Marvel Comics has confirmed Avengers: Armageddon writer Chip Zdarsky will relaunch the main series this November, and that he will reunite with Daredevil artist Marco Checchetto on the book. The new Avengers run will pick up in the immediate aftermath of Armageddon, and feature a line-up consisting of Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Wolverine/Logan, Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, Daredevil/Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, and the new hero who’ll be introduced in Zdarsky et al.’s summer event.
Zdarsky states, “It’s obviously a massive honor getting to write the world’s greatest super hero team! And after what happens in Avengers: Armageddon, this lineup is angry as hell and ready to avenge. Avengers is a book that should lead the Marvel Universe, where big things happen and surprises keep hitting. That’s what Marco and I are doing with every issue and I can’t wait for people to fall in love with these gorgeous pages.”
Checchetto comments, “Here we go again. Chip and I, assembled. We had a blast on Daredevil, and since wrapping up Ultimate Spider-Man, I’m thrilled there was an opportunity to do something new with him. It’s in moments like these where Chip’s utter madness comes through, and the result is right before your eyes. I love this team. It’s going to be great to see these characters interact with one another and see how they untangle themselves from the situations we’re going to throw them into.”
Editor Wil Moss adds, “Chip and Marco have come up with SUCH an exciting direction for this new volume of Avengers, striking just the right balance of quality AND spectacle, of pitch-perfect characterization AND shocking takes, of a sense of legacy AND a true trailblazing spirit. Chip and Marco’s Avengers is going to be the heart of the Marvel Universe going forward — trust me, you won’t want to miss a beat. Just wait till you learn the full roster…”
Zdarsky and Checchetto’s Avengers will begin on November 4, shortly before the team’s return to the big screen in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18. The first issue will have a variant cover by Zdarsky (which you can check out below), and more, some of which will only be available in blind bags. In the meantime, Avengers: Armageddon #1 (of 5), by Zdarsky, Delio Diaz, and Frank Alpizar, will begin on Wednesday, June 10. Zdarsky’s first Avengers series, 2024’s dystopian future take Avengers: Twilight, is also available now from all good bookstores.
That’s another Marvel series I won’t be buying. It’s Bendis’s New Avengers without Bendis, so why do it? MacKay’s Avengers run had no direction. The PR seems to be aimed at ten-year-olds.
Seems like you’re jumping to a major conclusion. While Armageddon hasn’t concluded yet, it does look like it will live up to its name, what with the cover of the new Avengers #1 suggesting a huge civilian body count. I mean, you know things are desperate if friggin’ Daredevil is on the roster. All of that is very different from New Avengers.
I’m cynical, admittedly, but it’s learned cynicism. MacKay spent about three years writing throwaway stories in Avengers that focused on his creations (villains) instead of the heroes. In his final arc, he tried to celebrate Kang’s history as a would-be conqueror instead of developing any of the heroes. Marvel doesn’t publish stories anymore, at least not in Avengers. It publishes scenarios for action figures. The similarities between Armageddon and Avengers Disassembled are obvious. Given how the heroes have been handled, why should any reader care what happens? Any dead heroes will be toys tossed into a bin.
Well at least you’re not apathetic. FWIW, I think Moss’s comments do tacitly acknowledge criticisms of MacKay’s run, in that they want Avengers to matter again as it did during Bendis and Hickman’s runs. And it’s only natural there may be some parallels – because Disassembled was over 20 years ago!
“It’s Bendis’s New Avengers without Bendis, so why do it?” Bendis’s New Avengers without Bendis seems like a positive to me.
It’s unfair to compare this future run that you haven’t seen yet to Bendis’s based on, I assume, the roster. There are only so many combinations of major characters on a team. Like, I may not have liked McKay’s run but I’m not going to compare it Steve Engelhart’s just because they both have Iron Man, Thor, Vision, and Scarlet Witch.
I’ll say this: It seems like we may finally be done with the tail wagging the dog – is the team now allowed to be different than the film or am I missing something? I can’t see Charlie Cox, Tom Holland, Brie Larson, Mike Colter and Hugh Jackman being the sole survivors of Doomsday and thus starring in the follow up film. But as improbable as that sounds, the idea of them untethering the Avengers title from the MCU seems even more so. I plan to skip Armageddon because it just seems like it was planned when someone thought Harrison Ford as Red Hulk would be the breakout star of last summer, like Mark Ruffalo was. Gee, that did not happen. But much like McKay’s Kang storyline, things were already being drawn and paid for I guess. So here we go with a Red Hulk event. Could be wrong but never felt a lot of fan interest in Red Hulk. After seeing Avengers swallow Jason Aaron and Jed McKay, two writers I trust, I am more than a little worried about Zdarsky, a writer who lost all trust with his Batman run. The fact they are letting him do his own thing (apparently) and he will be untethered from the constraints of the MCU (kind of the opposite of what happened to McKay), gives me some small hope.
And huge points for changing Carol’s costume back and losing the jacket!
The new lineup seems to be based on the same notion that New Avengers was: that readers will want to read about their favorite characters in a different title. I’ve never been a fan of characters; that’s childish. I’m a fan of a writer’s stories. If I wanted to read stories about Wolverine, Spider-Man, et al., I’d already be buying stories about them.
If Zdarsky’s stories are worth buying, I suppose I’ll find out by reading online comments.
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