Marvel Reveals New Avengers Team

Marvel Comics has revealed the new creative team and hero roster for the upcoming relaunch of Avengers.

Avengers #1 comes from writer Jason Aaron and artist Ed Guinness. The series will reunite the three core Avengers of Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man. They'll be joined by returning Avengers She-Hulk, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange as well as newcomer Ghost Rider. IGN's story notes that Doctor Strange will only be on the team for a limited time as his spot is a "rotating slot."

Avengers will be the only Avengers title in Marvel's "Fresh Start" lineup. Avengers will ship 18 issues a year, replacing the multiple-series franchise of titles that included books like New Avengers, Secret Avengers, and Uncanny Avengers in the past.

Avengers #1 reflects this status quo within the universe. After the events of Avengers: No Surrender, the three Avengers teams that joined forces in that consolidated single series are pared down to the point that there are practically no Avengers left. This leaves a vacuum for this new Avengers team form.

The series will have a similar format to Aaron's Thor: God of Thunder series, shifting back and forth between present day events with the current Avengers team and the story of the prehistoric Avengers of 10,000 BC. That team was introduced by Aaron in the Marvel Legacy one-shot and included the first Black Panther, Ghost Rider, Odin, the Phoenix, Starbrand, Iron Fist, and Agamotto. The threat introduced in the Marvel Legacy one-shot, the enormous Dark Celestials, will tie the two stories together.

"We wanted to get back to a small, core lineup. With big, iconic characters at the heart of that," Aaron sfays. "So we get Steve, Tony, and Thor Odinson back together at the heart of this new team, and the rest of the team we build around them over the course of the first arc. My aim with this series is basically, if you only read one Marvel comic -- not that you should read just one Marvel comic, but if you did -- if you picked this book up, this would show you the landscape of the Marvel universe issue after issue. We want to feature the biggest characters and go to the coolest, most exotic locations around the Marvel U."

Avengers #1 launches in May.