Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Forever #1!
Marvel’s new Avengers Forever event is set to be an epic crossover Avengers adventure between universes, but the premiere first issue has a significant problem. Telling the tale of Tony Stark, the Ant-Man, Avengers Forever has plenty of references to past people, places and other significant Marvel events. Unfortunately, therein lies the critical major failure of the story.
In Avengers Forever, the brilliant inventor and thief Tony Stark assumes his role as the Ant-Man in Earth-818, a despondent world that has fallen apart. Part freedom fighter, part treasure hunter, Stark is hunted by War Machines, the “only law in the wasteland.” In a massive first adventure, Stark eventually finds Mjolnir, a Ghost Rider, a Deathlok and more – and travels to his secret base to meet the other Avengers of the world. They look quite different from the main 616 version of the Avengers, but they still plan to save the world.
The trouble comes with the sheer amount of references and cameos sprinkled throughout the issue. Very quickly, readers are introduced to “Venom Ants”, each with the face of a certain symbiote; they meet Shellhead, Stark’s personal flying robotic ant; they see Stark wield a gun with the face of a Celestial to fight off the Venom Ants. Stark name-drops Khonshu (the God of Moon Knight) and Pym Particles (though he calls them “Stark Particles” instead). The references tell the reader that people and places are shuffled around in a new universe…but must they always be the same people and places? The so-called new universe is simply made up of pieces of the old…and it’s not the first time.
In 2021’s Heroes Reborn event, Agent Coulson has struck a deal with Mephisto and reshaped the world into a twisted version of Earth: the Squadron Supreme have taken the places of the Avengers, and new villains are amalgamations of the old. Doctor Juggernaut is a fusion of Doctor Doom and the Juggernaut; the speedster Silver Witch is a combination of the Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver. The “new” universe is hardly new; even Thanos makes an appearance, with only the smallest of changes (he wields the Infinity Rings instead of the Infinity Stones).
The nonstop references are exciting for fans to witness, but this is simply and repurposing of old characters and powers. The idea of alternate universes is fascinating, but these universes almost always contain elements that well-read Marvel fans have seen before. Avengers Forever has only just begun, but much like Heroes Reborn, the Avengers event replaces spectacle for character interactions and new characters with old standbys.
