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Marvel Comics has unveiled a new checklist for its upcoming summer event Empyre to comic book retailers, including a rundown of all the issues and tie-in series planned for July through September, the planned span of Empyre. What’s in the list has already been known, but what’s absent is the story.
The crossover event was initially meant to launch in April but was delayed due to COVID-19. The core limited series, several tie-ins, and crossover issues of ongoings have been re-scheduled, but this new checklist is limited in scope compared to what was expected before the disruption – with eight announced tie-ins not included in this apparently definitive list of Empyre titles.
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Eight tie-in limited series/one-shots and one tie-in issue of an ongoing — 21 individual issues altogether — are not included on the checklist: Empyre: Thor, Empyre: Ghost Rider, Empyre: Spider-Man, Empyre: Squadron Supreme, Empyre: Stormranger, Empyre: Invasion of Wakanda, The Union, and Strikeforce #10.
Empyre: Spider-Man, a three-issue limited series written by Saturday Night Live alum Taran Killam with artist Diego Orlotegui, was initially intended to debut in April and is planned to focus on Spider-Man interacting with the Cotati, ancestral enemies of the Kree.
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Writer Ram V and artist Pasqual Ferry’s Empyre: Thor was scheduled to debut in May, along with the rest of the missing titles. Its story focuses on Thor protecting his birth mother, Gaia, from the Kree/Skrull invasion.
Then there’s Ed Brisson and Jefte Palo’s Empyre: Ghost Rider one-shot, focusing on the Spirits of Corruption and Pollution, who have recently appeared in Ghost Rider’s core series, as well as a two-part Empyre: Squadron Supreme tie-in by Mark Waid and Diogenes Neves.
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Meanwhile, Empyre: Stormranger by Saladin Ahmed and Steven Cummings, is planned as a three-issue limited series focusing on the sentient Kree battlesuit which was once worn by Ms. Marvel as it seeks out a new host, while Jim Zub and Lan Medina’s Empyre: Invasion of Wakanda pits Black Panther’s people against the Kree/Skrull empire.
Finally, there’s the missing Strikeforce #10 – a planned Empyre tie-in issue – and The Union, Marvel’s planned five-issue limited series about the U.K.’s newest super-team. A collection for The Union is listed on bookseller Edelweiss’s website (opens in new tab), and while Marvel has re-solicited Strikeforce #8 and #9 for July and August (opens in new tab), respectively, the planned tenth issue isn’t in their September solicitations (opens in new tab) or, as you can see, this checklist.
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All told, that constitutes 21 issues of planned Empyre related content that appear to no longer be on the schedule. With 31 issues listed on the updated checklist, that means that about 40% of the publisher’s planned Empyre comics have not yet been resolicited – and according to this new checklist, they are no longer included in the event.
Marvel has not responded to Newsarama’s request for clarification about the publisher’s plans for these previously-announced Empyre tie-ins.
