The Avengers’ matching costumes are making their official return as Marvel revives the team’s iconic 1990s look. Later this year, Captain America will assemble an exciting new Avengers squad in Avengers Assemble #1. The new line-up will feature a mixture of Avengers stalwarts and newcomers. As the new Avengers head into battle, they will sport awesome uniforms that are a callback to the 1990s.

As reported on Marvel’s website, Avengers Assemble #1, written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Cory Smith, will see Captain America create a new team called the Avengers Emergency Response Squad. Joining Cap on this new adventure are an eclectic mixture of heroes. Some, such as Photon, Wasp and Hercules, have long histories with the team. Others, such as Shang-Chi, are new to the team.

The book will ship with a regular cover by Leinil Francis Yu as well as a “Jacket” variant by Smith that features the team wearing brown jackets–just like they did in the 1990s.

Even the Avengers Went Extreme in the 1990s

The Early 1990s Were a Low Point in the Avengers’ History

The jackets the Avengers wore 30 years ago were very much a product of their times. The 1990s are often referred to as an “extreme” era of American superhero comics. Some of the genre’s worst excesses were on display during the early part of the decade. It was an era of morally gray characters who carried big guns and had big attitudes to match. Iconoclastic approaches to established characters were en vogue at the time as well. These various threads would converge in the Avengers’ stories of the 1990s.

The era in which the Avengers wore the jackets was one mired in controversy. One storyline, “The Crossing,” was a bloated mess culminating with the revelation that Tony Stark had been an agent of Kang the Conqueror for years. This move was unpopular with fans, but what happened next is even wilder: a teenage Tony Stark was brought forward in time to take the adult Tony’s place. The story was panned, and is largely forgotten today. The brown jackets were also introduced at this time, and became synonymous with that era, for better or for worse.

Avengers Assemble Can Make the Jackets Cool Again

The Jackets Could Help Captain America Unite the Team

Now, however, Marvel has a golden opportunity to redeem this low point in Avengers’ history with the new Avengers Assemble. While the jackets are only appearing on Smith’s variant cover for now, they could still be featured in the story. Captain America’s new team is ragtag and needs to be molded into a more cohesive unit, and matching jackets could be one way to accomplish this. Not only are the jackets functional, but stylish as well, and could help foster a sense of teamwork among the Avengers.

Source: Marvel

Avengers Assemble #1 is on sale September 11 from Marvel Comics!