set in an alternate reality where the Venom symbiote bonded with various other characters instead of Eddie Brock. The symbiote bonds with Loki, who uses his new powers to target Moon Knight. The issue plays with the concept of reality, as Loki traps Moon Knight in a nightmare.
Realizing that Loki intends to kill all of Moon Knight’s personas, Marc Spector rushes to find Jake Lockley. Since the issue is set inside of a nightmare world, the concept of time and space are very loose. As a result, Moon Knight rushes into a room, which turns into a strip joint. Lockley is sitting down and enjoying a private show from the stripper. Seconds later, we see that the stripper was a Venomized Loki in disguise.
Maybe it’s the way Neves pencils him, but it looks like Loki was doing a good job. He was working the pole, and judging from the various dollar bills on the table, Lockley appeared to be enjoying the show. Loki could’ve chosen any disguise, but he chose to be a stripper. Maybe it’s his true calling.
This week’s fun fact: Miles Morales is a weeb who loves Jujutsu Kaisen
If you love Jujutsu Kaisen, then you have something in common with Spider-Man. In fact, Miles Morales has learned some of his best moves from Satoru Gojo.
This tidbit came during Miles Morales: Spider-Man #20 (written by Cody Ziglar and penciled by Federico Vicentini). During a conversation with Ganke, Miles recounted his battle with Rabble from the previous issue. At one point during the battle, Rabble had the upper hand. However, Miles was able to turn things around by using the Manji Kick, a move that should be familiar for JK fans.
“Glad to hear my Cruncyroll account saved the day,” Ganke said. “Look, it was the first thing I could think of! Gojo woulda approved,” Miles replied.
Now we know, Miles uses Ganke’s Crunchyroll account to watch Jujutsu Kaisen. And if you think watching anime is a waste of time, just remember that it saved his life during battle. Heck, if Miles is learning moves from the anime, then you could almost say Gojo and Yuji are Spider-Man’s senseis.
I wonder if Miles watches the anime subbed or dubbed.
This week’s grossest (and most gory) moment: Carnage smashes a skull with a barbed wire covered cross
Anytime Carnage shows up, it’s guaranteed that blood will spill. Carnage #7 (written by Torunn Gronbekk and penciled by Pere Perez) opens with Cletus Kasady crashing a death metal concert. Flash Thompson attempts to fight him off, but Carnage easily overpowers him. The band’s lead singer steps in, hitting Carnage with a barbed wire covered cross.
The prop has no effect on Cletus, who grabs it and uses it to smash the lead singer’s skull. We see blood, brain matter, and it looks like part of his head came off. “Do you know what we call this? Death metal,” Carnage quips. I guess Carnage has been hanging around Spider-Man too long, because he’s starting to develop his own puns.
That’s it for this week’s report. Popverse’s Watcher (that’s me!) will return next week to break down the latest developments in the Marvel Universe. See you then…
Advance copies of this week’s Marvel books were provided ahead of release by Marvel.
Keep up to date on Popverse’s Marvel coverage, with these highlights: Marvel Comics’ return to fun, How 2024 is a pivotal year for Marvel Comics & Marvel Studios, the 3 big challenges facing Marvel Studios in 2024 (and what they could learn from Marvel Comics), Inside Marvel Comics’ plans to fix its pricing issues, Overgrown children of the atom: Marvel’s X-Men can’t evolve past their ’90s commercial peak, and the biggest outstanding questions of the Marvel Studios’ movies & TV shows.
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