Marvel Comics Shows Why The MCU’s Flag-Smashers Were Right

Marvel’s Dark Ages #2 shows how the Flag-Smashers’ idea of “One world, one people” is crucial to humanity’s survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

Warning: spoilers for Dark Ages #2 are ahead.

The Flag-Smashers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ show, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, believed that society should be judged on how well it treats its people in the wake of tragedy. Touting a rallying cry of, “One world, one people,” the Flag-Smashers believed that the nations of the world ought to open their borders and share their resources in the aftermath of “The Blip” in Avengers: Endgame. The return of billions of people on the planet put enormous strain on governments as many of the revenants were refugees without homes. And while the Flag-Smashers initially were intended to be the series’ villains, Marvel Comics’ Dark Ages #2 proves why their beliefs were correct in the first place (written by Tom Taylor, art by Iban Coello, colors by Brian Reber, letters by VC’s Joe Sabino).

Set in a post-apocalyptic world with many of the biggest heroes in the Marvel Universe already dead, Dark Ages differs immensely from other stories with a similar premise. While most post-apocalyptic stories tend to show a bleak landscape defined by cruelty and hardship, Dark Ages #2 shows a refreshingly optimistic vision where the people of the world have learned to survive by pooling their resources together and helping each other out. A world without electricity provided humanity with a chance to meaningfully work together for the collective good, rather than separate themselves.

Related: The Secret of Marvel’s Dark Ages Revealed: Who Is Unmaker?

This vision of the Marvel Universe in Dark Ages proves why the Flag-Smashers from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were correct in their beliefs. As Peter Parker states in his narration, “Who says a post-apocalyptic world has to be a bad place? …Honestly, it became a decent place to raise a family.” By taking an approach that was analogous to the Flag-Smashers’ “One world, one people” belief, humanity managed to save itself from its worst impulses.

Humanity’s return from the brink of catastrophe was made possible by a few factors in Dark Ages. Peter notes that people started naturally grouping together in the wake of the world losing electricity, and that the cities that sprung up from these gatherings each had a telepath that could communicate across the world to others. In other words, “So, while the world was divided by distance, it was also connected by people who opened their minds and hid nothing from each other. All with a common goal.” This mentality of having a “common goal” returns back to the Flag-Smashers’ idea of “One world, one people,” because survival is predicated on collaboration and communication, rather than division.

With the loss of electricity, humanity became more unified than ever in Marvel’s Dark Ages. The fact that geographical borders became negligent thanks to the natural congregation of people linked by telepaths speaks to how the Flag-Smashers’ principles were correct in the MCU. Sharing, rather than dividing, is what saved humanity in Dark Ages. And while the Flag-Smashers met their end in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, their beliefs continue to resonate in other parts of the Marvel Comics Universe.

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