Since about 2010-2011, Marvel has been hinting at a story called ‘Age of Ultron’. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, the story was first hyped up in the Free Comic Book Day book, ‘Avengers’ #12.1, and spotlights Ultron, one of the teams most dangerous villains ever, as he is reintroduced into the Marvel Universe. Although the story was pushed back since it was first alluded to for a number of different reasons , it was officially announced last November and now the time is finally upon us to see just what the former Avengers guy has in store for us and the entire roster of heroes in this first crossover event in the Marvel NOW! era.
The 10-issue limited series begins this March with the first six issues being released thrice monthly and the last four issues coming out bi-monthly, but Marvel is already beginning to tease the coming of the living automaton created by Hank Pym. The first teaser from back in November was entirely in binary code, but once translated, it read “Age of Ultron”. The latest teasers, which tout the phrase “Submit Or Perish_”, come from various artists and feature various heroes who are assumed to play an integral part in the upcoming crossover. You can check out the five teasers in the gallery below featuring Red Hulk, Black Widow, She-Hulk, Iron Man, and Hawkeye:
Bendis told Newsarama last week that this story is a “huge Marvel disaster movie” with “gigantic ramifications for books coming out of it, including books that [he’s] writing”, but series editor Tom Brevoort went into more detail when speaking to Comic Book Resources about the sheer magnitude of the event and all that it will encompass:
“This is the first large-scale story to hit across the landscape of Marvel NOW!, so it’s frighteningly important to what’s going on and what will be going on in the future! We’ve been laying the seeds for ‘Age of Ultron’ as far back as the Heroic Age, and as you can see from the list of tie-in titles, it’s a story that’s going to impact all across the Marvel Universe, into every corner — from ‘Uncanny Avengers’ to ‘Wolverine & The X-Men’ to ‘Superior Spider-Man’ and ‘Fantastic Four.’ It’s also a team of world-class creators telling an epic saga of sweeping scale! And people are going to absolutely plotz when they get to the final pages of the final issue — guaranteed!”
Joining Bendis on the creative team will be superstar artist Brian Hitch for the first section of the story where Ultron has already taken over the world, followed by Brandon Peterson, Carlos Pacheco, and a mystery artist that will tie the whole thing together. You can check out Hitch’s first cover for the series below, along with the solicitation info for the first issue from the press release announcing the series:
Marvel is pleased to present your first look at the explosive first issue of ‘Age Of Ultron’ #1! This March, enter the darkest days of the Marvel Universe as it’s heroes fight for from the blockbuster creative team of Brian Michael Bendis (‘All New X-Men’, ‘Avengers VS. X-Men’) and Bryan Hitch (‘Ultimates’, ‘Fantastic Four’). Evil has triumphed over good and leading this new age is none other than Ultron, the deadly sentient robot created by founding Avenger Hank Pym who turned on his creator to achieve his twisted objective…the utter destruction of humanity. Now, it’s up to the few remaining heroes to band together and find any way to topple their new monarch. Can Wolverine, Emma Frost, Invisible Woman, Taskmaster, Beast, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Moon Knight turn the tide?
Are you excited for ‘Age of Ultron’? Do you have any guesses as to what the ending Tom Brevoort is teasing could be? Share your thoughts in comments below!
