History YMMV / SecretEmpire

** Sally Floyd [[spoiler:is incarcerated by Captain America after an interview gone wrong]]. It is meant to be a despicable moment for Cap, but considering the cruel and insensitive way she tried to demoralize Cap in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', it was easy for quite a lot of readers to take some satisfaction at the predicament. [[spoiler:Adding insult to injury, Cap taunts her to go to Twitter and complain about it.]]

** Hydra Cap using Mjolnir and implied to be worthy was especially criticised given the way real-life nazi groups use Norse mythology and iconography. It was later revealed that the incantation for the hammer had been changed so the strongest rather than the worthy can wield it, but that was after months of implying that a nazi was worthy. The revised incantation is also problematic as it still plays into nazi propaganda about their strength.

** The book seems to want to portray Hydra Cap as [[NobleDemon still having some nobility]], with some of the worst excesses of his regime shown not to be his idea and him genuinely believing he is worthy of Mjolnir, that Hydra's rule represents the true course of history and that it's in the interests of the country, as well as implying he planned to undo all the deaths it caused with the cosmic cube. The attempt to humanise a nazi and implication that he was misguided but had good intentions did not go down well.

** HYDRA Steve Rogers, mainly for the massive pile of UnfortunateImplications surrounding his very existence as a character, being a tone-deaf mockery of a beloved anti-fascist icon created by Jewish writers and artists during a time when authoritarianism was on the rise throughout the world; but also because of the incredibly poor attempts by the writing to try and paint him as a GreyAndGreyMorality WellIntentionedExtremist and have the reader sympathize with him, which more often than not amounts to "he does a lot of horrible tyrannical things but occasionally feels bad about it sometimes".

** Hydra Cap using Mjolnir and implied to be worthy was especially criticised given the way real-life nazi groups use Norse mythology and iconography. It was later revealed that the incantation for the hammer had been changed so the strongest rather than the worthy can wield it, but that was after months of implying that a nazi was worthy. The revised incantation is also problematic as it still plays into nazi propaganda about their strength rather than exposing them as the the weak, incompetent losers they really are.

* TheScrappy: Barf, the unfortunately-named, barely foreshadowed DeusExMachina with a superpower[[note]]the ability to vomit up anything he imagines, including a ''functioning Cosmic Cube shard'' right when the heroes needed one[[/note]] widely viewed as [[{{Narm}} incredibly stupid]]. Him being a [[ComicBook/TheInhumans NuHuman]], a group already widely despised[[note]]save for [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 a few]] [[ComicBook/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur standouts]][[/note]] for being a ExecutiveMeddling-pushed attempt at replacing mutants, does not help his reputation.

* ReplacementScrappy: Avril Kincaid for Phyla-Vell, the second Quasar.
* TheScrappy: Avril Kincaid, the new Quasar, is not well received due to the CharacterShilling she's been given, the lack of explanation for her selection as the new Quasar by Wendell Vaughn, and her obvious role as a PlotDevice stuck in a ConvenientComa until the time comes for her to take down the planetary shield.

** Heavily downplayed for the same reason as above but the current predicament of the Inhumans can garner this reaction from others because of their recent push at the cost of the mutants being sidelined. [[{{Irony}} Now, the mutants have their own land and are relatively safe from HYDRA while the Inhumans are being hunted]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Captain Marvel's speech in issue #7 finally has her admit how badly she screwed up during ''Comicbook/CivilWarII'' and how her recent behavior made her less popular and allowed Steve to more easily manipulate her. This seemingly is a nod to the readers who had grown to find her unlikable after her actions in ''Civil War II''.
** [[spoiler:HYDRA Cap lifting Mjolnir in the FCBD issue was later revealed in the final issue as a farce -- Elisa Sinclair had used a shard of the Cosmic Cube to change the magic and inscription to make HYDRA Cap worthy. When the world is set back to normal, so is the change and the HYDRA Cap learns to his horror that he's not worthy, whereas the ''real'' Steve Rogers is.]]
** Initially, the explanation was that the Supreme Leader was ''the'' Captain America that fans had always known, but corrupted into a fascist monstrosity, while the Cap that appears to stop him at the conclusion was a "remnant" constructed from Kobik's memories of the original. This was later retconned and it was revealed that Supreme Leader Cap came from an alternate timeline similar to a "What If?" while Kobik had subconsciously preserved the Cap we all know and love.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** [[http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/antica/ This article]] opines that Spencer's run with ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'', climaxing in ''Secret Empire'', simply brought to the forefront Unfortunate Implications that have always existed in the superhero concept, namely that it advocates ultraconservative philosophy and blind obedience to authority by idealizing larger-than-life authority figures who are never wrong and [[ReedRichardsIsUseless despite their awesome powers]] simply settle for [[StatusQuoIsGod keeping the world as it is]] rather than improving it. The article even speculates that these implications could lead to a backlash against the genre itself in the future. It would not be until the summer of 2020, when [[https://time.com/5857064/defunding-police-superheroes-onscreen/ another article]] would re-examine the portrayal of superheroes as authority figures in light of the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of George Floyd, touching on several of the same points the first article brought up, just in a more broad sense to the whole genre.
** As stated by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-G0tpydFuQ his review of the book]], the book's portrayal of fascism as a generic dictatorship instead of the nightmarish ideology it really is, HYDRA's rule showing to be a strong regime that helps the economy, [[NaziProtagonist HYDRA-Cap]] being shown sympathetically because he doesn't go all-out in his beliefs and him being worthy of Mjolnir when a lot of modern Neo-Nazis co-opt ancient Nordic symbols for their branding all show that the book and writers were being rather tone-deaf about the current political climate. Portraying Nazis as strong and mostly competent leaders runs counter to the fact that they were mostly bigoted losers who committed [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust atrocity after atrocity]] in the name of racial purity and ran [[FascistButInefficient an infamously inefficient state]].

* ArcFatigue: By issue #6, a few reviewers have made it known that they feel the storyline has way overstayed its welcome due to the increasing use of ShockingSwerve.

* WhatAnIdiot: Black Widow has a sniper rifle to shoot Captain America with it, but Punisher shows up and they start fighting. She takes it for a second, and notices that Spider-Man is about to start fighting with Captain America. And, if the Civil War II vision is to be trusted, he would kill him. She jumps out and heads to them, to stop Miles before he becomes a murderer.\\
'''You'd expect:''' That she would take the rifle with her, or at least break it or make it unusable in some way.\\
'''Instead:''' She left the Punisher and a sniper rifle in the same room. She lives to regret it… just 10 or 15 seconds.

* {{Narm}}:
** The AI Tony Stark is hard to take seriously is because the narrative goes out of its way to behave like it's the real Tony Stark. No one in universe seems to care that he's literally an intangible android, that he programmed himself to be drunk of all things and one of the few characters that you would think would point out his nature as an AI - Ultron - doesn't even bother and behaves like he's the real deal. And it gets to an even worse spot in the sixth issue - Captain America somehow conjures a gizmo to make the Tony Stark AI solid, then he says that Tony somehow downloaded his real consciousness into the AI [[note]]something that contradicts a previous statement made by Riri Williams and other characters in the Iron Man book[[/note]] and goes out of his way to decapitate the bodyless AI. (Which doesn't stop the AI from reappearing in the seventh issue with no indication as to how it survived.) And we're supposed to take the stakes seriously when it has been said all the time that the AI is not the real Tony. It seriously derails the book and makes you laugh.
** The fact that the majority of the civilians appear to be completely okay with living under HYDRA's tyranny, and offer little to no opposition, to the point that the heroes starring the story seem to be literally the only ones who oppose them, has been widely ridiculed, especially as it seems to be an attempt at political satire. It's been pointed out multiple times that even in the most repressive real life societies, this doesn't happen, though others argue it's depressingly in-character for [[UngratefulTownsfolk Marvel civilians]] which has itself been a issue for decades.
** [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/0/0a/Secret_Empire_Vol_1_10_Textless.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170523162152 The cover for issue 10.]] It looks less like Steve has beaten the heroes and more like they've all fallen asleep. The complete lack of damage on ''any of them'' doesn't help.
** The resurrection of Bruce Banner would probably have been more dramatic if Uncanny Avengers hadn't already brought him back as a villain only to have him die again less than a year before.

* UncertainAudience: Any autopsy of ''Secret Empire'' almost always acknowledges what a severe identity crisis it had. It tried to mix bleak dystopian imagery with deep character study and black comedy, and undermined all three in the process. It tried to blame the situation on the faults, divisions, and failings of the superhero community, commenting on and criticizing past stories in the process, but it also wanted to blame things on the complacent and apathetic American people, but also the entire story premise hinges on the bad guys using {{Cosmic Retcon}}s and mind control to blur the lines in both directions. It wanted to have a dark and dramatic plot full of shocking twists, prioritizing spectacle and big emotions over details, but it also wanted to tell an intricate story with a lot of moving parts, prioritizing scope over pace. And most infamously, it wanted to make bold political commentary about modern American politics and about what the disillusioned populace finds appealing about the lies of fascism, but also didn’t want to offend potential customers and didn’t seem to fully understand what makes fascist ideology more than generic authoritarianism in the first place. The ultimate final result was a confused and sludgy book for no one, even before overwhelming negative reception may have forced a thematically confused and narratively underwhelming ending.

* UncertainAudience: any autopsy of secret empire almost always acknowledges what is severe identity crisis it had. It tried to mix bleak dystopian imagery with black comedy, and undermined both in the process. It tried to blame the situation on the faults and failings of the superhero community, commenting on and criticizing past stories in the process, but it also wanted to blame things on the complacent and apathetic American people, but also the entire story premise hinges on the bad guys using {{Cosmic Retcon}}s and mind control to blur the lines in both directions. It wanted to have a dark and dramatic plot full of shocking twists, prioritizing spectacle and big emotions over details, but it also wanted to tell an intricate story with a lot of moving parts, prioritizing scope over pace. And most infamously, it wanted to make bold political commentary about modern American politics and about what the disillusioned populace finds appealing about the lies of fascism, but also didn’t want to offend potential customers and didn’t seem to fully understand what makes fascist ideology more than generic authoritarianism in the first place. The ultimate final result was a confused and sludgy book for no one, even before overwhelming negative reception may have forced a thematically confused and narratively underwhelming ending.

** Because of the very nature of the storyline, there is a very distinct split within the base between the fans that like the story and where it may head and the fans who find it utterly disgusting that it's actually happening. There is also a third group who think that the storyline is great... for an issue of ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' and ''not'' an in-continuity story. Others think it would be better if it didn't launch when the political landscape of the world was in the state it was, passing it as something they might have otherwise enjoyed suffering from extraordinarily unlucky timing.

** [[spoiler: The fact that it ended with the original Cap miraculously coming back to defeat Hydra Cap has caused some discontent, with some saying it is a cop-out just to keep Cap's hands clean and not have him really atone for anything (the official press release swore that Cap was going to be the hero of the day... people obviously thought that he was going to do a HeelFaceTurn ''somehow''). Now, he can just blame it on the other Cap. However, some state it was really the only way to end the story.]]

'''Instead:''' She left the Punisher and a sniper rifle in the same room. She lives to regret it... just 10 or 15 seconds.

* FandomRivalry: Fans of the TV series ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' love to take potshots at this series for 3 primary reasons: One, Marvel promoted the hell out of ''Secret Empire'' and seems increasingly dedicated to trying to [[ScrewedByTheNetwork get the TV series cancelled]], two, the fourth season of ''S.H.I.E.L.D.'' featured a similar storyline about a world where HYDRA won, and theirs won near-''universal'' critical acclaim while ''Secret Empire'' is currently the Marvel fandom's [[BileFascination number one punching bag]], and three, ''Secret Empire'' was kicked off with [[spoiler: the death of Coulson.]] It doesn't help that the writer of ''Secret Empire'' played damage-control by claiming that while HYDRA are villainous, [[InsistentTerminology they're not Nazis]] while ''S.H.I.E.L.D.'' [[http://screenrant.com/agents-shield-framework-simmons-hydra-nazis/ went out of its way]] to say that "[[ANaziByAnyOtherName a Nazi]] [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped is a Nazi, and don't you ever forget it.]]"

** Some reviewers have noted that, while it could be interesting to see what could tempt a classic hero like Captain America into embracing the fascist positions he takes in Secret Empire such as censoring the media and executing potential threats to national security, the actual story undercuts that by attributing his embrace of such actions not to any of his own character flaws but to the fiat of the Cosmic Cube. As such, the scenes in which he does evil things don't develop his character or reveal previously unexamined flaws; they just reflect how he was magically altered by an outside force, and correspondingly are less dramatic and interesting.

** [[http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/antica/ This article]] opines that Spencer's run with ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'', climaxing in ''Secret Empire'', simply brought to the forefront Unfortunate Implications that have always existed in the superhero concept, namely that it advocates ultraconservative philosophy and blind obedience to authority by idealizing larger-than-life authority figures who are never wrong and [[ReedRichardsIsUseless despite their awesome powers]] simply settle for [[StatusQuoIsGod keeping the world as it is]] rather than improving it. The article even speculates that these implications could lead to [[GenreKiller a backlash against the genre itself]] in the future. It would not be until the summer of 2020, when [[https://time.com/5857064/defunding-police-superheroes-onscreen/ another article]] would re-examine the portrayal of superheroes as authority figures in light of the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of George Floyd, touching on several of the same points the first article brought up, just in a more broad sense to the whole genre.

* ScapegoatCreator: The event has made writer Nick Spencer a punching bag in some parts of the community, thanks to his behaviour regarding the event and penchant for lying. Axel Alonso, [=EiC=] of Marvel at the time, also got a lot of flak for his interviews on Secret Empire -- the low sales of this event coupled with some questionable comments regarding artists, and the alleged flop of Marvel Generations and Marvel Legacy ultimately ended with Marvel parting ways with him altogether.

* ShockingSwerve: Loads of them. A major complaint and point of BileFascination with the event is that tons of twists come out of nowhere, make very little sense and in many cases take months to explain.

* SoBleakItsBoring: The main title is an 11-issue weekly-released mini-series. The tie-ins run on a mostly monthly basis with a handful being bimonthly. Despite being advertised as a "good guy vs. bad guy" event, the first month (which includes half of the mini-series) has essentially been "TheBadGuyWins: The Event" with only not even a handful of victories for the heroes. The BigGood of the Marvel Universe is a fascist leader and his LegacyCharacter replacement pulled a RageQuit. And, surprise, the citizens of the United States have once again decided they ''like'' the villains ruling over them outside of a handful. If the idea of Steve Rogers being a fascist ruling America hasn't turned you off, the complete DownerBeginning of the first month throughout all titles will. Worse yet, Nick Spencer is adamant that the usual tropes that could solve this problem ''will not'' be used to end this (although on the press release Marvel Comics actually had to cave in and spoil the arc by insisting that Captain America ''will'' go back to be a hero (somehow) and save the day... and this they said in an attempt to convince people to stop burning issues). Finally, the Nazi comparisons and the event being written and released during a particularly turbulent time in American politics where GodwinsLaw was thrown around did not help it at all. The revelation in Champions #11 that [=HYDRA=] used a microwave weapon to literally cook hundreds of innocent people during the razing of Las Vegas, ultimately roasting those people alive, contributed to this as well. When ''ComicBook/{{Ultron}}'' himself no longer cares about destroying humanity because he believes they are doing a good job at it themselves, you know things are bad.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The main title is an 11-issue weekly-released mini-series. The tie-ins run on a mostly monthly basis with a handful being bimonthly. Despite being advertised as a "good guy vs. bad guy" event, the first month (which includes half of the mini-series) has essentially been "TheBadGuyWins: The Event" with only not even a handful of victories for the heroes. The BigGood of the Marvel Universe is a fascist leader and his LegacyCharacter replacement pulled a RageQuit. And, surprise, the citizens of the United States have once again decided they ''like'' the villains ruling over them outside of a handful. If the idea of Steve Rogers being a fascist ruling America hasn't turned you off, the complete DownerBeginning of the first month throughout all titles will. Worse yet, Nick Spencer is adamant that the usual tropes that could solve this problem ''will not'' be used to end this (although on the press release Marvel Comics actually had to cave in and spoil the arc by insisting that Captain America ''will'' go back to be a hero (somehow) and save the day... and this they said in an attempt to convince people to stop burning issues). Finally, the Nazi comparisons and the event being written and released during a particularly turbulent time in American politics where GodwinsLaw was thrown around did not help it at all. The revelation in Champions #11 that [=HYDRA=] used a microwave weapon to literally cook hundreds of innocent people during the razing of Las Vegas, ultimately roasting those people alive, contributed to this as well. When ''ComicBook/{{Ultron}}'' himself no longer cares about destroying humanity because he believes they are doing a good job at it themselves, you know things are bad.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The main title is an 11-issue weekly-released mini-series. The tie-ins run on a mostly monthly basis with a handful being bimonthly. Despite being advertised as a "good guy vs. bad guy" event, the first month (which includes half of the mini-series) has essentially been "TheBadGuyWins: The Event" with only not even a handful of victories for the heroes. The BigGood of the Marvel Universe is a fascist leader and his LegacyCharacter replacement pulled a RageQuit. And, surprise, the citizens of the United States have once again decided they ''like'' the villains ruling over them outside of a handful. If the idea of Steve Rogers being a fascist ruling America hasn't turned you off, the complete DownerBeginning of the first month throughout all titles will. Worse yet, Nick Spencer is adamant that the usual tropes that could solve this problem ''will not'' be used to end this (although on the press release Marvel Comics actually had to cave in and spoil the arc by insisting that Captain America ''will'' go back to be a hero (somehow) and save the day... and this they said in an attempt to convince people to stop burning issues). Finally, the Nazi comparisons and the event being written and released during a particularly turbulent time in American politics where GodwinsLaw was thrown around ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment though we will not discuss whether or not it has justification]]) did not help it at all. The revelation in Champions #11 that [=HYDRA=] used a microwave weapon to literally cook hundreds of innocent people during the razing of Las Vegas, ultimately roasting those people alive, contributed to this as well. When ''ComicBook/{{Ultron}}'' himself no longer cares about destroying humanity because he believes they are doing a good job at it themselves, you know things are bad.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Some of the dialogue and plot points are so blatantly meant as nods to Trump's America that it borders on comical. ''Sam Wilson: Captain America'' #22 has a scene where a group of working class diner patrons claim that HYDRA, a known terrorist organization that has tried to conquer the world ''multiple times'', isn't evil, and that "the media" is using fake news to smear them. Said scene also has two guys basically admit they don't mind living under fascist rule as long as it continues to produce more jobs. The irony is that Spencer and Alonso [[https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/04/marvel-would-like-you-to-know-captain-americas-turn-to-fascism-has-little-to-do-with-politics/ claimed]] that this story was not meant to be read as political. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment And that is all that needs to be said about that]].

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: BrokenBase aside, most reviews rate it more positively than previous {{Crisis Crossover}}s Marvel has had like ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' and ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen''. Although both of those arcs were poorly-received, so that's not saying much, and commercially, it ultimately faired worse than both, being the second worst selling major Marvel event comic in the last 10 years.

** As stated by [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-G0tpydFuQ his review of the book]], the book's portrayal of fascism as a generic dictatorship instead of the nightmarish ideology it really is, HYDRA's rule showing to be a strong regime that helps the economy, [[NaziProtagonist HYDRA-Cap]] being shown sympathetically because he doesn't go all-out in his beliefs and him being worthy of Mjolnir when a lot of modern Neo-Nazis co-opt ancient Nordic symbols for their branding all show that the book & writers were being rather tone-deaf about the current political climate. Portraying Nazis as strong leaders runs counter to the fact that they were mostly bigoted losers who committed [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust atrocity after atrocity]] in the name of racial purity.

** Sally Floyd [[spoiler:is incarcerated by Captain America after an interview gone wrong.]] It is meant to be a despicable moment for Cap, but considering the cruel and insensitive way she tried to demoralize Cap in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', it was easy for some to take some satisfaction at the predicament. [[spoiler:Adding insult to injury, Cap taunts her to go to Twitter and complain about it.]]