Marvel Teases The Return Of An Avenger

Although Secret Empire technically concluded last month with its tenth issue, a few threads were left dangling. Luckily for us though, an epilogue of sorts has arrived in the form of Secret Empire: Omega #1. And aside from exploring whatever’s going on with the two Steve Rogers, it’s only understandable that Marvel examine the fallout of its latest major crossover event.

So, despite the planet of Earth no longer having to worry about being under the thumb of Hydra, some of the consequences remain. Among those are the destruction done to Las Vegas, in addition to the deaths of Black Widow and Phil Coulson. Long story short, Kobik wanted the superpowered community to learn from their mistakes, with those tragedies serving as lasting reminders.

Well, actually, it looks like at least one of those won’t stick for very long as all signs point toward a Black Widow return. As it turns out, Bucky Barnes decided to skip her funeral and instead track down a military General known to have had previous Hydra connections, and who is now looking to fill the void left by the evil Steve Rogers.

Fortunately for Bucky, he didn’t have to get his hands dirty as a sniper’s bullet did the job before things escalated. This was followed by him saying, “I recognize everything. The shot, the placement, the time. Nobody knows the Black Widow like I do, after all. I know it’s you, Natasha.” After that, Bucky could be seen through a sniper’s scope.

If Natasha is indeed back, this further supports the common complaint that Marvel’s major events have no lasting consequences, often undoing significant developments soon after or in epilogue issues, with that proud tradition seemingly continuing here. Not only that, but it contradicts Kobik’s goal of showing actions have ramifications.

Perhaps this was part of writer Nick Spencer’s grand plan from the beginning, but we hope there wasn’t any heat from Marvel higher-ups forcing him to undo Black Widow’s death. Such a thing would’ve stuck ten years ago, but with a big name such as Scarlett Johansson playing the character in the movies, there could be some pressure to keep her alive.

Secret Empire: Omega #1 is now available in comic shops.