The Avengers: Age of Ultron will be introducing moviegoers to new superheroes later this year when Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision are thrown into the mix. However, the highly anticipated blockbuster won’t be the only Marvel project that will see big changes with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Earlier today, Marvel posted a mysterious message on their Facebook page hinting at a lineup change for the Avengers later this year.
“All-New, All Different”…quite the enigmatic tagline. What exactly this means is unclear, although at the minimum comic readers can expect a new lineup of heroes for the team in May. Since their creation in 1962, the Avengers lineup has been constantly changing. Old members leave, new members are recruited, some people come back to the team, it’s a recurring cycle. Considering that May is also when The Avengers: Age of Ultron is coming out, it’s not surprising that Marvel wants to line up their team shift-up with the film’s release. It’s all about that synergy between the different platforms.
Although Marvel often likes to spotlight characters that are being featured in their movies and TV shows, the “All-Different” part of the teaser suggests that the new team of Avengers won’t necessarily look like the one in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The team shift is occurring soon after one chapter of the Avengers comes to a close. Earlier this week, Marvel announced that their Avengers and New Avengers books would print their last issues in April as their writer Jonathan Hickman is penning the 8-issue event Secret Wars, which will see a variety of Marvel heroes and villains fighting on Battleworld, a planet comprised of different locations from Marvel’s multiverse.
Marvel is notorious for renumbering their books after certain storylines have been wrapped up, so even though Hickman’s run on the Avengers books is ending, it was unlikely the company wasn’t going to replace them with new Avengers adventures. This lineup change is reminiscent of the series Uncanny Avengers, which was one of the many books introduced during the Marvel NOW relaunch. While Avengers mainstays like Captain America and Thor remained part of the team, mutants like Havok and Rogue, who are typically X-Men members, were also recruited. If we’re taking this announcement at its word, than the May lineup could be much more dramatically different. This new team could include other X-Men, Inhumans, a few villains looking for redemption or even alternate versions of superheroes. The possibilities are numerous!
So Avengers fans, if the more recent iterations of the team haven’t been to your liking, head to your nearest comic book shop in May, and prepare yourself for the unexpected.
