In 1996, Marvel pulled off a controversial reboot, taking two of its most popular comic book lines, and updated them for the new generation. The reboot was titled "Heroes Reborn" and included some of that era's hottest talent, namely Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, reimagining the Avengers and the Fantastic Four for the '90s in an initiative that also included Jeph Loeb, Whilce Portacio, Walt Simonson, Ian Churchill and Jim Valentino.
This reboot had a logical beginning, as it came right after an explosive crossover event that seemed to kill Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In "Onslaught," the darkest aspects of Professor Xavier and Magneto combined into one colossal supervillain who was more powerful than almost all Earth's heroes combined. At the end of that story, the Avengers and Fantastic Four joined forces to sacrifice their own lives that they saved the universe.
Long before the MCU or the Ultimate Marvel Universe offered updated takes on Marvel's heroes, the Avengers and Fantastic Four were still alive and well, but drastically reimagined in the pocket reality of "Heroes Reborn." Captain America had his entire origin changed. Instead of getting frozen in ice and rethawed to join the Avengers, he was "deactivated" by S.H.I.E.L.D. after he refused to endorse the President of the United States' plan to use the atomic bomb. He lived his life with the LMDs of a wife and son and finally ended up reactivated just in time to stop a new terrorist act by Red Skull to purge the planet of all "racial impurity." The new storyline also reimagined Bucky Barnes as a young woman naked Rikki Barnes, who became the new Bucky.
In Iron Man, Marvel rebooted several heroes, with Tony Stark as a ruthless businessman who works with fellow scientist Bruce Banner, has a psychiatrist in Leonard Samson, and a lawyer in Jennifer Walters. Hulk and Iron Man's origins are then intertwined, with Bruce involved in a Gamma-explosion that turns him into Hulk and an incident where he attacks a helicopter causing Stark to receive the shrapnel in his heart, eventually forcing him to become Iron Man.
This led to the Avengers, including Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Hawkeye, Swordsman, Hellcat, and Thor. Like the original formation of the Avengers, this story opened with Loki instigating things. However, he was mostly confused at the start because Asgard was gone, and Earth was the only thing he could see, with the other Nine Realms missing. It was a clear clue here that this Earth was not what it seemed. They also had to deal with Kang, Enchantress, Ultron, and more.
The origin of the Fantastic Four also played out differently in the world of Heroes Reborn. Reed Richards is the project lead on a space mission, with his best friend Ben Grimm by his side as his pilot. Sue Storm is there because she is the head of the Storm Foundation, which co-sponsored the project alongside NASA. Johnny manages a Las Vegas casino his family owns. An agent named Wyatt Wingfoot turned out to be a rogue agent working for Doctor Doom and sabotaged the ship with nukes. The four end up getting on board a prototype to stop the explosion but failed, and all ended up bombarded with radiation, turning them into superpowered beings.
The Heroes Reborn series only lasted for 13 issues before Marvel brought the entire Marvel Universe back together as one again. It turned out that the two superteams didn't die to stop Onslaught, and Franklin Richards used his powers to create a new world known as Counter-Earth and put the Avengers and Fantastic Four there for their survival. In Heroes Reborn: The Return by Peter David, Salvador Larroca, Scott Hanna, Steve Buccellato, Mad Science Media & Richard Starkings, the Celestials realized what happened and said that only one universe could live. While Counter-Earth's heroes had a chance to survive by going back to the main Marvel Universe, that action could've condemned their world to ruin.
However, Franklin was finally able to convince the Celestial Ashema to save both worlds if the heroes return to their own, and the Marvel Universe returned to its original form. However, the world of Heroes reborn and Counter-Earth lived on in its survivors and as part of the larger Marvel Multiverse.
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