The MU as a whole:
1) The only vigilantes active in New York are Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Moon Knight, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Shang-Chi, and Cloak and Dagger. At the behest of of Reed Richards and Captain America, all other active vigilantes have either moved to other cities or become agents of the FBI, CIA, or S.H.E.I.L.D.
2) The percentage of vigilante activity in the U.S. has droped considerably, simply because after seeing what happened to the New Warriors, the fad seems alot less apealing to most.
3) Alot of super villains have either retired, gone the hero rout, or much more commonly, started hiding under the coat tails of organized crime. No particular reason, besides the fact that being a mob leg breaker offers more protection than being a bank robber. Of course, there are more than a few who stick to bank robbies and smash and grab jobs, and the realy psychos like Purple Man and Dr. Octopus are still doing the same old psycho killer crap they always do. Other types who aren't quite as crazy, but still quite amoral, have started working as muscle for terrorist organizations.
4) The street level types still in New York I already mentioned, they form a group together. Not as much a team as a support network. If someome needs help, they call the others. Daredevil calls them the "Urban Legends".
The Avengers:
1) The Avengers are, on paper, a special unit of S.H.E.I.L.D. Before you ask, no, it's not making 616 more like the ultimate line. It's just the U.N.'s way of keeping track of them, which, logically, the U.N. would do. They're basically doing the same things they were doing before, but now they get all sorts of cool toys from S.H.E.I.L.D., and Cap has to file reports to Nick Fury. Speaking of which.....
2) Nick Fury is director of S.H.E.I.L.D. again. He's proven that the current director is a corrupt *****. Yay for him.
3) Because the Avengers are now a much more international group, they've had a roster change that shows this. The current roster is:
Captaion America
Darkstar
Sabra
Caprain Britain
Iron Man
Shaman
Namor
Black Panther
Thor
and, suprise of suprises, Dr. Doom. Now, I bet your asking yourself, "why the **** is Doom on the Avengers?" Well, Latveria has become a major export of technological goods by now. If you own something electronic, it's either from Japan, Wakanda, or Latveria. The nations of the world don't want to piss Doom off. So when he says he wants to join, they sort of force the team to let him. Now, why does he want to join? Well, as always, he has his own agenda. He's playing the team. The team knows this. But they really can;t do jack**** about it. Over the course of the series, what he wants from them becomes more obviouse. And it ain't pretty.
4) The Invaders. The Avengers are the guys who fight psycho terroirists and save people from earthquakes and stuff like that. The Invaders are the guys who get their hands dirty. The take out terrorist cells before they do anything. They assasinate third world dictators and stuff like that. The roster is:
USAgent
Union Jack
Spitfire
Taskmaster
Deadpool
Black Widow
and The Hulk. The Hulk's participation in less than willing. He's what the higher ups call the "nuclear option". Basically, when things get too rough, he's pumped full of steroids and droped on top of the problem from a helicopter. Violence and much "Hulk Smash" insues.
Spider Man:
1) Spidey found out that baby May is not dead, but being held by people working for Osborn somewhere. He and Osborn face off one final time, and Osborn died in the insueing fight.
2) Turns out that Aunt May really died, and the Aunt May living with Peter and MJ is a VERY convincing clone. The holw "payed a genetically altered actress" thing was bull****. In the event of Osborn's death, the clone was programed to self terminate. One more **** over for Pete's life by Osborn from beyond the grave.
3) There's something stirring amung Spider-Man's regular rougues. Now, they've never really been organized before. They've gotten together for the occasional revenge scheme, but all in all, they're just a bunch of theives and psychopaths who fight Spider-Man alot. The only reason they even fight him the most is because, for some reason, he feels responsible for them. But, I digress. Someone is organizing them. They've begun watching each other's backs. Pulling heists together. They've gotten smarter. Since Osborn is dead, you'd think the mastermind is Octavious. But not even he knows who's really behind it. Nor does he really care. He's just glad to have back up when he's on one of his little crusades to "make the world a better place" by stealing plutonium and squishing security gaurds' heads like grapes.
4) The Shocker and Rhino are not asociated with the new organization. They're not murderers like The Scorpion or Doc Ock. Shocker and Rhino kind of go back and forth between the roles of theives and vigilantes based on their financial situation and what they happen to come across. They're not as much heroes as, if they see that somethings happening where people are going to get killed, they're going to help out. But, they're still criminals. They've actually become rather good friends with Peter Parker, even though they don't know he's Spidey.
5) The Carnage Symbiot eventually floats back to Earth, and latches on to a teenage girl named Tracy in the San Fernando Valley. She is, of course, quite exited that she has super powers, and is having much fun with them. The only catch. She's begun hearing voices when no one's talking to her. Seering things that aren't there. She has black outs, sometime slosing several hours of time. And after more than a few of these black outs, she sees on the news reports of particularly brutal murders. And then, one day, after a shower, she looks into the mirror, and she doesn;t see her reflection. What she sees is a rather lanky man, with brownish red hair, and a crookid nose that looks like it's been broken and resent more than a few times. And then, even more suprisingly, he says something to her: "Hello. My name's Cletus."
X-Men:
1) The school is moved from New York to Boston, at the request of Captain America and Reed Richards. They're trying to lower superhuman crime in the city, and anti-mutant protestors can get just as bad sometimes with the tech they tend to use. So, Boston, which beforhand had a very small number of superhuman/supernatural crime, becomes their new home.
2) Alexander Riker, a young mutant and hardcore Magneto fan who lost his mutation (which was nothing more than a vistigial third arm. We're not talking major super powered baddie here) because of Wanda's reality ****ing, begins gathering together former Brotherhood members to find away to regain their mutations. Magneto, realizing that his crusade has done nothing but **** with his health, screw with his kids and grandkids, and get people killed, wants no part of it. The Blob, who got major surgury and started working out alot to deal with his incredibly morbid obeasity, also wants to part of it. He's perfectly happy the way he is. Hell, he's got a girlfriend for the first time since he was 18. The rest, however, are much more complyant.
3) Because the faculty of Xaivier's school insist on internveening every time some mutant terrorist or anti-mutant terrorist goes a-killin', the government has sanctioned them as an unofficial anti-terrorism squad, specifying in terrorist activity centering aroung mutant/human relations. Like with the Avengers, they're doing the same crap as always, but now they're doing it legally.
4) While Jean is not back, the Pheonix force has fused with Rachel Summers, and she can sometimes hear her mother's voice in the back of her head, giving her advice and the like.
5) There is only one book about the X-Men, and Wolverine no longer has a solo book. Seriously, it's getting to be pretty ****ing ridiculous.
Fantastic Four:
1) The four have left Earth on a trans-dimensional journy. Basically, they're doing what they were meant to do. Charting the unknown and studying the fantastic. Their trip takes them everywhere from the pits of hell to the gates of heaven, from Asgard to Olympus, from the land of dreams to a universe of computer data, and all manner of alternate realities.
2) Thanos has begun apearing to Franklin when others are not around, helping him learn of the nature of his vast psychic abilities. Of course, Franklin doesn't realize that his new imaginary friend is a genocidal maniac who's got a hard on for death (literally), so he's sort of in over his depth. Thanos also shows an interest in Franklin's little sister, Valeria, sugesting that she also has powers like Franklin's. Possibly even greater ones.
3) Reed, having lost his arm in a scurmish in Hell and not having the recources at hand to clone a new one, is left with a prosthetic. He's become less of a feild member of the team and more of a behind the scenes leader. He does the scientific investigations, builds gadgets, and studies stuff. If, in the course of his studies, something goes wrong (which always seems to happen), Ben and Johnny hit stuff.
