Star Trek in the MC2

As you may know Sir Patrick Stewart portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation for seven seasons and four feature films before returning to the role with this year’s Star Trek: Picard series. I recently finished watching the first season and I wanted to do a little something that’s tangentially related, as always. So, let’s explore some references to Star Trek in the MC2!

 

You’ll notice quite a few of my posts recently have referenced the Ron Frenz interview on Adam Chapman’s podcast Comic Shenanigans Episode 744. The reason is pretty simple: it’s genuinely a great well of information about the MC2, especially the characters from the A-Next series on which the interview focuses. Now, here’s why I bring it up yet again: Edwin Jarvis is Patrick Stewart! When asked about his decision to depict the Avengers most loyal member of staff as slender in A-Next, Ron had this to say:

 

‘He gained weight for a while under Perez and everything but I was using as a model the John Buscema/Tom Palmer Jarvis. Which went into the Sal era; that’s kind of when I first started reading the Avengers. The book was being passed off at different points between Sal and John and they both had a more slender Jarvis and that’s what I ended up going with. Plus, we wanted to age him and everything. But I saw him as being someone who took great pride in his appearance, wearing a tuxedo as he does as a butler and now that he was chief of staff and everything else.  I always kind of pictured him, quite frankly, when I was on Thunderstrike and we had Jarvis appear a few times, I actually pictured Jarvis as being Patrick Stewart. I think a lot of people would be surprised that Jarvis could be that but that’s kind of who I pictured as Jarvis. The one I really remember it striking me as ‘wow, that’s kind of what I’m thinking in my head’ was when we did an issue of Thunderstrike where a character with electrical devices posed as Thor and was robbing banks and there was a scene there where Eric goes to the Avengers Mansion to go down to the lockers and Jarvis is walking into the locker and they’re having a conversation back and forth about Thor and all this kind of stuff. It was just during that scene; handling Jarvis in that scene that I went ‘I’m actually picturing Patrick Stewart in this whole thing’. Had Thunderstrike continued I would have loved to have explored Eric’s relationship with Jarvis a bit more. I tried…we tried to touch on it quite a bit in A-Next. I believe at one point Kevin is thinking that his father Eric always told him that there was one guy that you could always trust in Avengers Mansion. I was kind of retroactively touching on something that I would have loved to have explored with some of the other characters.’

 

 

It’s fairly easy to see the inspiration and I can just imagine Patrick Stewart’s voice when reading his dialogue. For comparison, here’s a picture of the MC2’s Edwin Jarvis as pencilled by Ron Frenz alongside an actual image of Sir Patrick Stewart:

 

 

There’s also a nice reference to Star Trek: The Original Series found in A-Next #10 when the new team of Avengers travel to a dark alternate reality under the rule of Victor Von Doom. At first believing they’ve arrived in a dystopian future, J2 is left bewildered by Mainframe’s scientific explanation.  Fortunately, Thunderstrike provides the young hero a relatable pop culture point of reference: ‘Juggie, think Classic Stark Trek – “Mirror, Mirror”!’ Even more amusing is the revelation immediately afterwards that Mainframe is not only familiar with Star Trek, but actually a self-described huge fan.

 

For those who don’t know, ‘Mirror, Mirror’ is the fourth episode of Star Trek: The Original Series’ second season. The plot of the episode involves the main cast of characters being swapped with their counterparts from a ‘mirror universe’ following a transporter malfunction. The Enterprise crew learn that their mirror universe counterparts are evil members of a conquering empire. Even if you’ve never seen the episode, you may know it through pop culture osmosis: The Mirror Universe’s Evil Spock sports a Van Dyke style beard or goatee which has since become a trope in various works of fiction to symbolize an evil counterpart. Shout out to Community’s Darkest Timeline! The concept of this Mirror Universe has been revisited several times within the Star Trek franchise, including 5 stories in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 2 episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise and most recently during a story-line of Star Trek: Discovery.

 

I’m sure there are more Star Trek references to be found within the MC2, so please be sure to let know if you come across any!

 

Until I find myself in a universe where I fashion facial hair from felt until able to grow my own evil goatee, I remain

 

frogoat

 

History of the MC2: The Avengers

I was inspired recently to make a timeline of events covering the history of the MC2, spanning the nebulous 15 year stretch of time after the Main Marvel Universe (or Universe-616) split off and became the MC2 (or Universe-982) and before the next-generation of heroes began to emerge in J2 #1, A-Next #1 and What If #105.

Given that Avengers: Infinity War is tearing up box offices worldwide, I figured a good place to start would be with the MC2's original Avengers team. The final days of the original Avengers is a major mystery within the pages of the A-Next series. The storyline culminates in the next-generation Avengers team learning the fate of the original team and deciding to put an end to the threat that disbanded them over a decade prior.

While we don't know the exact point at which the history of the Main Marvel Universe Avengers stops being the same as that of the MC2 Avengers, we do know a few things about the teams past history. At an unknown point in the team's past, an Avengers team which included Captain America, Iron Man and Thor fought Ultron Extreme, a new model of the team's old foe. Iron Man eventually managed to erase Ultron's programming and the villain's indestructible body was sealed away for over a decade (Avengers Next #3).


The Avengers became aware of an alternate reality in which Victor Von Doom wielded a Universal Cube which would allow him to travel to other universes via portals to conquer them. With all of reality at risk, the Avengers held an emergency meeting. Many attended this urgent summons including (but not limited to) Captain America, Firebird, Firestar, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man, Justice, Living Lightning, Scarlet Witch, Tigra, Vision and the Wasp (A-Next #7).

With a team assembled, the Avengers headed into the breach between worlds on what would become their final mission. We learn through Jarvis that this was around a year and a half prior to the Avengers officially disbanding. Sadly, many of the heroes did not return, with only Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch,Vision and the Wasp re-emerging from the portal (A-Next #7). Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Captain America had not died, instead choosing to stay behind and continue the fight (A-Next #10).

In the wake of the tragedy, Hawkeye was left blind (A-Next #10); Hercules went mad with grief and was held in facility in Mount Athena (A-Next #6); the Vision left to work in the White House and the Wasp died, leaving her twin children (Henry Pym Jr and Hope Pym) orphaned.

After mourning their fallen comrades, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch worked tirelessly for months to seal the portal permanently against future attacks. Unfortunately, to achieve this the Scarlet Witch was sealed within a stasis pod, holding the aperture shut. Tony Stark retired as Iron Man, but continued to work to help the world (A-Next #7).

Around this time -though it's unclear whether it was before or after the team's final mission- Tony Stark developed Mainframe, a sophisticated robotic armour with Tony's own brain patterns, designed to ensure there would always be someone to answer the call to assemble (A-Next #7, Spider-Girl #95).

Designing and building a Nanite Agenda in an attempt to aid the Scarlet Witch, Tony discovered too late that his friend James Rhodes aka War Machine had tested it on himself to protect Tony. The Agenda proved harmful, caused a slow erosion of Rhodes' humanity, making him less and less human over time whilst also gifting him increasing superhuman abilities (Spider-Girl #95).

In the interim, a new group of heroes banded together to fill the role of the Avengers. Their roster included Nova, Jubilee, Speedball, Jolt and the Steel Spider. Over time, for various reasons, fewer members answered the call and eventually the team fell apart and the Avengers were officially disbanded (A-Next #7, Spider-Girl #32).

Fortunately, the day would come when a new team of Earth's Mightiest Heroes would answer the call and a whole new generation of Avengers would assemble....


Based on various comments throughout the series, the Avengers officially disbanded some 10 years prior to the events of A-Next #1 which, coupled with Jarvis stating the original Avengers final mission took place approximately a year and a half prior to this, we can form a rough timeline:

·  The Avengers fight Ultron Extreme, eventually erasing his program and sealing his indestructible body away

·  Tony Stark begins work on his Mainframe project to ensure there will always be Avengers

·  The Avengers become aware of the Universal Cube's threat and head to the alternate earth

·  Of all the Avengers who left for the mission, only six return. Captain America staying behind to help on the alternate earth

·  Iron Man and Scarlet Witch work to seal the portal between worlds

·  A new team of Avengers forms but struggles to stay together

·  Scarlet Witch is encased in a stasis pod, holding the portal shut

·  Tony Stark retires as Iron Man and finishes work on Mainframe

·  Tony Stark develops a Nanite Agenda, which James Rhodes tests on himself, gaining powers but slowly losing his humanity in the process

·  The interim Avengers team falls apart and the Avengers are officially disbanded

*At some point -either before or after the original team's final mission- Luke Cage served as a member (Avengers Next #1). Considering he's mentioned as being alive, we can assume he was not involved with the original team's final mission, but this fact does not preclude prior Avengers membership. It's equally possible Cage was a member of the interim Avengers team, as there is no evidence either way.*

Hopefully this helps shed some light on the final days of the original Avengers in the MC2. If I've missed anything or something isn't clear enough, please let me know.


Until I run out of Avengers to Assemble I remain,


frogoat