"Fear Itself" began as a proposed Captain America/Thor crossover by Matt Fraction. The storyline was first announced by then-Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, Vice President Executive Editor Tom Brevoort and Vice President and X-Men group editor Axel Alonso in a December 21, 2010 press conference at Midtown Comics Times Square. Quesada explained that like the 2006 storyline "Civil War", the storyline of "Fear Itself" was inspired by the real world, in particular the perceived malaise and fear evoked by late 2000s events such as terror alerts, oil spills, the Great Recession and partisan politics. Explains Quesada: