Nothing builds suspense like a good murder mystery, and that is exactly what Marvel Comics is using to end their calendar year on a high note. According to the latest Incoming! teaser dropped by the comics publisher, an unidentified body covered by a white sheet will be hiding a major component of the universe’s next big events. Surrounded by distraught heroes–including every single member of the Fantastic Four–the caption inviting viewers to “solve the puzzle before the heroes of the Marvel Universe” seems to confirm this corpse is just another piece of a much larger, even more mysterious riddle…
At the very least, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, the Thing, and Valkyrie can all be ruled out as victims… but are they potential murderers? Only time will tell. No real evidence to go on means all theories and suspicions are valid for the time being. And the case is only getting more complicated from here on out.
The only real notes to make from the image are that the body seems small in stature. Adding the fact that their death directly impacts the Fantastic Four, some fans might fear that a member of the new Future Foundation meets a tragic end–perhaps one of the Fantastic children? With a date promising either answers or more questions on December 26th, 2019, it seems Marvel Comics is intent on making the holidays a stressful time for their most devoted fans. It’s also possible Marvel will be dropping more hints in upcoming comics, especially if they’re challenging readers to solve the puzzle before the heroes do. In which case, get your notebook ready!
This latest image follows on the heels of the first Incoming! teaser dropped in August, showing a mysterious figure wielding a large sword. Below it, the caption “One will unite them!” begs the question: are all these teases meant to suggest one single event? If so, Marvel comics will have another crossover on their hands shortly after the conclusion of War of the Realms… which doesn’t seem likely. Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski has said that this event “sets the course of what you’ll see in the Marvel Universe in the years to come.” Another more likely option is that these events are not all connected, but parts of a preview concerning what’s to come in different Marvel Comics series come 2020. While the images have some similarities (the Incoming! tagline and a space background) the events being depicted seem to be focused on entirely different stories.
Whatever Marvel is up to, this odd tease will hopefully become easier to decipher when the Incoming! one-shot releases in December 2019, Whether warning of a new storyline across multiple books and teams, or setting up the future of the Marvel Universe, it’s time to mark your calendars.
