Uncanny Avengers is an American comic book series first appearing in the October 2012 debut of Marvel NOW!, published by Marvel Comics. The series follows an interconnected fictional superhero team, featuring members from the Marvel Universe (specifically the Avengers and X-Men). The team is united by Captain America upon the conclusion of Avengers vs. X-Men. Uncanny Avengers is also known as Avengers Unity Squad.
Publication history
Marvel Comics announced Uncanny Avengers by the creative team of Rick Remender and John Cassaday in August 2012. Uncanny Avengers follows a new team of Avengers formed in response to the events of Avengers vs. X-Men. The team features a line-up of both classic Avengers and X-Men including Captain America (Steve Rogers), Havok, Rogue, the Scarlet Witch, Thor, and Wolverine.
Rick Remender said, "There's something that Cyclops said to [Captain America] on Utopia that's ringing in his head. He didn't do enough to help. And Steve (Captain America) is taking that to heart. Coming out of AvX with the landscape shifted and changed as much as it is, there are events that lead Steve to recognizing that he needs to do more".
In October 2014, the second volume of Uncanny Avengers was announced to start in January 2015 with art by Daniel Acuña and written by Rick Remender. This volume ended due to cancellation after Issue #5 in May 2015. The roster for the second volume included Captain America (Sam Wilson), Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Quicksilver, Vision, Sabretooth, and Doctor Voodoo.
The third volume began in October 2015, and was written by Gerry Duggan with art by Ryan Stegman. It ended with Issue 30, which was released in December 2017.Avengers #30 Review: A Sweet if Unexciting Finale -Bleeding Cool
A new iteration of the series was announced in 2023 and debuted on August 16, 2023. The roster features former members Captain America (Steve Rogers), Quicksilver and Rogue alongside Psylocke, Penance, and Deadpool.
Fictional team history
Volume 1
The Red Shadow Wolverine gives a eulogy at the funeral of Professor X at the Jean Grey School, while Havok visits Cyclops in prison to discuss Cyclops' actions as the Phoenix. Afterward, Captain America and Thor meet with Havok, where Captain America offers him the chance to lead a new Avengers team. While paying her respects to Professor X at his grave, Scarlet Witch is confronted by Rogue about her role in everything that has happened to the X-Men and the mutant race. While arguing, they are attacked by Red Skull's S-Men, who defeat them both and steal Professor X's body. In his lair, the Red Skull is seen removing Professor X's brain for his own use.
While looking for survivors after Avalanche's attack, Wolverine questions Captain America's choice of having Havok lead the team and Thor vows to resolve the mutant conflict. Rogue escapes after being captured by the S-Men and Scarlet Witch is tempted by Red Skull to repeat the events of House of M. Rogue attacks the Scarlet Witch and they fight until they both discover the lobotomized body of Professor X. Red Skull arrives and reveals that he has assimilated Professor X's brain. Red Skull also reveals that he is a clone of the original Red Skull who was created in 1942 and held in cryogenic stasis in the event that Germany lost World War II.
Using Professor X's telepathy, Red Skull provokes ordinary citizens of New York into joining the S-Men in a mass assault against mutants. However, Red Skull is unable to completely control Captain America, and an attack against him disrupts his powers long enough for Rogue and Scarlet Witch to break free.
Scarlet Witch removes Thor from the battle, allowing Havok and Rogue to help Captain America overpower Red Skull. At Avengers Mansion, Captain America and Havok look at leads to find the S-Men and Havok expresses doubts over his own leadership.
The team makes their debut as the Avengers Unity Squad (which also contains Sunfire, Wasp, and Wonder Man as the team's latest recruits) during a press conference, which is crashed by a resurrected Grim Reaper. During the fight, Rogue absorbs some of Wonder Man's powers and seemingly kills Grim Reaper.
Apocalypse Twins In 1013 AD at a Scandinavian inn, Thor is in a bar fight when he is attacked by Apocalypse, who acts to safeguard the future due to information given him by Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Thor finds that Apocalypse is wearing Celestial-built armor that can withstand the powers of a god. Thor returns to Asgard and demands an audience with his father Odin, but when Odin asks him to take the high road, Thor turns to Loki for help. Loki leads him to a hidden scroll in Odin's library which could bless a weapon to pierce Celestial armor, only for "Loki" to be revealed as Kang the Conqueror. Thor returns to London and kills the Horsemen of Apocalypse. He then breaks into Apocalypse's craft and manages to cut his armor open with his axe Jarnbjorn, but Apocalypse escapes. Odin warns that one day this act will cause great calamity. In the present day, Kang appears at the final resting place of Baron Mordo in Brazil, and takes Jarnbjorn.
Havok clears Rogue's name with S.H.I.E.L.D. for killing Grim Reaper and has her start an investigation into Magneto. While Wasp shows Havok her clothing line to promote mutants, a Celestial ship controlled by the Apocalypse Twins crashes into S.W.O.R.D.'s Peak base with Captain America and Sunfire aboard in response to the Twins killing a Celestial using Jarnbjorn. Thor and Sunfire travel throughout space to the Apocalypse Twins ship, and are teleported away upon entering. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the team, travel in the Quinbird, on a search for the twins. In South Sudan, Captain America exits his pod and is attacked by local soldiers. He travels to a demolished church for shelter and finds a message from Immortus.
The team eventually learns of Logan's murder of Daken and or Thor's impetuous behavior in creating the celestially powered Jarnbjorn. The team splits up, which is what the Twins wanted, just before introducing the new four horsemen of Apocalypse: Grim Reaper, Banshee, Daken, and Sentry. Banshee subdues Havok and kidnaps Scarlet Witch, Reaper kidnaps his brother, Wonder Man, and Sentry subdues Thor, while Daken imprisons Wolverine. The Twins convince Scarlet Witch that only she can save the mutant race from extinction, by creating a hex spell large enough to teleport them to their own universe, and allow Earth to be taken over by Red Skull/Onslaught.
Ragnarok Now The divided Avengers Unity Squad reunite to stop the Apocalypse Twins. Scarlet Witch convinces Wonder Man to act as a power cell to cast a spell to bring all the mutants on Earth to an Ark, but she planned to double-cross the twins. Unbeknownst to Rogue, she decides the only way to stop Wanda is by eliminating her, so she steals Logan's claw power and stabs her. Grim Reaper then stabs Rogue in the back. Right before Wanda dies, Wonder Man sacrifices himself to channel Wanda's final spell, a treachery foreseen by Eimin, who entraps the entire mutant population. Exiter, the Celestial executioner, comes to destroy Earth. Stark and all Earth's heroes feebly try to stop the advance. Thor and Captain America divide the twins, but Rogers is killed by Reaper and Exiter destroys Earth. Thor returns to Asgard and Odin chastises him that it was Thor's fault for creating Jarnbjorn and mankind was doomed.
Avenge the Earth The story starts in an alternate future where all the world's mutants are living on Planet X following the destruction of Earth by the Celestials. While most of the mutant population has accepted the new status quo—believing that the Scarlet Witch died willingly to save them, while the Avengers tried to stop the inevitable—the remaining free Avengers (Havok, Thor and Wasp, aided by Beast) must work with Kang and his Chrono-Corp to defeat Eimen. Having rescued Wolverine and Sunfire from being tortured on the Apocalypse Ark, the Avengers use Kang's technology to project their minds back into their past selves and stop the Celestials before they can strike.
The timeline is successfully altered by the Avengers, when Rogue, empowered by numerous heroes, and Sentry slow Exitar's descent long enough for Thor to kill Exitar. Kang retreats as Immortus appears with his Chrono-Corps, but Sunfire is converted to an energy-based form when his body is destroyed, Simon's essence is trapped within Rogue, Havok is left badly burned, and Havok and Wasp are left devastated by the apparent loss of their daughter (conceived in the future and taken by Kang to protect her from the change in the timeline).
Uncanny Avengers Annual A one-issue story following the introduction of the Avengers of the Supernatural, including Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Blade, Satana and Manphibian. The Avengers of the Supernatural are chosen by Mojo for his newest reality show. Under mind-control, they abduct the Avengers Unity Squad from the Avengers Mansion, and once in Mojoworld, both teams are made to take part in a reality show called "Martian Transylvania Super Hero Mutant Monster Hunter High School". In the show, the mutants of the Unity Squad are goth outcasts, the rest are football stars and cheerleaders, and the Avengers of the Supernatural are the geeks of the High School. As part of the show, the Scarlet Witch tells Johnny Blaze she is pregnant, but the Spirit of Vengeance believes it really has an offspring. As Blaze is possessed by the spirit, he goes "too far out of character", and Mojo's influence over the other heroes is broken. Ghost Rider then starts rampaging through Mojoworld looking for sinner souls to punish, until Mojo convinces the Avengers to save Mojoworld, as there were numerous innocent lives. Both Avengers teams fight Ghost Rider in order to distract him, and let Satana pry the Spirit of Vengeance from Blaze and temper it. Satana fails, but Rogue manages to sneak up on Ghost Rider and absorb his powers. She becomes the new Ghost Rider and tempers the Spirit of Vengeance, but as it begins taking control of her, Blaze reabsorbs the spirit into him, becoming the Ghost Rider once more. Having controlled the Spirit of Vengeance and saved Mojoworld, the Avengers of the Supernatural and the Unity Squad return to their universes.
AXIS During the AXIS storyline, Red Skull's S-Men abduct Havok, Rogue, and Scarlet Witch. They manage to break free thanks to Rogue's new powers from Wonder Man and rescue Magneto. When the group is confronted by the S-Men, Magneto uses his abilities to kill the S-Men and then kill Red Skull which causes him to unleash the Red Onslaught. Magneto, Havok, Rogue, and Scarlet Witch confront Red Onslaught and are joined by the Avengers, the X-Men, and the allies of both teams. Red Onslaught then unleashes the Stark Sentinels on them. After Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom cast an inversion spell, Red Onslaught is inverted alongside the personalities of those present. As everyone is deciding what to do with Red Skull, Havok quits the Avengers Unity Squad and rejoins the X-Men. Following the reinversion spell being cast, the Avengers Unity Squad is rebuilt with Doctor Voodoo as its latest member.
Volume 2
Trip to Counter-Earth