Warning: spoilers ahead for Dark Ages #1!
In Marvel's new Dark Ages series, X-Men villain Apocalypse is more dangerous than ever, using the devastation following the defeat of the godlike Unmaker to corrupt heroes to his cause and stage a literal apocalypse. When the defeat of a major new threat results in the deaths of several heroes while also permanently shutting down all power and electricity in the world, the Marvel Universe enters into a new Dark Age. The stage has been set in this first issue, with the Dark Ages' origins having been established, allowing Apocalypse to introduce his new team of corrupted heroes seven years later, once the world has finally grown used to its new circumstances.
With Earth being attacked from deep within the planet itself, it's revealed that the Living Tribunal had trapped the cosmic threat known as the Unmaker in the core of the developing planet, which would eventually become Earth. The threat of the Unmaker was so vast that it destroyed nearly the entire team of key players sent to stop it consisting of the Scarlet Witch, Vision, Invisible Woman, the Thing, and Doctor Strange (the only survivor being Invisible Woman). However, the Unmaker was defeated due to Doctor Strange summoning a powerful EMP frequency from another dimension. When the Sorcerer Supreme was killed, the portal remained open at the Earth's core, resulting in all electrical power and light being lost for good all over the globe.
Spider-Man is then seen at the end of this first issue retelling how the old world ended in Dark Ages #1 from writer Tom Taylor and aritst Iban Coello. He also confirms that a new world was built that the world's survivors could be proud of seven years after the catacylsm. However, he shares that "the apocalypse" then came, carrying a dual meaning as the X-Men foe Apocalpyse is featured on the final page. He's also joined by heroes he's seemingly corrupted to his side such as Iron Man in a steam-powered set of armor, Miles Morales who's seemingly bonded to the Venom symbiote, Lady Deathstrike, Beast, She-Hulk, and Reed Richards' Mr. Fantastic.
Given the diverse group of heroes Apocalypse has gathered in this new world, it seems he may have a bold plan, but readers also see him communing with the Unmaker before its arrival, suggesting he may still be in the thrall of its alien intelligence. While Apocalypse could be looking to take over and rule this new world, it's also possible that his endgame could be more complex, hence why so many heroes have agreed to work with him.
Apocalypse's team contains several of Marvel's smartest characters, so it may be that he offered them a way to fix the world, but the villain also famously corrupts superpowered beings to become his Horsemen through horrific surgeries and Celestial technology, and lives by a brutal philosophy where only the fittest can be allowed to survive. Here's hoping some of these heroes apparently under Apocalypse's sway can be redeemed as Dark Ages continues from Marvel Comics.