Marvel just confirmed a major Avengers death, setting up a new era for the team – one in which not all of the franchise’s classic heroes will remain on the same side.
Back in 1963, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby debuted the Avengers to avoid wasting their slot on a printing press, pulling together various heroes who had already been introduced to the Marvel Universe. Today, it’s one of the biggest pop culture franchises of all time, with over 200 canonical members across sixty-three years.
Now, everything is about to change, as the fallout of the era-defining Avengers: Armageddon is partially revealed…
Marvel Confirms Avengers: Armageddon Will Have 1 Major Casualty
In several of today’s new comics, Marvel has included a preview for Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s upcoming Avengers #1, which will begin a new volume of the series. In the preview, Spider-Man mentions events from the Avengers: Armageddon series that haven’t yet taken place. These include:
- [CENSORED] dying
- Cap almost dying
- Tony [CENSORED]
- The Avengers disbanding
- A legal and social push against superhumans
Captain America being injured already happened – Steve Rogers was left comatose after a fight with the Red Hulk, and is currently recovering in hospital.
Fans knew that Avengers: Armageddon would mark a sea change, with a new group of heroes dubbed ‘Earth’s Mightiest Survivors’ taking over the mantle. Speculation was that the classic roster would be believed dead, and at least shunted into another dimension as in the ’90s ‘Onslaught Saga.’
However, we now know that won’t be the case. Only one hero will die, but it will be enough to disband the team and turn public opinion against superhumans. There’ll also be a major event involving Tony Stark. Thankfully, existing knowledge lets us speculate on the information that Marvel censored in this issue…
David Colton Is the Most Likely Hero to Die
So far, Avengers: Armageddon has seen the team go up against the Red Hulk and his Hulk army, recruiting former Captain America David Colton to help. Colton recently gained powers equal to the Sentry, though he has a weak heart from prior adventures.
Avengers: Armageddon #2 (Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz, Frank Alpizar) saw Colton break with the Avengers, accusing them of taking too soft of an approach. Colton believed Red Hulk should have been killed instead of taken into custody, and seems set to act on his beliefs. Solicit information for future issues teases a confrontation between Colton and the Avengers.
Given what Marvel revealed today, it would make sense for Colton to become a more interventionist hero, die in battle with the Avengers, and turn public opinion against the team (either from damage caused in the battle, or for taking out their self-styled savior.)
What’s Happening to Tony Stark?
Tony Stark’s actions are likewise censored, but ranked alongside death and injury by Spider-Man, so they’re pretty extreme. Marvel recently revealed a teaser for upcoming issues of Avengers: Armageddon with the phrases “the future is iron” and “a new Iron Age for Marvel Comics.”
The image shows Iron Man looking threatening, and it’s possible that in tangling with the Red Hulk and Colton, Tony will become more totalitarian in his outlook. He could be set to turn against the Avengers as in Civil War, or simply to clamp down on crime in a way that harms their reputation.
Marvel’s Latest Reveal Makes The Avengers’ New Era Even More Intriguing
Marvel has advertised Avengers: Armageddon as a seismic story, stating there would be Avengers lore before the event and Avengers lore after. Fans were understandably cynical, as every major comic story is sold as ‘changing everything.’ However, Marvel has given fans every reason to think the claim is true this time.
This preview of Avengers #1 only strengthens that implication, confirming that the event won’t include a sure-to-be-reversed mass death of the team, but a number of changes that will set up a new status quo – one in which superhumans are now hated by the people they strive to protect. That’s the kind of change that is clearly setting up years of new Avengers stories to come, rather than a ‘flash in the pan’ stunt with no staying power.
Avengers #1 is coming November 4 from Marvel Comics, Avengers: Armageddon #3 August 19.
