Warning: contains spoilers for Fantastic Four #40!

Marvel's latest mega-event, the Reckoning War, is upon the Marvel Universe - but the entire narrative might not actually matter. The company has been enamored with universe-altering events as of late, investing heavily into Avengers Forever, Heroes Reborn, King in Black, and many others. But Fantastic Four #40 admits - via both the characters and the writer - that these gargantuan crossover series don't matter in the slightest - because nothing ever changes.

Writer Dan Slott has revealed that the Reckoning War is over 16 years in the making. Indeed, the Marvel storyteller has laid down Reckoning War clues as far back as 2005, hinting at a mysterious conflict that would change the course of the Marvel Universe in new and exciting ways. But while the event is certainly full of spectacle, it is, in many ways, exactly like all the others - and Reed Richards admits it.

Related: Fantastic Four Reveals Exactly How She-Hulk Caused The Reckoning War

In the opening moments of the Reckoning War, the moon has been destroyed by the Badoon, who proceed to invade Earth. Reed Richards journeys to the moon - and the base of operations for Uatu the Watcher - to seek knowledge and information regarding the coming conflict. He miraculously gains the knowledge of the Watcher, and uses this information to see "A quadrillion crises across as many galaxies. An endless string of 'events' meant to overwhelm and fatigue us. And almost all of them are smokescreens. Only a select few truly matter to the Reckoning's master plan." This is Reed Richards speaking to the Fantastic Four, but it might as well be Dan Slott speaking to the reader; both are correct.

Heroes Reborn ended with Coulson imprisoned, but the reality of the Marvel Universe was reverted (and many didn't even remember the changes). Devil's Reign is itself a New York-centric retread of Civil War, just without the heroes battling each other - and a Daredevil side character who appeared to have died in one issue is perfectly fine in the next. Aside from these concurrent events creating a nightmare for the timeline, they promise world-changing events and revert said changes as soon as the event concludes. Any characters who die are usually brought back within a year, memories are erased, and nothing changes (aside from sales numbers, of course).

The Reckoning War has only begun, and perhaps the event will actually make good on the promise to change the Marvel Universe as fans know it today. But so have all the other events, and most of the occurrences within each one have been quietly reset as soon as the last issue was published. It's hard to disagree with Mr. Fantastic's assessment of all events surrounding the Reckoning War - but then again, it's hard to believe that the event will be the end-all, be-all on faith alone.

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