Imperial's Impact: Redefining Marvel's Cosmic Heroes

In 2025, Marvel is set to launch one of its most ambitious projects yet with the new comic series, Imperial. Spearheaded by Jonathan Hickman, the visionary behind transformative Marvel arcs like House of X and the new Ultimate Universe, Imperial promises to redefine the status quo for Marvel's cosmic heroes, including Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy. To delve deeper into how this series will reshape the cosmic landscape, IGN conducted an exclusive email interview with Hickman. Scroll through the slideshow gallery below for a sneak peek, and continue reading for more insights.

Marvel's Imperial #1 Preview Gallery

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The genesis of Imperial stemmed from a timely opportunity to revisit Marvel's cosmic realm. Hickman shared with IGN, "I think it was simply time to revisit this corner of the Marvel Universe. That I was available and interested, and that it's been of ongoing interest to the company, and that the model of launching something like this had just been done with the Ultimate line, all added up to it feeling like this was an opportunity to do Imperial. It's come together well and I think people are going to enjoy it. It's a fun book."

Drawing parallels with the successful relaunch of the Ultimate line, Hickman sees Imperial as a similarly focused endeavor. "You can, in my opinion, draw a direct line between the two in terms of what we think can succeed with in the current market," he explained. "A small, tight line of books that readers can invest in and not feel overwhelmed, and where creators can execute their vision for the individual titles without drowning in external continuity seems to be a pretty solid model of how to launch something like this." He noted, however, that unlike the Ultimate line, Imperial won't operate in an alternate universe, opting out of the 'real time' narrative approach.

While Imperial may evoke memories of the 2006 Annihilation crossover, Hickman asserts that the stories are fundamentally different. "No. Simply because that's an invasion story and this isn't anything like that," he stated. "The 'what-you-get' end results might be similar in that all of a sudden there are a bunch of Marvel cosmic books you care about. But plot/story-wise? No."

Although Imperial draws on elements from Hickman's previous works, such as the "Hunt for Xavier" crossover and the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, he clarifies that the series isn't as tightly knit to his past projects as one might think. "Well, I’m kind of notorious for mining my own continuity inside of the greater Marvel one, but I’d say well over half of this is more like me picking up pieces from a bunch of extended stories that have been done over the years by other creators than me just picking up plot threads from my previous books," Hickman remarked. "Sure, there's some of that in there, but not as much as some people might expect."

The series also takes a cosmic turn for the Hulk family, with Hulk and She-Hulk returning to the war-torn world of Sakaar, echoing the 2006 Planet Hulk storyline. Hickman hinted at the timing, saying, "All I’ll say there is we’re coming up on the twentieth anniversary of Planet Hulk and Marvel doesn’t usually let those opportunities pass by."

On the artistic front, Imperial features the talents of Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello. Hickman praised their efforts, stating, "Both of those guys are crushing it. I’ve been very pleased and surprised at how they’ve tackled some of the story beats, character designs, and wild locations this thing has. And with the book having a compressed publishing schedule (we actually moved it forward at the beginning of the year), the only way it could be done was for them to tag team it. The trick there is they have to complement each other and that’s clearly the case here."

Imperial #1 is scheduled for release on June 4, 2025.