Fans have become used to seeing Black Widow and Hawkeye fighting together on the Avengers, but they might not realize the two heroes originally started out as villains. They would later join Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and were even part of the original roster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While they aren't current members of the Avengers, a preview of the Marvel series introduces a tie-in to the A.X.E.: Judgment Day event, with Hawkeye being judged by a Black Widow stand-in before a Celestial passes overall judgment on the planet Earth.
Marvel Comics released a preview of Avengers #60 by Mark Russell, Greg Land, and Frank D' Armata. It finds Clint Barton / Hawkeye, who is the leader of Marvel's new Thunderbolts team, walking down the streets of New York City covered in blood. Hawkeye stops at a diner to change into regular civilian clothes, and when he exits the restroom he finds Black Widow sitting at a booth waiting for him. While this appears on the surface to be Black Widow, it's really the Celestial named Progenitor, who the Avengers and Eternals created in A.X.E.: Judgment Day. The heroes turned Avengers Mountain into a Celestial they could control to try and end the war between the X-Men and Eternals. While that was a success, they also unintentionally gave Progenitor a new mission statement: judging Earth.
Progenitor comes to judge Hawke in the form of Black Widow, since it's someone he respects and trusts. The latest issues of Judgment Day and its tie-ins have shown the Celestial doing this to various heroes and villains. Hawkeye doesn't immediately buy into the demonstration, but the preview of Avengers #60 ends with Progenitor threatening to reveal its true form.
Continue scrolling to see the Avengers #60 preview below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, September 21st.
AVENGERS #60
MARK RUSSELL (W) • GREG LAND (A)
Cover by JAVIER GARRÓN
BEYOND AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VARIANT
COVER BY NURI DURR
AN A.X.E. TIE-IN!
The Avengers' ace archer is back! As Judgment Day looms, Hawkeye is called upon to justify his existence. As a benchmark, Hawkeye must prove that he brings at least as much joy and usefulness to the world as a randomly chosen mailbox, which, admittedly, is a pretty high bar.
