A comics-related post

The last issue of Secret Invasion is upon us, and although the last few issues have been somewhat underwhelming, I'm still pumped to see what sort of twists might happen. A few days before Marvel's last big event, Civil War, I attempted to predict what would happen in the last issue. I figured that what was most likely to happen would be that Tony Stark would sacrifice himself battling off a crazed clone of Thor, which would simultaneously redeem himself in the eyes of the readers as well as call an end to the Superhuman Registration Act. As it turned out, I was dead wrong. Tony Stark lived (duh, a movie was going to come out), Captain America died, and the SRA is still in place, although it seems that Stark and co. are starting to care less and less about enforcing it as they realize that people like Spider-Man aren't even remotely a threat to anyone's safety.

Anyway, I thought I'd attempt to do something similar with Secret Invasion, to see how wrong I can possibly be this time. Here's what I think will happen. Though it looked like the Skrulls were going to be defeated last issue, I believe they are here to stay for the long run. In fact, I think they will covertly take over with the help of Thunderbolts leader Norman Osborn, who will turn out to be a turncoat the whole time (this would explain why Osborn knew what Captain Marvel was in the first place when he just busted into Thunderbolts headquarters without warning). The Skrull-controlled media will make it seem as if Osborn beat the Skrulls, and he will be redeemed in the public eye for whatever wrongdoings he committed as the Green Goblin. He will probably replace Stark, who will be framed as a Skrull criminal and locked up, as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (if it still exists, and if not, then as head of S.W.O.R.D.). During the final battle, I believe that the Wasp is probably going to die as the result of whatever growth serum she took, and the ensuing explosion will injure many and probably kill Jessica Jones, amongst a few others (some of the Young Avengers, maybe, or members of the Hood's party). The heroes will be defeated and unable to voice their concerns with a media already biased against them. As a result, all superheroes are completely banned from being active, save for a new group of Dark Avengers, who are actually Skrulls in disguise and have their reputation bolstered by claiming to have the resurrected Steve Rogers on their team, now known as the Iron Patriot. The new Captain America, Bucky Barnes, will find himself completely outcast again. The rest of the heroes are driven underground and forced to team up with the likes of Dr. Doom or go to other countries like Wakanda.

We'll see how right I am.