This week in Marvel Universe Team Preview, we present our secret overlords—The Illuminati. Some say theses fellows aren’t really a team. To that, I say, “And?” You first got a taste of the Illuminati way back in Heralds of Galactus. I tossed five of the six members in the file with the version “Illuminati” as a little Easter egg for the comic-book faithful. I had no idea this would excite Vs. System comic-book fans so much or that the idea of the Illuminati would play such a pivotal role in Civil War, World War Hulk, and the upcoming Secret Invasion. When it came time to put together the 330-card Marvel Universe set, it looked like a perfect opportunity to include a fleshed-out version of this shadowy assembly of superpowers.
TBS Demonstrates His “Power”: Infinity Gems Re-Feature?
Andrew: We’re not making new gems.
Billy: But they rotated out of Modern. C’MON!
Andrew: We never should have made the first ones—TOO MUCH POWER!!!
Ben: Hey, man, I’m “Lead” this set. That means I say what’s in and what’s out. You feel me?
Andrew: . . .
Billy: . . .
Andrew & Billy: Shut up, TBS.
Shining a Little Light
Last Monday on VsSystem.com, TBS previewed the second Iron Man of the set, Iron Man, Protector of the Reality Gem. The first thing you may have noticed was that this 5-drop wasn’t affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D., rather his affiliation is with the Avengers and the Infinity Watch. Okay, more on that later. The next thing you might have noticed was that funny little reminder text: “The members of the Illuminati are . . .” TBS thoroughly explained this (I hope) in Monday’s article. Now that you’ve had a week to get used to this semi-new idea of “group” legend cards, let’s take a closer look at Iron Man. First, his version: What does it tell us? It must mean that you’ll get at least one Protector version for each member of the Illuminati. Next, the art: Tony Stark in armor, helmet off, looking morose. Running the secret government of the world is hard work, folks. Which brings us to his power: “Exhaust two different members of the Illuminati . . ” This, of course, is a theme for this non-team, as you’ve seen from studying the other cards previewed this week. Cards like: The Infinity Gauntlet from The Ring Has Chosen, The Elektra Situation as seen on VsRealms , and Clandestine Operations over at Planet Kalee. We saw three other cards last week, Secret Government and a Mr. Fantastic legend card, The 100 Ideas from TBS and Dr. Strange, Secret Avenger on the Poppy the Cat blog. Secret Government is great for building not only Illuminati-themed decks, but it’s also a tremendous boon to players who’d like to build individual Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Professor X, Black Bolt, Mr. Fantastic, and Sub Mariner legend decks. I told you that Dr. Strange deck would get better! Speaking of, the 2-drop Avenger was your first peek at a card that rallies for something other than a character. In the right deck, that’s two to four cards drawn every time he enters play! How exciting!
Ben: That 5-drop Iron Man is very exiting, he’s actually—
Cliff: It’s okay, TBS, I trust you!
Squire: And, anyway, you’re not gonna want to replace your 4-drop till turn 6 or 7, right?
VsRealms: How fast do we think we can get the new Infinity Gauntlet set up? Also, we want more Infinity Gems!!!
Kaleesh Warrior: Does the Illuminati deck fit the stall archetype?
Lord of Limbo: Seriously, can you really draw four cards with that 2-drop Dr. Strange?
Ben: I’m going to say what I always say—yes!
Billy: See, I still can’t tell when you’re lying. You have a gift! Like Walken from the Dead Zone. Or Carrie from the movie with the same name.
The Secret History of the Marvel Universe
It was around the time right after the first Kree/Skrull War that Tony Stark had an idea. He figured that in an ever-changing world filled with invasions from space, mutant hysteria, and a growing superhero population, someone from within the hero community needed to step up and take the lead—a captain to steer the ship of the post-human condition. It was also believed that the superhero community needed to police their own or the government might step in and do it for them. So, Tony called a meeting with what he thought of as the pillars of the metahuman community: Black Panther, King of Wakanda; Dr. Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts; Mr. Fantastic, Leader of the Fantastic Four; Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis; Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans; and Professor X, Headmaster of the Xavier Institute.
With these six men, Stark planned to secretly influence the course of human history, but, you know, in a friendly way. He explained that it would be in everyone’s best interest if they all agreed to work together and share resources in the event of another crisis like the Kree/Skrull War. Most of them agreed; one of them did not. Black Panther felt that if just the idea of this meeting ever leaked to the public, it would compromise them all. Panther refused to take part and encouraged his comrades to do the same. Unfortunately, Panther’s warnings went unheeded.
As a group, Stark and friends have made some truly colossal blunders. The Illuminati’s failure as a ruling body is partly responsible for the outbreak of the Civil War and wholly responsible for World War Hulk, the destruction of Atlantis, and the Skrulls’ Secret Invasion. In fact, their inability to still the drums of civil war caused the group to fracture and disband. Whether or not the group will reform in the wake of the Invasion and redeem their miscalculations remains to be seen. And now that their secret is out, will the world let them?
A Very Exclusive Club of Heroes
Despite the Infinity Watch affiliation that some of them sport, the Illuminati is not your traditional team. With drops spread throughout this set’s teams, through Modern Age and Silver Age, it’s going to be hard to find versions of the six Illuminati members that share the same affiliation other than Infinity Watch. So it should be very obvious that when you play this deck, you won’t be team attacking or reinforcing. Unless, that is, you flip a copy of Superhuman Registration Act or Underground Movement. Then, you’re fine. You also won’t be playing many team-stamped plot twists. That’s okay, because we’ve included enough legend content that it may not be necessary.
That’s right, because of the relative size of Marvel Universe, everyone on this “team” gets at least one legend card in this set. Even leaving aside Iron Man, the S.H.I.E.L.D. legend, some of these guys may even get two cards! And of course, that’s not even counting the shared legend cards like Secret Government and Undisclosed Location (see below).
Most of you are probably wondering about deck construction, or more specifically, you’re wondering about character counts and versions. I’m not sure if TBS mentioned this, but we’ve included at least two versions of each member in Marvel Universe. In Modern Age, with the exception of Black Bolt, every member has at least three versions. In Silver, there’s quite a bit more, and if we count the Ultimates exclusive set, we can add another version for four of the six members of the Illuminati. So, as you can see, there are plenty of characters to build a lot of fun and interesting decks with. Exciting times! I think I can speak for everyone in R&D when I say that we can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!
A Meeting of the Minds
The Illuminati is so “Top Secret" that they never meet in the same place twice. Here’s a little piece of location art illustrating that fact:
“Undisclosed Location”
Ben: Why is Namor so angry all the time?
Billy: He hates seafood.
Ben: . . .LAME.
Check back Monday for more secret organizations and alphabet agencies. If it hasn’t already been said, that means Crime Lords week. See ya in seven!
Recommended Reading:
1. Civil War TPB
2. New Avengers Vol. 2: Sentry
3. New Avengers: Illuminati TPB
4. World War Hulk TPB
5. Silent War TPB
6. Secret Invasion