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The Marvel Universe is the fictional shared
setting where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place.
History
Though the concept of a shared universe was not new or unique to comics in
1961, writer/editor Stan Lee, together with
several artists including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, created a series of titles where events in one book would have repercussions in another title and
serialized stories would show characters grow and change. Headline characters in one title would make cameo or guest appearances
in other books. Eventually many of the leading heroes assembled into a team known as The Avengers.
Over time, a few of Marvel Comics writers lobbied Marvel editors to incorporate the idea of a multiverse; this plot device allows one to create several fictional universe which normally do not
overlap. What happens on Earth in the main Marvel Universe would normally have no effect on what happens on a parallel earth in
another Marvel-created universe. However, storywriters would have the creative ability to write stories in which people from one
such universe would visit this alternate universe. When characters from one universe meet characters from another universe that
they normally do not interact with, this is termed a crossover.
Several Marvel Comics writers wanted to do a crossover with DC Comics's
Justice League of America (JLA), the superhero team featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and others. However, at this time inter-company crossovers were not being done. As such, writer
Mark Gruenwald wrote a series of stories about the Squadron Supreme, a group of superheros on an alternate Earth (not in the
main Marvel Universe) that effectively were the Justice League. There were very close analogues to all the main DC
Comics superheros, but since they were given different names and costumes (yet astonishingly similar backstories) Marvel Comics
could maintain plausible deniability. This was one of the industry's biggest in-jokes. However, the writers of the storylines
containing the Squadron Supreme did not take the characters as a joke, and treated them with great respect; they
effectively allowed Marvel writers to write JLA stories. In 1986 Marvel published a Squadron Supreme 12 issue
maxi-series that was groundbreaking for its time, and is considered a predecessor to similar comics such as Watchmen and Kingdom
Come.
In 1982 Marvel published the mini-series Contest of Champions where all of the major
heroes in existence at the time were gathered together to deal with one threat. The Marvel Universe was also notable for setting
its central titles in New York City. Care was taken to portray the city
and the world as realistically as possible with the presence of superhumans affecting the common citizens in various ways.
In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics' 25th anniversary, then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter launched the largely-unsuccessful New Universe line of comics.
Over the years as the number of titles published increased and the volume of past stories accumulated it became increasingly
difficult to maintain internal consistency. In order to continue publishing stories of its most popular characters, maintaining
the status quo became necessary. Change and growth for characters was replaced with the illusion of change. Unlike its main rival
DC Comics Marvel has never engaged in a drastic reboot of their continuity. Minor
attempts have been made in recent years to produce stories more accessible for neophyte readers such as the Heroes
Reborn titles (occurring in a pocket universe where many of the major Marvel heroes were exiled).
A greater attempt has been made with the Ultimate
titles; this series of titles is in a universe unrelated to the main Marvel continuity, and essentially is starting the entire
Marvel Universe over again, from scratch. Ultimate comics now exist for the X-Men, the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic
Four. Sales of these titles are strong, and indications are that Marvel will continue to expand the line, effectively creating
two Marvel Universes existing concurrently. (Some rumors exist that if sales continue to increase and more titles are added,
Marvel may consider making the Ultimate universe its main universe.)
In 2002 a study was done of the interactions between characters in the Marvel Universe
(Alberich, R., Miro-Julia, J. & Rosselló, F. Marvel Universe looks almost like a real social network. [1] [2] ) which revealed that the Marvel Universe shares some
non-random features with the social networks of collaborating
scientists or co-starring movie actors. This pattern developed without deliberate coordination among the various writers over the
years. The most socially networked character in the universe is Captain
America.
Places
Certain places, some of which exist in real-life and some of which are fictional, figure prominently in the Marvel
Universe:
Continuities
The action of most Marvel Comics titles takes place in a continuity known as
Earth 616. Note that in Marvel Comics, the concept of a continuity is not the
same as "dimension" or "universe"; for example, characters like Mephisto and Dormammu hail from alternate dimensions and
the Celestials from another universe but they all nevertheless belong to Earth 616. There are, however, other continuities:
Crossovers and major events
See also
External links
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