Dark Reign is a 2008 to 2009 comic book branding used by Marvel Comics. It deals with the aftermath of the "Secret Invasion" storyline, which resulted in a shift of power in the Marvel Universe toward Norman Osborn. The title refers to Osborn's rise to national power and the ramifications thereof. Joe Quesada, then-editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, stated that "Dark Reign is not really an event, it's what's happening in the Marvel Universe." He believes that "Dark Reign leads to an interesting place in the Marvel Universe. I think you'll see a pulling back at the end of Dark Reign, but you'll understand at the end of it what we were trying to get to."

Publication history

The story-line begins with the release of Secret Invasion: Dark Reign, a one-shot by Brian Michael Bendis (writer) and Alex Maleev (art), in December 2008. It continued in standalone mini-series and some individual issues of ongoing Marvel Comics titles throughout 2009. Selected ongoing Marvel titles were temporarily renamed to highlight their involvement in the story-line. Initial promotional images for the story-line included a series of "We Lost, They Won" images showing: a severed robotic head of Iron Man, Emma Frost holding Cyclops's blood-covered visor, the new Captain America bowing to Norman Osborn's Iron Patriot form, Daken's Wolverine form looking down, Thor motionless on Loki's female form, Venom's Spider-Man appearance defeating Spider-Man, Henry Pym's Wasp alias (with Wasp's picture in the background), and the Green Goblin (which quotes that "He won"). There is no core limited series as there was in the preceding Secret Invasion event. Instead, the story-line is made up of one-shots that help fill in the gaps, limited series exploring the effect of the event on teams and individuals, as well as tie-ins with other ongoing series. The main story-line led into the 2010 "Siege" crossover event, although some plot elements are ongoing.

Plot

Following the Skrull invasion of Earth during Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn leverages his success in defeating the Skrulls to replace Tony Stark as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Deadpool plays a large part in this, as he is supposed to send the information on how to kill the Skrull Queen Veranke to Nick Fury. An error occurs during the process and the information goes to Osborn instead. Osborn shoots Veranke in the head and becomes the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., which he replaces with H.A.M.M.E.R. Osborn simultaneously forms an alliance called the Cabal with Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki, and the Hood. He uses H.A.M.M.E.R. to carry out his agenda and, at times, the Cabal's. However, Osborn's actions and his reputation influence a number of heroes and villains to attempt to resist Osborn's rule and remove him from power by force, if necessary.

Main characters

"'The Hood, of course, may not be acting of his own volition, since he has an unholy alliance with the Dread Dormammu, who may want the zombies and the virus that creates them for his own nefarious purposes. Plus, the Hood doesn't just bring any group of villains with him on this jaunt. He brings a very horror-oriented group of villains with him.' (This group is the Night Shift. )"

One-shots

One-shots help the transition from Secret Invasion and fill in other details behind the main story-line.

Dark Reign: Files

Dark Reign: The Cabal

Written by Rick Remender, Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen, and Peter Milligan, this one-shot features five vignettes that provide further information about the motivations of the members of the Cabal. It is reprinted in the Siege Prelude trade paperback.

Dark Reign: Made Men

Written by Frank Tieri, this one-shot features vignettes that explore the impact of Osborn's rise, such as Attuma's resurrection, the appearance of the new Enforcer, the return of the original Spymaster, and the appearance of a new Jack O'Lantern.

Dark Reign: New Nation

This kicks off ongoing series Secret Warriors, Agents of Atlas and War Machine and limited series Skrull Kill Krew and New Avengers: The Reunion.

Dark Reign: Goblin Legacy

The comic sees Victoria Hand collecting info about Norman Osborn's past.

Marvel Spotlight: Dark Reign

M.O.D.O.K.: Reign Delay

This story was written and drawn by Ryan Dunlavey and shows M.O.D.O.K.'s attempt to take over his home town Erie, Pennsylvania. It was serialized on Marvel Digital Comics before appearing as a one-shot.

Other one-shots

Ongoing titles

Dark Reign has been used as a springboard to launch these ongoing series.

Agents of Atlas

The Agents of Atlas are shown opposing Osborn's agenda by taking on the role of "super-villains". Their first act is to attack Fort Knox and steal the gold reserve, which Osborn planned on using to finance a secret weapons system.

Black Panther

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, attempts to recruit T'Challa for the Cabal, a secret council of super-villains. Attacked by the forces of fellow Cabal member Doctor Doom, T'Challa is left comatose. His sister Shuri is trained as the next Panther, with the mantle passing onto her officially after T'Challa awakens from his coma and attempts to recover from his injuries. This then leads to Doomwar.

Dark Avengers

Written by Bendis, the series chronicles the aftermath of the U.S. government's disbanding of the federally sanctioned superhero team, the Avengers, and its reconstruction under Osborn's control. Their first mission is to save Doctor Doom and Latveria from Morgan le Fay.

Punisher

Marvel relaunched The Punisher War Journal in 2009 as simply Punisher, with a thematic link to the events of the Dark Reign story-line. It sees Punisher attempting to kill Osborn, but Goblin sends his cabal member Hood against Punisher. Punisher then goes against Hood's gang.

Secret Warriors

This series, co-plotted by Bendis with Jonathan Hickman writing, was launched as part of the Dark Reign story-line. Following their introduction in the Secret Invasion tie-in issues of The Mighty Avengers, Fury and the Secret Warriors discover that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been controlled by HYDRA since its creation, and set out to defeat both HYDRA and Norman Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R.

Spider Woman

After Veranke's actions leave her feeling mistreated, Jessica joins S.W.O.R.D. after she is recruited by Abigail Brand. Her first mission takes her to Madripoor where she takes on a Skrull posing as Spider-Man. After run-ins with HYDRA, another Skrull, and the new Thunderbolts, Jessica eventually finds a wayward Skrull and she takes it down with the help of her teammates in the New Avengers. After the mission, Brand offers her different, new opportunities within S.W.O.R.D

S.W.O.R.D

Henry Peter Gyrich is assigned as S.W.O.R.D. co-commander alongside Brand. Gyrich is able to persuade the heads of S.W.O.R.D. to pass legislation to have all aliens deported from Earth while Brand was distracted with another mission. He manages to take several notable aliens into custody including Noh-Varr, Adam X, Beta Ray Bill, Jazinda, Karolina Dean, and Hepzibah.

Vengeance of Moon Knight

Moon Knight returns to New York after faking his death with Jake Lockley as his dominant personality, but still struggles against his violent nature and is hounded by Khonshu in the form of a small imaginary tormentor resembling a man in the Moon Knight costume with a bird skull who goads him to kill.

War Machine

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man #595–599

Avengers The Initiative

Captain America

Captain Britain and MI 13

Dark Wolverine

Deadpool and the Thunderbolts

During Secret Invasion, Osborn steals information that Deadpool had stolen from the Skrulls. The story "How Low Can You Go?" deals with the fallout from that, as writer Daniel Way explains: "The first thing Osborn does to try and take care of the situation is to bring in a hired gun to take Deadpool down, which would be Tiger-Shark. That would be the standard thing to do, but of course everything about Deadpool is non-standard. So it goes completely awry and Norman has to get more serious about things." The story also sees the return of Bob, Agent of HYDRA, as Daniel Way described: "I don't want the book to become 'Deadpool and Friends', so characters will drift in and out, but Bob was someone I definitely wanted to bring in. It just had to be at the perfect moment and when I was putting this story-line together that moment presented itself." This all leads directly to a confrontation with the new Thunderbolts team (now composed of black ops mercenaries) in "Magnum Opus", which crosses over between Deadpool (vol. 2) #8–9 and Thunderbolts #130–131. According to Thunderbolts writer Andy Diggle: "It's a natural progression for Deadpool to go after Norman, and for Norman to send his personal hit-squad after Deadpool." In Deadpool (vol. 2) #10, Osborn discovers that the Thunderbolts failed to kill Deadpool, so he sends Bullseye, posing as Hawkeye, to kill him. However, Bullseye also fails twice, and then pays Deadpool the money Osborn owed so his life would be spared. The Thunderbolts recruit several new members as assassins, including Nuke, Ant-Man, and Grizzly.

Hulk

Incredible Hercules

Incredible Hulk

Iron Man

Mighty Avengers

Ms. Marvel

Refusing to serve under Osborn, Ms. Marvel flees Avengers Tower and joins the New Avengers, becoming second-in-command. Osborn appoints former Thunderbolt member Moonstone (Karla Sofen) as the "new" Ms. Marvel to his Dark Avengers team; Moonstone wears a variation of Ms. Marvel's original costume. Osborn engineers a battle that results in Danvers' powers overloading, causing her apparent death. Moonstone takes over the title role in the ongoing Ms. Marvel series. Carol Danvers returns with the aid of the New Avengers, a group of M.O.D.O.K. embryos (creations of the organization Advanced Idea Mechanics [AIM]), and a character known as the "Storyteller" and reclaims the title of Ms. Marvel from Karla Sofen.

New Avengers

Skaar Son of Hulk

Thor

Uncanny X-Men & X-Men Legacy

Wolverine Origins

Limited series

Dark Reign limited series look at the impact of the story-line on specific characters and groups.

All-New Savage She-Hulk

Following the failed assassination attempt during which a key component of the male genetic birthing matrix—stolen to replace an identical component of the Femizon's matrix—is destroyed, Lyra is dispatched back in time to the era of Dark Reign on Earth-616 in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the extinction of her people.

Captain America: Reborn

A six-issue limited series.

Dark Avengers: Ares

This saw Ares training H.A.M.M.E.R agents and then tackling some enemies from the past, including his son.

Dark Reign: Elektra

A five-issue limited series written by Zeb Wells with artwork by Clay Mann, the series explores the reaction of the world to the return of Elektra in the aftermath of the Secret Invasion.

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four

A five-issue limited series, written by Jonathan Hickman, explores the impact of an assault by H.A.M.M.E.R. on the Baxter Building and the team.

Dark Reign: Hawkeye

Written by Andy Diggle and drawn by Tom Raney, this five-issue limited series follows the adventures of Bullseye in his identity as Dark Avengers member Hawkeye. The writer notes that the premise of the series is, "What happens when you hide that behind a hero mask? And what happens when the public is only allowed to see the hero mask, and not the monster behind it?"

Dark Reign: Lethal Legion

Written by Frank Tieri with art by Mateus Santolouco, the story shows Grim Reaper assembling a new Lethal Legion to combat Osborn. Writer Tieri notes that "they don't care who's in charge. They don't trust Norman, and they're not buying his talk. Not for a minute. Obviously that will bring them into conflict with Norman and the Dark Avengers."

Dark Reign: Mister Negative

A three-issue mini-series written by Fred Van Lente about a gang-war between Cabal member The Hood and Spider-Man foe Mister Negative. The series reveals more about the character, something creator Dan Slott had planned. Van Lente says: "One of the major subplots of the book is Betty Brant, who in the 'New Ways to Die' arc of The Amazing Spider-Man was assigned the job of digging up as much dirt as she possibly could on Martin Li... She's continuing that investigation in the Mister Negative series and inadvertently digs closer and closer to his actual origin and her life will be put in jeopardy as a result."

Dark Reign: The Hood

A five-issue mini-series that details the actions of Hood and the entity possessing the Hood. It shows that Hood has weakness in the form of his family and how he will do anything to keep their presence secret.

Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man

A four-issue mini-series by writer Brian Reed and artist Chris Bachalo. On the genesis of the series, the writer notes: "The whole Marvel Universe thinks Spider-Man is living in Avengers Tower, when it's really Mac Gargan, who has a long history as a sociopath."

Dark Reign: Young Avengers

A five-issue mini-series by writer Paul Cornell and artist Mark Brooks, offered to Cornell based on the strength of his previous Young Avengers Presents story, which focused on Vision and Stature. Following the events in Secret Invasion, the Young Avengers team heals the splits caused by the "Civil War", but find themselves fighting an even younger team. According to Cornell: "This is a story about what happens when the next generation come along, and suddenly you aren't the new young thing... There's this group of new super heroes who call themselves the Young Masters. They're young rebels on the run from the establishment, feared and hated by a world they've sworn to protect." This team is made up of Melter II, Enchantress II, Executioner II, Big Zero, Coat of Arms, and Egghead II. Cornell further said: "This is about what happens when a bunch of kids follow Osborn's lead, decide the world is hard and needs hard heroes."

Dark Reign: Zodiac

A three-issue mini-series by Joe Casey and Nathan Fox. The series follows the adventures of a villain known as Zodiac (who kills the members of the criminal organization of the same name) and gathers a group of villains around him to take on Osborn.

Dark X-Men: The Beginning & Dark X-Men

It details the story of Dark X-Men members and how they come to join this team and the return of X-Man to Marvel Universe.

Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural

A five-issue limited series, it shows how Doctor Voodoo faces the consequences of becoming Sorcerer Supreme and also takes down Nightmare.

New Avengers: The Reunion

A four-issue limited series, it deals with the reunion of Clint and Mockingbird and how they come to terms with each other.

Skrull Kill Krew

A five-issue limited series written by Adam Felber, in which the original team is brought back together to fight the descendants of the original Cow-Skrulls.

The Torch

The series brings original Human Torch and Toro back to Marvel Universe.

Timestorm 2009–2099

The series is a crossover between the mainstream Marvel Universe and a universe very similar to, but with notable differences from, the Marvel 2099 universe. A 4-issue limited series titled Strange and 2-issue limited series X-Men vs Agents of Atlas was also released during Dark Reign.

Dark Reign: The List

A collection of one-shots dealing with different characters in the Marvel Universe who are hunted by Osborn, The List sets the status quo for many books. Every story also contains a back-up feature.

Issues

As of November 2009, the following issues had been announced as being part of Dark Reign:

Aftermath

Starting in January 2010, Norman Osborn's reign ended in the "Siege" story arc, which details Osborn's invasion of Asgard and the reunion of the Avengers. This then leads into a new era, called The Heroic Age.

In other media

The plot of Dark Reign was adapted as the twelve Spec-Ops Mission of Marvel: Avengers Alliance. It was also the basis for Marvel Puzzle Quest.