Marvel Comics may be nicknamed the "House of Ideas," but there is also a literal place in the Marvel Universe that also uses the name. Loki and his band of Defenders are paying the House of Ideas a visit in the finale of Defenders: Beyond. The five-issue limited series reunites writer Al Ewing and artist Javier Rodríguez, who previously collaborated on last year's Defenders: There Are No Rules. This ragtag team of Defenders features Loki, Blue Marvel, Tigra, America Chavez, and Taaia, who is Galactus' mother. They've traveled through the different cosmos in the Marvel Universe and encountered Beyonders and even the Phoenix, but what secrets does the House of Ideas hold?
ComicBook.com has an exclusive preview of Defenders: Beyond #5 by Al Ewing, Javier Rodríguez, and VC's Joe Caramagna. It starts with two different versions of Loki gazing at each other through. They each come from a different Cosmos in the Marvel Universe, and the Loki from the Eighth Cosmos is trying to get a look into the recent past. Loki, Blue Marvel, Taaia, America Chavez, and Tigra then walk up a winding staircase to the front door of the House of Ideas, which has a "Closed" sign on it. Blue Marvel opens the door anyway, where they meet The One Above All.
Marvel's New Defenders Series
There have been many different Defenders teams throughout Marvel's history. The first iteration featured Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and the Silver Surfer. Since then, we've seen an all-female team in The Fearless Defenders, as well as a street-level team consisting of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones.
"It's great to be co-storytelling with Javier again on another DEFENDERS book – he's more than an artist, he's the other half of the equation," Al Ewing said when Defenders: Beyond was announced. "There's no DEFENDERS without him. And of course, we had to go even bigger – so in this book, we're going on a magical journey into the Mystery itself, mapping the Marvel Godhead and bringing back knowledge that ties into what has gone before, some seismic things to come... and if we're lucky, maybe a little off-the-page magic to feed your hungry head. We've got an eclectic new crew of Defenders chosen for the task by the final spell of Stephen Strange – I'm saying what's probably a final goodbye to a lot of stuff from the past ten years with this one, and for at least one character, this will be the last adventure. Hope you survive the psychedelic experience, pilgrim!"
"Al Ewing is like a wizard that opens doors to the greatest 'larger than life' stories you could imagine," Rodríguez said. "He could take you through the most cosmic and spectacular passages of the Marvel Universe. And at the same time, he cares about each of the characters on the team, their lives, their particular problems so that you worry about them. And I have a lot of fun translating that to images. Those are the reasons that I'm so happy to get back to THE DEFENDERS."
The exclusive preview of Defenders: Beyond #5 is below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, November 23rd.
