Marvel Just Brought Back The Defenders

The Defenders are back in action. Though the non-team has had many iterations over the years, the latest version of the group was just introduced by Marvel this week. In the debut issue of X-Men: Days of Future Past - Doomsday, the highly-anticipated prequel to the legendary comic run donning the same name, it's revealed in the alternate timeline the story takes place in, The Defenders are called in if the Avengers aren't available.

Given the Avengers don't care to help the government out in the timeline when it orders Sentinels to hunt down mutants, the feds are forced to form a superhero team of its own. In the latest iteration, John Walker dons the Captain America mantle as he's joined by Iron Monger, Nitro, Songbird, and Titania. As you might expect from a team with that line-up, the team acts more like the Thunderbolts rather than any other previous iteration. 

"Growing up, I never thought I'd get the chance to write the X-Men as many times as I have. I particularly never thought I'd be able to play around in the amazing timeline that Chris Claremont and John Byrne brought to life in Days of Future Past," Days of Future Past – Doomsday writer Marc Guggenheim said in a press release announcing the series. "I still have the most vivid memory of visiting the stationery store where I used to buy my comics and seeing Uncanny X-Men #141 on the rack. That iconic cover blew my nine year-old mind."

He continued, "My goal with this story is to fill in some missing gaps in the thirty-year period that Kate Pryde summarized in just four panels back in the day. Prior familiarity with the original story won't be required. The end result is an event that feels like the X-Men story to end all X-Men stories. At least, that's the bullseye we're aiming at!"

Editor Mark Basso added, "This future timeline has always been such fertile ground for stories, and for the first time we're getting the bigger picture only hinted at in various spin-offs over the years. There's some details fans have been waiting decades to understand the context of, as well as completely untold facets that bring will bring the Days of Future Past fully into focus for the first time."

The first issue of X-Men: Days of Future Past – Doomsday is now available while the second issue is set for release on August 16th.