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Aftermath Of Secret Empire – The Tainting Of Captain America, The Death Of Black Widow, And Fantastic Four's Legacy (SPOILERS)

The following article has spoilers for Secret Empire: Omega #1 by Nick Spencer, Andrea Sorrentino, Joe Bennett, Joe Pimental, Scott Hanna and Rachelle Rosenberg, Deadpool #36 by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, Christian Dalla Vecchia and Ruth Redmond, Secret Warriors #6 by Matthew Rosenberg, Juanan Ramirez and John Rauch, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #7 by Peter David, Will Sliney and Jason Keith, and The Uncanny Avengers #27 by Jim Zub, Sean Izaakse and Tamra Bonvillain. All published today.

So, you know. You have been warned.

So the Secret Empire has come to an end. The doppelganger (or is he?) Captain America has been imprisoned in an offshore black prison site. Which sounds very constitutional to me.

So we have Brand New Sparkly Remade Kobik Steve Rogers talking to the Hydra Sleeper Agent Steve Rogers. The last time Nick Spencer did this with Civil War II: The Oath, he had the Hydra Captain America talking to himself. Now Captain America is still talking to himself, through a dark mirror. But what can be done?

Secret Empire was keen to make the point that Captain Hydra came to power through legal and constirutional means. The danger expressed of giving too much power to a position, not knowing who may fill it in the future, whether that's President of the United States or the head of Marvel Studios.

And although Marvel staffers have said so many times in public where Ike Perlmutter can hear them, that Secret Empire wasn't about the rise of Donald Trump, the huge of pardoning staffers and yourself has recently been a talking point around the powers of Donald Trump. Power demands accountability or it is a dictatorship. And any leader who can pardon themselves, isn't a leader but a king.

As to whether or not the original history of the Marvel Universe had Hitler, the Axis and Hydra win WWII looks like it will continue to be a matter of debate for decades to come.

And what about the fallout of the Secret Empire? One criticism is that the storyline has forever tainted Captain America, no matter what magical big red reset button was pressed at the end of it, and that seems to be carrying itself out in the Marvel Universe as well.

The Punisher seems to get a reprieve with much greater ease, but then, hey, he's the Punisher, an icon to… basically, the kind of people you want to avoid in life anyway.

While we see Natasha Romanov's funeral, the Black Widow still dead, sacrificing herself to save Miles Morales and take down Captain America in a failed bid to protect innocence while committing murder. But is that set in stone?

A Winter Soldier doesn't believe it. And he;s the kind who knows about people who everyone think is dead. Unless of course this is a Black Widow wannabee… where is REd Widow these days?

The Hydra Commander was a figure who popped up across Secret Empire, often as a figure of fun, but a fascist like all the rest of them. It was the moustache you see, and the ehelmet. Could there be a bright future of this break out character in the Marvel Universe?

No. Oh and Deadpool wants to kill both Captain Americas. Nuke them from space, Wade, it's the only way to be sure. Shame you couldn;t have hit that offshore prison site, you'd have got two eagles with one nuke.

Still, you'll have to get past Quake in Secret Warriors.

Who is on the hunt for the killer of Phil Coulson. Deadpool may be one for beating himself up. But Quake would do a better job.

Oh look at that, T-shirts in the Marvel Universe with the Punisher skull on them. Because Target always has T-shirts celebratuing modern day real life serial killers…

And as for Rick Jones? Well… Scarlet Spider is still set before Secret Empire until next week. But his ex-wife Marlo Chandler does lay out very specifically how she might be able to bring him – and the rest of the Las Vegas millions dead – back. Because that's who she is.

But what about the Fantastic Four? Last month's Uncanny Avengers was a direct sequel to Secret Empire, this month's issue is less so. But it might lead to what happens next…

Is this just Marvel Two-In-One by Chip Zdarsky and Jim Cheung (not Paco Medina, it seems)? Or something else?

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