Warning! Spoilers for Heroes Reborn #1 by Marvel Comics below.
Marvel Comics is imagining a world without the Avengers, as the Squadron Supreme has taken the mantle at the top heroes on Earth in a world where the iconic superteam never formed. But, what happened to the heroes if they never joined the Avengers? Heroes Reborn #1 provides some surprising answers to new backstories for a number of iconic characters.
Heroes Reborn introduces a brand new Marvel Universe which has somehow undergone significant changes. In the story, Blade is the only hero who remembers the original timeline and has to navigate through a world where everything he knows is significantly different. Most noticeably, the Avengers never assembled. Instead, the Squadron Supreme – Marvel’s pastiches of the Justice League which includes Hyperion (Superman), Power Princess (Wonder Woman), and Nighthawk (Batman) – are members of the most powerful superteam on Earth. So, what does that mean for the likes of Tony Stark, Carol Danvers, Steve Rogers, and the rest of the usual Avengers? Quite a lot of changes.
In Heroes Reborn #1 by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, Matthew Wilson, and Cory Petit, Blade encounters Robbie Reyes, who has never become the Ghost Rider, as the Spirit of Vengeance was thrown into the Negative Zone. The story shows the fate of the rest of the Avengers, as Tony Stark never took shrapnel to the heart and became Iron Man – instead of continuing to sell dangerous weapons. The same panel reveals Wakanda is considered a myth and has never been discovered, and Iron Fist never left Tibet.
The changes continue as Blade reveals Jennifer Walters never became She-Hulk and runs a successful law practice, while Bruce Banner was thrown into the Negative Zone after first Hulking out. As for Captain Marvel, she never became a captain in the Air Force after constant insubordination. Blade finds a statue of Captain America, who never was unfrozen from ice. Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch is a villain in the new universe, as the Silver Witch, absorbing the powers of her dead brother, Quicksilver. Blade tries to reach out to Thor, who’s become a hard-drinking Athiest that clams to know nothing of the Avengers.
Blade is in a tremendously difficult spot, as he’s left to find a way to restore the Marvel Universe to the way it once was – beginning with finding Captain America’s frozen body, which the vampire hunter will seemingly unthaw. It remains to be seen how he will turn the world back into the one he’s originally from. For now, the Avengers don’t exist its heroes have all taken significantly different paths. Heroes Reborn #1 is in stores now.
