Marvel 2099
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Marvel 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint, begun in 1993, that explores one possible future of the Marvel Universe. It was originally announced by Stan Lee in his Stan's Soapbox column as a single series entitled The Marvel World of Tomorrow which was being developed by Lee and John Byrne. This later changed to a line of books under the banner Marvel 2093 (the date being one hundred years from the year in which the titles launched) before finally being published as Marvel 2099. Futuristic versions of many existing characters were featured in titles that began with Spider-Man 2099, The Punisher 2099, Doom 2099, and Ravage 2099. While the former three titles were futuristic revamps of existing Marvel characters, the latter, Ravage 2099, was about an all-new superhero, scripted for several months in a rare, latter-day effort by Stan Lee. The 2099 line soon expanded to include X-Men 2099, Ghost Rider 2099, Hulk 2099, Fantastic Four 2099, and X-Nation 2099.
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[edit] Setting and publication history
The world of 2099 is a cyberpunk dystopia, similar to the world of Blade Runner. North America is a corporate police state ruled by megacorps, most notably Alchemax, which owns the private police force Public Eye. Miguel O'Hara, the 2099 Spider-Man, is an Alchemax employee; Jake Gallows, the Punisher, is a Public Eye officer; and Ravage is the former CEO of an Alchemax subsidiary.
The comics have a strong degree of innerconnectivity, even when not explicitly crossing over, that reminded readers of early Marvel Comics. Much of this was due to Joey Cavalieri, the editor.
When Marvel, during a cost-cutting exercise, fired Cavalieri in 1996, many of the 2099 creators (including Peter David and Warren Ellis) quit in protest. The 2099 line was reduced to a single comic entitled 2099: World of Tomorrow, which lasted eight issues. A coda to the series, 2099: Manifest Destiny, was published in 1998, in which Captain America was found in suspended animation and, with Miguel O'Hara, assembled the various 2099 heroes into a new team of Avengers.
The 2099 world has been seen occasionally since, most notably in Peter David's "Future Tense" storyline in Captain Marvel, which revisits both Spider-Man 2099 and the alternate future of the Maestro that David created in The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect.
In 2004, writer Robert Kirkman wrote a series of one-shot comics for the fifth aniversary of the Marvel Knights imprint, under the heading Marvel Knights 2099. The future portrayed in this series is unconnected to the original 2099 Universe.
In 2005, the Exiles visited a reality similar to 2099 in Exiles #75-76 as part of their "World Tour". This future splits apart from mainstream 2099 fairly early, as Doom 2099 has not yet met Spider-Man 2099. In this 2099 approximation, the Exiles picked up Spider-Man 2099, who has now joined the Exiles in a surprise return to mainstream Marvel comics.
In 2005, the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe one-shot involving alternate universes has designated the earth of 2099 as Earth-928 with an earth of Marvel Knights 2099 designated as Earth-2992. A cover of a second printing from the Spider-Man crossover The Other: Evolve or Die features the Miguel O'Hara Spider-Man.
[edit] Series and 1-shots in the 2099 imprint
| Title | Issue 1 date | Final issue # | Final issue date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2099 A.D. | May 1995 | 1 | May 1995 |
| 2099 A.D. Apocalypse | December 1995 | 1 | December 1995 |
| 2099 A.D. Genesis | January 1996 | 1 | January 1996 |
| 2099 Manifest Destiny | March 1998 | 1 | March 1998 |
| 2099 Sketchbook | September 1999 | 1 | September 1999 |
| 2099 Unlimited | July 1993 | 10 | October 1995 |
| 2099 Special: The World of Doom | May 1995 | 1 | May 1995 |
| 2099: World of Tomorrow' | September 1996 | 8 | April 1997 |
| Doom 2099 | January 1993 | 44 | August 1996 |
| Fantastic Four 2099 | January 1996 | 8 | August 1996 |
| Ghost Rider 2099 | May 1994 | 25 | May 1996 |
| Hulk 2099 | December 1994 | 10 | September 1995 |
| Punisher 2099 | February 1993 | 34 | November 1995 |
| Ravage 2099 | December 1992 | 33 | August 1995 |
| Spider-Man 2099 | November 1992 | 46 | August 1996 |
| Spider-Man 2099 Annual | 1994 | 1 | 1994 |
| Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man | November 1995 | 1 | November 1995 |
| Spider-Man 2099 Special | November 1995 | 1 | November 1995 |
| X-Men 2099 | October 1993 | 35 | August 1996 |
| X-Men 2099: Oasis | August 1996 | 1 | August 1996 |
| X-Men 2099 Special | October 1995 | 1 | October 1995 |
| X-Nation 2099 | March 1996 | 6 | August 1996 |
[edit] Heroes
[edit] Solo protagonists
- Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara)
- Doom (Victor Von Doom)
- Punisher (Jake Gallows)
- Ravage (Paul-Phillip Ravage)
- Ghost Rider (Kenshiro "Zero" Cochrane)
- Hulk (John Eisenhart)
[edit] Marvel Knights 2099 heroes
- Black Panther
- Daredevil (Eric Nelson)
- Mutant
- The Inhumans
- The Punisher (Cassondra Castle)
[edit] X-Men 2099
- Xi'an Chi Xan
- Cerebra (Shakti Hadad)
- Skullfire (Timothy Sean Fitzgerald)
- Bloodhawk (Lemuel Krugg)
- Krystalin (Krystalin Porter Ogada)
- La Lunatica
- Metalhead (Eddie Van Beethoven)
- Meanstreak (Henri Huang)
- Junkpile (very brief membership)
- Serpentina
[edit] X-Nation 2099
[edit] Fantastic Four 2099
- Mister Fantastic (double of Reed Richards)
- Invisible Woman (double of Sue Storm)
- Human Torch (double of Johnny Storm)
- Thing (double of Ben Grimm)
[edit] Other heroes
- Captain America (an imposter posing as Steve Rogers)
- Freakshow (Mama Hurricane, Breakdown, Rosa, Metalhead, Psyclone, Contagion, Tantrum, and Dominic)
- Galahad
- Metalscream
- Net Prophet (John Roger Tensen, aka Justice)
- Shield 2099
- Thor (Reverend Cecil McAdams)
[edit] Villains
- The Architect (Ryu Kobolt)
- Avatarr
- Brimstone Love
- Discord
- Fearmaster (Darryl Smith)
- Fever
- Flipside
- Goblin
- Glitterspike
- Gearbox
- Halloween Jack (a.k.a. Loki; later traveled to the present in the pages of X-Force)
- The Lawless (Xi'an Chi Xan, Victor Ten Eagles, Junkpile, Haiku, and Preacher)
- Master Zhao and the Chosen (Jack, Psycho-K, Frosbite, Wingspan, and Monster)
- Multi-Fractor/Jig-Saw
- The Norns (Felicity, Bliss, Euphoria)
- The Rat Pack (The Dealer, The Suicide Master, Mister Entertainment)
- The Shadow Dancer
- The Specialist
- The Synge Family (Noah, Lytton, and Desmonda)
- Thanatos (Aaron Delgato possessed by an alternate-reality version of Rick Jones)
- Tyler Stone
- Venom (Kron Stone)
- Venture
- Vulture
[edit] Mega-Corporations
- Alchemax (Avatarr is CEO and Tyler Stone is VP)
- Stark-Fujikawa (formerly Tony Stark's Stark Enterprises)
- Synthia
- D/MONIX (Data Manipulation and Organization Networks)
- ECO Corp. (Ravage is CEO)
- Nevada Syndicate
- Cyber-Nostra
- Ninja-Nostra
