Avengers #11 was a thrilling, fun side trip on Jonathan Hickman’s cosmic odyssey! You don’t have to have read the earlier issues and enjoy this espionage filled chapter that puts Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman, Sunspot and Cannonball on the front burner of a undercover mission that would impress James Bond.
A.I.M. scientists are taking the alien viruses from the previous arcs and turning them into bioweapons for highest bidder. Natasha, Carol, Jessica, Roberto and Sam assemble in Macao to execute a Mission Impossible operation against A.I.M. agents. Hickman is known for his big epic scope but here he shows he’s equally powerful at writing comedy mixed with the thrills.
Shang Chi takes the spotlight in this week’s Avengers #11. After cosmic clashes and alien outbreaks Jonathan Hickman sends the team to Hong Kong for a new adventure called Wake the Dragon.
Avengers #11 courtesy Marvel
While the Master of Kung Fu fights an ancient rival, Cannonball and Sunspot gamble with AIM agents and Black Widow, Captain Marvel and Spider-Woman take on spies in a casino showdown in Wake the Dragon.
Artist Mike Deodato is joining writer Jonathan Hickman for the first time on Avengers and New Avengers as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes march towards the big Infinity event.
A new era for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes begins this week. Writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Jermone Opena are blowing up the team with bigger roster and bigger mission.
Jonathan Hickman and Editor Tom Brevoort revealed the new mission for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and what to expect from this week’s premier issue and beyond on Marvel.com.
“We will see the back story of how Iron Man and Captain America have been quietly building a contingency plan for the day that comes in issue #1,” Hickman teases of the huge event that requires a bigger team that will reflect our modern world.
“One of the first things we all agreed on is that the roster should look more like the world. So far we’ve seen the biggest and most iconic characters, but as we reach issues #7 and #8, we’ll see more new characters and characters we’re reviving or recreating. Eventually there will be 24 characters. 12 will be either female or minority characters,” said Hickman of the growing roster.
New Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
In January Hickman and artist Steve Epting launch a new New Avengers – a new version of the Illuminati. This new secret cabal working behind the scenes will be Black Panther, Iron Man, Doctor Strange Black Bolt, Namor, Reed Richards and Beast.
“It’s about the guys who quietly, secretly run the world. It’s thematically much different than Avengers. The plan I’ve worked out is that the Avengers are the utopian Avengers, the ideal ones we want, whereas the New Avengers are real world, they live in the dark, apocalyptic world as it is,” revealed Hickman.
“The books will work in tandem. You don’t have to read both, but they are two sides of the same coin. Two different stories,” he added.
Some of the most surprising and exciting additions to the new team are New Mutants Sam Guthrie and Roberto Da Costa.
“You’ll get an issue where Cannonball and Sunspot get to spend time with Captain America,” Hickman revealed, “I’ve always really liked them. I wish it was more complicated than that. I pitched a Bobby and Sam in Mojoworld book, and somehow it got made.”
One reason I love Sam and Bobby getting this “promotion” is that they never got to rise up to true X-Men status.
“Cannonball and Sunspot are at least chronologically younger characters. It’s always good to have those types of figures in Avengers to bring a fresh viewpoint. That said, they’re also established Marvel characters,” Brevoort said, “When Brian Bendis brought Luke Cage and Spider-Woman into the Avengers, they weren’t the most popular characters, but they had legitimacy. I think it will be the same thing with Cannonball and Sunspot.”
“When we get to 24 characters, their will be several subgroups of characters, and one tier will be a group of younger, more idealistic people like Cannonball and Sunspot,” Hickman explained.
Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Hickman explained the leadership hierarchy of this new Avengers.
“Cap is in charge, of course, and he has two vice-captains in Captain Marvel and Iron Man. For bigger stuff, it splits into three teams. There are other factions within that, but generally, that’s the command structure. In New Avengers, they all think they’re in charge and none of them are,” explains Hickman.
Hickman confirmed Avengers will start with the 3 big arcs then 3 stand-alone stories and he’s creating new villains. Mr. Fantastic and Beast will be on New Avengers. Hyperion will be part of the team. Eden Fesi of Secret Warriors will be in the Avengers.
A new era for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes begins this December. New writer Jonathan Hickman and Editor Tom Brevoort revealed the future of the Avengers in today’s Next Big Thing on Marvel.com.
Avengers #1 kicks off a 3-part Avengers World story establishing the team’s mission statement with Jerome Opena on art.
“We will see the back story of how Iron Man and Captain America have been quietly building a contingency plan for the day that comes in issue #1,” Hickman teases of the huge event that requires a bigger team that will reflect our modern world.
“One of the first things we all agreed on is that the roster should look more like the world. So far we’ve seen the biggest and most iconic characters, but as we reach issues #7 and #8, we’ll see more new characters and characters we’re reviving or recreating. Eventually there will be 24 characters. 12 will be either female or minority characters,” said Hickman of the growing roster.
Hickman will be writing a new New Avengers – a new version of the Illuminati. This new secret cabal working behind the scenes will be Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Beast. Black Bolt will return and Namor will be involved.
“It’s about the guys who quietly, secretly run the world. It’s thematically much different than Avengers. The plan I’ve worked out is that the Avengers are the utopian Avengers, the ideal ones we want, whereas the New Avengers are real world, they live in the dark, apocalyptic world as it is,” revealed Hickman.
“The books will work in tandem. You don’t have to read both, but they are two sides of the same coin. Two different stories,” he added.
Wakanda was devastated by Namor’s invasion during Avengers vs. X-Men. Hickman says T’Challa’s home will be rocked again. In the original Illuminati stories Black Panther refused to join the inner circle but he will need them in the Marvel now.
New Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
“The catalyst is an event in Wakanda with Black Panther, the only man who told the original Illuminati it was a mistake. Something occurs so earth-shattering he sees no other course of action than to call on them,” Hickman teases, “This event is so huge than even the people in the Illuminati who do not currently like each other are forced to put differences aside.”
Hickman recently sent the Fantastic Four to Wakanda. It looks like Hickman was planting the seeds for his upcoming Avengers run.
“Going into Fantastic Four, Jonathan hadn’t even wrapped up Secret Warriors. Going into this, people know from FF what a big thinker Jonathan is and how he plays the long game. It’s an even bigger canvas here,” explains Tom Brevoort.
“My Avengers pitch probably could have gotten approved as is on its own, but if I hadn’t done FF, I don’t think there’s any way my New Avengers would have gotten approved. I think it’s gonna be a sleeper hit. It’s so cool. I’m so jacked that I get to write it,” revealed Hickman.
Some of the most surprising and exciting additions to the new team are New Mutants Sam Guthrie and Roberto Da Costa.
“You’ll get an issue where Cannonball and Sunspot get to spend time with Captain America,” Hickman revealed, “I’ve always really liked them. I wish it was more complicated than that. I pitched a Bobby and Sam in Mojoworld book, and somehow it got made.”
One reason I love Sam and Bobby getting this “promotion” is that they never got to rise up to true X-Men status.
“Cannonball and Sunspot are at least chronologically younger characters. It’s always good to have those types of figures in Avengers to bring a fresh viewpoint. That said, they’re also established Marvel characters,” Brevoort said, “When Brian Bendis brought Luke Cage and Spider-Woman into the Avengers, they weren’t the most popular characters, but they had legitimacy. I think it will be the same thing with Cannonball and Sunspot.”
“When we get to 24 characters, their will be several subgroups of characters, and one tier will be a group of younger, more idealistic people like Cannonball and Sunspot,” Hickman explained.
New Avengers courtesy Marvel
Hickman confirmed the logo with the Avengers A and the Omega symbol is the logo for the New Avengers.
“Avengers is the day book and New Avengers is night. Avengers is how we want the world to be, New Avengers is how it is. One book is about life, one is about death. The logos reflect all this,” he said.
The new era begins in the aftermath of AvX, bad blood and old rivalries between some heroes.
“I don’t think people will be surprised to learn that even as these guys go about their job, some will grow to hate one another,” Hickman explained, “This is not a cheery happy story. This is the ‘Death Avengers.'”
I’m thrilled to see T’Challa as a central character in the Marvel Now. He’s a single man now. He’s the leader of a broken country.
“Black Panther is the lynchpin character of New Avengers. The central character. He’s very important to the Avengers franchise as a whole,” Brevoort explained.
“Black Panther is certainly the moral center of New Avengers,” adds Hickman.
Hickman explained the leadership hierarchy of this new Avengers.
“Cap is in charge, of course, and he has two vice-captains in Captain Marvel and Iron Man. For bigger stuff, it splits into three teams. There are other factions within that, but generally, that’s the command structure. In New Avengers, they all think they’re in charge and none of them are,” explains Hickman.
Hickman confirmed Avengers will start with the 3 big arcs then 3 stand-alone stories and he’s creating new villains. Mr. Fantastic and Beast will be on New Avengers. Hyperion will be part of the team. Eden Fesi of Secret Warriors will be in the Avengers.
Avengers #1 and #2 arrive this December. New Avengers #1 and #2 arrive in January.
The New Mutants graphic novel cover courtesy Marvel.com
The New Mutants aren’t so new anymore but Dani, Sam, Roberto, Rhane and Xi’an will hold a special place in the hearts of many comic book fans. Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod gave us this next generation and future X-Men. Unfortunately these heroes are caught in the comic book paradox. In the real world these kids should have grown up to succeed Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and company as the X-Men. These characters are so strong and loved that they will always find a home in the Marvel universe.
Dani Moonstar lost her mutant powers but none of the qualities that make her a great hero. The current New Mutants book is coming to an end. Karma is currently featured in Marjorie Liu’s Astonishing X-Men. Wolfsbane has been a star and become a mom in Peter David’s X-Factor. Will those characters and titles continue in the Marvel NOW relaunch?
In Liu’s Astonishing X-Men Karma has been the victim of a new villain and I hope Liu gets the chance to give Xi’an redemption and maybe a chance at love like Northstar did. I can’t imagine a month without Peter David’s X-Factor but Breaking Points sure seems like he’s wrapping up his run.
New Mutants #13 courtesy Marvel
I really love Dani as mentor of a New Mutants squad in New X-Men. Dani is a great leader, Valkyrie and I love her best as a teacher. I’d like to see Dani and Rhane join the Jean Grey School as teachers.
Could these young heroes face a darker future in the Marvel NOW? Legion is becoming the star of a brand new X-Men Legacy. Professor X’s son may try to recruit the mutants he once faced in their original series.
The New Mutants graphic novel cover courtesy Marvel.com
I was thrilled to see two New Mutants in the lineup of the upcoming Avengers relaunch. Jonathan Hickman welcomes Cannonball and Sunspot to his massive roster that’s still be revealed. Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort tells Comics Newsarama why Sam and Roberto are on board.
“The real answer to that is at least trifold. We’ve talked about this a little bit going into Marvel NOW! — we’re making a concerted effort to erase the invisible fence that exists around the world of X-Men. By the nature of those books, and it goes back 20-25 years at this point, the X-Men, while they exist in the Marvel Universe proper, tend to sit in their own corner a lot. We’re actively looking not to make everything the same, but to erase those boundaries; erase that feeling that it’s strange or weird when an X-Men character shows up in a non-X-Men book, and vice versa.
In the same sort of way that in the adjectiveless X-Men book they’ve been doing a lot of work to try and get the X-Men out interacting with other heroes in the Marvel Universe, and fighting villains that are not just the same core of X-Men mutant villains that they’ve always battled, we’re going to be trying to do the same sort of thing in a more global sense. It’s not like we’re going to be forcing X-Men or X-Men villains into Spider-Man, or whatever, but we’re trying to make it a little easier if there’s a Spider-Man story to be told that involves some aspect of the X-Men, for people to feel like, “Yeah, that’s easy.” It’s like using anybody else. It’s all one place and one Marvel Universe. So the fact that we’re bringing in some other characters from that corner just serves to underline and reinforce that a little bit.
It also sort of shows that the movement taken in Uncanny Avengers and the motivation for that team is not simply a token outreach. The impel that will drive the world to have a more comingled Avengers and mutant and non-mutant set-up is not limited to one crew of folks. Plus, as usual, we wanted to bring some new faces in. Jonathan wanted to bring in characters that he was interested in and likes, and he really loves Cannonball and Sunspot. It’s good to have some relatively younger characters in the Avengers mix, that always makes for a good dynamic. They are a good two-hander comedy act in the way of Ben and Johnny or Ben and Spidey over in the FF books. It just puts them on a different playing level. Plus, they’re storied enough characters now — they go back to 1982 — that they feel legitimate as Avengers. It’s a funny thing, and I really didn’t codify it even for myself quite until Brian was doing New Avengers, but once characters have been around in the Marvel Universe a certain amount of time — it’s a vague amount, there’s no set time, it’s just a feeling — you put them in the Avengers, and they feel legitimate. Luke Cage being an Avenger, nobody really blinked at that. He goes back to the ’70s, he’s a quote-unquote “real” Marvel character. He’s not a Johnny Come Lately or a fly-by-night or a new fangled idea. He’s real Marvel. Spider-Woman is real Marvel. Iron Fist is real Marvel. And at this point, Cannonball and Sunspot are real Marvel. You see them there, and you go, “It’s interesting, it’s different, it’s odd, I’m not used to seeing them hanging out with those people” — but they don’t feel like they haven’t earned their place. They’re still youthful characters in relation to the other characters around them, but they’re storied enough that you can look at them standing in the midst of all of those other guys and go, “Yeah, OK, I buy it.”
Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Brevoort addresses concerns over the blending of X-Men and Avengers.
“First of all, I think the fear that having mutant characters appearing in Avengers or other books is going to water everything down or destroy the X-Men is a baseless fear. It’s a fear that stems from literally just fear itself. “You’re going to break this thing that I love by mixing it up with this other stuff that I don’t care as much about.”
“The premise of X-Men is that it’s a book about a demographic. It’s a book about these people, and their struggle of their existence. They wake up at a certain point and they have wings, or they have fur all over their bodies, and they have to deal with that, and adjust to that, and that’s the world they live in. In the same sort of way that Spider-Man being on the Avengers didn’t mean the average Spider-Man adventure was about him rocketing to the moon to fight cosmic bad guys over the Infinity Gauntlet, having X-Men in the Avengers doesn’t mean that every X-Men story is now going to be an Avengers story.
All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
“In some ways, it may hopefully mean the focus of X-Men stories can be more concretely about what that series is about, what that premise is, and the ongoing soap opera of those character relationships, and dealing with one another, and dealing with being part of this particular minority who’s hated and feared by a world that doesn’t understand them. Those themes always work for the X-Men, and they’re really the heart of the X-Men. The fact that the X-books sort of became segregated; that I don’t think had anything really to do with the heart of their appeal. That was just something that happened, and then everybody kind of got used to it, and it’s “the way things are, therefore, it’s the way we like it.” But I don’t believe there’s any real relationship between the books staying to themselves, and that is why people like them. I think people liked them why they didn’t, I think people liked it was just one comic book, and it was just done really well, and people dug the characters and dug the conflicts that they were doing through — and the soap opera, and the romance, and the life or death struggles. I think all of that stuff can, should, and hopefully will be maintained on the X-books going forward. Certainly Brian’s not coming on X-Men to take a half-hearted stab at doing great X-Men stories.”
New Mutants #16 courtesy Marvel
I have posted before that New Mutants are like the Teen Titans and Cannonball is like Nightwing. In the real world these younger heroes would take on the leadership roles and become the big iconic heroes of their respective universes.
This is comic books – Cyclops, Storm or Wolverine will always be the X-Men leader so I’m excited to see Sam shine as one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and represent the mutant race on the Avengers.
Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena relaunch a brand new Avengers series in the Marvel NOW! Marvel revealed this first look at the three covers in one by Dustin Weaver.
Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, Wolverine and the new Captain Marvel are on the team. Cap sidekick Falcon is joining up. Cannonball of New Mutants is seen blasting into action. One cover #2 there’s a man on fire – is this Jim Hammond – the original Human Torch? On cover #3 is a man with a shadow power and infinity sign on this chest? Could this be Cannonball’s New Mutants teammate Roberto da Costa aka Sunspot or maybe an Eternal?
I’m loving Cannonball on the team. I think Sam Guthrie is the Dick Grayson of the Marvel Universe. Cannonball could easily take over for Cyclops but will never be allowed to like Dick could take over for Bruce as Batman. I’m thrilled to see Sam soar in the greater Marvel Now.
The New Mutants graphic novel cover courtesy Marvel.com
Updated! I promise I had this draft long before I saw this recent story teasing a possible New Mutants movie. Here’s the Collider link so you can read it for yourself. Basically when pressed Fox’s Tom Rothman is smartly coy in his response. You can be the judge.
Original story:
It’s time Fox show some love for the New Mutants era for the sequel to X-Men: First Class. Cannonball aka Sam Guthrie would be a perfect addition to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
The film series has mixed and matches X-Men from various eras. First Class included everyone from original X-Man Beast and Angel Salvadore from the Grant Morrison New X-Men run. Time for the
Jack Quade played the Tribute ironically named Marvel in The Hunger Games and now that I’ve seen more photos of him I keep picturing him as the poor miner kid from Kentucky who blasts his way into the Xavier school.
The New Mutants graphic novel by Chris Claremont would be a great source of inspiration for the sequel script. X-Men books and films have always demonstrated diversity. Having Danielle Moonstar (Mirage) or Xian Coy Manh (Karma) in the next film would continue that tradition. Dani is a Native American had the power to create illusions of her enemies’ fears or wishes and co-lead the team with Sam. Karma is of Vietnamese descent and has the power to possess minds. In recent years Xian or Shan came out as a lesbian.
Sam and his sister Paige (aka Husk) are currently teaching at the Jean Grey School under headmaster Wolverine. Dani and Karma are on a New Mutants team based in San Francisco.
By Editor
This Geek’s Updated Opinion: Of course I’ll go see any X-Men related movie but with the X-Men: First Class franchise firmly set in the past would it make sense to have another X franchise set in the present? No disrespect to the New Mutants fans, creators or characters but I don’t think they can hold up on their own as a film franchise. I would be curious how Fox would pull it off. Professor X founded the New Mutants but Magneto served as their instructor and eventually the Cable turned the team into X-Force. As I stated above I would love to see Sam, Dani or Karma in an X-Men: First Class sequel or rebooted present day X-Men film.
