For the past few months, the Avengers and X-Men have been beating the ever-loving snot out of one another because, apparently, all the bad guys left town or decided to take some time off from their respective criminal enterprises.
All right, so the baddies really didn’t do that, but it has to make you wonder where the hell all the villains are hiding out during Avengers Vs. X-Men because they should be running rampant all over the place, lying and cheating and stealing with reckless abandon with so many of the big guns unable to do anything to stop them.
All right, so the baddies really didn’t do that, but it has to make you wonder where the hell all the villains are hiding out during Avengers Vs. X-Men because they should be running rampant all over the place, lying and cheating and stealing with reckless abandon with so many of the big guns unable to do anything to stop them.
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Or at least expanding their operations outside of Washington…
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As AvX hits its official halfway point tomorrow, we’re going to take this opportunity to check in on the action, give some major spoilers, and examine the ramifications of the series’ first five issues and make wild speculative guesses on where it’s all heading.
In case you were crazy enough to miss the Danger Rooms pregame analysis of AvX, parts one, two, and three, the crux of the event is the Phoenix Force’s return to Earth.
The Phoenix Force is destruction personified, and when it gets its hunger on, planets and civilizations die, so it’s understandable that the Avengers want to make sure this entity gets locked down quickly before the Earth winds up another tasty morsel.
So if the Avengers are trying to save the planet, what are the X-Men doing trying to stop them? And that’s where Hope comes into play.
As the first mutant birth since the House of M, there was (now confirmed) speculation that she would be the new host for the Phoenix Force as Jean Grey was years ago, and Cyclops is of the mind that she would not give into the entity’s basest desires and scorch the world, but rather channel the energy and reignite the mutant population.
In short, the Avengers are honed in on the destructive capabilities of the Phoenix, while the X-Men have a laser focus on the rebirth aspect and therein lies the heart of the conflict.
When I first heard the event was going to be twelve issues long, I braced myself for a lot of build up before any real action would occur, but much to my delight and surprise, we had an X-Man shoot an Avenger with an optic blast before issue one drew to a close.
That's how you start an event.
Over the next several issues, the two teams fought one another even as they both tried to track down Hope, now finally accepting that she cannot outrun her destiny as host to the Phoenix.
Wolverine’s role has been particularly difficult as Hope has entrusted him with killing her should she show signs of losing control and with her resemblance to Jean, who he loved dearly, and the fact that he had to put Jean down on Asteroid M, Logan is in a tough spot, neither fully on the side of the Avengers or the X-Men, despite his membership to both and initial siding with Captain America.
AvX #5 ended with Iron Man disrupting the Phoenix Force as it headed towards Hope on the moon and causing it to fracture (the Phoenix, not the moon, because, man, that would have suuuuucked) and now one fifth of the Phoenix resides in Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, Namor, and Emma Frost.
And ^%$& just got real.
Now, the Phoenix Five are on a quest to purge the Earth of evil, while protecting the now comatose Hope, and there seems to be little the Avengers can do at this point to stop them.
The Scarlet Witch is getting ready to enter the fray and Marvel has teased the idea of “no more Avengers,” echoing her fatal call for “no more mutants” at the conclusion to House of M, so for now the upper hand is on the other foot for Team X.
In case you were crazy enough to miss the Danger Rooms pregame analysis of AvX, parts one, two, and three, the crux of the event is the Phoenix Force’s return to Earth.
The Phoenix Force is destruction personified, and when it gets its hunger on, planets and civilizations die, so it’s understandable that the Avengers want to make sure this entity gets locked down quickly before the Earth winds up another tasty morsel.
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Not for nothing, but that’s a big ^$*&$@! bird.
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So if the Avengers are trying to save the planet, what are the X-Men doing trying to stop them? And that’s where Hope comes into play.
As the first mutant birth since the House of M, there was (now confirmed) speculation that she would be the new host for the Phoenix Force as Jean Grey was years ago, and Cyclops is of the mind that she would not give into the entity’s basest desires and scorch the world, but rather channel the energy and reignite the mutant population.
In short, the Avengers are honed in on the destructive capabilities of the Phoenix, while the X-Men have a laser focus on the rebirth aspect and therein lies the heart of the conflict.
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There is no Hope, only Zuul.
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When I first heard the event was going to be twelve issues long, I braced myself for a lot of build up before any real action would occur, but much to my delight and surprise, we had an X-Man shoot an Avenger with an optic blast before issue one drew to a close.
That's how you start an event.
Over the next several issues, the two teams fought one another even as they both tried to track down Hope, now finally accepting that she cannot outrun her destiny as host to the Phoenix.
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Cue optic blasty goodness in 3…2…1…
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Wolverine’s role has been particularly difficult as Hope has entrusted him with killing her should she show signs of losing control and with her resemblance to Jean, who he loved dearly, and the fact that he had to put Jean down on Asteroid M, Logan is in a tough spot, neither fully on the side of the Avengers or the X-Men, despite his membership to both and initial siding with Captain America.
AvX #5 ended with Iron Man disrupting the Phoenix Force as it headed towards Hope on the moon and causing it to fracture (the Phoenix, not the moon, because, man, that would have suuuuucked) and now one fifth of the Phoenix resides in Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, Namor, and Emma Frost.
And ^%$& just got real.
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Costume designs for all cosmically possessed mutants are run by Liberace’s estate first.
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Now, the Phoenix Five are on a quest to purge the Earth of evil, while protecting the now comatose Hope, and there seems to be little the Avengers can do at this point to stop them.
The Scarlet Witch is getting ready to enter the fray and Marvel has teased the idea of “no more Avengers,” echoing her fatal call for “no more mutants” at the conclusion to House of M, so for now the upper hand is on the other foot for Team X.
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I’m no expert, but that can’t be safe for the planet to be shaped like that. Just sayin’.
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We don’t know for sure what’s coming next, but we know there will be at least one death teased for the eleventh issue—don’t be surprised if it’s Cyclops, ladies and gentlemen—and Marvel has announced the post-AvX branding as Re-Evolution, which they claim is not a DC Universe style reboot and most likely means the mutant gene is back in full.
But you won’t know how it all plays out until you pick up Avengers Vs. X-Men #6, on sale tomorrow, and follow the adventures throughout September’s finale.
The future of the Marvel Universe is upon us and nothing will ever be the same…until, you know, the next event that promises the exact same thing…
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But, seriously, this one changes everything. They even said so.
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