This is a chronological list of story arcs in the comic book series The New Avengers created by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch. Drawn by Finch, Leinil Francis Yu, Billy Tan, Stuart Immonen, Mike Deodato, and Howard Chaykin, The New Avengers presents the adventures of a new team of Avengers after the events of the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline.
Storylines The plot events are described, below, using in-universe tone.
Vol. 1
Breakout (Issues #1-6) Electro causes a mass supervillain break-out at the Raft, a supervillain prison, releasing supervillains from their cells. Forty-two escape, but the remaining criminals are contained thanks to the intervention of Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Jessica Drew, Spider-Man, and Matt Murdock. Concluding that fate has brought together this new team together, similar to the first Avengers team, Captain America convinces Iron Man to join a new team of Avengers, inviting the other four heroes to join, who were also present at the riot. Matt Murdock declines, unwilling to tarnish the reputation of the other heroes due to the disaster that his life has become, but the other three accept. Having contained Electro, the Avengers discover that S.H.I.E.L.D. is holding something back about the enigmatic man named Karl Lykos, who Electro was hired to specifically break out, while other prisoners simply took advantage of the chaos. Lykos's files were restricted even to Spider-Woman and Captain America. Their quest takes them into the Savage Land, where they are joined by Wolverine, and soon discover Lykos' alter-ego, Sauron. A rogue S.H.I.E.L.D unit were using the native people of the Savage Land to mine vibranium for super weapons. They are also nearly shot by the second Black Widow.
The Sentry (Issues #7-10) Captain America and Iron Man try to discover the origins of the Sentry, a man shrouded in mystery, who saved their lives many times during the outbreak on the Raft. He was a voluntary prisoner distraught for killing his wife, even though she appears to be alive and well.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, and Wolverine track down the Wrecker and, after a dangerous battle, they manage to subdue him. After it is revealed that he has been manipulated by his Void persona and the deceased Mastermind, Sentry's mental problems are cured, though he still cannot handle the stress of his arch-foe's manipulation. Emma Frost helps Sentry to unlock the mental blocks placed on his memories and powers, and he joins the new Avengers to regain his original heroic status, in spite of his memories being out from his grasp.
This story arc reveals the existence of the Illuminati, a covert association of six of the world's most influential super-heroes. The members include Iron Man, Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards, Atlantean monarch Namor, X-Men founder Charles Xavier, mystic arts master Doctor Strange, and Black Bolt, leader of the Inhumans.
Ronin (Issues #11-13) With Wolverine busy, the team requires a member with experience in confronting the Hand. Captain America asks Matt Murdock, who recommends Ronin, his former lover and enemy Maya Lopez (previously known as Echo). She joins the team on an expedition to Japan to seize the Silver Samurai. Ronin has not spent much time with the team since, having remained in Japan to monitor the Hand. Sentry still suffers from his own identity problems, giving him "good days and bad days".
Secrets & Lies (Issues #14-15) The terrorist organization Hydra believes that it has Spider-Woman under its complete control. Fortunately, she does the right thing in talking to Captain America. He is true to form in confronting Jessica about her duplicity, and she bravely endangers her life by telling her story.
The New Avengers reveal their existence to the world and receive a mixed reception. Ms. Marvel returns to be told that she is, and always will be, an Avenger, though she turns down Captain America's invitation She prefers to re-establish her own solo career as a superhero, following the "House of M", which showed her the full scale of the potential she possessed. The team then must face another foe, J. Jonah Jameson.
The Collective (Issues #16-20) In Alaska, Michael Pointer is hit by the Collective, a massive amount of energy from depowered mutants. He seemingly kills Alpha Flight as he approaches the United States. When the New Avengers arrive to stop him, Spider-Man and the Vision discover that the Collective has the power signatures of the powerless mutants.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. telepaths read Spider-Man's mind, and find what happened to reality during the House of M crisis. The Avengers arrive to free him just as he is being released from custody. Collective, meanwhile, arrives in Genosha, home to many depowered mutants, including Magneto. After learning of the Collective's location, the New Avengers invade Genosha to destroy the now-empowered Magneto. It is also learned that the entity was really Xorn, who was bent on liberating mutants and assumed Magneto's persona, knowing mutants would listen to him. In the aftermath of the fight, Magneto's body vanishes when the helicopter he is being transported in explodes, and Pointer is taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Annual #1 Yelena Belova, the Black Widow, is given the powers of the Super-Adaptoid, by agents of Hydra, for her to use against the Avengers. She ambushes an Avengers meeting just as Jessica Jones announces her agreement to Luke Cage's proposal – absorbing first the powers of the Sentry and then the rest of the Avengers, including Cage and Ms. Marvel. However, after Spider-Man realizes that she can only absorb the powers of one specific hero at once, she is defeated by Iron Man's use of automated versions of his suit and the Sentry's apparent command of the Void persona, to overwhelm her mind. This leads to her Hydra controllers then engaging a self-destruct device so she cannot be traced back to them.
Civil War: New Avengers: Disassembled (Issues #21-25)
After the Stamford, Connecticut incident, during which the reckless actions of the New Warriors resulted in Nitro killing over 600 civilians, Congress passes the Superhuman Registration Act, which requires all superhumans to register with the federal government. Many superheroes comply with this law, but others, led by Captain America, oppose the law on the grounds that it violates civil liberties. This causes a split in both the superhuman community and the New Avengers.
Luke Cage defiantly refuses to register, despite the last-minute pleas of Iron Man and Ms. Marvel. Moments after the Act goes into effect, a squadron of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Cape-Killers" attacks Cage in his home. He escapes and joins Captain America. The Sentry registers but does not choose a specific side, although he feels more compelled to join Iron Man than a rebelling Captain America. Iron Man, not trusting Spider-Woman's triple life, betrays her and informs S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill about her status. Jessica is forced to flee and later joins Cage and the others.
At first, Spider-Man is on the side of Registration, but later defects after the death of Goliath (Bill Foster) at the hands of Ragnarok.
Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch (Issue #26) Following the end of the "House of M", Hawkeye awakes, revived a second time. Finding Avengers Mansion abandoned and dilapidated, he seeks out Doctor Strange to find if his return from the dead was real. He asks what became of the world since the House of M and what became of the Scarlet Witch. Learning she has disappeared, Hawkeye decides to seek her out for what he calls "closure". In his travels, he helps a woman catch a purse thief and the woman is revealed to be Wanda Maximoff. After having fainted, he awakes in her care at her home. It is revealed that Wanda erased her old life, giving herself the peacefulness she now enjoys. Clint subsequently breaks down in front of Wanda, and the two share an intimate moment. Hawkeye awakens the next morning and, remembering Wanda's mention of her "Aunt Agatha" who was supposedly asleep in the next room, goes to investigate; but, as he touches the doorknob, his fingers are burnt.
The Revolution (Issues #27-31) The Hand uses magic to resurrect Maya Lopez, whose will is bent to serve Elektra. Following the Civil War, Jessica Drew reveals that Captain America was not dead,New Avengers #28 a fact Dr. Strange believes to be true after investigating in his astral form. The New Avengers, divided over whether it is a trap, conclude that they cannot risk leaving Captain America behind. In the end, it proves false, as the team is ambushed by the Mighty Avengers. They eventually escape, while the Mighty Avengers get to the Sanctum Sanctorum to find the New Avengers hidden with the help of Doctor Strange.
The next day, the Mighty Avengers decide to interrogate Danny Rand about Iron Fist's involvement in the attempt to rescue Captain America. Dakota North also brings a package from Matt Murdock. Inside is the Ronin outfit and a letter from Echo addressed to Matt, asking him to save Ronin and, if she is dead, to avenge her.New Avengers #29 The New Avengers then decide to accept Matt's request and help save Echo. After deciding that Doctor Strange is hiding the New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers enlist the help of Brother Voodoo see if they still reside at Strange's old home. Clint Barton returns to let Strange know he is okay. After some tension, Strange casts the Spell of Tartashi on them, to test for purity of intent, though this fails to detect Veranke, in Spider-Woman's guise. When they all are revealed to be pure, Clint agrees to join them as the new Ronin to Japan.New Avengers #30
The New Avengers arrive to rescue Maya, with Spider-Man carrying her to safety. Once the two are reunited with the group, Doctor Strange teleports them, and they seek out the Silver Samurai for refuge. Spider-Man's spider sense alerts them of Elektra accompanied by thousands of Hand Ninjas. Before a fight escalates, Luke Cage attempts to negotiate, but during the negotiations, Echo wakes up and wounds Dr. Strange with an enchanted sword.
Strange contacts his home telepathically for aid. While a nervous Jessica watches, Wong, Dr. Strange's servant, assists Strange in freeing himself. Strange then forcibly clears Echo's mind, who then kills Elektra. As the Hand retreats, Elektra's body transforms into that of a Skrull. Secure in Strange's home, Jessica Jones receives news her husband is alive. A close up shows her baby's eyes have an unnaturally green tint.
The Trust (Issues #32-37)
With the hero community divided, The Hood plans to form a supervillain community that relies on one another for help and with the identities of half of the hero community available, they realize that they can kill the heroes spirit, before actually killing the hero. They also decide to stop heroes from even attempting to harm them, and by threatening her mom, they get Tigra to cooperate.New Avengers #35 Spider-Woman suggests taking the Skrull to Iron Man, but Luke Cage, in particular, points out that Tony Stark is a prime candidate for being a Skrull, given his actions over the last few months. After the plane loses power,New Avengers #32Mighty Avengers #1-6 Spider-Woman takes the body to Tony Stark.