Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: dan slott, fantastic four, marvel, reckoning war, watcher

Dan Slott Keeps Rewriting The History Of Watchers & Ultimate Nullifier

Who Watches The Watchers? Dan Slott does! Slott is leaving the Fantastic Four after four-and-a-bit years, and is changing the Marvel Universe on his way out and maybe, just maybe, that will involve his continued rewriting and reconceptualising the history of The Watchers. First, he changed the home planet and species of the Watchers, tying them in with another Marvel Universe race.

The Watchers are not from the planet T-37X as originally believed. Instead, they are the Luminous from the planet Lumina.

As seen in Shogun Warriors back in 1978. They fought the Followers of Darkness in the Great Chaos Wars, leaving a few behind on Earth dubbed the Followers of the Light to act as sentinels against the return of the Darkness. I'm sure it's on Marvel Unlimited. If not it will be very soon. And now, it seems, all part of Watcher lore.

While in the Fantastic Four: The Reckoning War Alpha One Shot we got a flashback to the sixties' origin of The Watchers, interfering with the lives of lesser, more primitive races, handing them the knowledge of nuclear power.

Although it is "gifts" rather than the specific "nuclear energy" from the original. Well, that was the sixties, everything was radioactive.

The same planet though, Proscilious. And it still ends badly,

And the same terrible results as before – at least initially.

But rather than continent to continent, in the new version told today, it goes far beyond Proscilious, across the cosmos.

And they get the name, The Reckoning. With The Watchers forced to act.

In the original it is kept just to their planet and the Watchers are held to account by the Proscilians.

And so the Watchers make their vow of non-interference. This time though, the threat of the Proscilians, The Reckoning, is just put on pause…

And The Reckoning War seems to indicate that they have escaped that barrier. And in today's Fantastic Four #44, there is more rewriting to be done. It wasn't The Reckoning who inflicted all that death and destruction on the universe…

But the Watchers themselves., Emnu who had originally voted against knowledge being shared, and the one who ended the war, by inventing the Ultimate Nullifier.

The ultimate destructive weapon that Uatu, The Watcher, in his first appearances from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, told the Fantastic Four about to defeat Galactus in a match of mutually assured destruction. Found in the home of Galactus, Taa II, kept by Galactus in a shrine to his home planet from another iteration of reality.

But who built the Ultimate Nullifier, we did not know. At on point, Galactus claimed that it was even a part of him.

Even as Reed Richards got to have another go with it.

Well, now we know more, and we know it wiped out nine-tenths of life at the hands of the Watchers. So how do they cope with that news?

Not too well. And as the Silver Surfer returns to the fray, and Galactus is transformed into his final form, so the Ultimate Nullifier is back in play as well.

And as ever, it is Reed Richards who gets to use it.

Last time it gave us a Rebirth. But only DC Comics gets to do that now. What will Dan Slott do to Marvel on his way out?

FANTASTIC FOUR #44
MARVEL COMICS
MAR221033
(W) Dan Slott (A) Rachael Stott (CA) CAFU
THE RECKONING WAR HEATS UP IN THIS OVERSIZED ISSUE!
•  "The End of Everything That Ever Was or Ever Will Be"
•  This is the final battle of the Reckoning War.
•  At the Apex of the All Reality, the fate of the Marvel Universe will be decided.
•  And no matter who wins, nothing will ever be the same again.
•  This is not hyperbole. This is happening. There will be consequences.
•  If you care about the Fantastic Four, their extended family and the rest of the Marvel U…you will not want to miss this.
•  Starring Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny, Nick Fury, Victor Von Doom, Norrin Radd, Uatu and Jennifer Walters.
RATED T+In Shops: Jun 08, 2022 SRP: $4.99

FANTASTIC FOUR #45
MARVEL COMICS
APR220974
(W) Dan Slott (A) R. B. Silva (CA) CAFU
THE RECKONING WAR: EPILOGUE – "OPEN YOUR EYES"!
Following the explosive events of the Reckoning War, the Marvel Universe has changed. We told you this was important. To see where all the pieces have fallen and what lies ahead, you're going to want to read this one, Marvelite. The future awaits!
RATED T+In Shops: Jul 13, 2022
SRP: $3.99

FANTASTIC FOUR #46
MARVEL COMICS
MAY220962
(W) Dan Slott (A/CA) CAFU
"FAMILY FIRST"!
•  Not a dream. Not a hoax. This is real.
•  Thanks to the knowledge of the Watchers, the lost daughter of Nathaniel Richards has been found.
•  It's time to finally meet the mysterious sister of Reed Richards.
•  But is it time to welcome her into the family?
•  It's a day of amazing adventures both in her world, and in the world of the Fantastic Four.
•  Guest-starring Namor, King of Atlantis.
RATED T+In Shops: Aug 03, 2022
SRP: $3.99

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