Marvel 100th Anniversary Special is a Marvel Comics limited series.
The basic premise is that each comic in the series is from the year 2061, and depicts how the Marvel Universe may look once it reaches its 100th anniversary (well, its 100th anniversary as Marvel - it began life as Timely Comics in 1939). Among the many changes:
- The Fantastic Four is now a teenage gang consisting of Reed and Sue's twin grandchildren, Doctor Doom's granddaughter and an Asian Human Torch.
- Peter Parker is (or, more accurately, was) in possession of a "techno-symbiote" suit.
- Cyclops has married Emma Frost and is president of the United States.
- The Avengers now consist of Rogue, Beta Ray Bill, an African-American Doctor Strange, Captain America (who is looking for America after it got sent into the Negative Zone) and Iron Man (well, sort of).
- A nanite-composed clone of Iron Man is a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, while Galactus has consumed the Silver Surfer and become Silver Galactus.
Tropes:
- Badass Family:
- The Fantastic Four (duh).
- Also, Rocket Raccoon has now been joined by his sons (although he claims that they're his nephews).
- Brain in a Jar: Iron Man's Avengers incarnation. Well, "brain in a tower", if you wanna get technical.
- Brought Down to Normal: Happens to Peter, after the Kingpin steals the techno-symbiote. Crosses over with Brought Down to Badass, as Peter still manages to defeat it.
- The Cameo: Spider-Man, Captain America and Iron Man all make appearances at Cyclops' inauguration.
- Cephalothorax: Iron Man's Guardians incarnation when he isn't using his nanites as a battle suit, simliar to M.O.D.O.K..
- Comic-Book Time: Lots of things have changed between The Present Day and 2061, but nobody's really aged much, making this the most likely prediction of what the future of Marvel Comics will actually be like ever.
- Cool Plane: The Quin-Jet, a flying pyramid with seats for the travelers.
- Cool Shades: Rogue wears a pair of sunglasses with red capital A's on the lenses.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Doctor Strange has one when Rogue mentions that they've already lost America that week, which gives him the idea to raise the Yellowstone Caldera and turn it into New Subterranea.
- Exactly Exty Years Ago: 2061, to be exact.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wolverine wears one.
- Ghost Planet: Asgard has been long abandoned by the gods and overgrown by Yggdrasil's roots. Groot takes advantage of this while fighting the Punisher robots.
- Half-Identical Twins: Trin and Kirby Richards-Banner.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: Well, more like identical triplet id tag - the adult Stepford Cuckoos all have different hair colors and hairstyles.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Said twice by Iron Man, once in the Avengers special and once in the Guardians of the Galaxy special. Both times, he then comments that he is unable to do so, due to being a brain in a tower (Avengers) or a cyborg made out of nanites and Tony's brainwaves (Guardians).
- In Medias Res: All the specials, but the Spider-Man one in particular - it's supposedly the eighth part out of eight.
- Insistent Terminology: According to Rocket Raccoon, his boys are his nephews, not his sons.
- Kill It with Fire: The fate of the techo-symbiote.
- Legacy Character:
- Gamora has taken on the title of Starlord after Peter Quill's (not quite, as it turns out) death.
- Also, the Human Torch is now an Asian boy named Lee Minh Cam.
- Master of Illusion: Victoria is apparently this.
- Never Mess with Granny: According to Valeria, Sue is "the most dangerous woman in the world".
- Noodle Incident: Several. Justified Trope, since these are supposedly comics from the future - obviously, there must have been previous issues where the incidents in question occurred, but the audience hasn't reached that point yet.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Tempus gets one when she throws a time bubble around some wounded people to stop them from bleeding to death, and accidentally traps Shogo and Wolverine as well.
- The inhabitants of Knowhere, when Silver Galactus shows up and announces that he intends to eat their home.
- Overlord Jr.: Mole Man the Third.
- Punny Name: Iron Man calls his nanites his "Iron Manites". For extra points, they look just like micro versions of his suit.
- Reincarnation: According to Doctor Strange, his spirit has been reincarnated 17 times, which accounts for his new appearance.
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Said more or less word for word by Vance Astro, after unmasking himself as Peter Quill.
- Ret-Gone: Happens to Emma and eventually all the X-Men except Cyclops, thanks to Jean.
- Roboteching: Cyclops is capable of splitting and redirecting his beams through red orbs he can generate in the X-Men special.
- Ship Tease: Between Kirby and Victoria.
- That's No Moon: Neolunar, the astral body which replaced the moon, is a giant egg - and it's hatching.
- Theme Naming: Uno, Duo and Trey, Rocket's "nephews".
- Time Travel: Happens to Doom, Reed, Franklin and Johnny, although not intentionally.
- Trapped in the Past: Doom, Reed, Franklin and Johnny, who then spend years trying to find a way home.
- We Need a Distraction: To get Silver Galactus' attention. So Drax shoots him.
- What If?: This series is basically asking, "What would happen or what do you think is going to happen to the Marvel superheroes in 2061?"
- Yank the Dog's Chain: The X-Men special seemingly occurs after Cyclop's stint as a terrorist after alienating everyone; somehow he's turned it around into not only earning everyone's respect but becoming respected enough to become President Elect in spite of nationwide anti-mutant protests. Unfortunately, according to the Phoenix, it was never meant to be and she RetGones everything just as it all falls apart at his inauguration.
