Justice, Like Lightning: Marvel Comics’ ‘New Thunderbolts’ Is Actually [SPOILER]
by Tony Thornley
In March, Marvel Comics announced New Thunderbolts*, a series featuring a group of anti-heroes, assassins and villains. As revealed this morning, there’s a very Thunderbolts-style twist to the series, tied directly to Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Similar to the reveal in the end credits scene of the film, the series is seeing an unprecedented title change. The series we thought was New Thunderbolts from Sam Humphries and Ton Lima is actually NEW AVENGERS.
On the title change, Humphries excitedly said, “Plot twist–it’s been NEW AVENGERS all along! I promised surprises, and this is the first of many. It’s a thrill and an honor to continue the grand New Avengers tradition of team dynamics that are as explosive as the threats. And this era has two combustible teams: the New Avengers and the Killuminati!”
I said at the time the title was announced “I don’t love Marvel’s shift to using the name for a Suicide Squad style black ops team. And one of my personal hallmarks for Thunderbolts as a concept is in a twist- the best incarnations have featured a massive twist like the original “these guys are actually the Masters of Evil!” of the first volume.” Normally a stunt like this would have me rolling my eyes, but in this case, I actually kind of dig it.
You can also see direct parallels to the original New Avengers cast from 2004’s hit series. Bucky is playing the Captain America role (and he also served on the team), while Clea, Laura Kinney and Eddie Brock/Carnage all are one-to-one to the most notable members of the team- Strange, Wolverine and Spider-Man- and if you squint a little Namor and Hulk both take Sentry’s powerhouse role.
From Marvel’s press release: THE WINTER SOLDIER. BLACK WIDOW. EDDIE BROCK, CARNAGE. THE HULK. NAMOR. CLEA. WOLVERINE. It’s a group of the most dangerous loners and antiheroes in the Marvel Universe, and yet they’ll come together as the New Avengers In classic Avengers fashion, they’ll assemble to take on a threat too big for any one hero to combat—corrupt clones of the Illuminati! And in the spirit of Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch decade-defining New Avengers run, this radical lineup will usher in a revolutionary new era of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!
Check out the covers for the debut issue from Stephen Segovia, Stephanie Hans, Mark Bagley and Whilce Portacio, newly revealed character variants by Derrick Chew, Ejikure and Woo-Chul Lee and the first of three Marvel Studios Variant Covers by Andy Park.
Watch for New Avengers in June from Marvel Comics.
