Dustin Gebel
The upcoming series G.O.D.S., from Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti, is set to revamp and restructure the Marvel cosmology, building off concepts and character from the publisher’s history to create a concise pantheon. This October, this will be done by taking a street level approach to these lofty science fiction concepts, rebuilding them. This includes characters and beings like The Living Tribunal, Eternity, Infinity, Chaos, Oblivion, and The In-Betweener.
Hickman described his thought process behind overhauling the abstract characters, stating:
“One of the things we wanted to do was to take the universal abstracts and do a more street-level version of the character. That’s the idea behind Valerio’s redesigns. Valerio tweaked the massive god-like aspect of each of these celestial abstracts and then he also made a version of the character that is a more mundane version. So I guess in Marvel Universe terms, there’s the Peter Parker version of all these character and then there’s the Spider-Man version of all these characters now. And it’s a very effective storytelling mechanism. It works very well in the way that we’re using it. My belief is that it will make these characters more useable and more frequently appearing in other Marvel books as well.”
Schiti brings new street level approaches to the character designs, but the press release makes clear these beings’ powers and place in the universe will remain the same. The book will put them together to weave a complex system that grapples with the whims, games, and conflicts between fundamental forces.
Schiti stated in the press release:
“We already saw the Marvel gods a lot of times in the past, no surprises here. Or are there? Maybe we saw what they wanted us to see, what our human brains can contain and understand without going insane so maybe there are different, weirder and scarier forms? And if they can change shape and size, what’s stopping them from walking among us, hiding in the crowd, using a human form?”
Marvel continues to reveal more information about the upcoming series ahead of its October release, and has shared a first look at Schiti’s new design for The In-Betweener, contrasting with Jim Starlin’s original design:
G.O.D.S. #1
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art by VALERIO SCHITI
Colors by MARTE GRACIA
Cover by MATEUS MANHANINI
On Sale 10/4