# Marvel: Why reboot NOW? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955 "2015-08-26T14:59:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/61 "2015-08-28T05:49:49Z")
I mostly just stick to the X-Men side of Marvel but I feel that a reboot of some sort was needed - the history had just gotten far too convoluted. And speaking purely as an X-Men fan, I was pretty upset with what Bendis had done with the property. That said, if it is a reboot, it looks like a pretty soft one… seems that most of the new titles after Secret Wars will be continuing with the 616 characters, though some of the characters will be from other universes (Miles Morales, for example, will be around, and Old Man Logan will be in one of the X-Men titles). ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/62 "2015-08-28T07:34:31Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > I mostly just stick to the X-Men side of Marvel but I feel that a reboot of some sort was needed - the history had just gotten far too convoluted. And speaking purely as an X-Men fan, I was pretty upset with what Bendis had done with the property. > > That said, if it is a reboot, it looks like a pretty soft one… seems that most of the new titles after Secret Wars will be continuing with the 616 characters, though some of the characters will be from other universes (Miles Morales, for example, will be around, and Old Man Logan will be in one of the X-Men titles). Which is why this reboot is going to make things _more_ convoluted, not less. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/63 "2015-08-28T07:44:43Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Which is why this reboot is going to make things _more_ convoluted, not less. As they always do. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/64 "2015-08-28T14:06:04Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > As they always do. This one worse than most though. They’re intentionally cramming all sorts of other dimensions into the main dimension. Unless they spend a LOT of time dealing with the clash of cultures, the fact that huge chunks of people have vanished forever (half of the people in Manhattan have essentially died and in their place are doppelgangers who recall a completely different history and are probably kind of dickish given that every 1610 character is a bigger dick than a 616 character), things are going to make little-to-no sense to the casual reader. I mean, if they actually _deal_ with all the immigrant characters and the resultant world chaos it would cause…cool. Super cool, actually. But does anyone think they actually will beyond the first few issues? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/65 "2015-08-28T14:07:42Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Wow… I gotta disagree (tastes differ and all that.) The improvement in the quality of art in comics is the single best thing to happen. I agree. I find that going back to earlier issues is a shock. Even the 90s stuff looks anemic and only half there. Unfortunately, that makes the artists who work in more cartoony styles look awful. Some of the compilations that combine art from several titles with wildly different art styles give you whiplash. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/66 "2015-08-28T14:30:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Which brings me to my other point: I fully understand why comics aren’t doing well. These stories all seem interesting to me. But the cost per entertainment ratio just isn’t reasonable for comics. You pay like $4 (last I checked) for a single issue that won’t even be a complete story or even complete part of a story. It takes at most 15 minutes to read, if you go slow. This is why I buy trades exclusively, even though it means I’m a good eight months behind the book. Reading a trade paperback, you at least feel you’re getting decent value for money. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/67 "2015-08-28T22:59:40Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Which is why this reboot is going to make things _more_ convoluted, not less. Right, I probably should’ve specified that while I can see why they’re doing a (soft) “reboot”, I don’t think they’re doing it in the best way possible. I’m glad that they’re shaking up the status quo so they can escape the Bendis quagmire they had landed in, but it does mean that in terms of history of the characters, it’ll just be more complicated. Me, I would’ve just done a DC-style complete hard reboot. I think comics should just go the way of the cartoon series, where each one is seen as its own separate canon (and if you really want to continue a universe for some reason, you can always just say “this comes after X-men Vol 10 #200” or whatever). But Marvel’s never done an Infinite Crisis/New 52-style reboot like DC, and seems intent on keeping most of the history intact, since I guess they figure that’s what their readers like. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/68 "2015-08-28T23:33:46Z")
“Hard reboots” of the DC animation kind are a pain for a large shared universe. If you try, you end up with, well, this mess. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955/69 "2015-08-28T23:40:51Z")
Marvel is probably afraid of hard reboots after the (continuing to this day!) blowback from One More Day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-why-reboot-now/728955.md?page=3)