Full spoilers for Avengers: Armageddon #5, which is available digitally and in comic shops now.
Marvel has released the fifth and final chapter of Avengers: Armageddon, and as promised, there are some big changes hitting the Marvel Universe. As the dust of a tragic battle settles, new alliances are forged, and a new team of Earth's Mightiest heroes begins to take shape. But that's nothing compared to a tease suggesting that Marvel is finally ready to confront one of its most controversial storytelling decisions of the 21st Century.
Read on for a full breakdown of what happens in the Armageddon finale and how this series lays the foundation for Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto's relaunched Avengers comic.
A Spider-Man: One More Day Sequel?
In what is easily the biggest development in Avengers: Armageddon #5, it's strongly hinted that Marvel is finally ready to do what Spider-Man fans have been begging for for almost 20 years now. They seem finally ready to address the controversy surrounding 2007's Spider-Man: One More Day and the Faustian bargain Peter Parker made with Mephisto.
For those not familiar with One More Day, that storyline served as a way for Marvel to finally erase Peter and Mary Jane's marriage (a plot point many creators and editors have complained ages up the character and presents storytelling limitations). In that story, Aunt May is mortally wounded by an assassin's bullet meant for Spider-Man himself. A guilt-stricken Peter agrees to sacrifice his marriage in exchange for May's life. To Mephisto, snuffing out something beautiful and wholesome is even better than claiming a soul.
Marvel used One More Day as a way of returning Peter to a more classical status quo as a struggling bachelor. Needless to say, many fans were unhappy with the idea of their beloved hero making a literal deal with the devil, and the controversy surronding that decision remains two decades later.
Marvel has mostly ignored the controversy in the years since. But if Armageddon #5 is any indication, they may finally be acknowledging Peter's controversial choice and once again pitting Spider-Man against Mephisto. Near the end of this issue, Tony Stark tracks down Doctor Doom's What-If Machine, a device that can generate pocket universes and allow the observer to see how reality will play out when certain decisions are made. Tony asks the machine to show him what will happen if the Avengers keep operating as they have. The machine shows him an image of a sword-wielding Mephisto towering over a battered Spidey.
This image seems to be connected to a teaser Marvel released at NYCC 2026. The teaser featured a montage of recent and upcoming comic book covers juxtaposed with the words "1 Day" and the tagline "Tomorrow Is One Day Away." Readers had already begun speculating that this teaser was alluding to a One More Day follow-up, and now paired with the reveal in Avengers: Armageddon #5, it's really starting to look like Marvel is planning a full-fledged sequel to that infamous comic.
The question is what will come of this latest development. Will Peter be made to remember the bargain he made with Mephisto? Will he remember that he lost not just his wife, but their unborn daughter as well? Will this result in Peter and MJ finally getting back together? We'll find out when this mysterious 1 Day project materializes in June 2027.
A Tale of Two Miraclemen
Acknowledging One More Day isn't the only example of Avengers: Armageddon reviving years-old plot points. Issue #4 featured the long overdue introduction of Miracleman to the Marvel Universe. David Colton, the post-9/11 Captain America who gained godlike new abilities from an Origin Box, was transformed again when he spoke the magic word "Kimota!" and became Miracleman.
Miracleman turned out to be the sixth, previously unrevealed member of Zdarsky and Checchetto's Avengers roster. The team can clearly use the muscle, as most of the other members are strictly street-level heroes like Daredevil, Wolverine, Luke Cage, and Spider-Man. And even Captain Marvel has seen better days, as her powers have been severely weakened after attempting to absorb the nuclear blast created by Red Hulk.
But issue #5 makes it clear that there are more twists and turns to come on the Miracleman front. The finale reminds us that Colton isn't technically the Marvel Universe's version of Miracleman. The Origin Box that contained his powers came from the Ultimate Universe, where that world's version of Mickey Moran was robbed of his chance to become a hero.
Mister Fantastic reminds Tony of that fact. All of the other Origin Boxes recovered so far correspond to existing, known heroes in the Marvel Universe, but not Colton's. That means there's someone on Earth-616 with these same powers, someone who hasn't made their presence known. The Marvel Universe presumably has its own Mickey Moran, meaning there are actually two Miraclemen in the same world. And somehow, we doubt Earth is big enough for the two of them.
The Avengers vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.
Apart from the aforementioned One More Day 2.0 tease, easily the biggest outcome of Avengers: Armageddon is that the superhero community is in a bad place. World governments were already feeling mistrustful of superhumans in the aftermath of 2025's One World Under Doom crossover, and the events of this story have only exacerbated the situation. By the end of Armageddon, thousands of Russian civilians are dead, and the UN responds by voting on new measures to rein in unlicensed superhumans.
The end result of this is that SHIELD has been reconstituted under Nick Fury, Jr. Fury now has a mandate to protect the world from rogue superhumans. The only country that abstains from voting is the US, which also happens to be the home to 80% of the world's superhumans. As Invisible Woman's contact explains, the government is simply too afraid of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and others to risk poking the bear. But that may well change as Fury consolidates power.
The political climate of the Marvel Universe is once again similar to that of 2006's Civil War. The US hasn't instituted a new Superhuman Registration Act (not yet), but the public is more fearful and mistrustful of superheroes than they have been in a long time. It's going to make things a lot harder for the new Avengers team, especially if they're called upon to operate outside of US borders.
But there's one final wrinkle as Avengers: Armageddon wraps. In issue #4, Bucky Barnes was believed to be among the thousands killed when Red Hulk detonated in Russia. But issue #5 closes with a scene of Bucky's corpse somehow regenerating and resurrecting. Bucky is then approached by none other than Nick Fury, Sr. The elder Fury informs his old friend that the time has come for them to save the world. It seems father and son will be at odds going forward, as both spymasters believe they're operating in the best interests of the world at large.
What do you think of Avengers: Armageddon's dramatic ending? Are you excited for the new Avengers series and the mysterious 1 Day event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
For more, check out our reviews of all three Midnight Universe comics.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.