History ComicBook / OldManLogan

''Old Man Logan'' is the name of a Creator/MarvelComics storyline written by Creator/MarkMillar with art by Steve [=McNiven=], featuring ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and set in an AlternateUniverse[=/=]BadFuture. The storyline was popular enough to later spawn a miniseries set during the ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' event, an ongoing series set in the main Marvel universe, ''Old Man Hawkeye'' -- a prequel set five years before the original story -- and ''Old Man Quill'', a miniseries focusing on what happened to Comicbook/StarLord and the Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy in this universe. ''Film/{{Logan}}'', the GrandFinale of the Creator/HughJackman [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Wolverine films]], is [[PragmaticAdaptation heavily inspired]] by this series, as one might guess from the name.

Late 2018 introduces the twelve issue series ''Dead Man Logan'', a GrandFinale where Logan's healing factor gives out on him, leaving him with twelve months to live and ensure his potential future is no longer a possibility for this timeline.

A sequel/spinoff mini-series titled ''Avengers of the Wasteland'' began in early 2020, following Dani Cage, Bruce Jr. and Dwight Barret as the new Ant-Man, as they try to fight Comicbook/DoctorDoom and bring peace to the Wasteland.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Original Storyline]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolverine66_oldmanlogan.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Get ready for the ride of your life.]]

The original storyline is an eight-chapter story written by Mark Millar with art by Steve [=McNiven=], set in an AlternateUniverse[=/=]BadFuture where the villains of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse took over the United States and divided it up into territories. A now pacifist Logan lives with his new family in "Hulkland" (formerly, The Abomination's Territory, formerly California) where the inbred children of an [[FaceHeelTurn evil]] [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] are the lords of the land. Logan is short on the rent, and must team up with a now blind ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} to deliver a mysterious cargo in order to help keep his landlords from killing him and his family.

The storyline was used as the basis for the third ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries Wolverine]]'' movie, ''Film/{{Logan}}'' - although, given that the story greatly relies upon story elements that Fox does not own the film rights to, the film is a PragmaticAdaptation that is much more grounded in nature.

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* WolverineClaws: It's a given, but they don't get shown for most of the main story.

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[[/folder]]

[[folder: Miniseries]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/old_man_logan_1_cover.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Over the wall...]]
In 2015, the storyline received a sequel as part of the ''Comicbook/SecretWars2015'' crossover, written by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis with art by Andrea Sorrentino. Living in his own Battleworld domain following the events of the original story, trying to bring law to the people, Logan's life is upended when an Ultron head falls out of the sky. Feeling a need to investigate, Logan scales the wall separating his domain from the others, and from there on, things only get weirder.

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!!The second series contains examples of:

* AuthorAppeal: Danielle Cage, the daughter of Comicbook/JessicaJones and Comicbook/LukeCage, makes an appearance, despite not being mentioned in the previous storyline at all. This is probably because Bendis has a well-known love for the two characters and created Danielle.
* FishOutOfWater: Logan's journeys into Apocalypse's domain have a hint of this, since while he's experienced that kind of stuff before, he's out of practice. A more straight-up example when he visits Iron Man's domain.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Emma Frost]], by the Punishers. Wolverine even carries a conversation with their ghost, shortly before the reveal that [[DeadAllAlong they've been dead for presumably weeks...]]
* SeriesContinuityError: In the first issue, Logan specifically refers to the Thors, the police force of Battleworld. But in the next, he doesn't know what the Thors are.
* WolverineClaws: Logan's not shy about using them anymore.
* WolverinePublicity: Issue 2's cover depicts Old Man Logan fighting a version of Wolverine (almost all characters from ''Secret Wars (2015)'' are just versions of the original) who looks exactly like the Comicbook/AgeOfApocalypse incarnation. ''That'' Wolverine appears nowhere in the issue, nor does Logan meet any other Wolverine. So yes, it technically counts because the cover lies to us about the ''amount'' of Wolverines.
* YouKilledMyFather: The Gladiator's son's motivation for shooting at Logan. Logan says he did the kid a favour, and says if the kid is still pissed when he's an adult, he can find Logan and they'll finish things.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder: Ongoing Series]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/old_man_logan_vol_2_1_textless.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: Some things have changed...]]

After finding himself in the mainstream Marvel Universe, and finding that his past has not come to fruition, Logan is left to his own devices. He appears in both ''Comicbook/ExtraordinaryXMen'' and his own ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing, both written by Creator/JeffLemire. ''Old Man Logan'' featured art by Lemire's previous ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'' collaborator, and returning ''Old Man Logan'' artist Andrea Sorrentino.

After Lemire left the title, Ed Brisson replaced him as writer with a rotation of artists. It was later announced that the series would end, and Logan's adventures would continue (and apparently conclude) in the ''Dead Man Logan'' series.

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!!The third series provides examples of:

* AbusiveParents: The Maestro plays on this to ensure the loyalty of the Hulk Gang, reminding them that their "Pappy Banner" was a violent, abusive monster who raped his daughters and would beat them savagely to keep them in line, as well as being a general incompetent leader. He initially recruited the Hulk Gang by presenting himself as a benevolent, caring and gentle father figure instead.
** Of course, the Maestro is a {{hypocrite}}, as he is just as willing to beat -- or even kill -- the Hulk Clan, who are his alternate timeline offspring, for upsetting him, and it's revealed that his plan to create a "Gamma Earth" would have involved killing the Hulk Gang by making them unwittingly act as suicide bombers. Why? Because he finds the Hulk Gang embarrassing for their inbreeding-induced deformities and inferior intelligence.
* AFriendInNeed: In the Days of Anger storyline, Logan is doing a pretty good job at wiping out the Hulk Gang who escaped to Earth-616, unfortunately he's in over his head trying to deal with their plot to nuke the world. Logan started his investigation solo but really needs help, so Hawkeye (Clint Barton) tags along to back him up. It almost costed Hawkeye his life when the Maestro attacked him.
* AfterTheEnd: As bad as the Villain Uprising was, they doubled-down. The villains had already won and were just clearing out superheroes, when someone had the bright idea of dropping multiple nukes around the world to finish off the heroes. This totally devastated the world ecology and there's no hope as the BadFuture world is dying even further.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Comicbook/{{Storm}} implies she still has feelings for Logan, but he doesn't seem to feel the same. In his timeline, which is basically the same as regular Logan's until a bit after Civil War, he and Storm were never a couple.
* AntiHero: Logan, to incredible degrees. He kills a no-name villain for something ''he didn't even do'', and outright admits that the guy wouldn't have amounted to anything if the villains never rose up.
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: In the "Last Ronin" storyline, the Master (who's just a young boy) transforms into a skyscraper-sized tentacled, shapeless abomination when he's freaked out long enough.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:The Scarlet Samurai turns out to be a resurrected (616!)Mariko Yashida.]]
* BadBoss: Kenji, the man in charge of the Madripoor scientists attempting to make more Regenix from the few samples they have left. He dismisses one subordinate's perfectly reasonable explanation for why they are having so little success as "excuses", and when one scientist accidentally causes a sample to explode (reducing his hand to a burnt cinder), Kenji brutally kicks him to death. All of this makes it ''very'' satisfying when Gorgon arrives and kills [[AssholeVictim him]].
* BadassInDistress: Lady Deathstrike, in the Last Ronin arc.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Cambria, one of Banner's daughters, has a HeelFaceTurn. It started because once when she ran away from home, Logan let her take one of his valuable pigs for food.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Logan finally dies but he lives long enough to be at his farm and the grave of his family. Danielle Cage becomes the new Thor and with Bruce Banner Jr, they intend to restore the world, which will be an easier task as all the old A-list villains are dead or in danger from the actions of Logan, Hawkeye and Peter Quill. Viv Vision has survived with her team of rebels and they've deposed Dr. Doom, though Doom has escaped. Comicbook/KateBishop has also survived her adventure with Clint and her community is thriving. A new Guardians of Galaxy team has been built by Peter Quill to punish any surviving Church of Universal Truth members.]]
* BluffTheImpostor: When Logan shows up at a diner he freqents in issue #25, he notices that the staff is different. He asks the waitress where Lexi is, and is told she had the day off. Logan then grabs her by the wrist, saying "Ain't no Lexi ever worked here."
* ChildProdigy: The next time Logan sees Bruce Banner Jr, he's seven years old and ravenously reading any advanced physics books he can find.
* CrazyPrepared: Shingen Harada (Silver Samurai II) has over 5000 protocols to deal with the Hand. He also has multiple protocols to deal specifically with getting stabbed in the back and killed. Logan himself can count to a lesser degree, he knows he's in a different reality but he fears a similar Villain Uprising and so he's always keeping tabs on the news ready to nip it in the bud.
* DeathIsCheap: Shingen gets stabbed in the back and killed, he gets back up and walks away a few minutes later due to emergency nanites fixing him up.
* DirtyCoward: At the start of the "Dead Man Logan" storyline, the New York chapter of the Purifiers wait until all the senior X-Men are away before launching an attack on the mansion.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Logan didn't just kill Black Butcher, he first cut off the guy's arm and then it appears he mutilated Butcher's eyes as well. Why? In the future, Black Butcher smacked Logan's son and took his ball cap.
* EvilWillFail: The Maestro's plan to nuke the Earth had a good chance of succeeding except villain flaws cropped up to screw him and the Hulk Gang up. Nobody knew the Maestro and the Hulk Gang were even on Earth-616, except that a bunch of Hulks [[KillAndReplace murder and replace]] the owners of a diner that Logan likes to go to and when they see him, they blow their cover because they want revenge. The Maestro murders a few of the Hulk Gang causing one of them, Cambria, to have a HeelFaceTurn. Finally, the Maestro is arrogant and didn't realize his hacking skills are crap, so Alpha Flight from outer space were easily able to disable the nukes despite his reprogramming them.
* EyeScream: Bullseye puts out one of Logan's eyes with a thrown card. After examination at the X-Men's science lab, they find out the organ is completely dead and nothing can be done about it.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Because ''Old Man Logan'' is set immediately after ''Secret Wars'', but the rest of All-New All-Different is set eight months later, that Logan's attempts to hunt down [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]], Mysterio, and Comicbook/RedSkull in the first arc will fail was spoiled before ''Old Man Logan's'' first issue was even released. Logan is ultimately told this in issue #4 when Steve Rogers shows Logan the grave of the mainstream Wolverine and tells him that this isn't his future.
* FishOutOfWater: Logan is ''not'' used to the modern world. It's less harsh than he's used to, never mind it being completely different than what he remembers.
* GatlingGood: After getting crucified and shot up by the Hulk Gang, Logan escapes and kills the Hulk carrying a minigun. Logan then takes the minigun and wipes out a crapload of Hulks.
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:The ''Dead Man Logan'' series sees the Adamantium poisoning, his injuries, and the use of the Regenerix drug ultimately kill Logan.]]
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler:One of the Purifiers arranges a date with Glob online, so she and her comrades can capture him and force him to help them attack the X-mansion.]]
* HowWeGotHere: The first arc of ''Old Man Logan'' sets up the stage for his encounter with the X-Men over in ''Extraordinary''.
* LastStand: We get to witness the Last Stand of Daredevil, The Punisher, She-Hulk and Hank Pym in Issue #8. Interestingly, all but She-Hulk are dispatched in a surprisingly anticlimactic fashion for this trope. [[note]] Daredevil is decapitated by Enchantress, Frank is stabbed in the back after killing Electro, and Hank is swarmed by Moloids. [[/note]]
* LiteralDisarming: While defending a Canadian town from an attack by the Reavers, Logan cuts Lady Deathstrike's deadly clawed hands off.
* MasterSwordsman: The second Silver Samurai (Shingen Harada) shows how good he is with a blade, he drew first blood against the Gorgon. Shingen's aunt Mariko Yashida also turns out to be a master as well, [[spoiler: she completely trashes Gorgon with her sword]].
* MutualKill: A dying Logan liberates a town from the Maestro. He cuts off Banner's head but all the injuries he suffered has caught up to him and he dies a few seconds after.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Logan seeks out the young Maureen of the main Marvel universe, in order to protect her from the hardships ''his'' Maureen experienced as a child. In the end he actually ''draws'' trouble to her when Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers follow him to her home in an attempt to kill him.
** Logan gets an even bigger one in ''Dead Man Logan'', after getting rescued by the X-Men, Logan decides to go after Mysterio as the one last thing he does before he dies. So he goes to the "Bar with No Name" and beats on the local CListFodder to get info, turns out Miss Sinister is sitting in the sidelines and reads his mind, learning of the "Villain Uprising". She goes to Quentin Beck, who's a broken harmless man after all those years of getting beaten up by Spider-Man and Daredevil, promising to power him up. She also tells Sin, the Red Skull's daughter about details of the uprising.
* {{Retcon}}: Some very clear ones from the original story, which had the villains rise up a few years after ''ComicBook/CivilWar'':
** In a flashback, we see [[Comicbook/TheFalcon Sam Wilson]]'s Captain America uniform on display in the desert. However, the original story very specifically shows that Comicbook/BuckyBarnes was Captain America when the villains rose up. Red Skull even wore Bucky's Captain America costume as a sick memento after killing him.
** Similarly contradicting the implication that the global supervillain takeover happened around the time of ''Civil War'', Comicbook/MilesMorales and [[Comicbook/MsMarvel2014 Kamala Khan]], two characters who didn't even ''exist'' when the original ''Old Man Logan'' story was written, were seen among the victims of the superhero massacre in issue #1.
** In the original ''Old Man Logan'' story, it was implied that the Hulk Gang were permanently hulked out in compensation for not being as powerful as their father and mother. Here, they have the ability to shift between human and hulk forms at will. Also, the original Hulk Gang were presented as ugly and deformed, a result of being inbred, but here are presented as fairly normal looking, even attractive.
** Comicbook/ThePunisher appears to have been executed by the new Kingpin. Logan later meets an aged Frank Castle who reveals that was just someone taking on his name.
* NotQuiteDead: In the mini-series ''Dead Man Logan'', it turns out that Logan survived his battle with the Maestro and was rescued by the X-Men.
* PowerIncontinence: In the "Dead Man Logan" arc, [[Comicbook/NewWarriors Speedball]] from Logan's timeline is introduced. His powers have been building up kinetic energy for years to the point that if he bounces again the release will be equivalent to a nuke going off. Forge keeps him contained in a padded and monitored room designed to shut off gravity, and thus any bouncing, if anything goes wrong.
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong:
** Logan's main goal is to prevent the villain uprising. While Logan eventually works out that this isn't exactly the past he remembers, he's still set on making sure his future never comes to fruition. One of the first things on his list? Killing the Hulk, believing that it's Bruce Banner when the Hulk [[Comicbook/TotallyAwesomeHulk at the time]] is really Comicbook/AmadeusCho. However, eventually Steve Rogers talks him out of it.
** However, he ''does'' resolve to protect Maureen, his future wife, from any crap happening to her. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Oops.]]
** When he tried to go back to the Wastelands in order to save baby Banner Hulk, his mind jumps from one era to another where his body is, and when he finally gets into his body in the Wastelands, he finds out that he is in the times before his family was killed. He decides that he will never leave them again and destroys the magical item that keep his mind jumping from time to time. However, he ''is'' eventually pulled back.
* ShaggyDogStory:
** The first arc in general. Logan sets out to kill the villains who destroyed his world, and he specifically targets Banner, Mysterio, and Red Skull. However we already know Logan is FailureIsTheOnlyOption by other All-New All-Different books, so essentially nothing he does in the first arc matters.
** The second arc as well. Logan goes to live in the town where his future wife Maureen grew up. He knows they can never be together, but he's willing to make sure nothing bad ever happens to her... and its ''his presence'' that draws the Reavers to the town and lead to them slaughtering civilians.
** The third arc as well. [[spoiler:In his search for baby Banner, he makes it back to the time where his family is still alive and ends up facing down the Banner Gang. Instead of popping his claws and shredding them to bits, he finds out he ''can't''. He can't act like he does now and ultimately realizes he can't change the past.]]
* ShoutOut: There's a reference to ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' in the first issue. Logan jumps from a rooftop, with lightning striking behind him, making a silhouette of him pouncing.
* TookALevelInBadass: Averted. Not only is Logan's healing factor almost gone and he's slower and weaker, [[spoiler: Mariko cuts off one of his hands so now that arm has a regrown hand with only bone claws]].
* TrappedInAnotherWorld: While Logan is stuck in the past, it's not the past of the timeline he came from.
* UnbreakableBones: Averted, something's up with Logan because several fights in the series cause him to mention that he broke his ribs and other bones. [[spoiler: He also gets a hand cut off by an energized katana despite his admanantium bones.]] It's finally explained in issue #46 that his adamantium has reached its half-life and is chemically breaking down, losing its durability and flooding his system with deadly toxins, which are further burning it out.
* UngratefulTownsfolk: During the "Moving Target" storyline, many citizens of New York are behind Mayor Wilson Fisk's campaign to legislate superheroes out of existence, one man calling them "masked monsters pretending to be heroes" that they live "in fear" of. This is despite the fact that it hasn't been that long since the ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' storyline, where New York was trapped in the Darkforce dimension for days, and the only thing protecting the citizens from the monsters within were the heroes, who constantly risked their lives in doing so.
* VillainRespect: Kraven sees Wolverine (Logan) as the apex predator and the most dangerous animal in the world. He's avoided hunting Wolverine as he feels he wasn't ready, but Kraven sees Old Man Logan as a has-been and he wishes to MercyKill him to keep him from sullying the Wolverine legacy.
* WeWillMeetAgain: With his plan failed and Logan fighting him to a draw, the Maestro leaps away to hide in a cave, but not before telling Logan that they'll fight again one day.
* WhamShot: The end of issue 32 reveals that the Scarlet Samurai is none other than [[spoiler:a resurrected Mariko Yashida]].
* YoYoPlotPoint: Logan learning to accept that the world he's now in is not the same one he left behind, or his desire to prevent his future from coming to pass, has been revisited ''several'' times in the solo series (three of the five Lemire arcs focus on it), and has even cropped up in ''Comicbook/ExtraordinaryXMen'', ''Comicbook/AllNewWolverine'', and ''ComicBook/XMenGold''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Old Man Hawkeye]]
* TheAtoner: Songbird has spent the ensuing decades since the massacre trying to make up for what she's done by working as a nun.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Clint manages to hunt down and kill Zemo and the turncoat Thunderbolts, and begins training to learn how to fight without the use of his eyes. However, Kate abandons him after realizing that he's not gonna stop until he gets himself killed, and readers of the original ''Old Man Logan'' know that his plan to use the SuperSerum to stop the Red Skull will ultimately result in his own death.]]
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Comicbook/WarMachine was the first Avenger to fall during Zemo's ambush.
* CallForward: A particularly bleak one. [[spoiler: In the final issue, Kate says that if Clint doesn't abandon his current path, he's gonna wind up with a bullet in his head, which is exactly what happens in ''Old Man Logan''.]]
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: It turns out after helping the Comicbook/{{Thunderbolts}} turn on the Avengers, Moonstone then tried to go after Comicbook/BaronZemo for not giving her a promised reward.
-->'''Clint''': Wow, you just had a taste for betrayal, huh?
* TheDragon: Avalanche serves as one for Baron Zemo.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: Being fatally wounded by Bullseye allows Bucky to regain control of his own mind after years of having served as the Red Skull's brainwashed enforcer. He lives just long enough to thank the assassin for finally putting him out of his misery.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes / LoveMakesYouEvil: Beetle reveals that he betrayed the Avengers out of his love for Songbird, who would've been killed alongside the rest of the Thunderbolts had they refused to go along with Zemo's plan. After his death, Clint finds a note Beetle had written for Songbird, saying that he never stopped loving her, even at the end of his life.
* EvilCripple: [[spoiler: A series of strokes have left Zemo in a wheelchair and in need of an oxygen tube.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** [[spoiler: Zemo being confined to a wheelchair is subtly hinted at throughout the story, as he's always seen sitting down with the rest of his body obscured from view. The only time he's shown standing up turns out to be a hologram.]]
** In a fight, Comicbook/{{Bullseye}} mentions how [[spoiler: he stabbed Daredevil who then fell off a cliff before Bullseye could cut off his head. This sets up the final scene of the story revealing Matt Murdock is now the sensei Stick.]]
* GenreSavvy: At the end of the story, [[spoiler: Taskmaster chooses to let Clint and Kate get away after they kill Bullseye, saying "I didn't get this far chasing someone else's stupid vendetta."]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler: Bullseye dies with a smile on his face, content at having gotten one last showdown with a real superhero.]]
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: When the villains attacked, Clint was part of an Avengers unit that included former enemies the Thunderbolts. Clint assured Comicbook/BlackWidow they could trust them. Instead, in the battle, the T-Bolts turned on the heroes and helped wipe the Avengers out.
* KillAndReplace: In the flashbacks, it's revealed that [[spoiler: Zemo infiltrated Clint and Natasha's Avengers squad by killing the John Watkins version of Citizen V and [[MuggedForDisguise stealing his costume]]. Ironically, that costume had previously belonged to Zemo back when he was first leading the Thunderbolts]].
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler: Comicbook/{{Magneto}} proves himself by killing the Comicbook/ScarletWitch and letting Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}} be crushed by Atlas.]]
* NecessaryEvil: Magneto justifies his involvement in the villain uprising by saying once all the heroes are dead, he'll use his territory to create the mutant sanctuary he's always dreamed of.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: The original ''Old Man Logan'' showed that the Red Skull had killed Bucky after destroying the nation's capital. Here, it's revealed that he actually spared Bucky's life in order to turn him back into a mind-controlled assassin as [[AFateWorseThanDeath a final insult]].]]
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Songbird has spent years praying for redemption after betraying the Avengers, and helps protect Hawkeye from Bullseye. Unfortunately, Bullseye ends up killing her for that.]]
* {{Retcon}}:
** A flashback in the first issue of the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing series showed that Sam Wilson was Captain America when he died, and that his death took place alongside those of Comicbook/IronMan, Miles Morales and Kamala Khan in a battle with the Red Skull (and a few other villains like Spiral, Whirlwind and Baron Blood). Here, Sam was still in his original Falcon identity at the time of the superhero purge, and his death occurred when the small team of Avengers that Hawkeye and Black Widow were leading got ambushed by Baron Zemo's group in Las Vegas. Iron Man, Miles and Kamala weren't at that fight (presumably having been attacked offscreen in other cities), nor were Red Skull or any of the other villains seen in the previous flashback. Also, Bucky's Captain America costume is shown as part of the Red Skull's trophy collection, reaffirming the flashback in the original series showing that he was the holder of the Cap mantle when the uprising happened.
** Bullseye claims he killed Daredevil, when the Enchantress was actually the one who killed him ([[YourHeadASplode by making his head burst]], no less) in the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing. [[spoiler: And then the ending of ''Old Man Hawkeye'' has Matt still being alive]].
** Minor example, but, as mentioned above, the original storyline implied the supervillain uprising took place in-universe around the same time the story was actually published, which was 2008. As such, when the corpse of Comicbook/CarolDanvers was seen on the cover of one if the issues, it was still clad in her black Comicbook/MsMarvel costume. The flashback in ''Old Man Hawkeye'' (as well as the previously-mentioned cameo from Kamala Khan in the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing) instead indicates Carol had already taken on her Captain Marvel identity by the time of her death.
* ProperlyParanoid: In the flashbacks, Black Widow raises concerns about trusting the Thunderbolts in a battle against a villain army. She's right.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The point of Clint's crusade as he wants payback on the Thunderbolts before he goes blind.
* ShoutOut: Just before destroying a Sentinel with an arrow to the eye, Kate says "[[Film/{{Jaws}} Smile, you son of a bitch...]]"
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: After Avalanche is fatally stabbed through the mouth with one of Hawkeye's arrows, he tries to destroy the entire Weapon X facility so that nobody gets out alive.]]
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler: Magneto is shown crying after he's forced to kill Scarlet Witch.]]
* WhamLine: The final scene: [[spoiler: Now blind, Clint goes to meet the mysterious "Stick", begging him to teach him how to fight as a blind man and seek justice. Stick's reply: "No need to stand on ceremony, Clint. Just call me [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} Matt]]]]."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Old Man Quill]]
* AbnormalAmmo: [[spoiler: Dr. Doom destroyed the Ultimate Nullifier, so Quill had to find another way to kill Comicbook/{{Galactus}}. He succeeds by loading his revolver with the Time Stone and shooting Galactus in the head with it. This time-displaces part of Galactus's brain and he dies.]]
* ActuallyADoombot: The Doctor Doom that was the main big bad of the Wastelands is eventually revealed to be a Doombot that Madame Masque set up to be a puppet ruler.
* AndThisIsFor: [[spoiler: After finally realizing that his teammates were killed by the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, Star-Lord disintegrates Gladiator with the Ultimate Nullifier while saying "That's for the Guardians of the Galaxy."]]
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: During the final battle, Madame Masque angrily demands that Viv Vision stop hiding and face her in the open. Viv says "Okay" and then promptly kills Masque by tearing out her heart.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Despite all the bleak things that happened, Peter finally comes to terms with the loss of his friends and prepares to assemble a new team of Guardians to take on the Universal Church of Truth.]]
* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler: Galactus is dead, but Dr. Doom is alive. [[Comicbook/{{Champions 2016}} Viv Vision]] hopes Star Lord can stay and join her forces, but Star Lord must return to space and deal with the remnants of the Church of Universal Truth.]]
* CallBack: Ashley Barton re-appears in the series, this time she's been deposed from Fisk town. She gets rulership back after Quill unleashes Fin Fang Foom on her enemies.
* {{Cameo}}: [[spoiler: Comicbook/{{Thanos}}]] briefly pops up in issue #10, [[CallToAgriculture now living on a Titanian farm]] and sporting an uncharacteristically mellow attitude. When he sees the Universal Church's fleet flying overhead, he remarks that Earth is screwed [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight and promptly returns to his work]].
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: It turns out the other Guardians (Comicbook/{{Gamora}}, Comicbook/RocketRaccoon, Comicbook/{{Mantis|MarvelComics}} and Comicbook/DraxTheDestroyer) were killed fighting Galactus long ago and Quill has been hallucinating them by his side.]]
* TheEndingChangesEverything: [[spoiler:Quill must retrive the Ultimate Nullifier to stop the Universal Church of Truth, but keeps whining about the loss of Spartax, until the other Guardians take him out of his stupor and force him to go to Earth to find it. Many issues afterwards, they face the Imperial Guard, who tell him that he can't expect to defeat them all alone. He turns to his fellow Guardians, but they are not there. Instead, he remembers a video of them asking for help, and then dying. Mind tricks? Reality warping? No. If the older comics are read again, it can be noticed that Quill is the '''only''' character who ever talks or interacts with anyone else (barring interactions between the Guardians themselves), and other characters reporting the events only talk about him and not about a band of aliens.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The revelation that [[spoiler: the Guardians are just imagined in Quill's mind is hinted at as other characters don't seem to respond to their actions or lines and the talk on how Quill is considered a sole figure and possibly crazy.]]
* FromBadToWorse: Earth isn't the only place where the villains won. Out in the greater galaxy the Universal Church of Truth has conquered the Shi'ar Empire, converting the Imperial Guard to their zealotry, and is now lead by Galactus in a dogmatic spread across all worlds.
* LivingBattery: [[spoiler: The Comicbook/SilverSurfer has been captured, with Galactus siphoning off his Power Cosmic to fuel the machine the Church uses to subjugate people.]]
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Both during the war with the Universal Church and its aftermath, Quill kept wondering why the heroes of Earth never answered his calls for help. It's not until the Guardians crash there that Quill discovers the villains took over the planet.
* MassHypnosis: After Galactus is taken out it's revealed that he was used to mind control the majority of the Universal Church of Truth's forces. With him gone the head priestess starts panicking over all the thralls being released.
* MyGreatestFailure: A tactical miscalculation on Star-Lord's part led to Spartax being destroyed by the Universal Church of Truth. He's spent the ensuing decades drinking himself into a stupor, blaming himself for what happened.
* OhCrap: An elderly Taskmaster says this and proceeds to beg for mercy, when he's dumped in a gladiatorial pit and will be up against a Symbiote T-Rex.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Mantis doesn't look like she aged any and even Drax notes this in issue 8. Unfortunately she's as old as everyone else and time has taken its toll. Her telepathy is weaker and she's developing a bit of senility too.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Decades of stewing in his personal failures have left the once goofy and cheery Star-Lord bitter and cynical. Even Rocket points this out after Peter coldly guns down the new Piledriver (who was visibly scared and unarmed at the time, albeit while using a little girl as a HumanShield):
-->'''Rocket:''' Well, that's a little darker than the Star-Lord I remember, but I knew you weren't completely gone...I...
* OutGambitted: Star-Lord embarks on a huge attack on the home planet of the Universal Church, committing major forces and taking the right moves to catch the Church unawares. Too late, he learns that while all their forces have been used on the attack, the Church has had their reserves wipe out Spartax.
* PuppetKing: Doctor Doom turns out to be a Doombot under the control of Madame Masque and Galactus is revealed to have somehow been under the control of the Universal Church of Truth all along.
* {{Retcon}}:
** As mentioned above, the original ''Old Man Logan'' strongly implied that the superhero purge took place around the time of ''Civil War'', which was reflected in the costume choices and the use of the characters seen in flashbacks. Viv Vision, a character who wasn't created until nearly a decade after ''Civil War'', makes a surprise appearance here as one of the few surviving superheroes.
** [[spoiler: Nova is still alive, apparently having been off-world when the supervillain uprising occurred all those years ago. In the original ''Old Man Logan'' storyline, Nova's helmet was seen in the Red Skull's museum, implying he was one of the many heroes who had been killed.]]
* RealityEnsues: Sure, Comicbook/{{Taskmaster}}'s photographic reflexes made him a deadly fighter...as a younger man. When you're in your 80s, all your reflexes are automatically slowed.
* ShoutOut: Issue #9 (and the second trade paperback) is titled "[[Music/FleetwoodMac Go Your Own Way]]."
* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: Due to having been on the other side of the universe, the Guardians had no idea about the massacre of Earth's superhero community. When they find that S.W.O.R.D.'s orbital headquarters has been taken over by the Brood (with its entire crew presumably having been slaughtered decades ago), Drax asks how the Avengers and X-Men could have allowed such a thing to happen.
* TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler: Peter survives his adventures on Earth, but with the Guardians dead he's got no way to deal with all the remnant Church forces. So he creates another Guardian team that includes Comicbook/BetaRayBill, Comicbook/{{Nova}}, Comicbook/{{Nebula|Marvel Comics}}, Moondragon and a baby Comicbook/{{Groot}}.]]
* ThroneMadeOfX: Doctor Doom has a throne made out of the Thing's rocky hide.
* TogetherInDeath: [[spoiler: Peter comes across the skeletons of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who apparently died while embracing each other one last time.]]
* UnexplainedRecovery: Ultron-8 and Tonya Parker were implied to have been killed by the Punishers during the ''Old Man Logan'' mini-series. They're shown alive here, with no real explanation for how they returned. (It's possible they were resurrected when Reed Richards began rebuilding the Multiverse after the end of ''Secret Wars''.)
* WhamEpisode: Issue 7 reveals [[spoiler: the Guardians are already dead]].
* YourHeadAsplode: Rocket ([[spoiler: actually Peter]]) kills Bulldozer by firing a grenade into his mouth.
* ZombieApocalypse: A variation; by the time the Guardians return to Earth the Madrox gang has devolved into a feral band of cannibals. They have to be shot in the head for an immediate kill or else they will just multiply.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Avengers of the Wasteland]]
* TheAgeless: Being an Asgardian, Enchantress is the only supervillain to not have visibly aged in the decades since the uprising. She looks just as stunning as she did back in her days of fighting the original Avengers.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Most of the world's heroes are still dead, but the evil overlords who conquered the planet have all been defeated or killed, and now the people of Earth can begin rebuilding.]]
* TheCape: Of the new Avengers, Dannielle Cage is the closet fit, being the most traditionally heroic member of the team and the one with the strongest aversion to killing enemies.
* TheChessmaster: Doom's entire plan throughout the course of the series was ultimately to [[spoiler: set up a situation where a new group of Avengers were forged so that they could grant him the glorious death in battle he craves.]]
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler: Dwight ultimately chooses to spare Doom's life, denying him the death in battle that he worked so hard for and forcing him to live out his last days as a feeble old man.]]
* DeadAllAlong: [[spoiler: Doom confronts Comicbook/DoctorOctopus with the intention of killing him, only to discover that he's been reduced to a skeleton attached to his trademark metal arms, which are now being operated by an A.I. program.]]
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: During the final battle with the Avengers, Doom can be heard coughing and wheezing inside his armor. [[spoiler: It's revealed shortly after this that he's dying of cancer.]]
* HeelRealization: Grant was a desperate man who underwent a procedure to create new {{Super Soldier}}s for Doom's army because he had no money. After beating up protesters and seeing his comrade about to strike a mother and child, be betrayed Doom and decided to become a hero.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: Count Nefaria is now a washed up old man getting hammered in a local tavern, bragging about how he used to be one of the most feared and respected villains of his day.
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: Doom systematically hunts down and eliminates the remaining villains who helped mastermind the supervillain uprising (Ultron, Count Nefaria, Doctor Octopus and Baron Strucker), purposefully setting himself up as the last remaining BigBad the Avengers have to face.]]
* LegacyCharacter: Danielle Cage is the new Thor, Bruce Banner Jr. is the new Hulk and Dwight, the CreepyChild from the original ''Old Man Logan'' story arc, is now the new Ant-Man. Later in the series, they're joined by Grant, the new Captain America.
* TheMole: [[spoiler: The penultimate issue reveals that Doom had spared the lives of a few of the civilians from Dwight's community and subsequently used them to blackmail the boy into bringing the Avengers to him.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: Dwight is haunted by his inability to stop Doom from destroying the small community he and the other survivors from Forge's compound had set up.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Intentional example. [[spoiler: Doom murdered his former comrades so that his own death at the hands of the new Avengers would be seen as the major historical event that brought about the end of the Age of Villains.]]
* StrippedToTheBone: [[spoiler: Dwight summons a swarm of locusts to attack Enchantress, [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]], Wild Child and Shocker, leaving behind nothing but their skeletons.]]
* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler: Doom's plan. Realizing that he's dying of incurable cancer, he tries to set up one last battle against the new Avengers, believing that being killed by them will allow him to go out in a blaze of glory.]]
* VictoryIsBoring: Count Nefaria muses that after finally killing all the world's heroes, the villains lost their sense of purpose. This is why he ended up becoming [[TheAlcoholic an alcoholic]] [[spoiler: and why he [[MercyKill actually THANKS Doom for finally ending his life]]]].
[[/folder]]

-->'''Rocket:''' Well that's a little darker than the Star-Lord I remember, but I knew you weren't completely gone...I...

* ShoutOut: Just before destroying a Sentinel with an arrow to the head, Kate says "[[Film/{{Jaws}} Smile, you son of a bitch...]]"
* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: After Avalanche is fatally stabbed through the mouth by one of Hawkeye's arrows, he tries to destroy the entire Weapon X facility so that nobody gets out alive.]]

** A flashback in the first issue of the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing series showed that Sam Wilson was Captain America when he died, and that his death took place alongside those of Comicbook/IronMan, Miles Morales and Kamala Khan in a battle with the Red Skull (and a few other villains like Spiral, Whirlwind and Baron Blood). Here, Sam was still in his original Falcon identity at the time of the superhero purge, and his death occurred when the small team of Avengers that Hawkeye and Black Widow were leading got ambushed by Baron Zemo's group in Las Vegas. Iron Man, Miles and Kamala weren't at that fight (presumably having been attacked offscreen in other cities), nor were Red Skull or any of the other villains seen in the previous flashback. Bucky's Captain America costume is shown as part of the Red Skull's trophy collection, reaffirming the flashback in the original series showing that he was the holder of the Cap mantle when the uprising happened.

** A flashback in the first issue of the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing series showed that Sam Wilson was Captain America when he died, and that his death took place alongside those of Comicbook/IronMan, Miles Morales and Kamala Khan in a battle with the Red Skull (and a few other villains like Spiral, Whirlwind and Baron Blood). Here, Sam was still in his original Falcon identity at the time of the superhero purge, and his death occurred when the small team of Avengers that Hawkeye and Black Widow were leading got ambushed by Baron Zemo's group. Iron Man, Miles and Kamala weren't at that fight (presumably having been attacked offscreen in other cities), nor were Red Skull or any of the other villains seen in the previous flashback. Bucky's Captain America costume is shown as part of the Red Skull's trophy collection, reaffirming the flashback in the original series showing that he was the holder of the Cap mantle when the uprising happened.

** A flashback in the first issue of the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing series showed that Sam Wilson was Captain America when he died, and that his death took place alongside those of Comicbook/IronMan, Miles Morales and Kamala Khan in a battle with the Red Skull (and a few other villains like Spiral, Whirlwind and Baron Blood). Here, Sam was back to his original Falcon identity by then, and his death occurred when the small team of Avengers that Hawkeye and Black Widow were leading got ambushed by Baron Zemo's group. Iron Man, Miles and Kamala weren't at that fight (presumably having been attacked offscreen in other cities), nor were Red Skull or any of the other villains seen in the previous flashback. Bucky's Captain America costume is shown as part of the Red Skull's trophy collection, reaffirming the flashback in the original series showing that he was the holder of the Cap mantle when the uprising happened.

** [[spoiler: Zemo being confined to a wheelchair is slyly hinted at throughout the story, as he's always seen sitting down with the rest of his body obscured from view. The only time he's shown standing up turns out to be a hologram.]]

* {{Retcon}}:
** Some very clear ones from the original story, which had the villains rise up a few years after ''ComicBook/CivilWar''.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Clint manages to hunt down and kill the turncoat Thunderbolts, and begins training to learn how to fight without the use of his eyes. However, Kate abandons him after realizing that he's not gonna stop until he gets himself killed, and readers of the original ''Old Man Logan'' know that his plan to use the SuperSerum to stop the Red Skull will ultimately result in his own death.]]

* GenreSavvy: At the end of the story, [[spoiler: Taskmaster chooses to let Clint and Kate get away after they kill Bullseye, saying "I didn't get this far chasing someone else's stupid vendetta."]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In a fight, Comicbook/{{Bullseye}} mentions how [[spoiler: he stabbed Daredevil who then fell off a cliff before Bullseye could cut off his head. This sets up the final scene of the story revealing Matt Murdock is now the sensei Stick.]]

** A flashback in the first issue of the ''Old Man Logan'' ongoing series showed that Sam Wilson was Captain America when he died, and that his death took place alongside those of Comicbook/IronMan, Miles Morales and Kamala Khan in a battle with the Red Skull (and a few other villains like Spiral, Whirlwind and Baron Blood). Here, Sam was back to his original Falcon identity by then, and his death occurred when the small team of Avengers that Hawkeye and Black Widow were leading got ambushed by Baron Zemo's group. Iron Man, Miles and Kamala weren't at that fight (presumably having been attacked offscreen in other cities), nor were Red Skull or any of the other villains seen in the previous flashback.

* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: The original ''Old Man Logan'' showed that the Red Skull had killed Bucky after destroying the nation's capital. Here, it's revealed that he actualyl spared Bucky's life in order to turn him back into a mind-controlled assassin as [[AFateWorseThanDeath a final insult]].]]

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: Songbird has spent years praying for redemption after betraying the Avengers, and helps protect Hawkeye from Bullseye. Unfortunately, Bullseye ends up killing her.]]

* NotQuiteDead: The original ''Old Man Logan'' showed that the Red Skull had killed Bucky after destroying the nation's capital. Here, it's revealed that he actualyl spared Bucky's life in order to turn him back into a mind-controlled assassin as [[AFateWorseThanDeath a final insult]].

* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler: the Winter Soldier's original Comicbook/BuckyBarnes personality regains control right after he's fatally wounded by Bullseye. He lives long enough to thank the assassin for finally putting him out of his misery.]]

* HeelRealization: Grant was a desperate man who underwent a procedure to create new {{Super Soldier}}s for Doom's army because he had no money. After beating up protesters and seeing his comrade about to strike a mother and child, be betrayed Doom and decided to become a hero.

* SleptThroughTheApocalypse: Due to having been on the other side of the universe, the Guardians had no idea about the massacre of Earth's superhero community. When they find that S.W.O.R.D.'s orbital headquarters has been taken over by the Brood (with its entire crew presumably having been slaughtered decades ago), Drax asks how could the Avengers and X-Men have allowed such a thing to happen.

* NecessaryEvil: Magneto justifies his involvement in the villain uprising by saying once all the heroes are dead, he'll use his territory to create the mutant utopia he's always dreamed of.

* TheCape: Of the new Avengers, Dannielle Cage is the closet fit, being the most traditionally heroic member of the new Avengers, as well as the only one who has a problem with killing.

* HeelFaceTurn: Ultron went from genocidal robot to friendly car mechanic and father figure.

A sequel/spinoff mini-series titled ''Avengers of the Wasteland'' began in early 2020, following Dani Cage, Bruce Jr. and Dwight Barret as the new Ant-Man, as they try to fight Doctor Doom and bring peace to the Wasteland.

* StrippedToTheBone: [[spoiler: Dwight summons a swarm of locusts to attack Enchantress, [[Comicbook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]], Wild Child and Shocker, leaving behind nothing but their skeletons.]]

* VictoryIsBoring: Count Nefaria muses that after finally killing all the world's heroes, the villains lost their sense of purpose. This is why he ended up becoming [[TheAlcoholic an alcoholic]] [[spoiler: and why he [[MercyKill actually THANKS Doom for finally ending his life]]]].

* TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler: Peter survives his adventures on Earth, but with the Guardians dead he's got no way to deal with all the remnant Church forces. So he creates another Guardian team that includes Comicbook/BetaRayBill, Comicbook/{{Nova}}, Moondragon and a baby Comicbook/{{Groot}}.]]

[[/folder]]

* {{Cameo}}: [[spoiler: Comicbook/{{Thanos}}]] briefly pops up in issue #10, now living on a Titanian farm and sporting an uncharacteristically mellow attitude. When he sees the Universal Church's fleet flying overhead, he remarks that Earth is screwed [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight and promptly returns to his work]].

* TakeUpMySword: [[spoiler: Peter survives his adventures on Earth, but with the Guardians dead he's got no way to deal with all the remnant Church forces. So he creates another Guardian team that includes Comicbook/BetaRayBill, Comicbook/{{Nova}}, Moon Dragon and a baby Comicbook/{{Groot}}.]]