Comics

There are some ideas in comics that are as original as they are inevitable. When Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham introduced the Council of Reeds, an interdimensional body composed entirely of different Mister Fantastics, it was both a surprise and retrospectively obvious. Of course the super-intelligent science god Reed Richards would seek peer cooperation with his own multiversal selves. In his Avengers, Jason Aaron has riffed mightily on that utterly comic book idea of cooperation between parallel selves, first…

Summer 2022 marks a return to scheduling basics for movies and TV. After years of delays, we’re now merely weeks away from watching blockbusters on the big and small screens: films like Top Gun: Maverick and Thor: Love and Thunder, and series like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon. But you won’t have to subsist strictly on popcorn fare; this summer’s offerings also include new movies from Jordan Peele and David Cronenberg, as well as the returns of some of the best TV shows of the last…

Dan Slott will return to the Spider-Verse this summer with a new five-issue anthology miniseries introducing wild new multiversal variants on Spider-Man — but don’t get too attached! August’s new Edge of Spider-Verse is all in preparation for what Slott and Marvel are billing as the final Spider-Verse story: End of the Spider-Verse, coming later in 2022. “Marvel has decided to do the unthinkable, go big, and bring the saga of the comic book Spider-Verse to a fiery conclusion,” Slott told Polygon via email. “Yes,…

One of the aspects that sets the Illuminati apart from, say, the Avengers or the X-Men, is that each of its members are willing to bend their own sense of morality — or put it aside entirely — in order to protect the Earth. Indeed, the Illuminati's many appearances over the years have been rife with moral quandaries and questionable decisions. Examples of these problems can be found as early as "New Avengers: Illuminati" Vol. 1 and 2. For one thing, firing the Hulk into the depths of outer space is enough…

Spoilers ahead for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Strange's second movie, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," sees the good doctor and the Scarlet Witch in direct conflict for the first time. Having delved deeply into the Darkhold, Wanda begins the film under the grimoire's insidious influence. She is cold, cruel, and wildly violent, and she brings all of that wickedness to the forefront in her quest to capture America Chavez and steal the young woman's ability to travel the…

It turns out that the comic book version of Wundagore is pretty much what it says on the "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" tin, right down to Chthon the Darkhold author's association with the place. However, there are some differences. In the comics, Wundagore is actually the place where Wanda and his brother, Pietro (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the MCU) were born, and where Chthon played a first-hand role in infusing Wanda with her magical prowess.  An even bigger difference between the…

Perez began his career with Marvel, working from assistant to actual artist and eventually drawing "The Avengers" and "Fantastic Four" in the 1970s. His most influential work, however, arguably came in the 1980s when Perez brought his style to DC's biggest superheroes by drawing "Justice League of America," and he would go on to make comics history with "Crisis on Infinite Earths," a run that shocked fans by folding multiple universes together, featuring nearly every DC character ever invented — often on…

A significant plot point in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is the concept of Incursions, which are clashes between two universes that tend to destroy one of them. The end result of such loss is in full display in one of the movie's trippier scenes, which depicts an Earth where the laws of physics have irreparably broken. In the comics, Incursions are pretty much exactly that, too — a short period during which two universes collide, with Earth acting as Ground Zero for the situation.…

Adrift on Earth-838, Doctor Strange and America Chavez are soon captured by the Illuminati's agents. In a cosmically bittersweet twist, one of these agents turns out to be Christine. She's a renowned scientist in this reality, concerned with the exploration and categorization of the multiverse. One facet of this work is naming each new universe. "Our universe is 838," she tells Strange, "and we've designated yours 616." Comic readers will be familiar with this designation: The 616 universe is the primary…

Before we get to the big, climactic battle of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," Stephen becomes stranded in a universe that's collapsing in on itself where a variant known as Sinister Strange is isolated in a Sanctum tower with the evil book called the Darkhold. At first, our Strange doesn't realize that this Strange has gone to the dark side. He and Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) initially plan to ask for help defeating Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), until Sinister Strange grasps the…