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
