Marvel confirms major Spider-Man crossover event is coming later this year

Marvel Comics’ end of the year event Gang War will begin in Zeb Wells’ The Amazing Spider-Man and involve a lot of heroes and villains. 

When people think about Marvel Comics crossovers, their minds almost always go big. They think of cosmic battles like Annihilation or adventures with the Avengers like Secret Wars. However, some comic book fans forget that street heroes like Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Luke Cage have events as well.

Shadowland and Devil’s Reign are perfect examples of that. Each of them had ramifications on the entire universe even though their battle wasn’t fought in space.

At the end of 2023, Marvel Comics will deliver another street-level crossover. The event will be called Gang War and involve a lot of familiar names.

"“Villains are fighting villains. Criminals are fighting criminals. Spider-Man has had enough.” – Marvel"

According to Marvel.com, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) is attempting to stop a war between major crime lords in New York. Their fighting is causing chaos throughout New York. That leaves characters like both Spider-Men Peter Parker and Miles Morales, She-Hulk, Daredevil, Iron Fist (Lin Lei), and Spider-Woman to “take down the super-gangs in under 48 hours.” It isn’t just random super-gangs involved. Heavy hitters and former kingpins like Mr. Negative, the Owl, Hobgoblin, Diamondback, and more. A.I.M. and Hydra will make an appearance as well.

With all of these antagonists and heroes, readers should expect things to get intense. There will be personal brawls as well throughout the series. Each of the heroes has or had a personal vendetta with at least one of the criminals fighting for supremacy. New rivalries will come out of this as well. Another thing to look for is Luke Cage getting involved despite being Mayor of New York.

Luke Cage’s dilemma

Luke Cage’s position as mayor leaves him with a responsibility to uphold the law. One of those laws is superheroes being illegal in New York (read Devil’s Reign for more on that). However, this conflicts with Luke’s morals. During Marvel Comics’ Civil War, Luke was the loudest hero speaking up against the Superhero Registration Act. There are some differences between the two laws, but a debate can be made that they’re the same.

If Luke isn’t on the side of the heroes, his peers will call out his hypocrisy. If they don’t, Jessica Jones certainly will. In fact, she’ll probably be the one to get him involved. After she tells Luke that it’s the right thing to do, Luke will turn the tide of the fight. The latter will likely lead to him no longer being mayor.

There are two other options for Mayor Luke Cage. The first is to deputize the heroes involved in the fight. This way they won’t be doing anything illegal. The other is to give them two days to end the war before the authorities get involved. Either of these options could be why Spider-Man and company only have 48 hours to end the fighting.

Where to read Marvel Comics Gang War

Marvel Comics Gang War will appear in multiple Marvel comic books. Those titles are:

• Amazing Spider-Man – Gang War First Strike
• Amazing Spider-Man No. 37-44
• Luke Cage Gang War (four-part mini-series)
• Spider-Woman (four-part mini-series)
• Miles Morales: Spider-Man No. 12-16
• Daredevil: Gang War (four-part mini-series)
• Deadly Hands of Kung- Fu: Gang War (three-part mini-series)

Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow for more news on Marvel Comics Gang War as it comes out.

What do you think? Will you be reading Marvel Comics Gang War?