On April 22, 2017,
Marvel Comics announced Marvel Legacy at the
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. The goal of the Legacy initiative was to bring a greater focus to Marvel's core superheroes, unlike recent relaunches such as
Marvel NOW!, which gave prominence to newer and younger heroes.
Marvel Entertainment's
chief creative officer Joe Quesada stated that company was embracing their roots with the creation of this new comic book line. Marvel Comics'
editor-in-chief Axel Alonso noted that the relaunch was about reminding readers of the company's rich history by highlighting the connections between characters and reintroducing some iconic characters. The relaunch began in September 2017 following the conclusion of the
Secret Empire and
Generations storylines with the release of a 50-page
one-shot titled
Marvel Legacy #1. Writer
Jason Aaron and artist
Esad Ribić collaborated on the opening issue and laid the narrative groundwork for the line. The issue introduces the first super hero team of
Avengers that were active in the year 1,000,000
BC. The story spans the history of the Marvel Universe and explores the connection between the prehistoric Avengers and their present-day counterparts. Quesada teased the cover artwork for the opening issue, hinting at the possible return of Bruce Banner as
Hulk and Tony Stark as
Iron Man,
Thor Odinson reclaiming
Mjolnir, and the appearance of other superheroes in their classic costumes. The series also sees the return of the
original Wolverine after
his initial death, with three Marvel Legacy titles:
Captain America,
The Amazing Spider-Man and
The Mighty Thor, each with a
Marvel Cinematic Universe-style
post-credit scene; he also shows up alongside
Captain Marvel and
Star-Lord as one of the holders of the
Infinity Gems in a crossover event. In addition, the original
Jean Grey returns in her own limited series titled
Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey in December. This was followed by
X-Men Red, which sees Jean establish her own team of X-Men that consists of
the new Wolverine,
Nightcrawler,
Namor the Sub-Mariner,
Gabby Kinney (the new Wolverine's clone),
Trinary (a new character), and
Gentle (a mutant from
Wakanda), and later by the Cajun mutant
Gambit.
Marvel Legacy #1 also brings
Franklin and
Valeria Richards back to the Marvel Universe.
Marvel Two-in-One (a series featuring the
Thing teaming up with other superheroes) was revived with Thing's best friend
Human Torch being the guest in the storyline "Fate of the Four", which focuses on both heroes trying to solve the mystery of
Reed and
Sue's disappearances, hinting at a possible
Fantastic Four reunion. Following the release of
Marvel Legacy #1, many Marvel comic series reverted to their classic cumulative numbering system. For their relaunching series, Marvel created a new and consistent cover design that aimed to recapture their work from the 1980s and 1990s. Marvel released limited quantities of
lenticular covers for their Marvel Legacy titles that pay homage to older covers. They also reintroduced elements such as the Marvel Value Stamp—a collectable clip-and-save program—and the self-published
fanzine FOOM. Marvel included three-page primer stories in select Legacy titles to provide background information on their characters for new readers. Written by Robbie Thompson and illustrated by
Mark Bagley, the primer stories covered classic moments from Marvel's comics. The Legacy initiative was succeeded by
Fresh Start, a line-wide relaunch by Marvel Comics in mid 2018. ==Ongoing series==