Warning! Spoilers for Defenders: Beyond #1 by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is introducing a brand new Defenders team which will be tasked with taking on one of the most powerful villains in the universe, the Beyonder. On Thursday, Marvel revealed Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez would be teaming up again for a new Defenders: Beyond miniseries with an all-new team that will be dealing with a threat greater than most. However, the new Defenders have some serious firepower of their own.
Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez are fresh from completing their Defenders series for Marvel Comics, which saw Doctor Strange assemble heroes from across the universe (and timelines) to stop the villainous Carlos Zota. The critically acclaimed miniseries took the heroes through the different Cosmos in the creation of the Marvel Universe – including introducing the archetypes of the heroes and villains that would come in later iterations of the universe, as well as watching the battle of creation itself.
Defenders: Beyond #1 by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez will begin with the recently deceased Doctor Strange sending a warning from beyond the grave, forcing a new Defenders team to form. The team consists of Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Tigra, Taaia, and Loki. Ewing has familiarity with the characters, as he wrote both America Chavez and Blue Marvel in his Ultimates series. Loki, meanwhile, will be the version who appeared in his Loki: Agents of Asgard series. Taiaa, of course, debuted in the previous installment of Ewing and Rodriguez’s Defenders comics. Previous teases hinted the Defenders will face off against the Beyonder, the villain who led Marvel’s Secret Wars. Check out the wraparound cover for Defenders: Beyond #1 by Rodriguez, which features some of the original and new Defenders.
Like the previous Defenders series, the new team will go beyond the limits of space and time and confront some of the biggest questions the Marvel Universe has to offer. Defenders: Beyond will feature the debut of new characters, “shocking destinies” for the team, and uncover secrets of what lies at the foundation of the universe. For readers who enjoyed Ewing and Rodriguez unraveling the Marvel Universe and its history, the new miniseries looks to continue the epic scale of their first Defenders book. It’s safe to assume the Beyonder’s role in the universe will be further explored, as previous teases of the series hint the cosmic villain will be the main antagonist of the comic.
The epic journey featuring the new Defenders team and the Beyonder begins when Defenders: Beyond #1 by Marvel Comics arrives in comic book stores on June 16, 2022.
