Five Developments from AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS #4 - Inversion
Things are changing in the Marvel Universe. We've already seen Sam Wilson take over as Captain America and Thor has become unworthy (and someone else will be taking possession of Mjolnir). When Red Skull, with the power of Onslaught, gained the upper hand against the Avengers, Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom attempted to use magic to stop him. As a result, the Inversion has affected villains and apparently heroes as well.
With AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS out last week and the next issue out this week, we decided to take a look at some of the big happenings in issue 4. There will obviously be spoilers below.
New Captain America Doesn't Answer to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Even though we haven't seen the first official issue of ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA with Sam Wilson as Captain America, Sam has been in action already. After the capture of Red Onslaught, Director Maria Hill and Nick Fury Jr decided they wanted to take possession of the Red Skull.
Things heated up pretty quickly between Nick Fury Jr and Sam when he made the point that he doesn't work for S.H.I.E.L.D.
What is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current status these days? Did Sam just punch a government agent? Is this going to make things awkward between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers? We've been seeing how bad things are between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the X-Men in the pages of UNCANNY X-MEN. This doesn't seem like typical behavior for Sam and it's not really the sort of thing "Captain America" should do. This is going to lead to other problems.
Spider-Man is Aware Carnage is a "Hero"
I'll admit, this isn't the biggest development in the issue. If you read AXIS: CARNAGE, there was the question on our minds as to what Spider-Man would think? Spidey's often had a tough time being accepted as a hero since J. Jonah Jameson publicly labeled him a menace.
Imagine what was going on in Spider-Man's mind when he heard there was a hostage situation and Carnage was also on the scene. Will Carnage always be a hero now? Will Spider-Man get caught off guard at some point? His only thoughts now are whether or not this is a case of copyright infringement.
Iron Man is Ready to Change the World and Become SUPERIOR
Iron Man is also getting a new series this week. We often wonder how come the geniuses in comics don't use their intellect to try to better mankind? That is what Tony Stark is now going to do. He is going to release an Extremis App. What's crazy is during his speech, Tony claimed the app could turn people into their ideal self with no imperfections or worries about aging. Is it just me or does that sound like it might lead to some problems? Nothing is ever as good as something like this seems. And in a move similar to a certain band, the app is already on everyone's smart phones. Matt Murdock happened to be here as well. You can count on some conflict between them soon.
If this wasn't enough, something else also happened.
With just five words, things elevated to a new level of creepiness. This is not going to be good for Tony.
The X-Men Are Ready for War
We all know being a mutant pretty much sucks in the Marvel Universe. They've been persecuted, hunted, used, and abused. The Red Skull desecrated Charles Xavier's grave and body in order to take his brain to give him telepathy. Seeing Sentinels designed by Tony Stark, even if he didn't mean to unleash them or really have them built, was yet another strike against humans. The X-Men have had enough. They've decided to stop fighting against other mutants while humans pick them off. They are now ready to follow one rule...the rule of Survival of the Fittest.
Perhaps it's a good thing Professor X isn't alive to see it come to this.
The Avengers are Ready to Kill?
Despite their name, the Avengers don't really do a lot of avenging (I actually went into this a couple years ago HERE). Now it seems they're ready to permanently end a person in order to ensure no one else is harmed. Sam did mention that a "fog was lifted." Sounds like there's more than just a fog being lifted. This clearly isn't normal behavior.
As they made their way to kill the Red Skull, it was Jarvis and Hulk that tried to stop them. When they shoved Jarvis aside and then Hulk, this made him sad. It turned out Hulk had a Hulk inside him. Unleashing it means things are going to get even worse.
The Avengers were all set to kill and now this other Hulk, calling itself Kluh, is ready to kill innocents. Guess it's time to move out of the Marvel Universe.
As you can see, there's quite a bit going on in AXIS. This story arc is seeping into several corners of the Marvel Universe. We'll have to see how it all plays out in the characters' individual issues.
AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS #5 is out this week. You can check out the preview HERE.
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