Marvel’s Secret Wars Prelude Is Required Reading For Fans Whether They Like the MCU or Not

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Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – even non-MCU fans – still have some major required reading ahead of them. Marvel Studios has confirmed that its 2027 Avengers movie will be called Secret Wars. The addition of former Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr., returning to the franchise as Doctor Doom leaves audiences expecting that the movie will adapt Secret Wars, one of Marvel’s most important comic events.

All things considered, its inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe makes Secret Wars essential reading prior to the movie adaptation, but its prequel is even more of a must-read. Before Secret Wars arrived on stands, Marvel delivered Time Runs Out, an essential comic event to read before reading (or seeing) Secret Wars.

After breaking down what happens in Time Runs Out and what makes it significant to Secret Wars, it will become all the more apparent as to why it is important to read for every Marvel fan, especially MCU fans.

By Jonathan Hickman and Various Artists Across Multiple Avengers Titles

Time Runs Out is the official countdown prelude to Secret Wars that was released between 2014 and 2015, stretching across the Avengers and New Avengers titles at the time. “In X Months … Time Runs Out!” is stamped at the top of each issue released in that year’s span, building anticipation for what would become arguably Marvel’s best storyline. To get there, it starts with Marvel’s Illuminati, a shadow organization comprised of the greatest minds the Marvel Universe has come to know: Black Bolt, Reed Richards, Iron Man, Beast, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, the Hulk, and at one point, Namor.

The Illuminati compiled themselves to make the tough choices in the background that Earth-616’s primary heroes wouldn’t, but even they have their morals. They discover that a series of multiversal contractions are occurring that are smashing universes into each other at the incursion point: Earth. Either one universe is spared in the collision, or both are destroyed. When Earth-616 is at risk, no one in the Illuminati can bring themselves to sacrifice another universe to save their own – so Namor makes the decision to do so against the team’s wishes.

Iron Man’s Illuminati vs. Captain America’s S.H.I.E.L.D.

This decision gets Namor kicked out of the group, and in turn, Namor forms his own Avengers-slaughtering villain group: the Cabal. Namor’s Cabal consists of himself, Maximus, Black Swan, Terrax, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and Thanos. Unsurprisingly, such unstoppable and unpredictable personalities prove to be “unmanageable” in Namor’s eyes. He starts to regret his decision as the Cabal, rather than becoming a force of necessary evil, becomes more unruly, relishing the destruction of universes to no clear end. The Cabal isn’t the Illuminati’s only problem, as they must also contend with a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit of the Avengers.

Under the leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander Steve Rogers, the Illuminati have become public enemy number one upon the discovery of their secret operations. Among the S.H.I.E.L.D. Avengers is Sue Storm, who is seemingly determined to hunt down her husband, though she’s actually working with Reed Richards from the inside, feeding the Illuminati intel. A Multiversal Avengers team is also investigating the incursion in an attempt to save the multiverse, as is Doctor Strange and his Black Priests.

Setting the Stage for His Secret Wars Spotlight

During the Cabal’s takeover of Wakanda and their capture of Iron Man Tony Stark, Namor begs Doctor Doom for his help to fight them off, but Doom would rather be a diva than relent. Instead, Doom has his team of Latverian scientists and researchers (including the Mad Thinker and Molecule Man, the latter held against his will) working effortlessly to solve the multiverse’s incursion problem. With Molecule Man at his fingertips, Doom alludes to having some sort of plan to his adopted son, Kristoff Vernard. Little do readers know at this point that this single exchange has set the stage for Doctor Doom’s greatest triumph.

The Molecule Man is the one constant across the multiverse, serving as a bomb created by the Beyonders to detonate in every universe all at once. The Molecule Man conspires with Doom to kill each universe’s Molecule Man before they can detonate, thus diminishing damage to the multiverse, but the ripple effect of their plan is what created the multiverse’s incursions in the first place. On his journey, Doom formed a cult of Black Swans under the guise of Rabum Alal, hoping a religion would assist his efforts to save the multiverse.

The remainder of Time Runs Out eventually sees all the heroes form a united front, even after numerous double crosses (including one where T’Challa stabs Namor ahead of Namor’s own planned betrayal), but the end is near with only two dozen universes remaining in the multiverse. Soon, after a battle with the Beyonders, it becomes apparent that there are only two universes left: Earth-616, the main Marvel universe, and Earth-1610, the Ultimate Universe. Nick Fury had joined forces with the Maker to start destroying universes in hopes of saving their own.

Why Is It a Must-Read?

Time Runs Out is the definition of a chicken-or-the-egg scenario. As much as Secret Wars is highly praised, there could be no Secret Wars without Time Runs Out. There are several moving pieces moving throughout Time Runs Out, just as there are several moving pieces throughout Secret Wars. The difference is that none of those pieces in Secret Wars could move without Time Runs Out playing out in its entirety first, particularly when it comes to Doctor Doom’s godhood. Time Runs Out quite clearly sets the stage for that.

By the same sword, as much as Secret Wars is praised as the turning point for the multiverse concept, Marvel’s current obsession with the multiverse begins with Time Runs Out. Time Runs Out also sets the stage for Miles Morales and the Maker to become the only survivors of Earth-1610, dissolving the original Ultimate Marvel Universe into Earth-616. Avengers: Secret Warsis the MCU’s most hotly anticipated feature for a reason, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe could not possibly include elements of the original comic without including elements of its game-changing prequel.

Avengers: Time Runs Out is available now both digitally and in collected editions from Marvel Comics.

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