Avengers vs X-Men: The Second Civil War - Whose side are you on?
I made a previous thread about this earlier, but it was too early, so I scrapped it in favor of making this new one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avengers_vs._X-Men
On April 4, 2012, to celebrate the success of both the X-Men movie franchise and the Avengers movie franchise, which will culminate in the team assembling for the upcoming title film in just a month from now on May 4, Marvel Comics is putting the two teams together in a massive war that will shake the Marvel Universe to its core. This is said to be Marvel's biggest event ever, and they want the event to appeal to both hardcore comic book readers and casual superhero movie fans alike. They will also promote and advertise this event like never before; by airing radio and television commercials, as well as online discussions and launch parties. They have done this not only as a tribute and celebration of their movie franchises, but also to reclaim the spotlight from DC Comics after they launched their New 52 reboot event. Of course, this event is said to be too big for a live-action adaption, so it's probably going to be a long time before we see such an epic crossover event happening on the big screen.
Avengers vs X-Men is a 12-issue miniseries event in which the Avengers and the X-Men will square off head-to-head in an epic war. The miniseries will ship two issues a month over the next six months, starting in April and ending in September. The cause of the conflict is the return of the Phoenix Force, the universal avatar of death and rebirth. Historically, the parasitic Phoenix Force has always been an X-Men problem, but this time, the Avengers have also caught sight of it, and they have a disagreement on how to handle the situation.
Jean Grey, the most famous host of the Phoenix, had to kill herself in order to stop it, but alas, though she's dead, the Phoenix lived on, and went on to possess several other mutants from time to time, though unlike Jean Grey, who killed herself, the others have survived its parasitic possession, and have eventually had the Phoenix Force expelled out of them. Now, its next target host is Hope Summers, the first mutant born after the M-Day at the conclusion of the House of M series. (Like Jean Grey before her, Hope has red hair, so apparently it seems that female mutants with red hair are always a target for the Phoenix Force.) The X-Men believe that the return of the Phoenix will bring about the resurgence of the mutant species (which was largely wiped out during House of M), and want to protect and prepare her for the role as the new Phoenix host, in an attempt to possibly tame the Phoenix, but the Avengers believe that the return of the Phoenix will result in the annihilation of the world, so they want to take Hope into custody and quarantine her. These two vastly different viewpoints between the two teams will cause tension and fistcuffs to arise, so they will square off with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, and in the end, only one team will reign supreme. The two army generals leading the teams are Captain America for the Avengers, and Cyclops for the X-Men.
In addition to the main series, Marvel is also publishing a six-issue spin-off tie-in series named AVX: VS, will will expand upon the fight scenes in the main series. Each issue will expand two fights from the main series in greater detail.
To celebrate the launch of the event, Marvel will throw various launch parties across the country. Each comic book shop that decides to participate in taking a side (either the Avengers or the X-Men) will receive various additional items, such as posters, pins, and more, based on the allegiance each store takes.
This is Marvel's biggest superhero civil war ever, bigger than the first Civil War back in 2006, in which the cause of the conflict was the Superhuman Registration Act, and the X-Men sat that event out. This time, however, in the Second Civil War, it is not so much a principle that is at stake; it's the fate of the world that hangs in the balance, and the X-Men have an equal stake in this battle, but when this battle is over, only one team will emerge victorious. So once again, the question is, whose side are you on?
