Captain Marvel Leads a New Team of Avengers That Includes Deadpool and Venom

Captain Marvel is now commanding a new team of Avengers, a strikeforce dubbed the “War Avengers,” a mostly military-themed group tasked with heading into the frontlines as a war for Earth wages on.

Thor enemy and Dark Elf king Malekith has brought the War of the Realms to Midgard, the last realm standing against Malekith’s invasion. One team, led by Lady Freyja, marches on Svartalfheim to shut down Malekith’s Black Bifrost, used to summon more dark forces, and another, led by Captain America, is off rescuing Thor from Jotunheim.

In War of the Realms: Strikeforce: The War Avengers #1, Carol Danvers commands her mighty team: Asgardian Lady Sif, Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Captain Britain, Weapon H, Venom, and Deadpool.

When fending off lava-fueled monsters, Deadpool is swallowed whole by a fire-breathing shark. He’s retrieved by Namor the Sub-Mariner, king of the seas, who is angered the mouthy Deadpool brought Thor’s “asinine war” to the kingdom of Atlantis.

Captain Marvel and Sif arrive and propose a temporary truce. Marvel argues megalomaniacal fairy-tale creatures ruling the surface world would be inconvenient for the sea dweller, but Namor quips, “I’ve gotten rather used to it.”

At a stalemate, Marvel tells Namor to fend for himself. She tells Deadpool Captain America has entrusted her with protecting the people of Earth, an all hands on deck mission that explains the presence of Weapon H and the “creepy tentacle tongue ’90s” Venom, says Deadpool, who catches on to the group’s “military theme.”

“This is war, Wade. Not some super hero battle,” Marvel says. “Ours isn’t the team that’s going to win this. Not from here. But a soldier’s job isn’t always about winning. Sometimes it’s about losing slowly. Holding the line.”

Then, staring at a monitor revealing Winter Soldier and Black Widow on a mission, Marvel says, “Or standing in the way of an enemy’s spear so that the soldiers behind you can break through.”

At the Stane International Weapons Facility in Arizona’s Sonoran desert, the espionage experts are in the middle of stealing a military aircraft. They’re under attack by Frost Giants and narrowly escape with the stolen plane, soon rescued by Captain Marvel and Sif, who pilots a Quinjet. The jet unleashes Weapon H and Venom, who enjoy tearing apart the blue-skinned monsters.

Later, in Stockholm, Sweden, Deadpool and Black Widow fend off Dark Elves while piloting suits of robotic armor while Winter Soldier covers the ground. Captain Marvel and Sif join the fray, but the team is overwhelmed by the Dark Elf horde. It’s all part of the mission, Marvel says: “We came to take a look. To get the measure of them. Mission accomplished.”

As the Dark Elves cry “kill the Avengers,” Marvel summons Captain Britain, who conjures a portal and teleports the War Avengers to the serene safety of Braddock Academy, the proving ground of kings and wizards alike.

Captain Britain is adamant he won’t endanger his school or its students by involving them in a deadly war. Marvel wants to take the fight to the Dark Elves and win the war, but she’s aware they lack the manpower to take out even one of Malekith’s armies, let alone all of them.

When Britain reveals the Black Knight and his team have engaged Malekith in London, Marvel considers a surgical strike. “Cut off the head of the king and… good God. Maybe we can end this.”

In London, the Black Knight, Spitfire, and Union Jack enjoy a pint after defeating a wave of Malekith’s forces. The three warriors stand ready when Malekith arrives, promising the fall of Britain, while Marvel rallies the en route War Avengers.

“He dropped our world to its knees with the most powerful invading army any of us have ever seen,” Marvel says. “But there’s a reason he came to Earth last. That reason is us. It won’t be easy. It won’t be clean. But we can end this war today. We can knock this evil elf off his shelf. And remind all the freaks who followed him — that Earth’s mightiest heroes ain’t nothing to @#$% with.”

The War Avengers land in London to find Malekith stood over the defeated Black Knight, in possession of the Knight’s Ebony Blade. Venom ambushes Malekith, but is seemingly obliterated in a fiery blast. Malekith and Venom are gone.

Back at their base on Avengers Mountain, Captain Marvel is furious, but quickly gains her second wind. Resolved to stand and fight, Marvel cries for the War Avengers to assemble as they fly back into another battle of the seemingly endless war to continue in War of the Realms #5.