"Imperial's Transformation of Marvel's Cosmic Heroes Unveiled"

In 2025, Marvel is set to launch one of its most ambitious and expansive projects yet with Imperial, spearheaded by the renowned Jonathan Hickman. Known for his transformative work on House of X and the new Ultimate Universe, Hickman is poised to revolutionize the cosmic sector of the Marvel Universe, impacting characters like Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy. To delve deeper into how Imperial will reshape this cosmic landscape, IGN had an exclusive email conversation with Hickman. Below, you'll find a preview gallery that offers a glimpse into this exciting new series, followed by more insights from the creator himself.

Marvel's Imperial #1 Preview Gallery

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The genesis of Imperial stems from a timely need to refresh Marvel's cosmic narrative. Hickman shared with IGN, "I think it was simply time to revisit this corner of the Marvel Universe. That I was available and interested, and that it’s been of ongoing interest to the company, and that the model of launching something like this had just been done with the Ultimate line, all added up to it feeling like this was an opportunity to do Imperial. It’s come together well and I think people are going to enjoy it. It’s a fun book."

The success of the new Ultimate line over the past two years serves as a blueprint for Imperial, which aims to introduce a focused and manageable line of cosmic books. Hickman noted, "You can, in my opinion, draw a direct line between the two in terms of what we think can succeed with in the current market. A small, tight line of books that readers can invest in and not feel overwhelmed, and where creators can execute their vision for the individual titles without drowning in external continuity seems to be a pretty solid model of how to launch something like this."

He further explained that unlike the Ultimate Universe, Imperial is not set in an alternate reality, which offers unique storytelling opportunities and challenges. "The big difference, obviously, is that this isn’t set in an alternative Marvel Universe, so we won’t be doing the ‘real time’ aspect of the Ultimate line. Which has its pluses and minuses, but I think most people will be pleased about."

When asked about similarities with the 2006 Annihilation crossover, Hickman was clear: "Annihilation was an invasion story and this isn’t anything like that. The ‘what-you-get’ end results might be similar in that all of a sudden there are a bunch of Marvel cosmic books you care about. But plot/story-wise? No."

Imperial weaves in elements from Hickman's previous Marvel works, such as the "Hunt for Xavier" crossover, which revived the Shi'ar Empress Lilandra and reunited her with Charles Xavier. It also introduces the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, a concept first hinted at in 2015's Secret Wars. Despite these connections, Hickman clarified that Imperial is more about integrating various Marvel storylines than just continuing his own. "Well, I’m kind of notorious for mining my own continuity inside of the greater Marvel one, but I’d say well over half of this is more like me picking up pieces from a bunch of extended stories that have been done over the years by other creators than me just picking up plot threads from my previous books. Sure, there’s some of that in there, but not as much as some people might expect."

The series also marks a return to the cosmic realm for the Hulk family, with preview art showing Hulk and She-Hulk revisiting Sakaar, reminiscent of the 2006 Planet Hulk storyline. Hickman teased, "All I’ll say there is we’re coming up on the twentieth anniversary of Planet Hulk and Marvel doesn’t usually let those opportunities pass by."

Hickman also discussed the artistic collaboration between Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello on Imperial. "Both of those guys are crushing it," he said. "I’ve been very pleased and surprised at how they’ve tackled some of the story beats, character designs, and wild locations this thing has. And with the book having a compressed publishing schedule (we actually moved it forward at the beginning of the year), the only way it could be done was for them to tag team it. The trick there is they have to complement each other and that’s clearly the case here."

Imperial #1 is set to launch on June 4, 2025.