Few Marvel events are as popular and divisive as 2012’s Avengers vs. X-Men, and that’s part of why so many Marvel fans were buzzing about bringing back that premise for another round. Earlier this year Marvel started teasing that we would be getting a new Avengers vs X-Men confrontation, and it would be kicking off in The Avengers #21. Even the final preview of the issue featured what appeared to be a confrontation between Captain Marvel and Cyclops, but those who read today’s issue know that was very much not the case, and it would seem that Avengers vs. X-Men 2 fooled us all.
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In the preview, fans saw Captain Marvel and Cyclops getting in each other’s faces before an impending throwdown, and that page is indeed included in the actual issue. As the introduction plays out, we see The Avengers approach the X-Men’s new Alaskan base The Factory, and Captain Marvel calls out Cyclops and yells “no more hiding!”
Cyclops responds by walking out and saying “Here I am, and the time in my life for hiding…is over.” Cyclops then says “You want us? We’re right here Avengers”, to which Carol responds, “Please. You can’t win this one, X-Men”. That’s the page seen in the preview that shows them about to come to blows, but the very next page is where things veer off the expected path. They both start to laugh and then they hug, revealing that they are facing each other in a baseball game before having a dinner made by Glob.
We then proceed to see the game play out and all of the characters interact over an impressive dinner from Glob. It’s all incredibly delightful, but far from the Avengers vs X-Men 2 that many expected after all the teases. That’s not to say there aren’t conflicts during the festivities, as Vision and Kid Omega have one rather tense exchange, and Carol and Scott have their own tense moments throughout their lengthy conversation.
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Despite all that though, there’s never a punch thrown or any sort of fallout between the two teams. In fact, they appear to finally be on the same page, with Carol and Scott pulling the teams together into a pact to have each other’s back’s moving forward. Carol and Scott still have their secrets, and not everyone gets along, but this is the closest the two teams have been in quite some time.
Avengers vs X-Men 2 fooled us all, and while something may happen down the line to make these two teams clash, it’s not happening now, and may not happy anytime soon, which may disappoint (or elate) those who were expecting an epic confrontation.
The original event (commonly referred to as AvX) took place in 2012 and revolved around the return of the Phoenix force. Hope Summers looks to be the next host of all powerful entity, and The Avengers show up on the X-Men’s doorstep to take Hope into protective custody. The X-Men aren’t about to release one of their own into Avengers custody, and the two teams go to battle.
That conflict (and a solution gone awry) leads to the creation of the Phoenix Five, as the Phoenix force is split between five other X-Men, and this new team ends up capturing a host of Avengers before splintering in later battles. Cyclops ultimately takes the entirety of the phoenix force later on and battles the Avengers, the X-Men, and Nova. Hope and Scarlet Witch are finally able to not only defeat Summers in his powered-up state, but also repair the harm to the planet caused by the battle and destroy the Phoenix Force, and the resulting wave of energy would also create millions of new mutants.
As for this round, well, it’s not happening, at least not yet. Who knows what the future holds, but as of now things are all good between the Avengers and the X-Men.
What did you think of the issue? You can talk all things comics and Marvel with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!
