The last of the Battleworld areas analysis:
1. Greenland
The cleverly named Greenland apparently does not refer to the country of the same name - though who is to say Greenland doesn't provide its land mass? Rather the name "Greenland" seems to refer to the Hulk and his various gamma-irradiated kin.
Tied to a Planet Hulk teaser image in the Secret Wars promo video, Greenland appears to be a raging battleground featuring numerous Hulks of all styles and colors, including some particularly interesting choices. Along with all the Hulks, there also appears to be a battleaxe wielding Steve Rogers, and what may be some version of Devil Dinosaur, whose own homeland, the Valley of Flame, is another Battleworld region.
20a. Attilan
Zone 20 is, ostensibly, Manhattan. But not just one version, and not just New York's most populous borough. Split into four parts, the first section of Battleworld's Manhattan is Attilan, home city of the Inhumans. With the Inhumans getting a huge push from Marvel, this classic locale is an obvious choice for inclusion.
And of course, Attilan has occupied various locations since Jack Kirby and Stan Lee introduced it as a secret location in the Himalayas. Attilan has also traveled to the Blue Area of the moon, floated above the Kree homeworld Hala, and after it was destroyed, its ruins became New Attilan in the New York Harbor.
20b. Manhattan 616
Manhattan 616 represents the core of the Marvel Universe we've known and loved for over 50 years. The home of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Iron Man, Daredevil, and countless others, Marvel's Manhattan has been the staging ground of hundreds of its greatest stories and most pitched battles. There is no better epicenter for the birth of Marvel's new universe.
Going all the way back to Marvel's origins in the 1930's, when many other nascent superhero publishers were creating fictional locales to populate with their crime fighters and masked men, Marvel (then Timely) reflected the world of its creators by setting its stories among the skyscrapers of Manhattan, a tradition continued by Stan Lee in the early 1960's.
20c. Manhattan 1610
On the flip side is Manhattan of Earth-1610, the Ultimate Universe. Just as essential to that world's continuity, Ultimate Manhattan has served as the central location for much of the Ultimate Universe's most epic tales.
With the incursions that lead to the breakdown between worlds coming down to the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe, the final two realities left undestroyed, it makes perfect sense that the Manhattans of both worlds would collide to form one of the most central Battleworld locations.
20d. Monster Metropolis
The Monster Metropolis is a location on Earth-616, the mainstream Marvel Universe, which lies below that world's Manhattan. First appearing in the "Frankencastle" story-arc, in which the Punisher was killed by Wolverine's son Daken and reanimated by Morbius and the Legion of Monsters.
Populated entirely by - you guessed it - monsters of numerous types, Monster Metropolis has appeared in several of Marvel's monster revival comics over the last few years. Taking up the subterranean area below Manhattan 616 on Battleworld, Monster Metropolis most likely provides a link to Marvel's popular horror comics of the 1970's and 1980's.
36. Bar Sinister
Bar Sinister's odd name aside, its most likely connection lies with longtime X-Men foe Nathaniel Essex, A.K.A Mr. Sinister. But Sinister isn't exactly known to be the kind of villain who deals with alternate realities. The biggest clue about Bar Sinister may lie with it's neighboring territory, Limbo. While we'll get into Limbo later, it's important to explain the connection.
In the mid-'80's, Mr. Sinister was a central villain in the X-Men crossover "Inferno," a story that saw Sinister and N'Astirh, a demon of Limbo, manipulating Madelyne Pryor, the wife of Scott Summers, in a scheme that lead to Pryor's transformation into the villainous Goblyn Queen. While Bar Sinister may simply be connected to this time period, it is also possible that it may represent Earth-1298, a somewhat darker timeline seen in Mutant X where mutant history ran a different course, with Pryor's transformation playing a central role in the world's evolution.
37. Limbo
One of Marvel's many versions of Hell, Limbo is a bizarre, chaotic dimension populated by demons and beings of great evil. Limbo has played a central role in many Marvel events, many of which are tied directly to the X-Men. Given its proximity to Bar Sinister, it's likely the connection between the two centers around "Inferno," a mid-1980's event that saw several X-Men corrupted by Limbo's demonic forces.
Along with Madelyne Pryor, Illyana Rasputin, younger sister of Colossus, suffered most from Limbo's invasion of Earth. Illyana struck a deal with the demonic N'Astirh, which in turn allowed the demons of Limbo to cross dimensions. The territory of Limbo is most likely tied directly to this dark dimension, with Bar Sinister sharing a similar influence.
38. The Deadlands
The Deadlands is another territory with a direct tie to another of Battleworld's zones. Judging by the teaser image attached to neighboring region Perfection, the Deadlands represent Earth-2149, home of the Marvel Zombies continuity.
Premiering to huge success, Marvel Zombies kicked off an unlikely franchise that has lasted for years. Marvel Zombies spawned numerous spin-offs and sequels, all featuring zombified versions of Marvel heroes and villains. Interestingly, Earth-2149 originated in Ultimate Fantastic Four, when the Reed Richards of Earth-1610 opened a portal to their reality.
39. Perfection
Perfection was tied to a promo image showcasing Age of Ultron Vs. Marvel Zombies. With Marvel Zombies presumably tied to the Deadlands, Perfection looks to be the home of the timeline in which Ultron conquers the Earth, a story told in Age of Ultron, an Avengers crossover that spanned numerous realities and possible futures.
Age of Ultron revolved around the capital city of Ultron's empire, a fully-automated metropolis in which the Avengers are the only resistance to the robotic regime. Age of Ultron also provided the subtitle to the upcoming Avengers film sequel, though that connection seems tangential.
40. New Xandar
Xandar is, of course, the homeworld of the Nova Corps, Marvel's cosmic police force, of which several members have come from Earth. Popularized in Marvel's recent Guardians of the Galaxy film, Xandar has as high a profile now as it has ever had.
Of course, not much is known about New Xandar as a region of Battleworld. Tied to an Infinity Gauntlet teaser in the Secret Wars promo video, New Xandar is likely comprised of pieces of the old Xandar, which was obliterated during Marvel's cosmic "Annihilation" event. The teaser features the Nova Corps and the Guardians of the Galaxy - characters unrelated to the original Infinity Gauntlet story - the relationship between the Infinity Gems, Thanos, Nova, and the Guardians is central to Marvel Cinematic Universe.
41. The Wall
Undoubtedly the most enigmatic of Battleworld's identified zones, the Wall offers no clues as to its nature. The real question is, what is it keeping out of the rest of Battleworld? Or, perhaps, what is it keeping in?
All we know of the Wall is that it separates the Deadlands, New Xandar, and Perfection from the rest of Battleworld. Considering those areas are connected to prominent Marvel villains, the separation does make some sense, though the implications are hard to decipher.
6, 14, 19. Classified
Zones 6, 14, and 19 are the only zones that remain wholly unknown. Without even names or incursion dates to go on, all we have is speculation. Looking at the evidence of other zones, however, several possible connections come forth.
There are a few major alternate realities as yet unrepresented on the Battleworld map. First, we have yet to see anything directly connected to the Squadron Supreme, heroes from an alternate reality associated with the Avengers. With a version of Hyperion, the Squadron's leader appearing prominently in Hickman's Avengers titles, it seems likely one of Battleworld's regions will account for some version of the Squadron.
Likewise, one or more of these zones could be prominent, unaccounted locations from the 616, such as Latveria, home of Dr. Doom; Wakanda, kingdom of the Black Panther; or Atlantis, domain of Namor. All three of these locales have been central to the ongoing saga of the incursions in Avengers and New Avengers, the inclusion of one or all of these places would make sense.
Also a probable inclusion on Battleworld, given the presence of some of its characters in promotional material, as well as recent lead-up stories is the "Heroes Reborn" pocket dimension, a sub-reality of Earth-616. Created by Franklin Richards to save Marvel's biggest heroes after their apparent deaths at the hands of Onslaught, the reemergence of Onslaught in Uncanny Avengers and the appearance of the "Heroes Reborn" characters in Fantastic Four make this an almost guaranteed inclusion somewhere.
Of course, there is also the possibility that one or more of these areas could account for a more unlikely inclusion, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (a way to incorporate some of the characterization of the popular films), the Ultraverse, a reality populated by characters from long-defunct publisher Malibu Comics, which has crossed over with the Marvel Universe several times after Malibu's acquisition by Marvel, or, perhaps least likely of all, the Star Wars universe, now owned by Marvel parent company Disney.
Honestly, 'Rama Readers, your guess is as good as ours.
http://www.newsarama.com/23325-a-traveler-s-guide-to-secret-wars-battleworld-part-two.html
ANYway, anyone excited for some of these worlds/characters coming back and possibly sticking around? Any others you'd like to see, or hope don't stick around?
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