After months of speculation, Marvel Comics has finally confirmed that the legendary yet long-dormant superhero Miracleman will return to the world of comics and join the Marvel Universe for the first time, starting with a large collection of variant covers featuring the hero with a slew of established Marvel icons. After many teasers of a Miracleman project in the works, Marvel has announced that Miracleman will have old stories released in new formats, and will integrate into the Marvel Universe with a brand new adventure.
Michael Moran, first called Marvelman before transitioning to Miracleman, was created in 1954 by Mick Anglo and was a well liked character throughout the ’50s and ’60s. After not being used for many years, acclaimed creative team Alan Moore and Garry Leach picked the character up in the 1980s, reinventing his origin and character trajectory through a much darker lens, before beloved author Neil Gaiman took over, rounding out the character’s critically acclaimed run.
In the recent Timeless #1 one-shot, which saw Kang the Conqueror traveling through time with Dr. Anatoly Petrov to prove his status as the universe’s most enduring supervillain, Petrov was confused to find Miracleman’s “MM” logo sketched into his notebook. This shock ending was the first concrete hint to readers that Marvel Comics, which acquired the rights to Miracleman back in 2013, would be introducing the character into the Marvel Universe for the first time. There is still very little information about what exactly Moran’s role will be in the Marvel Universe, especially given his efforts to totally transform his own world. However, in celebration of the 40th year anniversary of Miracleman’s 1982 modern reboot, Marvel Entertainment has announced 24 variant covers featuring Miracleman alongside beloved Marvel superheroes, drawn by a murderers’ row of critically acclaimed and beloved artists like Peach Momoko, Terry Dodson, Salvador Larroca, and Pepe Larraz. Check out the covers released so far, as well as the sales info for when each will be available, below:
On sale 9/7:
- Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #4 Miracleman variant cover by Mark Bagley
- Moon Knight #15 Miracleman variant cover by Declan Shalvey
- Wolverine #25 Miracleman variant cover by John Cassaday
On sale 9/14:
- X-Force #32 Miracleman variant cover by Peach Momoko
On sale 9/21:
- Captain America: Symbol of Truth #5 Miracleman variant cover by Salvador Larroca
On sale 9/28:
- Miles Morales: Spider-Man #42 Miracleman variant cover by Brian Stelfreeze
- Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #3 Miracleman variant cover by Pepe Larraz
- X-Men #15 Miracleman variant cover by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
On sale October:
- Amazing Spider-Man #11 Miracleman variant cover by Patrick Gleason
- Amazing Spider-Man #12 Miracleman variant cover by Gabriele Dell’otto
- Avengers #61 Miracleman variant cover by Humberto Ramos
- Black Panther #10 Miracleman variant cover TBD
- Captain Marvel #42 Miracleman variant cover by Jamie Mckelvie
- Carnage #7 Miracleman variant cover by Leinil Francis Yu
- Daredevil #4 Miracleman variant cover by Marco Checchetto
- Fantastic Four #48 Miracleman variant cover by Mark Buckingham
- Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel #4 Miracleman variant cover by Jim Cheung
- Hulk #11 Miracleman variant cover by Mahmud Asrar
- Immortal X-Men #7 Miracleman variant cover by Sara Pichelli
- Iron Man #24 Miracleman variant cover by Kubert
- She-Hulk #7 Miracleman variant cover by Jen Bartel
- Strange #7 Miracleman variant cover by Alan Davis
- Thor #29 Miracleman variant cover by Kaare Andrews
- Venom #12 Miracleman variant cover by Ryan Stegman
On sale November:
- Ghost Rider #8 Miracleman variant cover by Bryan Hitch
The possibilities of how Miracleman could be introduced into the Marvel Universe are truly endless, with dozens of questions remaining about his integration into Marvel canon. The ultra-powerful Marvel character Sentry first appeared in the year 2000 but it was explained that the hero had wiped his existence from the minds of all of humanity to save the Earth, retconning him as being a major part of most Marvel heroes’ histories, and one prevailing theory is that Marvel may do something similar with Miracleman’s debut in the Marvel Universe. After all, his modern retcon hinged on the fact that his early stories had all been hallucinations used to keep him asleep so he could be studied by nefarious forces, creating huge precedent for a similar rewrite.
In many ways now is the perfect time for Miracleman to be introduced into main Marvel comics continuity, with the upcoming A.X.E.: Judgment Day event causing all the major superhero groups to battle each other, while they are judged for their past sins by the Celestial Progenitor. Perhaps Miracleman’s appearance in the Marvel Universe will be just what the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals need to put their differences behind them and move forward as the superheroes of Earth.
The newly released Miracleman variant covers show Michael Moran engaging with some of the most prominent characters of the Marvel Universe, highlighting how he could integrate into stories featuring beloved characters like Spider-Man, Hulk, and Captain Marvel.
