Nothing to do with Nostradamus or a nuclear apocalypse (well, that we know about), End Of The World are a Japanese pop act who have already collaborated with Clean Bandit and DNCE. The NME recently claimed they had “possibly the most impressive live show in the world right now”, with a stage set like a stream train, a performance time designed to coincide with sundown and a frankly petrifying use of clown motifs.

It is that OTT and cartoonish side to them that makes their collaboration with Marvel on a custom comic book and a seven-part series about the making of that comic on YouTube Premium (Re:Imagine’s first three episodes debuted on 11th December) feel incredibly apt. The plot line is that of their formation in 2005 and subsequent rise to fame and arena-level shows, putting them in an elite category alongside the similarly ghoulish and cartoonish Kiss who got their own Marvel comic book series in the 1970s.

In the comic book, each of the band’s four members will become superheroes as they turn their weaknesses into special powers.

But also within this, there is a cost to their actions. DJ Love (the clown one) appears in the series as Crack and says, “The more I fight, the more I lose what is precious to me.” Guitarist Shinichi Nakajima is Needleman, keyboardist Saori Fujisaki is Dreamweaver and lead singer Satoshi Fukase is Lostman (“Tears pour out of my eyes as I battle against my fear of loneliness,” he says).

End Of The World are known in their home country as Sekai No Owari and their Japanese-language YouTube channel has more than 840,000 subscribers, with their three biggest videos having 237m combined views. Their newer English-language channel is still building, with just under 30,000 subscribers. As they look to expand outside of Japan, the link with Marvel is one part of that and will bring with it an important element of credibility to fit in with their
overall aesthetic.