Civil War II, Now With More Thanos

The first Marvel Civil War did have villains in it, and the actions of one of them set the entire conflict in motion. They weren’t the focus, though, and none of them were the attention-grabbing type that brought readers to the story on their own. That might be different for Civil War II, as the cover to Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day issue that will kick off the event features one of the biggest, baddest villains in the entire Marvel Universe.

As you can see above, Thanos will be in the house for FCBD, assuming he manages to survive that joint attack by War Machine and Captain Marvel (spoiler: I’m pretty sure he does). Whether he’s part of the new hero vs. hero war — said to revolve around whether or not to take preemptive measures to stop villains — or just a catalyst remains to be seen. That’s Jim Cheung on the cover illustration, by the way, who also draws the main story inside FCBD Civil War II with writer Brian Michael Bendis. The issue will also contain a back-up story about the All-New Wasp by Mark Waid and Alan Davis.

Accompanying it on May 7 will be FCBD Captain America, marking the return of Steve Rogers to the role he made famous, carrying a new take on his original triangular shield. Nick Spencer and Jesus Saiz, the same team that will bring us Steve’s new ongoing series, do the honors, while the second story introduces the mysterious “Dead No More” storyline thanks to Dan Slott and Javier Garron.

As it does every year, Free Comic Book Day will feature a wide variety of offerings from comic book publishers both big and small, and participating stores will literally be giving them away to fans who show up on May 7. For more on this year’s books and to find a participating store near you, head to FreeComicBookDay.com.