Secret Avengers - Part 1

[Drz]

Rick Remender takes over Secret Avengers! Yes! This man is so great, Venom and Uncanny X-Force are top quality books and SA just keeps getting better and better, new line-up will also come out with Hawkeye becoming the Leader, sweet!

With the new creative team comes a new leader — Hawkeye — and a new lineup, including Captain Britain. Yeah, that's a lot of changes, but Remender says that the "secret" aspect of the book and sci-fi bent are most assuredly not going away.

Nrama: Secret Avengers is going to be getting a new leader in Hawkeye. What are you looking to explore with him?

Remender: I wanted to get to his core. I wanted to make sure that he had an arc here, and something that he was learning. As a character who was an orphan, I think at the core you've got somebody who grew up with in a very tumultuous situation— it leads to him being almost a control freak, in terms of why he's always had such a tough time with authority. I think it all comes down to his need to control his surroundings. That's sort of my take on him at the core of it all.

You've also got someone that, given his background and the fact that he was a villain at first and what he's been through, it definitely lingers over his legacy as a hero. I think he handles things a bit differently than the other classic, traditional heroes. He’s always trying to overcome his past, I like it. For lack of a better term, he has an edge to him, and I think it's something that he's always trying to overcome, and it's always something that's sitting there in the background. He definitely has a lot of interesting character things to dig up, and explore. It's all about putting him in situations where those character points can come to light, and play a role in the story.

Nrama: It's also interesting to see him as the leader of an Avengers team.

Remender: There might be some continuity freak that jumps down my throat, but I think that he hasn't really run a big squad like this since West Coast. I really enjoyed that series as a kid, so it's interesting to get to put him in this role. This is a much bigger responsibility.

Some info on the 1st arc, he wants to keep the sci-fi stuff up:

The new status quo for the team is that Steve Rogers recognizes that the things that he's discovering that are bubbling underneath the surface of the Marvel Universe are bigger than he originally anticipated. And one of those is the coming of the Descendants, and the automaton revolution that they're going to be trying to deal with.

The Descendants are a species that are evolved from all of the different robot species across the Marvel Universe. They're sentient, and they're hyper-evolved. We'll reveal how, and the depth of their proliferation throughout the Marvel Universe throughout the first year.

New Masters of Evil will emerge:

Then in issue #21.1 will reveal the new Masters of Evil. This is sort of my bridge from all the stories that have taken place prior to my taking over the book, and seeding some big stuff for the future. The all-new Masters of Evil are going to play a big role coming up, as well. We are, in the first five issues, introducing a lot of new villains, and a lot of new areas in the Marvel Universe. It's always fun to world-create, and really get in there and make new stuff, to interconnect it to previously existing people and places. I'm super-excited about The Descendants, because I've always wanted to do an automaton revolution in the Marvel Universe, because there are so many great robot species in the Marvel Universe. The Descendants, being sentient, living versions of these things that are the next generation, gives us so much to play with. Turning these robots into actual people with backgrounds and loves and hates and character traits, as opposed to just giant robots and cool looking things that we encounter as we're having adventures.



Nrama: And that's interesting to hear about the Masters of Evil, because I don't think there really has been one since a while back in Thunderbolts.
Remender: It's been some time. The new Masters of Evil, we seed their plot and what they're up to, the very basics, in #21.1, which is a mission with Captain America and Hawkeye. Cap brings in Hawkeye for a number of reasons, and we'll reveal that in the story, that leads to Hawkeye taking over the team. As they're realizing that there are a lot of big things going on that demand a covert team — there's a secret war, there's a new secret world or two, there's a secret new race, secret team betrayals, a secret affair. I wanted to make sure that the title of the book was reflected in the story.



Remender: I'll always try and make sure the arcs have a beginning, middle and end, but still feed things that are building into my bigger year-end goal. I always try to write 12 and 18 issue broad arcs.
Nrama: Captain Britain is also joining the cast. The female Captain Britain was in the Avengers around 2003, but this is Brian Braddock's first time in the Avengers, right?
Remender: Yeah, it is. He was invited in the Age of Heroes special by Cap to join the team. In the meantime, Captain Britain has left MI:13, and Merlin is missing from Otherworld. Otherworld, with the Starlight Citadel, contains a tower that has a doorway to every dimension in the Marvel Universe. Alan Moore created that, and that's where the 616 comes from, and I really like the idea. Captain Britain and the Captain Britain Corps have been revived, and he's back in Otherworld, and running the show there, and taking a bigger role in the protection of not just Earth, but the Multiverse.
Those are reasons that Cap wanted him on the squad, given that one of the things we'll be dealing with are not only international threats that need to be handled with care, but interdimensional threats. This needs to be big and sci-fi to keep me excited. That's one of the reasons that he was brought in, as well as a connection to The Descendants. I wanted to make sure that any character that was brought in fit the story and had a reason for being there. As we went through the story, I found natural connective tissues, especially given the Captain Britain in Otherworld story I'm telling in X-Force from issues #20-#23. This all interconnects. I can't help but connect dots when I'm writing. Captain Britain is playing not only a power role, but he's got a lot of specific reasons for being on the squad.

 

[runawayboulder]

God damn that is some great news! If Remender does as half as good on SA as he does on Uncanny X-Force or Venom we are all in for a treat. I'm glad I've stayed on.

 

[Watchman]

I hate to see Ellis go so soon but Remender is a very welcomed replacement. Easily going to be the best Avenger book.

 

[Drz]

Yeah, also notice on the cover with Hawkeye's arrows that Eric O'Grady is riding them, so the Giant Man there has to be none other than Hank Pym.

 

[runawayboulder]

Is that the Beast?

 

[Watchman]

I'm assuming yes. Beast has had like 50 different looks ever since New X-Men.

 

[venom892]

Eh that beast looks terrible. Didn't even recognize him. It be fun to have an UXF/SA crossover.

 

[runawayboulder]

Not as bad as the donkey version....but still pretty bad.

 

[Drz]

Also more Secret Avengers goodness:

Man this is too good to be true, someone pinch me!

 

[runawayboulder]

Venom and the original Torch?!? I can't wait for this to happen! It pretty much makes up for that s****y Hawkeye costume.

 

[El Bastardo]

Awesome.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I guess I'll be the "continuity freak" to ask why the Thunderbolts wouldn't count as a big squad under Hawkeye's command since the West Coast Avengers. Not a big deal, though.

Hate Hawkeye's costume, and this is obviously a pretty transparent attempt to get him to line up better with his super-spy/SHIELD agent movie counterpart, but as long as Remender is true to the comic version's personality, I'll keep reading.

I like Captain Britain's involvement and the reasoning behind it. The original Torch is always a welcome addition too. Flash-Venom I'm not too sure about, since that guy runs around killing up a storm even if he is a decent character. But I guess if Beast is still involved, the team's not going to be too kill-crazy (I mean, assuming Remender's aware about Beast's characterization regarding that other, extremely kill-crazy black ops squad).

I'll stick with it for the time being. Interdimensional threats definitely sound better than evil trucks, that's for sure.

 

[hippie_hunter]

On one hand, Remender writing this has me intrigued. I love his Uncanny X-Force.

On the other hand, I've already dropped Secret Avengers. And I plan on buying very, very, very few new things from Marvel on account that now they're just annoying me with their announcements.

What to do. Since I expect Iron Man 2.0, Hulk, X-Men: Legacy and Black Panther to eventually get cancelled or end sometime soon, maybe there will be some room for Remender's Secret Avengers.

 

[venom892]

The thing I love about Remender is he is always true to the character's personality and he writes long intertwining stories just like the heyday of comics. I'm looking forward to his run and I'm glad I stuck with Secret Avengers. The fact he already has the first year plotted out is a great sign.

 

[Anubis]

Why is CB back in his old costume. THIS STINKS! THIS IS TOTAL BS!!!!

 

[bored]

WOW. Much as I wish Ellis would have had more to do, holy crap in a bucket is this going to be awesome. Absolutely solid line-up (I'm just happy Beast is sticking around), and Remender will be perfect if they can keep him on the title for more than a few issues.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Why is CB back in his old costume. THIS STINKS! THIS IS TOTAL BS!!!!

I was gonna throw that in my paragraph o' hate as well, but honestly I don't mind it. I could do without the mask, but otherwise that costume's pretty solid. His MI-13 costume wasn't really anything special.

 

[Anubis]

THey coulda at least went with the one he had in the last X-Calibur. I do not care for those boots.

 

[Havok83]

Venom is on the team now?

 

[JewishHobbit]

Wow... that line up! I dropped this book after Spencer's first issue but I'm starting to think I might come back to it. Remender caught my eye with The End League and blew me away with Uncanny X-Force. And what I read of his Venom run was great, too.

Put in Hawkeye, Jim Hammond, Captain Britain, and Venom and I'm pretty awestruck here. The only two people I really liked from the original crew were Beast and Ant Man (once Nova left) and they're still accounted for. That's not true, I actually just realized I don't see Moon Knight It looks like Pym is joining as well, though I don't see the need for both him and O'Grady.

My only question is how many of these are the core team and how many come and go as needed (as per the article).

 

[Drz]

CBR: Rick Remender on Secret Avengers

Remender and Hardman will have a large cast of characters at their disposal in "Secret Avengers." Chief among them will be the team's new leader, Hawkeye.

"I think what you've got in Hawkeye, because of his childhood, is somebody who is roguish and a little unpredictable. He's got a real sense of responsibility and a solid ethical compass, but he's also willing to go to lengths that maybe Steve Rogers isn't. That's one of the reasons that Steve chose and one of the reasons that we chose him for this book," Remender explained. "Now they're operating with a no kill rule, but we're going to put that to the test. For me there needs to be a difference between 'X-Force' and 'Secret Avengers.' This is the brighter, shinier covert operations team whereas I think 'X-Force' is a little dirtier. The fun of it is that you've got to cook up threats of such a grand scale that haven't yet boiled over and must be dealt with before they do. They're dealing with dire straits and something that they're potentially in over their heads with, but on top of that they must maintain their anonymity. They can't be seen so the team is still a secret to the villains of the world

"One of the things I wanted to do with this first arc was really explore Hawkeye's approach to leadership," Remender continued. "Maybe there's some overcompensation because he hasn't had his own Avengers squad in awhile, and I'm interested in how I can play that off the other characters to develop him for new readers and redefine him for old ones."

Hawkeye has nothing but respect for Captain America, but one of the Secret Avengers he'll come into conflict with is Cap's UK counterpart Brian Braddock AKA Captain Britain, formerly of the British super group and spy agency MI-13. "He and Hawkeye have very different backgrounds. One is nobility and one is an orphan, so I'm playing them off each other a little bit," Remender said. "It's a fairly classic and traditional dynamic: you've got the guy who's doing his very best to be the shining, ethical hero that people expect him to be and that he wants to present himself as. Then we've got the guy who is still a good person and trying to do the right thing, but isn't quite concerned with doing things in the same clean and shiny way. So I see a lot of natural conflict between Captain Britain and Hawkeye and some fun stuff came out while I was writing scenes with those characters."

Captain Britain's reasons for joining the Secret Avengers tie into the one of the series mysterious villains as well as some of the team's other currently unrevealed members. "He's a character who I love quite a bit. We're developing a lot with him, with Otherworld, and with his brother Jamie and sister Elizabeth [AKA Psylocke] over in 'X-Force' at the same time that we're giving him his first taste of what life is like as an Avenger. I like things that interconnect a little bit and I tend to naturally start connecting dots like a "Beautiful Mind"-style lunatic. With the characters we're using in 'Secret Avengers' it was a natural fit to connect with some of the things that I've been doing in 'X-Force,'" Remender remarked. "So these two books, the threats and the things that they're dealing with are intersecting in ways that they're not aware of yet. Naturally, though, it would be pretty cool if those two things collided together, so maybe that's something that we're planning. Maybe 'UXF' #5.1 hints at some things coming up in 'Secret Avengers.' Maybe."

In "Secret Avengers" Captain Britain will play two roles. He's both a heroic member of the team and lord of the extradimensional reality known as Otherworld. "We've returned him to his Alan Davis outfit as the Captain Britain Corps have been put back together. They're in Otherworld," Remender stated. "One of the wrinkles added to the Captain Britain character was that his powers are based on his confidence, which I really like. That's something that we're building on and exploring for sure."

Remender is a big fan of Captain Britain and well versed in the character's lore, but "Secret Avengers" is Hardman's first major exposure to the character. "Captain Britain is almost entirely new to me. I may have read a couple issues of 'Excalibur' in the '80s, but I don't think I've ever drawn him," the artist said. "It will be a challenge to find an angle on this character."

"Naturally with a team like the Secret Avengers, one of the things that's very important to me is because it's the Avengers the action can't just be international. It's got to be interdimensional, supernatural, cosmic and it's got to be drenched in big, crazy science fiction elements," Remender said. "It also has to meet that criteria that these things they are taking on aren't on the surface -- yet. It's not Kang come to destroy New York. It's somebody underneath New York building something that will slowly seep into it."

Rogue mechanical life forms won't be the only villains causing trouble for the "Secret Avengers." Remender also has plans to introduce an all-new Masters of Evil. "[In] issue #21.1 you'll get your first taste of the new Masters of Evil and their connection to long time series villains, the Shadow Council. It's another new threat to the Marvel Universe that the 'Secret Avengers' are the first to discover," Remender explained. "#21.1 will be drawn by Patrick Zircher and that will be my bridge from all of what's happened into what I'm doing. We'll show why Cap hands the reigns of the team over to Hawkeye and the new Masters of Evil are going to be pretty amazing. We just got approval on that cast. We've been going back and forth for awhile to make sure we can get these characters. I wanted to make sure it was a very unique group that had an immediate impact. I think people are going to go pretty nuts over these guys."

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Great news, though I wish War Machine was sticking around.

 

[venom892]

Yea I'm bummed War Machine and Moon Knight are out.With him no longer being on SA and H4H being canceled I have no Moon Knight fix.I don't really like what I've heard about Bendis's book.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

F*** Moon Knight, I say. Never cared for him and I certainly won't miss him when he's gone. Rhodey's a shame, but he's got his own series. Captain Britain's a more than adequate replacement in the power department, too.

Remender's interview has reassured me somewhat. I like that he's aware that the Secret Avengers are not and should not be X-Force. I like his talk about finding huge threats that could still skirt under the radar. The focus on characters playing off each other should be fun, and what he says about Hawkeye and Captain Britain definitely fit their respective personalities. Also, Hardman's art is great. This is looking pretty good.

 

[venom892]

You hurt my soul Corpy.Though I agree about Remender.With him at the helm this can be the best Avengers book on the shelf.