Avengers Assemble
After the weekly Avengers: No Surrender event, Marvel relaunched The Avengers into their eighth volume, a Comic Book Run written by Jason Aaron. This run returns to a Magnificent Seven-style team, featuring Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes). Arcs feature a rotating, temporary eighth member; for example; the first arc stars Doctor Strange, while the third focuses on Blade.Among the storylines in this title are a secret early incarnation of the Avengers at the dawn of human history, a vampire civil war, a new Squadron Supreme under the command of the United States of America, and the return of the Phoenix. Across the many stories, however, lies the threat of Mephisto, who seems to be pulling the strings against many of the threats the team encounters.
The run also produced some spin-off titles, such as Winter Guard and Phoenix Song: Echo.
Aaron's run concluded in April 2023, and the Avengers series ended at the same time. It's followed by a relaunch, initially written by Jed MacKay.
The following storylines are part of the main series arc, but have their own pages:
Tropes:
- Alliance of Alternates: In the Moon Knight arc, every Mephisto that Spector kills is replaced by another one, implicitly from a parallel universe based on their thematic clothing and appearance. They fully debut in the aftermath of Heroes Reborn, and are deemed the Council of Red.
- Alien Sky: Once Moon Knight helps Khonshu conquer the world and rewrite it entirely to its own ends, the Earth has multiple alien moons clustered together on top its native one.
- All Your Powers Combined: The first story arc is resolved when the Avengers initiate a Uni-Mind to combine all their disparate strengths and fend off the Dark Celestials.
- Amazon Chaser: Jennifer's new appearance is quite brutish, starkly contrasted to her previous appearance and closer to her cousin. Even so, Ulik and other trolls finds her incredibly attractive, especially while she's beating them into the ground.
- Animal Superheroes: How ingrained is the idea of superheroes into Earth's evolution? It turns out there was a T-Rex who was empowered with the Starbrand, which was what the KT meteor was actually carrying.
- Armed with Canon: After Donny Cates retconned out Aaron's introduction of the "Firehair the First Phoenix was Thor's mother" plotline in Thor (2020) #22'' by unequivocally stating that Thor's mother is Gaea, Aaron doubled down on the idea of Thor being the Phoenix's son in issue #53 of this run.
- Artistic License – History: The time of the Prehistoric Avengers features this pretty prominently. It averts the All Cavemen Were Neanderthals stereotype, but goes to the opposite extreme: the humans looked very familiar and even spoke in English.
- Author Tract: Issue 20 was a jab to audiences who disliked how Aaron handled She-Hulk, with Jen stating that while Bruce envied her for being accepted and she yelled at him about how it resulted at being lusted after and she didn't want to go back to being the old She-Hulk. It should also be noted, going by a tie-in for Immortal Hulk, that this view isn't even shared by people within Marvel itself, the special going out of its way to say Jen's still suffering from the events of Civil War II and Immortal itself. And was a moot point, given the end of "World War She-Hulk" ended with Jen returning to being the classic She-Hulk.
- Bratty Half-Pint: The new Starbrand grows up to be this by virtue of being raised by Rocket Raccoon in Phil Coulson's rewritten universe. Brandy is arrogant, foul-mouthed, and prone to recklessly charging into battle head first. The kid also develops an intense level of prejudice against all alien life due to her destined role as the Earth's true defender against cosmic threats. This xenophobia even extends to fellow heroes like Carol Danvers who Brandy once called a "Kree-Loving Half-Breed" during a heated argument.
- But Now I Must Go: After telling Thor that she's his mother and having him accept, Firehair tells him that she has to go as the Phoenix has selected a new avatar but she hopes that they will have more chances to see each other in the future.
- Bystander Syndrome: The leader of the Squadron Supreme admits that they can defeat the War of the Realms with no problem, but he's only concerned about protecting the US from it. And the rest of the world? Someone else's problem.
- Cerebus Retcon: Jennifer is rather controversially characterized as having long running resentment of being objectified by friend and foe alike constantly. This is a major contrast to her confidence and joy at the freedom and beauty that She-Hulk granted her. She's somewhat happy that now she gets to "be ugly".
- Character Exaggeration: In an issue where the inner monologues of the Avengers are on display, Thor is shown to be exceedingly insecure about being worthy of Mjolnir and constantly worrying if he can pick it up again whenever he sets it down. It's ambiguous if this is toned down later (it was, after all, immediately after The Unworthy Thor) or we're just not aware of his inner monologue anymore.
- Continuity Overlap: As per the norm for any Avengers run, Aaron's had to acknowledge events in the solo Avengers' monthly titles throughout the Fresh Start era. This has included minor developments, from Nic Klein's redesign of Thor in the current Donny Cates' run to the death of Thunderbolt Ross in Ta-Nehisi Coates' Captain America (which not insignificantly affected Aaron's Squadron Supreme subplot). Aaron managed to avoid losing any of his original core cast until the aftermath of World War She-Hulk (such as T'Challa stepping down due to events in John Ridley's Black Panther run).
- In addition to acknowledging events in the solo Avengers titles, the first two years of Aaron's run are closely intertwined with his 2018 Thor relaunch. This is unsurprising, both because Thor's a shared character and because both books were building towards The War of the Realms and laying groundwork on the Asgardian and Midgardian fronts respectively.
- The Corruption: The Horde have become more proactive in their war against the Celestials and started acting as a sort of infection to usurp control of their bodies and minds, turning them into Dark Celestials.
- Cosmic Horror Reveal: Earth's potential for superhumanity is revealed to be due to a Celestial dying on the planet in its earliest days, from an infection by the Horde, its cosmically radioactive body fluids leaking out into the planet's very foundation. The celestial equivalent of its lover sought revenge, only to be infected itself, the Horde now having learned how to puppet its body without killing it. To one day combat this, the Celestials deliberately cultivated Earth's potential as a kind of petri dish for a cure to the Horde infection. The Eternals were engineered to steward this development until its completion, teaching the superpowered populace how to combine their strength in a Uni-Mind.
- Cover Innocent Eyes and Ears: Hilariously, when a buck naked She-Hulk decides join her fellow Avengers in the hot tub, Captain Marvel can be seen shielding Ghost Rider's eyes.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Namor is heavily implied to have given one to Echo during their match in the Phoenix tournament.
- Deal with the Devil: Agent Coulson seems to have struck one with Mephisto to both resurrect himself and give him control over the new Squadron Supreme.
- Dream Team: Except for Ghost Rider and She-Hulk, all core members are leading stars of MCU blockbusters.
- Enemy Civil War: Dracula will no longer be the lord of vampires, which causes other vampires rush to take the throne.
- Equivalent Exchange: Subverting this is what makes Doom Supreme so dangerous. Normally magic extracts a toll on its user, for example Dr. Strange just has shreds of his soul remaining, he can no longer eat normal human food, and he gets random minor ailments. Doom Supreme is a master of placing that price on others, when he casted the spell that almost destroyed Avengers Mountain instead of him getting obliterated - he transferred that doom to an innocent alien planet.
- Face–Heel Turn: Phil Coulson is alive again, but he's a villain now.
- Fan Disservice: Red Widow, the Winter Guard's mysterious Femme Fatale, has a gorgeous figure emphasized by her form-fitting bodysuit with a generous number of panels focusing entirely on her ass. But it's later revealed that her entire body is horrifically Covered with Scars as a result of her rigorous training as a Red Room assassin, including her face which she intentionally hides behind a full mask.
- Giant Corpse World: The new base of operations for the team, called Avengers Mountain
, is the body of the first Celestial on Earth that died from Horde infection, erected as a gift from the Celestials to the world, a symbol of life's wonder and a warning of what'll happen if anyone tries to snuff it out. The remains have a lot of useful properties that can be applied to their needs. - Goo-Goo-Godlike: Brandy Selby, the latest bearer of the Starbrand, is an infant who inherited the brand and its raw cosmic power from her mother Suzanne just shortly after she passed away during child birth. Without any next of kin, the Avengers are forced to serve as her new caretakers while they figure out a way to help her control her new abilities.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: In the opening arc the Eternals are revealed to have all gone insane and killed each other after learning their true purpose intended by the Celestials. They all got better eventually.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Mephisto claims to have been behind several misfortunes of the Avengers over the years.
- Harbinger of Impending Doom: Deathloks have been sent from the future to warn the Avengers of Mephisto and the Multiversal Masters of Evil who are planning on murdering the Prehistoric Avengers.
- Heel–Face Turn: Nighthawk, despite last seen swearing to restore the world created by Coulson and Mephisto, seems to have abandoned this goal after discovering that he and the Squadron were created by Mephisto and nothing but pawns for him and Coulson. By #55, he's been hunting down criminals at night to prove to Mephisto, and himself, that he is his own man.
- In Name Only: The "Heroes Reborn" arc bears no resemblance or relation to the 90s story arc of the same name; instead, it features a Marvel Universe where the Avengers never formed and the Squadron Supreme are Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
- Legion of Doom: Issue #50 introduces the Multiversal Masters of Evil comprised of Doom Supreme (a Doctor Doom who became Sorcerer Supreme), Dark Phoenix with a feral Wolverine and devoted Thor, Young Thanos, King Killmonger (a Killmonger that took over both Wakanda and Asgard), the Ghost Goblin (a Norman Osborn with the powers of a Ghost Rider) and the Black Skull (a Red Skull possessing the Venom symbiote).
- Let's You and Him Fight: The Phoenix force returns to Earth, takes a number of potential hosts and pits them against each other in a tournament, each one enhanced by a portion of its power.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: The Phoenix Force, in the form of Lady Phoenix from One Million BC (either that, or the spirit of the actual Lady Phoenix) tells Thor "I've come to tell you everything. My son."
- The Man Behind the Man: While Crimson Dynamo is the "official" leader of the Winter Guard, it's actually Red Widow who calls the shots due to her position in National Security vastly outranking his own. This has predictably led Crimson Dynamo to start resenting Red Widow as a result due to feeling his authority is constantly being undermined by her.
- Red Widow herself seems to be operating on the behalf of an unknown superior who she routinely reports to in between mission deployments. In issue #49, Red Widow confesses her love to her enigmatic boss in case she dies fighting Jennifer Walters during her mission in Atlantis. Heavily implying that their relationship might not be entirely professional.
- Mortality Phobia: The Avengers Mountain has this, turns out the Celestial known as the Progenitor is Not Quite Dead and it fears dying as it knows it will go to Hell if it dies. And this fear is justified, in this run of the Avengers it's shown that Hell can imprison and torment even mid-tier Cosmic Entities such as a Celestial. Avengers Mountain came even closer to dying when it was badly damaged by Doom Supreme's black magic.
- Power Parasite: Moon Knight returns with Ankh charms enchanted Khonshu to steal the various supernatural powers of the Avengers. With this he effortlessly curb stomps the team, the only hiccup being T'Challa, whose power can't be taken but must be relinquished willingly.
- Race Lift: Much like in Supreme Power, the new Nighthawk is African-American.
- Real After All: "Age of Khonshu" definitively answers the long-standing question of the Moon Knight comics as to whether Khonshu is real or not. He is.
- Reconstruction: After The Worf Barrage of the previous run, this volume aims to reestablish the Avengers as a powerful force for good that can protect even the multiverse if the need presents itself.
- Replacement Flat Character: Hulk could not be used here because he was being used in Immortal Hulk, a comic with an horror theme and complex plots that do not fit the tone of this run. She-Hulk is used as a replacement, but not the way readers know her, instead as a musclebound brute and Hulk Speak even calling herself Hulk now. This is fortunately subverted in issue #50, where Jennifer finally reverts to her original She-Hulk form.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Inverted; In issue 46, Gorilla Man betrays the Avengers to the Winter Guard under the promise that they'll kill him afterwards. While Ursa Major, who was secretly allied with the Avengers, is executed before their departure by Red Widow, she only sarcastically pretends to shoot Hale, leaving him crestfallen at betraying everyone for nothing. Hale is only alive because if anyone killed him, they'd take on his curse.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: During "Heroes Reborn", Blade and Echo are the only ones to remember the Marvel Universe that was.
- Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: Circumstances unfold across story arcs that rapidly age up Brandy from an infant to a young woman.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: The Phoenix arc has a tournament between several heroes and villains, and the winner would get the full power of the Phoenix. However, Phoenix ended it all before the final fights concluded and hand-picked instead Echo, who had already been defeated
- Show, Don't Tell: Aaron wants you to know what a huge threat the Final Host is. He does this primarily by telling you so again and again and again.
- Signature Move: During his fight with Moon Knight, Iron Fist uses multiple attacks, which are titled on panel, e.g. "Frozen Lotus Palm Block," "Shin Kick of Five Thousand Fire Ants," and of course "The Iron Fist of Shou-Lao." Marc has only one such technique, "The Fist of Khonshu," which he uses repeatedly until he's bludgeoned Danny into submission.
- Sixth Ranger: A selling point was that there would be an eighth member slot, rotating out on an arc-by-arc basis:
- The first arc guest stars Doctor Strange, as he is with T'Challa as they're investigating a Celestial corpse in South Africa.
- The third features Blade coordinating the Avengers' efforts against the vampire civil war.
- The ninth features Deathlok, Jane Foster and Namor as the Multiversal Masters of Evil attack.
- Super Team: The unanimous decision to make T'Challa and Wakanda the new chairman and host country of the Avengers respectively has caused enough of an international stirrup that both the United States and the Russian Federation decide to produce their own government-sponsored answers to Earth's Mightiest Heroes. For the USA, Phil Coulson introduces a new Squadron Supreme who are all artificially grown clones implanted with fabricated memories. For Russia, they re-instate the Winter Guard initiative with Crimson Dynamo serving as their official leader.
- Take That, Audience!:
- The fandom complaints about Jane Foster's Thor (also by Aaron) are voiced in-universe by Ulik. The literal King of the Trolls. Subtle.
- Issue 20 was a similar one to people who criticized his handling of She-Hulk.
- Took a Level in Badass: Blade, the Black Widow and She-Hulk all get upgrades for Aaron's run. Blade has a baby version of Man-Thing called Boy-Thing. This lets him teleport and with some outside help, he was also able to get a wooden pistol that shoots bullets capable of injuring something as invulnerable as the Cosmic Ghost Rider. Black Widow took part in the battle for the Star-Brand and she gets herself a missile and energy weapon focused variant of the War Machine armor, the War Widow. She-Hulk has a few more extra gamma ray powers, including releasing it in a surrounding blast and breathing out a stream of it. Even T'Challa ends up getting upgraded via the Red Panther suit, an Anti-Magic Bio-Armor comprised of the metalized blood of the Orisha and several thrice blessed Wakandan armaments. With this, T'Challa was able to No-Sell the spells of Doom Supreme while beating the ever-loving shit out of him until Victor was forced to make a retreat.
- The Runner-Up Takes It All: The new Phoenix avatar is Echo. She actually lost her bout against Namor, but it turns out the Phoenix Force didn't care about who's the strongest or who won their match. The Phoenix Force wanted someone who's emotionally compatible with it and it also found Maya's martial mimicking ability interesting.
- Tournament Arc: The Phoenix Force orchestrates one to determine who will be its new host.
- Touched by Vorlons: Jennifer goes through a drastic change in her gamma mutation from touching the corpse of a Celestial, apparently intentional in their inscrutable wisdom to empower her against stronger threats. She loses this after she saves Atlantis from a gamma bomb.
- Tragic Villain: Namor. Who is facing his Darkest Hour following the events of Invaders (2019) and has now seemingly Jumped Off The Slippery Slope as a result. He is tired and desperate, his kingdom falling to ruin as debree from the Avengers' battles rain down on them and yet his pride keeps him from accepting aid when offered. As his efforts to win back some hope to his people grow more desperate, he begins to shamelessly sacrifice the lives of his own friends and subjects and is left with nothing as one by one they turn on him.
- Vagueness Is Coming: All over the place. Story arcs usually open with someone antagonizing the Avengers only to later reveal that they're fighting as preparation against a worse threat soon to reveal itself.
- Weird Moon: During "The Age of Khonshu" Earth's moon has a bunch of alien moons mashed onto it into a big clump.
