Marvel Is Bringing Back All Its Old-School Heroes This Summer With ‘Generations’

Currently, in the Marvel Universe, the original Thor is unworthy to heft Mjolnir, Captain America is a HYDRA agent, Iron Man is in a coma, and the Hulk, Wolverine, and Jean Grey are dead. Not exactly auspicious for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the guy that’s the best there is at what he does. But nobody stays dead, or powerless, for long in comics, and the whole O.G. squad is coming back.

For those who haven’t been following Marvel, they’re about to launch Secret Empire, which will reveal that everybody from Steve Rogers to Doctor Octopus was secretly, and now is suddenly not-so-secretly, working for HYDRA, which is a secret organization that grew out of the Nazis. Needless to say, as the entire Marvel Universe is not about to become the single greatest bummer in the history of entertainment, the quasi-Nazis will wind up losing, which swings into Generations.

It’ll be ten issues exploring how the old-school heroes fit in where the new guys have taken up their mantles. Odinson, the former Thor, for example, can’t carry Mjolnir because he learned he was unworthy. So, what makes him worthy again to heft the hammer, and what does that mean for Jane Foster, the woman who, according to Marvel, has always been worthy Where does the young Jean Grey, who was brought forward in time and is stuck in our era, fit in a world where her grownup self has returned

In a broader sense, that two major X-Men are coming back after a few years in the ground does raise the question of what’s going to happen with the Inhumans. Marvel recently pitted Inhumans against X-Men in a crossover, and will be relaunching the X-Men this summer as well. Of course, Marvel won’t be ditching the Inhumans tomorrow, not with a TV series on the way, but again the question is: Where do they fit We’ll find out when Generations arrives this summer.