**********************SPOILERS*************************

Marvel recently unveiled the new line-up of the New Avengers Post-Civil War.

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/newaven..._solicit_lo.jpg

From www.newsarama.com

Here's an interview with New Avengers writer Brian Michael Bendis

So now the eight member of Brian Bendis and Leinil Yu’s New Avengers as of next month’s issue #27 are all confirmed. But the make-up of the roster raises as many questions as they answered – like where is that certain very famous Avengers apparently absent? If he’s not around, why are they all still together? Where does a group like this get together? And Mr. Bendis, have you been reading the ‘net’s reaction to your roster and the theories that have sprung up?

We ask Bendis all those questions in this special epilogue Q&A edition of “Meet the [new] New Avengers, and because the writer likes Newsarama readers so much, he reveals a series surprise just for you

Newsarama: So Brian, the one thing that immediately strikes you now that we’re through revealing characters is no (at least ‘outright’), so I guess the easiest question is – where is he?

Brian Bendis: Well, that will be a question answered in the pages of Captain America, and in this book. But this is Cap’s team. Cap said these people are the Avengers so that is why they are Avengers. And what that means and how that motivates the team is a big, big, big, big part of why the series exists after Civil War. These people are together for a reason and just because the person who put them together isn’t physically there doesn’t mean that reason doesn’t matter… or matter more…

NRAMA: So we were going to ask what’s the glue that hold this team together, so we guess it’s pretty much the same answer then..?

BB: There is a line in New Avengers #27 where someone asks “What makes us Avengers?” and I think Luke says, “Captain America said we’re Avengers”…

Yeah, that says it all.

NRAMA: We spoke about the possible identity of the new Ronin before the ‘net reacted to the news of course, but now that it’s been out there better than a week, popular theory holds that given the clues about a death of a prominent character (the Fallen Son: Wolverine solicitation) and the guilt-ridden, mourning Peter Parker, that a thought-dead Captain America, or Steve Rogers, is the likely identity of the new Ronin.

Any thoughts on that?

BB: I’m enjoying the reaction, the guesswork, and the theories so much. It’s so much fun. The good news is with the Civil War delay is I am so far ahead on this book that I can promise you all will be revealed. I will say that Ronin's reveal is relatively soon. I'm not going to drag it out. Even I have my limits.

NRAMA: Your description of Mighty Avengers has been a big action book with the Avengers fighting classic villains, and we now all know Ultron returns as a “female”, for instance. Your description of the New Avengers to us over the last week has been exploring the conspiracy angle and continuing the through line of that mystery…

BB: The conspiracy will be revealed this year, in this first story arc coming up. People have waited long enough. This isn’t the X-Files where we say it’s coming but it’s not coming because we don't have it. We're not just jerking people around and getting them angered. No, this story is a story with an end with a shocking reveal after shocking reveal and we’re ready to build towards it for a few months right after Civil War because there’s a lot that needs to be addressed. The characters dive right back into that main story, some of them not even realizing they’re diving right back into the story, but what they (and readers) want to know, they will find out, and it will set up an entire new agenda for the book about who they are fighting, why they’re fighting, and what the people they’re fighting against want.

But it’s a doozy… it’s a big one…

Oh and there is another thing that’s a big part of the book moving forward…maybe I should reveal it here…

NRAMA: Please…

BB: Okay, but SPOILERS ahead. If you don't want to know, stop reading.

As I’ve said in other interviews – I’ve mentioned that one of things that will fallout post-Civil War for the New Avengers is one of the criminals of the Marvel Universe – one of the costumed bad guys – will have an opportunity to rise up, and not replace Wilson Fisk as the Kingpin, because that’s over with … but to rise up to the level of the Kingpin, and not for the New York City criminals, but for the all Marvel supervillains.

As some readers know I’m completely in love with organized crime stories … the motivations and inner workings of organized crime. And after every major war in this country, it’s been a boon for organized crime. And if there was a superhero war, it would be a boon for supervillain organized crime.

Also, I’m sort of responsible for taking Wilson Fisk out of circulation as the Kingpin. My feeling is, for now, we’ve done every 'Kingpin up in his tower' story that can possibly be done. That’s a Frank Miller invention that’s been done to death for 30 years. Eventually we could have him come back, or have someone be a new Kingpin, but it’s still the same idea, it’s just someone else being Wilson Fisk.

But what really needs to be is a new idea, for this Kingpin to have a new agenda – a kingpin of all supervillains is a completely different scenario.

So I thought of who would rise up to the challenge. At first I was going to create someone new, but then I looked around and thought it would be more interesting and vital if the character had an existing connection to the Marvel Universe already – someone we’ve seen already who rises up. And the one character that stuck out to be, that suits the purpose of this, that we know a little about, but no so much so that we know everything about them, is a character Brian K. Vaughan created called The Hood.

NRAMA: Oh…

BB: Now The Hood was this excellent limited series that Brian wrote a few years ago in which he introduced a new villain named Parker Robbins, who discovered ... who stole … these boots and a hood that gave him powers. He was already a criminal, and the story showed readers the birth of a super-powered villain.

And if you look at that mini-series as kind of the Robert DeNiro chapters in Godfather II, you are seeing the building blocks of how someone could rise up to being the ‘Godfather’ of all supervillains, with this war being the perfect opportunity to take primary advantage of what happened. And because the nature of his powers are so ‘stealthy”, he is in the position to do a lot of damage to people who don’t listen to him …don’t do what he says.

So while all this went on in Civil War, we’re going to see how the Hood rose up from literally a third-tier Marvel villain to someone that everyone in the Marvel Universe are sh*ting their pants over, and did it with almost no trouble from any superheroes because they were all @#$%ing busy.

NRAMA: Have you discussed these plans with Brian Vaughan? Did you…

BB: The minute the idea popped into my head I called him, because if he doesn’t want this, it isn’t happening. He was thrilled, and a little stunned, because it’s been a coupe of years, and no one has picked up on it other than an appearance here and there and in Beyond. But I told him my plans, and told him the agenda, and told him the tons of unanswered questions I had from the mini-series about the Hood, his powers and history, and what the powers may cost him, and he gave it his full blessing, or I would not even attempt this.

I also told him also that in my opinion – like the Sentry and Echo – the Hood is one of these excellent brand new creations that no one else was touching, and that’s how they fall by the wayside, and here is an opportunity to hopefully build him up. Brian’s a great guy – and not just because he's bald and from Cleveland – and he was really into it.

So that is the plan, and what I really like here is now we have power set against the Avengers (and all the Marvel heroes) with a whole new agenda coming in for the team to fight while this whole other conspiracy-laden story is happening. So this new story, like the original Kingpin's story, can go on for years and years and years and I’m really excited about it.

NRAMA: Brian, what about Parker Robbins made you think of him as someone with the brains and balls to rise up to this position?

BB: Brian's interpretation of him. I really hope people will check out the mini, it’s really good. For new fans of BKV, this is a hidden gem.

NRAMA: And at the end of the limited series, and just recently in Beyond, didn’t he take somewhat a turns towards “good”? To becoming a hero?

BB: In the mini, it’s questionable whether he was just telling his mom what a mom wants to hear. There is also the problem of the hinted-at demonic possession aspects to his new powers. He may not be in total control.

NRAMA: Brian, the ending of Beyond ambiguously suggests the “heroes” that survived would move onto bigger things in the future? May readers assume that was just a serendipitous accident?

BB: It will all fit in. This is definitely bigger things.

NRAMA: You mentioned the Sentry a few moments ago, and on that note, can you talk at all how the New Avengers will relate to the Mighty Avengers?

BB: Readers will see that right away. As you can see by the variant covers to New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, even while all the stuff with Echo, and the Hood is going on, the New Avengers are chasing something, but they’re also being chased. They are fugitives from the law, they are not allowed to be together, they are not allowed to be functioning in society. They’re rebels, they’re criminals, and that weighs heavy on them all of them, because a lot of them have families and a lot of them have given up everything to purse what they are pursuing, and at the same time they’re being chased by who were their best friends. That starts in the Initiative one-shot special and goes all the way through the New Avengers. The Mighty Avengers appear in issue #28 – that’s how fast it happens. The chase is on.

The members of both teams having conflicting emotions about everything concerning what were old, good friends and the final outcome of the war.

As I’ve said, people looking for the sprawling epic of the Avengers story will find it in both series being published together and it’s the real reason I am writing both. I know some people think it’s my huge ego and our desire to piss off some old school Avengers fans, but really it’s because this is a huge ongoing story about all the Avengers – both classic and new – that effects all these characters and it’s a story I came up with and want to pursue with these amazing artists.

Even where the New Avengers live in itself is trouble.

NRAMA: That was actually the next question, readers love those details. Can you talk about where the New Avengers are headquartered?

BB: WeIl, I can’t ... I don’t want to ruin the … I mean, well… again, mark this SPOILER. If you don’t want to know this and want to read it in the book, read it in the book, but for those who have been wondering…

Dr. Strange sets up a series of spells so that from the outside looks like his house has been sold to Starbucks, and a Starbucks is “Coming Soon”, and if you go inside it looks like it’s been abandoned forever and that he’s moved away to Wundagore Mountain and is never coming back.

But if you know the magic word, it’s a lively, great headquarters where everyone can live and be happy, but even that spell … Iron Man ain’t buying it, and there is even a battle of magics that goes on to try to discover them.

To New Yorkers, any building you see being turned into a Starbucks, you just walk away and say “Oh, that’s too bad’ … it wouldn’t surprise you that any building is turning into a Starbucks, even as building a great as Dr. Strange’s.

NRAMA: A few weeks ago in New Joe Fridays, asked about a past tease about your plans for Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Joe Quesada said something to the effect that you had plans that would make Avengers fans very happy in 2007.

BB: Yeah, I don’t want to give away too much, but New Avengers #26 is sort of a prelude to a lot of “Hawkeye-ness”, that does not involve him yelling “NOT like this!!!"

By the way, when he makes sweet, sweet love to Wanda in issue #26, I did want him to yell that out just at the “moment”, but I took it out [laughs].

NRAMA: Okay, finally now having seen a week of reaction from readers, you’ve probably seen some of the same responses we have – there are (apparently) no “classic” Avengers on the roster to speak of, and aside from Dr. Strange, most of the team are “street-level” types – not the sort of team that could handle classic uber-powered villains and hold their own another Kree-Skrull War, for instance.

Thoughts on either/both of these responses/criticisms?

BB: Firstly, the reaction has been huge and I’m very surprised and I love it. I love the passion everyone has for these characters because it matches my own. This kind of debate and sharing of knowledge – when it’s civil – is what’s so cool about the modern era of comics. We are a worldwide readership with access to each other. This is still a relatively new thing.

But most of my answers to the questions pending will be in the work itself.

Secondly, since when did Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange not have big time powers? These guys are pretty damn powerful, so don't discount this team's power level or their smarts and survival instincts.

Also, the one idea that is so true about this book is not just the individual characters but how they relate as a team. How they interact with each other. Like the surprise that was Luke and Spider-Man in the first year, or Jessica Drew's constant struggles, there is a lot that can happen to a team with just one new member.

And now we have a few new members, and a new locale, and a new set of problems, a major new villain, and a major new threat to the Marvel Universe. The heroes are still at war with each other and we have another damn mystery around the ninja boy.

And one more thing – I do see some people charge me with the crime of putting a team together of all my favorite characters. Well, yeah. I may be guilty of this, but so was Stan, Roy Thomas, Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern... and all the others.

But, the way I see it, it’s not my favorite characters I am writing, it’s the characters that belong in this story. The ones that I have such a deep personal connection to their voices and characters, just like those writers who came before me. But it’s still about story, and it’s about story first. It’s about which characters tell the most inspiring story for this era of Marvel Comics.

Truth is there are a few characters I love more than say, Jessica Drew … like Daredevil, etc., but they don't make for the best story for this team.

In fact, I just finished reading this really interesting book called Tales To Astonish by Ronin Ro (another Ronin, sorry.), and it details Jack Kirby's life through comics and the birth of Marvel. Stan loved Simon and Kirby's Captain America so much – it was his favorite character. So much that he could not wait to reintroduce him to the world once the new wave of Marvel Heroes became a hit. And where did he do it?

Another round of SPOILERS...

Apparently The New Avengers will now be fugitives as they are known to be in direct opposition to the Superhero Registration Act and are actually the nemesis of the Mighty Avengers (previously revealed as Ironman, Ms. Marvel, Black Widow, Wonderman, Wasp, Sentry and Ares)

Oh and did I mention, the NEW New Avengers artist will be Filipino artist/rock star Leinil Francis Yu (who is incidentally the lead singer of indie band, Marty McFly)

Here are some upcoming artwork and a couple of covers bby Leinil Yu

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/newaven...29-4-5-copy.jpg

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/newaven...EWAVN029_lo.jpg

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/newaven...svariant_lo.jpg

Checkout the lineup for Marvel's March releases, particularly Amazing Spiderman#540


http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/Mar07/solicitations.html



"No one’s paid the price for Civil War more than Peter Parker. Now, one of his worst fears has been realized. A tragedy from which he might never recover"




.... so anyone care to guess who dies?




BTW, supposedly Spidey will be in Black only up to August 2007, when Marvel will come out with "One More Day" story arc.


People are guessing that "One More Day" might be a quick fix and Spidey somehow undoes the "unmasking" in Civil War(sort of like what Wally West, the Flash, did after he revealed his identity to the public but later on "undid" it). This is just all speculation though but Spidey is rumored to return to his old red and blue threads afterwards.





Gold

I'm really glad to see spider-man, wolverine, luke cage and jessica drew back from the original new avengers line-up. All I thought Cap was going to lead this new avengers team. Its really exciting to see iron fist and doc strange into the mix and also the barely used Ronin too. To add all that and penciller LEINIL YU to the mix... this is a must have!

On the other hand, Ironman's avengers seem vague... which THOR is that? the clone? Ms. Marvel, Ares and Sentry combo is already tough. The Mighty Avengers lineup puts the Capital M in Mighty. Im also getting this! HAY GASTOS!!

This is huge news. I've always wondered why Doc Strange haven't joined the Avengers yet. (I considered every non xmen character an avenger or an honorary avenger when i started collecting comics until before establishing the Marvel Knights).

Actually, that's Ares, the Greek god of War, and not Thor.

I'm actually looking forward to Mighty Avengers due to its old school charm, and because of artist Frank Cho, who's my favourite babe artist of the moment.

I'm kind of disappointed with the New Avengers lineup, too many urban heroes, only Dr Strange is the powerhouse, Iron Man's team can easily kick their collective behinds

I agree. The New Avengers could really use Thor or Hercules in their line up.

So this is what we've got:

New Avengers
-doc strange
-black spider-man
-wolverine
-spiderwoman
-luke cage
-iron fist
-echo
-ronin

Mighty Avengers
-ironman
-sentry
-wonderman
-ms.marvel
-ares
-blackwidow
-wasp


I have been reading and this RONIN is not Echo... its a different character inside. Some hints that its Clint Barton or Cap. I really cant understand the reason but I hope its Cap, but for more drama I like it to be Clint Barton

Echo and Ronin will be seperate entities? Am I understanding it right?

At the Ronin arc of New Avengers.. It was revealed that echo is ronin but bendis is saying that they are seperate entities with this new avengers lineup hinting clint barton or captain america.

Duane, the new avengers (secret avengers) line up rocks! I like it. I trust Bendis, im sure he has a reason for that line up.

I'm not really not enthusiastic with the new line up. Cap's not in any of the team, so what's the point! haha! And what's the point in having Spiderman back in his black costume again? The old Iron Spiderman didn't last long...so probably going to be a while and we'll see spidey back again in his original costume.

Same here. While I can imagine an Avengers without Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, etc., an Avengers line-up without Cap feels a little hollow. With CW#7 a month away, we won't know what will be the fate of Steve Rogers. I suspect Steve will be the new Ronin. Assuming that Tony Stark "wins" and Steve is still alive, Steve would become a Ronin of sorts, a hero the USA doesn't want and stateless (or master-less).

As for the Spidey, I am worried that Joe Quesada will get his wish and finally get rid of MJ in very tragic circumstances. If that happens, I would be very disappointed since it would indicate a dark turn for Spidey. Part of his appeal lies in the witty jokes and glib attitude.

Maybe this is their attempt to make Peter's character darker and more mature. After all, spiders should really be mysterious and quite nocturnal. But you are right about the antics being one of Spidey's appeals. But didn't they already kill MJ years ago?

An Avengers team without Cap is really unimaginable.

I personally think that the decision of making peter parker a darker character has something to do with the movie.. and maybe we can expect Gwen Stacy making an appearance in the near future? maybe! I agree... Avengers really picked up when cap came in to the picture.. The New Avengers can also be known as MARVEL KNIGHTS heheh my money is that ronin is cap btw.