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2023 was a tough year for Marvel Studios. The start of the Multiverse Saga didn’t get the reaction they hoped for, and A’nt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ underperformed. ‘Secret Invasion,’ a highly anticipated show, was poorly received, despite being based on a popular comic storyline. The only hit was ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3,’ while ‘The Marvels’ became the lowest-grossing Marvel movie ever.

Things somewhat recovered last year with the release of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and notably, ‘X-Men ’97.’ ‘X-Men ’97’ became the studio’s highest-rated show yet while ‘Deadpool’ threequel was the second-highest-grossing movie of 2024.

It was exactly that success of ‘X-Men ’97’ that prompted speculations that the Studio will focus on more animated content in the future. Well that and the fact that we have 3 animated shows set for release this year, ‘Marvel Zombies,’ ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,’ and ‘Eyes of Wakanda.’

Related: 20 Most Powerful Marvel...

Warning: Spoilers for Fantastic Four (2022) #27 ahead!

There has always been a family element to the Fantastic Four, one that has initially both challenged and aligned with the nuclear family ideal of the 1950s, before exploring more modern interpretations after the birth of Sue and Reed's children. When it comes to parenting, however, Sue and Reed are far from first place in Marvel's First Family; instead, that honor belongs to Ben Grimm and his wife, Alicia Masters-Grimm.

Fantastic Four (2022) #27 – written by Ryan North, with art by Steven Cummings – provides an excellent showcase of Ben Grimm's parenting skills at work, when his adopted daughter, Nicki, begins using her Skrull shapeshifting powers at school, impersonating the Fantastic Four to get herself and her friends out of trouble. When Nicki is inevitably caught, it leads to an incredibly heartwarming moment between father and daughter.

Ben's parenting skills are on full display here, as he listens quietly,...

Did Spider-Man reveal a majorly dark secret? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

In a shocking twist from the pages of comic history, Spider-Man revealed a dark childhood secret: he was abused by an older friend. This story, tucked away in the Spider-Man/Power Pack comic, was one of the most important and impactful PSAs about sexual abuse ever published. For years, it went unacknowledged, overshadowed by more mainstream superhero antics. But it’s high time we highlight this powerful narrative.

The comic cleverly split its focus, featuring Spider-Man and the Power Pack, each addressing different types of sexual abuse. While both stories were significant, Peter Parker’s tale struck the most profound chord. Young Peter, the skinny, bullied boy with glasses, was a relatable figure for many. His journey started with innocence, a friendship with an older boy named Skip that initially brought him joy amid his lonely, nerdy existence. But the...

Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Assemble #1!

After 40 years, a Marvel hero from the 1980s joins the Avengers, giving them a god-tier speedster in the process. The publishers new Avengers Assemble brings together a new Avengers team for a new era, mixing up classic members with exciting newcomers. In the first issue, Lightspeed, of the 80s team Power Pack, joins Captain Americas new Avengers Emergency Response Squad, giving the team a serious boost in the process.

In the early 1990s, Power Pack starred in a pilot for a television series that was never picked up by a network.

Avengers Assemble #1 is written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Cory Smith. The Avengers Emergency Response Squad is holding their first meeting at the old Avengers Mansion. Captain America has already led a small contingent, including Shang-Chi, against Sin in Germany. Back in America, the rest of the team assembles, including Lightspeed. She...

Looking to attract younger viewers to Disney+, Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige has confirmed Marvel Comics preteen super-powered team-up"Power Pack" "...is a property we've been interested in for a long time":

"For many years because we wanted to do something for families, something that's a little younger,", said Feige.

Created by writer Louise Simonson and illustrator June Brigman, Marvel's "Power Pack" #1 (May 1984)…

…was the first team of preteen superheroes in the 'Marvel Universe'.

The title was relaunched in 2005 for younger readers.

"...'Alex', 'Julie', 'Jack' and 'Katie Power' are four normal kids whose scientist father discovered an efficient and ecologically clean power generator, with a potential downside of destroying the planet.

"The night before the power source was to be tested, a 'Kymellian' alien, 'Aelfyre Whitemane' crash landed near the Power's home.

"The kids investigated and confronted a dying Aelfrye. He explained how his home planet was destroyed...

The news cycle may have levelled out a little over the past couple of weeks following San Diego Comic-Con and D23, but we do have a round-up of some Marvel Cinematic Universe-related rumors currently circulating online to bring us into the weekend.

First up, Daniel Richtman is reporting that the Thunderbolts* team will be a part of both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The latter wouldn't exactly be a major surprise, but we weren't expecting to see Yelena, Bucky, "Bob" and the rest of the gang join the battle against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.

The Sdcc trailer for Thunderbolts* (we're still not sure what's going on with that asterisk) recently leaked online, and is surprisingly still up (check it out here).

Richtman has also heard that an animated Power Pack Disney+ series is in development at Marvel Studios. We've been hearing rumblings about some kind of Power...

Scottish actor and marital artist Ray Park began his film career as a stunt double for actors Robin Shou and James Remar in the 1997 video game adaptation "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation." He played some other characters too, although only in a background capacity; his face could not be seen. 1999 saw Park's career explode, however, as he played the demonic Darth Maul in George Lucas' supra-blockbuster "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace." At the time, critics were mixed on "The Phantom Menace," but many "Star Wars" fanboys agreed that Darth Maul was really, really cool. He didn't speak much — and when he did, he was voiced by Peter Serafinowicz — but his double-sided lightsaber, black cloak, stoic demeanor, and striking facial markings made Maul one of the most memorable parts of an otherwise forgettable film.

Later in 1999, Park also served as the body/fight double for the Headless Horseman in Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow,...

Up Front & Letters

Dak uses some of the Up Front space in this issue to publish more letters. It’s all to do with this being the end of Ci’s first year and everyone involved is in a mood to celebrate. The letters are basically singing the praises of a job well done and it showcases how well it is selling across the country. There is nothing to write home about in Up Front. Only more of Dak highlighting a good year and rightfully so. He points out how most of not all of the comics featured in Ci have been hits with the fans. On a personal level, #6 of Comics Interview was a big deal because of fans wanting to know about the fallout from the Jla/Avengers incident. East Coast distribution sold out completely. All the good stuff is in the usual letters pages at the back.

Mutant Massacre reshaped X-Men lore through its violent depiction of a world where mutants are hated and a society of mutants is slaughtered. It introduced significant X-Men villains such as Mr. Sinister, who continued to terrorize the X-Men for decades. The event marked the beginning of Wolverine and Sabretooth's iconic rivalry and changed the character of Colossus forever by forcing him to kill for the first time.

X-Men’s Mutant Massacre event saw the brutal killings of nearly the entire Morlock society by the hands of the villainous team of mutant-killers called the Marauders. This event was easily the darkest in the X-Men’s already extensive Marvel Comics history up until that point, as it was one of the more violent depictions of a world where mutants were truly hated, where an entire society of mutants could be slaughtered like it was nothing, and humanity didn’t bat an eye.

Jim Dandy Oct 16, 2017

So far, The Gifted is a solid entry into overall X-Men canon. Here's our spoiler-filled review of episode 2...

This review contains spoilers.

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1.2 rX

It's still really early to say this, but watching rX, the second episode of The Gifted, the thing that struck me the most about it is how this show conveys how utterly shitty it must be to be a mutant better than anything live action since the first movie. 

For such a new show, one of its biggest strengths is how completely thought-out the world is. At one point early in the episode, Jace (the bad dude from Sentinel Services) mentions that "damaging property with mutant powers is a serious federal crime." That's a more robust legal framework than we are used to in the comics, where the law usually doesn't go past "Mutants/Heroes must register," and occasionally...

James Hunt Oct 7, 2017

As The Gifted lands in the UK, we go looking for other families with superpowers to be reckoned with...

As The Gifted brings the super-powered Strucker siblings to the screen alongside their (currently) unpowered parents, we got thinking: what other super-powered families are out there? Here’s what we came up with…

Power Pack

Created in the early 80s by Louise Simonson and June Brigman, the Power Pack were four super-powered siblings (with the surname Power, natch) who used to sneak out to operate as a team while keeping their identities secret from their parents. It was sort of like the Famous Five, but in the Marvel Universe. Throughout their run the swapped powers and codenames, but the siblings were Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie, and the powers were energy manipulation, mass manipulation, gravity manipulation and light manipulation.

The Powells of No Ordinary Family

This short-lived TV...

12 years after Marvel used the rights to Power Pack as collateral in a deal that lead to the origins of Marvel Studios, the blockbuster studio is reportedly revisiting that property. A new report claims that, while we may be a ways off from a Power Pack movie actually happening, steps are being taken to put the movie into development, with longtime Marvel Studios executive Jonathan Schwartz being given executive oversight on the film. Jonathan Schwartz has been working for Marvel since 2009, where he first started as an assistant to Kevin Feige on Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, before being elevated to a producer on Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and the upcoming Captain Marvel.

The news comes from That Hashtag Show, which reports that the studio is looking to make a "Spy Kids-like story" that follows the Power family The...