History Comicbook / Marvel1602

** Also, Angel for the [[spoiler: SweetPollyOliver Jean Grey.]]

* DeconstructedTrope: This story includes a notable deconstruction of AllMythsAreTrue (which the Marvel Universe has always used rather liberally) in its portrayal of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. [[spoiler: In this universe, the Church apparently goes to great lengths to hide any evidence of the Asgardians' existence, realizing that it would invalidate the First Commandment ("You shall have no gods before me") and discredit the Church's authority. For this reason, Thor's hammer is considered so dangerous that it ends up becoming this universe's Templar treasure.]]

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler: The Purple Man is responsible for the dimensional rip that endangers the multiverse, but caused it by accident and never affects the story directly.]]
* HiddenInPlainSight: The Templar treasure. [[spoiler: That heavy wooden crate in the cart, which Murdoch goes to such great lengths to protect, is just a decoy. The treasure is actually the Old Pilgrim's walking stick...which is a disguised [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Mjolnir]].]]

* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Clea asks that Strange not be executed for practicing magic. King James says he won't be, and Virginia grins broadly while TheStoic Rojhaz even cracks a smile. [[KickTheDog Then James continues, and says that Strange is going to executed for treason]].]]
* HornyVikings: [[spoiler: This version of Thor has the look, at least.]]

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Queen Elizabeth ''starts'' the story coughing. It is no surprise for anyone that she would eventually die. [[spoiler: Though that's not what actually kills her.]]

* KnightTemplar: The Grand Inquisitor, charged with ferreting out Witchbreed. [[spoiler: Actually one himself, as he's this world's Magneto.]]

* MightyWhitey: Rojhaz is a blond, white-skinned Native American, apparently due to Welsh ancestry, and far more competent than his fellows. [[spoiler: Though we later learn he's actually a time-displaced Steve Rogers.]]

* OlderThanHeLooks: [[spoiler: In addition to being from the future, it's heavily implied that Steve Rogers is actually much older than he looks when he appears in this story. He claims that in the BadFuture that he comes from, he ended up as one of the world's last active superheroes because the others got too old to continue fighting crime, while the Super Soldier serum in his blood somehow prevented him from aging]].

* OracularHead: [[spoiler: Doctor Strange, after King James orders his execution.]]

* PresidentEvil: [[spoiler: According to Captain America, The Purple Man becomes this.]]

** We're led to believe that Virginia, with her strange unexplained (and unpredictable) powers, is somehow tied to the strange disturbances in space-time. A vision from Strange, which shows her about to arrive in Europe, seems to confirm it. [[spoiler: It turns out that his vision was actually trying to show him ''Rojhaz''. Rojhaz, who's really Steve Rogers sent back in time 400 years, is the real source of all the AlternateUniverse weirdness.]]
** Also a good one involving the true nature of the Templar treasure. That important-looking wooden crate in the back of the Old Pilgrim's wagon? That's not the treasure. [[spoiler: The Pilgrim's walking stick is the treasure. The Pilgrim (whose real name is "Donal") is this universe's [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Donald Blake]], and the walking stick is Thor's hammer. The hammer was hidden by the Templars because it undermines the First Commandment ("You shall have no Gods but me"), and could bring about the downfall of the Church if it was revealed.]]
* TheReveal: [[spoiler: "Rojhaz" is actually a time-displaced Steve Rogers, who was hurled back in time to get rid of him when he tried to organize a resistance against America's despotic new president, the Purple Man, in the future. His presence is actually what's causing the space-time disturbances and leading to the appearance of familiar superheroes 400 years too early.]]

** Peter Parquagh messing around with spiders... all of which fail to bite him. [[spoiler: Until the very last page.]]

* StraightGay: [[spoiler: Angel.]]
* SweetOnPollyOliver: [[spoiler: Angel again, though subverted in that, as the above suggests, he's perfectly okay with his attraction to "male" Jean]].

%%* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Captain America.]]

---> We call it [[spoiler: 616.]]

** In ''1602: Spider-Man'' Virginia Dare takes the role of Gwen Stacy. [[spoiler: Sadly, up to being killed by Norman Osborn]].
** In ''Witch-Hunter Angela'', King James unexpectedly turns out to be [[spoiler: Wolverine]].

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Deciding to become a good man, [[spoiler: Banner]] goes to subject himself to execution. [[spoiler: Possibly subverted, however, in that it was likely a ploy to get close to King James as he was shown HulkingOut ]]

* SteamPunk: [[ComicBook/IronMan Lord Iron's]] lightning bottle powered armor, which is the only thing keeping him alive after [[spoiler: Banner got through with him.]]

* TimeyWimeyBall: [[spoiler: At the end of Spider-Man 1602, we find out that in the 40s, the Americans discovered an unfinished version of the serum Pym had created from Peter's blood, and [[StableTimeLoop refine it to create Captain America]].]]

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: At one point, Reed says that he believes that the fundamental particles of [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse the Universe]] are stories, and that they are in a universe that favors them. He posits that stories can never truly end. Ben Grimm asks if it would be possible to restore his humanity, and [[MediumAwareness Reed responds that the "laws of story"]] would [[StatusQuoIsGod prevent any cure from lasting long]]. This has happened several times in mainstream Marvel and one can almost ''picture'' Neil Gaiman smiling his smile as he wrote those lines.
-->'''Reed:''' For in the end, alas, you are much more interesting and satisfying as you are.

It is the year 1602, during the reign of [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen Elizabeth the First]] and all is not well in Merry Olde England. Strange storms have rocked the continent, the sky has been cast in haunting tones, rumour on the street speaks of the end-times and only one man might discover the truth behind these unusual occurrences. He is [[Comicbook/DoctorStrange Doctor Stephen Strange]], The Queen's Physician.

''Marvel 1602'' was an {{Elseworld}} miniseries written by Creator/NeilGaiman, transporting the Franchise/MarvelUniverse into the Elizabethan Era. It took heroes such as Comicbook/NickFury, [[ComicBook/XMen The X-Men]], Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, ComicBook/DoctorStrange and ComicBook/SpiderMan and found a way to make them work in the period and tell an original tale centering upon them.

The original mini-series has had several follow-ups by other writers, focusing on particular (sets of) characters. ''1602: A New World'' by Greg Pak, which introduces [[ComicBook/IronMan Lord Iron]], ''[[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fantastick Four]] 1602'' by Creator/PeterDavid, and ''Spider-Man 1602'' by Jeff Parker. There was also a ''[[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] 1602 ''story in ''Hulk: Broken Worlds'', a two-issue anthology book about alternate Hulks.

** [[Franchise/SpiderMan Peter Parquagh]] messing around with spiders... all of which fail to bite him. [[spoiler: Until the very last page.]]

''Marvel 1602'' was an {{Elseworld}} miniseries written by Creator/NeilGaiman, transporting the MarvelUniverse into the Elizabethan Era. It took heroes such as Comicbook/NickFury, [[ComicBook/XMen The X-Men]], Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, ComicBook/DoctorStrange and ComicBook/SpiderMan and found a way to make them work in the period and tell an original tale centering upon them.

2015's ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' event saw further additions to the 1602 universe, with [[ComicBook/YoungAvengers Lady Kate of Bishop]] acting as a RobinHood-type in a ''[[AnthologyComic Secret Wars Journal]]'' story, while ComicBook/{{Angela|AsgardsAssassin}} received her own ''Witch Hunter Angela'' series, which also featured 1602 versions of ComicBook/BuckyBarnes and the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy.

* DoingInTheScientist: In this universe, practically all of the superheroes' scientific origins are replaced by magical ones, which apparently spring from some kind of vaguely-defined mystical energy emanating from tears in the space-time continuum. The ComicBook/FantasticFour, for example, get their powers after wandering into a magical storm that turns them into [[ElementalEmbodiments physical avatars]] of the four elements; David Banner becomes the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] after being hit by a blast of energy from the dimensional rip; Peter Parquagh gets his spider-based abilities after being bit by a spider that's affected by the same blast of energy.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall[=/=]MediumAwareness: At one point, Reed says that he believes that the fundamental particles of [[Franchise/MarvelUniverse the Universe]] are stories, and that they are in a universe that favors them. He posits that stories can never truly end. Ben Grimm asks if it would be possible to restore his humanity, and Reed responds that the "laws of story" would [[StatusQuoIsGod prevent any cure from lasting long]]. This has happened several times in mainstream Marvel.

** One can almost ''picture'' Neil Gaiman smiling his smile as he wrote those lines.

%%* MetaOrigin

* DoingInTheScientist: In this universe, practically all of the superheroes' scientific origins are replaced by magical ones, which apparently spring from some kind of vaguely-defined mystical energy emanating from tears in the space-time continuum. The ComicBook/FantasticFour, for example, get their powers after wandering into a magical storm that turns them into [[FourElementEnsemble physical avatars of the four elements]]; David Banner becomes the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] after being hit by a blast of energy from the dimensional rip; Peter Parquagh gets his spider-based abilities after being bit by a spider that's affected by the same blast of energy.

* AdaptationNameChange: Most name changes are slight and mainly consist of changing them to names more likely to exist in the early 17th century, but this continuity's versions of Dr. Doom and Dr. Octopus curiously swap their first names, becoming Otto Von Doom and Victor Octavius.
** Most likely because "Otto" is a very Germanic name and in a period when it was popular for scholars to latinise their names, it makes far more sense to have one completely German name and one completely Latin one...

** Werner got a lot of bickering from Scotius, as he kept mocking the OpenSecret by insisting to talk about "John Grey". Scotius changed his tone when he realized that Werner was not mocking anything, he really did fall to the charade and sincerely thought that he was talking about a boy.
** Scotius himself also fell in this in relation to the Grey/Werner thing. He was jealous because he thought that Werner also fell in love with her. But it was more complicated than that. Werner was homosexual, never suspected that he was talking with a girl posing as a boy, and fell in love with Grey ''in the male "John Grey" persona''.

* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: "I'm afraid armageddon is rather outside my department, Majesty"

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:''1602: Spider-Man'' reveals that in time, history, as we know, reasserts itself until eventually, nearly everything Rojhaz had done to prevent his BadFuture undone. On the other hand, the serum Pym used with Peter's blood survives long enough until World War 2 to be used as the basis for Captain America.]]

** Also, instead of being able to turn into sand, the Sandman in this continuity is an albino with power over dreams, much like another [[ComicBook/TheSandman Sandman]] from a [[Creator/DCComics Different Company]]. It's a bit of an in-joke, considering [[Creator/NeilGaiman who wrote the original series]].

* AlternateHistory: Due to the superheroes showing up early, King James becomes King of England one year early, Roanoke becomes an independent colony, with some new form of government other than monarchy (a republic, perhaps?) and it's implied that Ireland remains independent from Britain.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: America has been replaced by the Savage Land in this continuity, so it's now crawling with dinosaurs. According to the page at the end of the comic, it's because [[AuthorAppeal Neil Gaiman likes dinosaurs]].

** When [[spoilers:Jean's body is cremated by Scotius, Angel notices that the fire makes the shape of a [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga phoenix]].]]

The original mini-series has had several follow-ups by other writers, focusing on particular (sets of) characters. ''1602: A New World'' by Greg Pak, which introduces [[ComicBook/IronMan Lord Iron]], ''[[ComicBook/FantasticFour Fantastick Four]] 1602'' by Creator/PeterDavid, and ''Spider-Man 1602'' by Jeff Parker. There was also a ''[[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] 1602 ''story in ''Hulk: Broken Worlds'', a two-issue anthology book about alternate Hulks.

* DoingInTheScientist: In this universe, practically all of the superheroes' scientific origins are replaced by magical ones, which apparently spring from some kind of vaguely-defined mystical energy emanating from tears in the space-time continuum. The ComicBook/FantasticFour, for example, get their powers after wandering into a magical storm that turns them into [[FourElementEnsemble physical avatars of the four elements]]; David Banner becomes the ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk after being hit by a blast of energy from the dimensional rip; Peter Parquagh gets his spider-based abilities after being bit by a spider that's affected by the same blast of energy.

* DoingInTheScientist: In this universe, practically all of the superheroes' scientific origins are replaced by magical ones, which apparently spring from some kind of vaguely-defined mystical energy emanating from tears in the space-time continuum. The ComicBook/FantasticFour, for example, get their powers after wandering into a magical storm that turns them into [[FourElementEnsemble physical avatars of the four elements]]; David Banner becomes the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk after being hit by a blast of energy from the dimensional rip; Peter Parquagh gets his spider-based abilities after being bit by a spider that's affected by the same blast of energy.

* TrappedInThePast: [[spoiler: Captain America.]]

* WhamLine: "[Stephen Strange] was wrong. [Virginia Dare] isn't the time traveler. [[spoiler:Is she, Rojhaz?]]"
-->[[spoiler:'''Rojhaz/Steve Rogers''': Well, if you put it like that, Ms. Strange, I guess she's not.]]

--> We call it [[spoiler: 616.]]

** Also a good one involving the true nature of the Templar treasure. That important-looking wooden crate in the back of the Old Pilgrim's wagon? That's not the treasure. [[spoiler: The Pilgrim's walking stick is the treasure. The Pilgrim (whose real name is "Donal") is this universe's [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Donald Blake]], and the walking stick is Thor's hammer. The hammer was hidden by the Templars because it's conclusive evidence that the First Commandment ("You shall have no Gods but me") is false, and could bring about the downfall of the Church if it was revealed.]]