The Marvel universe is no stranger to visiting future timelines — see Spider-Man 2099, X-Men: Days of Future Past, or Old Man Logan. But a brand-new comic is answering the ultimate question of who is the last Marvel hero standing, and it’s maybe not who fans would’ve put money on.
The comic in question is Marvel’s Timeless #1. As written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, with art by Juann Cabal (and a variant cover by InHyuk Lee, which you can see in part below), this special one-shot is due to set the stage for upcoming stories by revealing the far reaches of Marvel’s future. For starters, it reveals the surprising truth about the final hero who outlives all the rest.
There’s only one Marvel hero still living at the end of time, but they embody the powers of three others
Yes, as you can probably guess from the above image, the “last living Marvel superhero” is none other than Power Man aka Luke Cage, although the one-time Hero of Harlem has changed a lot by the point on the timeline that Timeless finds him.
Described as taking place at “the grim endpoint of the Marvel universe,” Timeless introduces a dystopian future of the universe’s timeline in which “an ancient evil” has ascended to “ultimate power.” Namely, Immortal Moon Knight, who appears to be a cross between the Avatar of Khonshu known as Marc Spector and Doctor Doom and is described as “a nightmare borne of StarkTech, the Eternal Machine, and the God of the Moon.”
While all other Avengers have fallen, “a single, remaining hero” remains to battle the foe who threatens “all of time and space.” Luckily, Old Man Power Man has had a major upgrade since the present-day. Labelled the “master of living weapons,” Luke Cage now possesses the powers of the Sentry, the Hulk, and his old friend, Danny Rand aka Iron Fist. Unfortunately, having so many abilities inside him has left Luke “unstable.”
Meanwhile, Marvel.com is teasing a “dark, deeply personal conflict [that] underpins this mind-bending apocalypse.” It sure sounds like there’s a shocking yet familiar face hiding under Immortal Moon Knight’s mask. All will be revealed when Timeless #1 releases on Dec. 27.