It’s been a rough year for Marvel’s heroes. On the big screen, the Sokovia Accords created dissent within the Avenger’s ranks, splitting the team in half during Captain America: Civil War. Not to be outfought by their big screen cohorts, the Marvel Universe has also experienced similar schisms as the massive event Civil War II comes to fruition. Four issues deep, the nascent prescience of emergent Inhuman Ulysses has caused serious unrest within the Avenger stable. As the rift grows, Captain Marvel teeters on the brink of fascism (shades of Tony Stark in the precursor event) and Iron Man fears another internal conflict is brewing.
In the meantime, Tony Stark has been crunching the numbers, which only add up to a heap of trouble for humanity if Carol Danvers follows Ulysses startling advice. As Tony takes measures to thwart Carol’s crusade, things are about to get ugly.
Marvel lays bare a few pages from the explosive fifth issue of Civil War II (thanks to CBR). The buildup has been intense, with Tony Stark appealing to his former frenemy Captain America to put their differences aside and listen to logic. In a beautifully rendered two-page spread, the tensions finally boil over (after Iron Man freed one of Captain Marvel’s detainees), and the second Civil War begins in earnest. Get an early glimpse at all the internal strife below, as well as a couple variant covers for Civil War II #5:
Even though the action is just heating up, it appears the grand finale won’t happen exactly as planned, though. Chief CWII writer Brian Michael Bendis recently reported delays to the final issue – mostly due to a happy arrival in artist David Marquez’s family. The postponement also gave Bendis a chance to rework the ending and add an eighth issue – Civil War II: The Oath. It now appears that the new outro has been delayed as well as the original finale, according to Newsarama, with Civil War II #7 being pushed back from October 19 to November 30. The Oath now ships on December 28 instead of October 26.
The revised schedule is unfortunate, because Civil War II is just ramping up to its big climax. Fans waiting for the fallout to reach a fever pitch in the final two issues will have to hold their breath even longer. Thus far, the event has been Marvel’s top seller, so hopefully the set-backs don’t cool off too many fans or muck up the company’s plans for the aftermath of the superhero struggle. Of course, delays happen in comic books all the time for any number of reasons. Bendis’ revamped ending, in addition to a bonus issue, should make it well worth the wait.
Thus far, the Civil War sequel has proven to be another thought-provoking Marvel event. With Captain Marvel and her squad (including the Marauder crew) set to go toe-to-toe with Iron Man and his assembled band, and it looks to be another brutal battle. Naturally, allegiances will shift and blood will be spilled, as the tragedy has already struck for several Avenger greats. The delay simply means fans have a little more time to reflect on the superhero schism, and how it will impact the course of events in the Marvel Universe (and perhaps even the MCU) for years to come.
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Civil War II #5 arrives in stores and online on September 21. Civil War #6 on October 26, #7 on November 30, and #8 on December 28.
Source: CBR, Newsarama
