It's definitely a sign of big things to come that Marvel and DC Comics have both just made the decision to bring back their respective cosmic Watchers from the dead. In the Marvel Universe, Uatu the Watcher has just been resurrected in the aftermath of Marvel's Empyre event, while in the DC Universe, Metron has likewise been brought back to life during the chaos and darkness that is Dark Nights: Death Metal. Why have these cosmic observers been brought back, and what does this mean for the futures of both the Marvel and DC Universes?
Marvel's Uatu the Watcher belongs to a race of cosmic beings tasked with watching and monitoring the known cosmos, and Earth and its surrounding solar system is Uatu's region in which to observe but not interfere. However, Uatu has broken this rule in order to help mankind from time to time, due to his fondness for the species and recognition of their importance to the universe at large. More often than not, Uatu is seen watching Earth's heroes during times of great strife or conflict, recording the major events about to befall the planet. However, in 2014 during the Original Sin event, Uatu was killed, with Nick Fury ultimately taking his place as "the Unseen".
On the other hand, DC's Metron is a member of the New Gods, though he is much more passive than his allies, sitting upon his powerful Mobius Chair containing and collecting vast amounts of knowledge. Like Uatu, Metron served as an observer of the DC Universe, though he was free to help or hinder individuals if he so desired. However, after the Darkseid War in 2016, Metron was killed by a mysterious blue entity, later revealed to be Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan at the dawn of DC's Rebirth.
Now, both Uatu and Metron have coincidentally come back from the grave during major events in the Marvel and DC Universes. For Uatu, his resurrection happened in Empyre: Fallout: Fantastic Four just after the events of Empyre, as the Unseen's study of the Cotati's mysterious weapons triggered Uatu's return for some reason, with Uatu speaking of a terrible reckoning that will come to pass. For Metron, his resurrection was the result of the Omniversal Watcher known as the Chronicler in Dark Nights: Death Metal: Rise of the New God. The Chronicler can't understand how this unique and special multiverse has become so dark, so he needs the perspective of the one who has long viewed and recorded it from his Mobius Chair.
It's rather foreboding that both of these Watchers have both come back to their respective universes. The Watcher's return certainly spells bad news for the future of the Marvel Universe, as Uatu himself shares with Fury. In the recent Fantastic Four #25, Uatu uses the mind of the Unseen to catch up on everything he missed, such as Secret Wars, Secret Empire, The War of the Realms, Absolute Carnage and Empyre. However, none of those major events can compare to the future reckoning Uatu is able to see. For Metron, things are just as massively bleak, seeing as how he was brought back to provide insight on how so much chaos and darkness could have come to pass.
What does it mean that both universes have just restored the characters responsible for chronicling their most cataclysmic events? With rumors of an upcoming Marvel/DC crossover on the horizon, it may be that Uata and Metron have awoken only to chronicle a historic tragedy. Here's hoping the heroes of the Marvel and DC Comics universes are up to the task of keeping their universes safe (or restoring things as they once were) in the coming months, and that Uatu and Metron haven't returned just to witness the end of these vast worlds.