The world of Heroes Reborn completely reinvents the origins of three major young heroes — and even turns Miles Morales into, essentially, a Robin.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Heroes Reborn: Young Squadron #1 by Jim Zub, Steven Cummings, Erick Arciniega & VC’s Clayton Cowles, on sale now
In the world of Heroes Reborn, the heroes of the Marvel Universe never existed. They’ve been replaced by the Squadron Supreme, which has resulted in a radically different world. There’s even an entire new generation of heroes inspired by these disguised villains. The resulting tweaked origins don’t just reflect their own histories, but even find a way to reference — and subvert — the classic elements from some major DC heroes.
Now, here’s how Heroes Reborn: Young Squadron #1 fully reinvents Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel and Nova in this strange new world.
Nova Becomes Kid Spectrum In Heroes Reborn
In the Heroes Reborn reality, Sam Alexander never became a Nova — although the intergalactic heroes do still exist, with the Johnny Storm of this reality becoming a chief member of their number. Instead, Sam’s introduction to super-heroics came during an attack by the M.O.D.A.C. on a museum Sam was visiting. M.O.D.A.C.’s attempts to steal an Omega Stone on display, which in turn is revealed to be a trap to draw out M.O.D.A.C. by Doctor Spectrum.
But the Omega Stone is able to amplify the villain enough to separate Doctor Spectrum from his Power Prism. In the chaos, Sam rushed forward to help and ended up touching the Prism himself — becoming imbued with the power of flight and energy blasts as a result. Doctor Spectrum fully embraced Sam as his sidekick — Kid Spectrum — and taught him how to use his powers.
Ms. Marvel Becomes Girl Power In Heroes Reborn
In this new reality, Kamala Khan is still a massive fan of a specific superhero. But without Carol Danvers to idolize and look up to (eventually taking inspiration from Captain Marvel to become Ms. Marvel), Kamala instead became obsessed with Power Princess. She became a history student at a museum in Jersey City, but was horrified to discover her professor smuggling weapons for the Maggia. Hoping to distract the criminals until the Power Princess could arrive and save the day, Kamala found a mysterious Utopian Circlet to wear.
Donning granted her enhanced strength, as well as the speed and skills of a Utopian Warrior — coupled with her newfound equipment, she quickly proves to be a formidable fighter and handily defeats the criminals. By the time Power Princess arrives, Kamala can only explain the situation while surrounded by unconscious crooks. Offering the circlet back, Power Princess is impressed by the young hero and takes her as a partner — Girl Power. In many ways, it makes Kamala a specific reference to Cassie Sandmark as well — with DC’s current Wonder Girl first gaining powers from a similar source.
Miles Morales Becomes The Falcon In Heroes Reborn
When he was introduced in the Ultimate Universe, Miles Morales was inspired by the death of a major hero. But while Miles was inspired by his world’s Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe, here he is inspired by the death of the Falcon. Deciding that Nighthawk still needed a partner, Miles donned a costume honoring the legacy of the fallen hero and set out to help keep Nighthawk out of the darkness as the new Falcon — never seemingly gaining any powers but using his own personal skills and technology to keep up with the rest of the world. In many respects, this transforms Miles into the Heroes Reborn version of Tim Drake from the DC Universe — a dedicated fan of Batman and Robin who chose to become a hero to try and help his hero while he was in a deeply conflicted place following the demise of Jason Todd.
It’s also notably Nighthawk who clues the heroes into the truth about the Squadron Supreme. Nighthawk reacted poorly when he met Miles, screaming at him to get off the roof and threatening to throw him into the juvenile hall if he sees him in costume again. Even Doctor Spectrum and Power Princess have drastically dark sides, excusing collateral damage and lethal intent to their partners with ease. After being informed of the problems with the Squadron by Deadpool, Sam and Kamala get to meet Nighthawk who comes to collect the Merc with a Mouth. But his apparent fury with Miles is still palpable, leading the pair to hide their friend. It’s an interesting subversion of some classic archetypes, not just for the Marvel heroes but their DC counterparts as well — and how a shattered legacy can lead to something new.
X-Men Villains CRUSHED a Major Cosmic Team in Marvel’s Heroes Reborn
