Iron Man: This is the easiest of the Marvel characters to update.  His back story as a munitions industrialist is still very pertinent and timely today.  Back when IM was first introduced, he was on a tour of "an unnamed South East Asian nation" demonstarting some of his new products for the US Military.  Of course, it was Vietnam, and in 1963 was just becoming a serious issue for the USA.  All that's really needed here is to update the where of Tony Stark's injury.  It could be Afghanistan (my choice) or "an unnamed Middle Eastern country" (Iraq).  Afghanistan IMO is best, due to its proximity to China (hello Mandarin), and the general political situation in Afghanistan is better suited to the over all base story.  Now in today's world, the progression and development of the Iron Man aromor can effectively be skipped here.  I'd take a page from the Iron Man movie (and thus Ultimate Iron Man).  I'd have it that Tony is in country X to demonstrate his personal armor system.  He'd have the same "accident" (land mine, artillery shell, botched kidnap attempt), which will force him to modify the armor to keep him alive. Further, by using Afghanistan, we can immediately introduce the Mandarin (running his own militia) as the main villain.

 

Avengers:  As Cap is not going to be part of the Avengers, instead reforming the Invaders, we need a basis for bringing this group together.  Again, I'd borrow a bit from the Ultimates for this.  I love the concept of "Project Avenger," especially in the context of today's world.  So, we have Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), initiating this project in response to some sort of Super-human villainous threat.  He would call up upon his friend Hank Pym (Antman, Giant Man, Yellow Jacket), who would drag his fiancee Janet Van Dyne (Wasp) along.  Something would force them into contact with Dr. Donald Blake (the human guise of Thor), who would "save the day" as Thor, bringing him into the fold.  This would establish the core group of the Avengers.

 

 

 

One thing I'd do with a reinvented Marvel universe, is to better establish early on, some relationships between major characters.  At times previous to today, such relationships were ret-conned into storylines, often leaving a lot to be explained and desired.

 

A major component of my Marvel universe would be what I call, for lack of anything more creative, "Project Ares."  Project Ares would be the international effort for a manned mission to Mars.  This would allow for a large number of characters, both heroes and villains, to have a relationship and connection established very early on. 

 

The Project would be headed by Dr. Peter Corbeau (originally head of Star Core).  Attached to the project would be Professor Charles Xavier (Psychologist), Dr. Reed Richards (Astrophysicist), Major Ben Grimm (lead test pilot), Dr. Victor Von Doom (Metallurgist), Dr. Bruce Banner (Nuclear physicist/Propulsion engineer), Susan Storm (electrical engineer), Lt. Johnny Storm (pilot), Dr. Henry Pym (Microbiologist/Xenobiology), as well as others.

 

So the trick becomes how to re-establish the origins of all those involved.  A single incident can work for just about all of them, with an exception for Hank Pym.  The project goes inot a certain test phase, with a near orbit test launch.  A tour group from a local high school is visiting the site as well.  However, as happens in these situations, and true to the nature of the genre, something goes horribly wrong.

 

So we have Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm at the controls, with Reed and Sue manning some monitoring systems, ready to make the test launch.  They have a limited window for this test, as there's an approaching cosmic storm, a storm of such magintude it only happens once every fifty years or so.  However, Doom made changes to some of Reed's calculations, which gave an incorrect time frame for when the storm would reach the earth, so the actual window for a safe lauch is even shorter than anyone knows.

 

In the mean time, Dr. Banner is busy making adjustments to the propulsion system, which relies on a nuclear reaction focusing on gamma rays.  Unbeknownst to Dr. Banner or anyone else, a young student, Rick Jones, has left his group, and is wandering around in the engine room.  As Rick and Bruce meet in the engine room, things go off script.

 

Observations see that the cosmic storm is approaching faster than calculated, so the order is given for an immediate lauch (General Thunderbolt strikes again!).  But as Bruce hadn't finished the tweaks to the engines, as the ships takes off, the engines over heat, threatening to go critical.  Bruce pushed Rick into an escape pod, taking a heavy dose of gamma rays as the door closes, shielding poor Rick with his body, and falling from the ascending ship with out a parachute.

 

The engine leak has an unintended consequence, in that it's output is almost uncontrollable.  The crew (Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny), are only barely able to control their flight, which takes them into the heart of the oncoming cosmic storm.  As the ship is tossed about in the storm, the engines blow, altering the course of the storm itself, and plunging the now powerless ship back to earth.

 

As the cosmic storm washes over the earth, it has a profound effect on some members of the population.  Some, who had previously been exposed to cosmic radiation, such as Professor Xavier, suffer an immediate effect similar to those of the hapless crew plumetting to earth.  Others, it has an effect that won't show untill puberty, when thier altered genetics begin to blossom.

 

Back to our distressed ship.  The ship will crash somewhere in the Arizona desert, having been launched from somewhere in Nevada or Utah.  Rescue teams have already been dispatched, as he tracking would have indicated where it would come down.  Our old friend Victor Von Doom is enroue to the site, and is one of the first to arrive.

 

Vic feels a bit guilty about altering Reed's calculations on the storm, so he races to the crashed ship to try an get Reed and company out.  Vic manages to pull Reed out, as Ben and Johnny crawl from the wreckage.  However, no one can find Sue (who's turned invisile and was tossed from the ship, laying a few hundred yards away).  Reed panics, and begs Victor to go back into the wreck, now burning furiously, and find Sue.  As Sue isn't inside, Victor can't find her, and searches fruitlessly as the ship threatens to explode. 

 

Sue comes to, and returns to "normal," stumbling to where the others have gathered.  Victor passes by a port hole, and sees Reed and Sue embrace, forgetting about him, just as the remains of the wreck explode, causing severe burns and damage to poor Vic.

 

Meanwhile, somewhere closer to the lauch site, Rick Jones escape pod lands, followed by a larger impact close by.  Rick emerges from the pod, and sees a large smoking crater a bit off, steam and dirt still filling the air around it.  As he approaches the crater (curiosity and all that), a large brutish silhouette can be seen through the smoke and debris. 

 

The responding resuce and security teams naturally have an adverse reaction to the first sight of the Hulk.  Primal fear takes control as they try to bring down the monstrosity, failing miserably.  The Hulk has little memory or thought process at this point, but sees Rick Jones, and remembers that he was trying to protect him.  So the Hulk takes Rick, and runs off into the desert.

 

That just about covers it all, with anice single package I think.  Of course anyone of a scientific or military background can be added here as well.  For example, Carol Danvers and Col. Rossi can be the security leads and liasons at the test facility.  Others can have a more tangetial tie in, such as Tony Stark and Obidiah Stane supplying components. 

 

One can even tie in, at a somewhat removed time frame, Hank Pym's discoveries.  Pym particles could be an after effect from the crash, as he observes semi-random changes in sizes of local creatures in and around the crash site.

 

More to follow!