Comic Book Events That Rewrote Universes

What Was The Threat: The Anti-Monitor sought to destroy as many Earths as possible across the multiverse. Publishing faced a threat: the DC line contained decades of continuity, making it unfriendly for new readers.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day: The Monitor, not the Anti-Monitor, gathered heroes from various multiverses. They united to stop the Anti-Monitor. He planned to merge the multiverse into one universe. This would make it strong enough to beat the Anti-Monitor and manageable for new readers.

What Changed Afterwards: The DC universe became a single universe with one version of every character. Barry Allen and Supergirl died and disappeared from comics for years.stated goal of Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer Marv Wolfman explained that "by series' end, DC will have a consistent and more easily understandable universe to play with."

What Was The Threat: In Jonathan Hickman's run onAvengers and New Avengers, the heroes (and some villains) on Earth began to realize that "incursions" were happening across the universe; different realities smashed into each other and got eliminated. Doctor Doom stole the Beyonders' power, turning himself into a god. He then made a new world, Battleworld, using segments of different realities he ruled.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day: Battleworld inhabitants forgot their past realities. Stowaway heroes from the 616 universe remembered. These heroes fought. Black Panther used an Infinity Gauntlet against Doom. Reed Richards convinced Molecule Man to rule instead of Doom.

What Changed Afterwards: Moving forward, characters from alternate universes, especially Miles Morales and his cast, lived on Marvel Earth-Prime. After the storyline ended, theFantastic Four title took a short break. Characters used Molecule Man and Franklin Richards' powers to rebuild the universe.

What Was The Threat: Hal Jordan went mad, became the villain Parallax, and tried to erase Coast City's destruction. Publishing faced another threat: continuity issues left over fromCrisis on Infinite Earths.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day:Other heroes finally teamed up to stop Parallax. The Spectre weakened him, letting Green Arrow destroy him. Still, the heroes failed to stop all timeline changes in time. Their fight triggered a new big bang, rewriting their histories.

What Changed Afterwards: CBR described this event as one of the most collaborative crossovers. Writers on various titles told Dan Jurgens what they wanted changed in their characters' histories. All Hawkmen became one Hawkman. Some JSA members, whose ages changed too much, vanished. The Legion of Superheroes also disappeared.This event became one of the most collaborative crossovers. Writers on various titles told Dan Jurgens what they wanted changed in their characters' histories. All Hawkmen became one Hawkman. Some JSA members, whose ages became too confusing, were wiped out. The Legion of Superheroes also vanished.littleconfusing

What Was The Threat:A god-like being named Perpetua started reshaping reality. Perpetua gave the Batman Who Laughs the main-continuity DC Earth to rule in his terrifying image.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day:The Batman Who Laughs gained god-like power and fought Perpetua. He won, then sent his armies to Earth to attack the combined DC universe heroes and villains. Wonder Woman put her Lasso of Truth into the World Forge, letting everyone remember their full histories. Diana then clashed with the Batman Who Laughs as gods. Other members of Perpetua's race restored the DC multiverse.

What Changed Afterwards:In some ways,Death Metalwas something of an anti-event. Previous events, like CrisisandFlashpoint, attempted to streamline continuity by ending different realities and storylines. Death Metaldid the opposite. It created an omniverse where all histories and stories matter and exist. This event, ending in early 2021, is not fully seen yet, but possibilities seem endless. The reality and continuity since the 2011 New 52 launch ended. Those stories now exist with every other DC story.

What Was The Threat: Heroes Rebornspawned from a '90s X-Men event called Onslaught, where Magneto and Charles Xavier's minds merged to form a mutant supervillain. The Avengers and Fantastic Four fought this new character. They did not win; instead, they moved to a pocket dimension created by Franklin Richards (son of Reed and Sue), who could warp reality. In this new dimension, the heroes had different, more accessible backstories.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day: After about a year in this new reality (where production of these Marvel heroes was outsourcedDescription of 'Heroes Reborn' in the list 'Comic Book Events That Rewrote Universes''Heroes Reborn' describes how Franklin Richards chose one Earth to perish, either the main Marvel Earth or the new Earth. Franklin struck a deal with the Celestials so both Earths could exist as long as the heroes transplanted on the Heroes Reborn Earth returned home.'Heroes Reborn' describes how Franklin Richards chose one Earth to perish, either the main Marvel Earth or the new Earth. Franklin struck a deal with the Celestials so both Earths could exist as long as the heroes transplanted on the Heroes Reborn Earth returned home.'Heroes Reborn' describes how Franklin Richards chose one Earth to perish, either the main Marvel Earth or the new Earth. Franklin struck a deal with the Celestials so both Earths could exist as long as the heroes transplanted on the Heroes Reborn Earth returned home.'Heroes Reborn' describes how Franklin Richards chose one Earth to perish, either the main Marvel Earth or the new Earth. Franklin struck a deal with the Celestials so both Earths could exist as long as the heroes transplanted on the Heroes Reborn Earth returned home.

What Changed Afterwards:These heroes lived on a different Earth for a full year during this event. After the event, the characters regained their old memories and returned to being their past selves.

What Was The Threat: In Avengers DisassembledAvengers Disassembled is a storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis to change the Avengers' status quo. Multiple core Avengers died in what seemed like accidents. Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, accidentally caused these 'mishaps' by losing control of her Chaos magic. Magneto then quickly took Wanda to his private mutant island/nation. The Avengers discussed what to do with Scarlet Witch. Quicksilver overheard them discuss drastic solutions and told Magneto. Soon, everyone woke up in a new reality because of the Scarlet Witch. Mutants ruled, and Magneto led.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day:The only being who remembered the old world was Wolverine, who quickly organized a plot to set reality back to normal. It was eventually revealed that Quicksilver was responsible for convincing Wanda to make this "perfect world," and Magneto had no knowledge of its creation. The Master of Magnetism then lashed out against his son, which caused an emotionally distraught Wanda to announce that mutants are freaks, and then uttered the now-infamous phrase, "No more mutants." After that, reality was reborn again, and the world was basically back to normal.

What Changed Afterwards:One key difference separates the new Marvel universe from the Marvel universe before.House of M -Wanda's decree caused the mutant population to shrink greatly. Professor X was also missing, which made the X-Men scared.

What Was The Threat:During Marvel Comics' famous Civil War, Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to encourage others to do the same and register. His worst fear came true. Shortly after, Aunt May was injured in a plot meant for him.During Marvel Comics' famous Civil War, Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to encourage others to do the same and register. His worst fear came true. Shortly after, Aunt May was injured in a plot meant for him.During Marvel Comics' famous Civil War, Spider-Man revealed his secret identity to encourage others to do the same and register. His worst fear came true. Shortly after, Aunt May was injured in a plot meant for him.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day:Peter searched the Marvel universe for help for his dying aunt. He ended up with the demon lord, Mephisto. Mephisto offered Peter saving Aunt May's life, but only if Peter married Mary Jane. Peter and MJ agreed to the terms. Mephisto reset Peter's life.

What Changed Afterwards:Peter woke up in his Queens house. His secret identity remained. He lived with his aunt. Harry Osborn was alive. Peter never married Mary Jane. Marvel made this change assuming Spider-Man could not stay interesting if he married and aged.Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief,at the time, along with the artist onOne More Day,stated this:

Some fans want Peter to age with them. They want him to marry, have kids, and have grandkids. Others feel Spidey needs to prepare for new readers and the next generation.

What Was The Threat: FlashpointBarry Allen woke up in an alternate reality. He found Batman was not Bruce Wayne; Thomas wore the cape and cowl. Wonder Woman and Aquaman were not Justice League members; they led warring nations. Superman was not the most popular hero; Cyborg was.Justice League memberswere leaders of fighting nations. Superman was not the country's top hero; Cyborg was.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day:Flash thought Reverse-Flash caused the timeline shift. He later found he caused it while stopping Reverse-Flash from killing his mother. Flash traveled back, merged with his past self, and then merged the main DC Earth with the Vertigo and WildStorm Earths. Flash woke up in the New 52 timeline, finding he and the other heroes were ten years removed from their timeline.

What Changed Afterwards: In the biggest publishing change DC made, the events ofFlashpointled directly to the New 52 start.All the heroeshad ten years removed from their lives, placing them at the start of their careers. This let the company relaunch all titles at #1, drawing new readers who felt scared by the old continuity.

What Was The Threat:Brainiac took various DC heroes, including those from extended media and pre-New 52 versions, and put them on a planet to fight.

How Did The Heroes Save The Day:The heroes traveled back to the originalCrisis on Infinite EarthsSpecifically, Barry Allen, Supergirl, Pre-FlashpointSuperman, andZero HourParallax went back in time. Their actions in the original crisis changed the timeline so all worlds and timelines now exist.

What Changed Afterwards:After the event ended, DC dropped the New 52 branding, though the continuity established by the New 52 The main change in this universe was that the pre-New 52 Superman and Lois Lane lived alongside the New 52 Superman. They took over as Superman after his death. The DC multiverse also got reintroduced.

The threat was...At the end ofWatchmen, Dr. Manhattan isolated himself on Mars. Everyone thought that was his location. The DCRebirthHe found his way into the DC universe. He started using his powers to change their timeline. Ten years were taken from the DC universe afterFlashpoint? Dr. Manhattan stole it. He did this inDoomsday Clock, as DC heroes faced a public losing trust, they also had to handle Dr. Manhattan predicting a fight with Superman.

How the heroes saved the day:Superman saved the day. He inspired Dr. Manhattan and gave him hope for the first time in years. He saved Dr. Manhattan instead of fighting or killing him as Dr. Manhattan expected.

What changed afterwards:After Dr. Manhattan changed his view of humanity, he fixed the DC timeline he altered. The JSA returned to the DC universe. This group was largely forgotten or ignored since the New 52. Dr. Manhattan said the JSA returning meant Clark Kent became Superboy. The Legion of Superheroes took inspiration from him, and he joined them again. This also brought back the multiverse.

What was the threat:The 1980s DC eventCrisis on Infinite Earthsended with four heroes sent to a paradise pocket dimension.Infinite Crisisbegan with these heroes returning to the DC universe, each wanting different, surprisingly evil things. Kal-L, Superman of Earth 2, wanted Earth 2 back, even if it meant losing the current DC Earth. Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor wanted to destroy the universe and make a perfect Earth.

How the heroes saved the day:After Lois died, Kal-L was convinced by his cousin Power Girl that he was wrong. Kal-El and Kal-L worked together to defeat Superboy-Prime.

What changed afterwards:The series showed several deaths, including all speedsters except Bart and Jay, Connor Kent, and 30members of the Green Lantern Corps. Superboy-Prime punching through reality caused many small changes to the DCU continuity. Jason Todd was alive again. Various versions of Hawkman existed again for the first time sinceCrisis on Infinite Earths.

What was the threat:Moira MacTaggert lived many lives, joining Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse each time. Their efforts to protect mutants failed; humans killed them.

The heroes saved the day.In Moira's tenth life, her current one, she convinced Charles Xavier to "break all the rules." They teamed up with Magneto and every other mutant on Earth to build Krakoa, the mutant society.

The aftermath changed things.The X-Men exist in a different timeline now. Moira's ability to live over and over, making different choices, changed reality. This lets all mutants finally work together. The event ends with the X-Men having a new status quo: every mutant lives on Krakoa. It is a sovereign nation welcoming all mutants; their society differs greatly from humans'.