My Top 5 Most Bizarre Loose Ends from "Dark Reign"
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5. Spider-Man got off pretty easy
I suppose this one is more of an observation than a "Loose end" (so an awful one to open up on, eh?) but Norman Osborn is a Spider-Man enemy first and foremost. Anyone who tells you otherwise is, to be polite, a gigantic idiot. So when the former Green Goblin gets elected to power surely one of his top priorities would be to make the wall-crawler's life a living hell? Seems to be that wasn't the case. After one story in Spider-Man's title, dealing with Osborn's relationship with his son more than anything else, that was it for Dark Reign and Spider-Man. Osborn had all these resources at his disposal and he spent them on hunting and making every other heroes life a living hell. The weirdest thing? While Marvel was publishing Dark Reign titles, Amazing Spider-Man (which published 3 issues a month at this time) entered a big ongoing storyline titled The Gauntlet where Spider-Man faced an onslaught of his enemies. Common sense in the writer's room must've took a field day, since Osborn had absolutely no hand in the orchestration of the seemingly random events and attacks on Spider-Man whatsoever.
4. Paladin has Odin's Spear stashed away somewhere
The Thunderbolts and the Mighty Avengers titles were sadly sidelined during Siege because they weren't written by Bendis. They offered a superfluous tale far more exciting than the main event with the Avengers squaring off with the Thunderbolts for Gungnir, the Spear of Odin - an item that not only could kill Thor but would've swayed Siege in Osborn's favor. So, we had all these epic and awesome moments going on in those titles as the Avengers fought with the Thunderbolts for possession of Gungnir and in the end Team Thunderbolt won! But thankfully, the possessors of the spear were Paladin and Ant-Man who were two of few decent folk amidst Osborn's reign. The story ended with Paladin going into hiding with Gungnir in tow and allegedly becoming the most hunted man on Earth. So imagine our surprise when he pretty sharply returned during Shadowland and went on to become a lead cast member in Heroes for Hire with absolutely no mention of Gungnir whatsoever. Particularly in the climate of Fear Itself and the Fearless where Asgardian relics and weaponry were such a hot topic, it seems baffling that Paladin apparently still has Gungnir hidden away and hasn't thought to do something with it. Even when Heroes for Hire had several tenuous Fear Itself tie-in issues!
3. Where the hell were the Dark X-Men?
Remember the Dark X-Men? They were like the Dark Avengers' unpopular ugly cousins. After a line-up change that shed Namor, Emma Frost, Cloak and Dagger and Daken (who apparently couldn't simultaneously be a member of two teams at the same time unlike his dad) - we were left with a four-piece who starred in the Dark X-Men miniseries. The series ended on a grim note with Mystique, Mimic and Omega regretting the bleak end to their first adventure (Dark Beast didn't really care) and that was the last we ever saw of the Dark X-Men. It was puzzling since when it came to Siege, Osborn made no use or mention of his Dark X-Men and as a team they were incredibly useful to Osborn's war. Mimic and Omega were powerhouses, Mystique was an incredibly useful agent and Dark Beast and his savagery would have been put to good use on the battlefield. We still have never truly found out the true fate of the team, and are left to assume they disbanded following their miniseries.
2. Also, where the hell was Noh-Varr?
Noh-Varr was the Dark Avenger who quit. He beat the Sentry. He's ridiculously powerful and useful to either side. When Noh-Varr quit the Dark Avengers, Steve Rogers and Bucky noted he was now technically on their side. So what did those two do about it? Nothing. What did Osborn do about losing own of his most powerful pawns? Nothing. What did Noh-Varr do about it? Nothing. Noh-Varr had absolutely no more involvement in the Dark Reign storyline. That's nuts, eh?
1. Norman Osborn has the second Black Widow locked up in a tube somewhere
Yelena Belova, the second Black Widow, was leading Osborn's black-ops Thunderbolts team... except it wasn't Yelena Belova at all it was the real Black Widow undercover for Nick Fury! As writer Andy Diggle's run drew to it's climax, the undercover Black Widow was exposed and left the team to side with Songbird in opposing Osborn's Thunderbolts. The issue ended on the twist that Norman Osborn actually had the real Yelena Belova in stasis all this time and was now deciding to release her and make her the new leader of the Thunderbolts. With the end of that issue, it was the end of Diggle's run and in a surprising twist the end of Yelena Belova's one-panel tenure as member of the Thunderbolts. The change-over of writers (going from Diggle to Rick Remender and then to Jeff Parker) as well as the interference of Siege meant this plot was never picked up and poor Yelena is still tucked away. Considering the prominence, and lack of context, it's by far the most bizarre and annoying instance listed here.
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