After 33 years in Marvel lore, an iconic character just officially joined theAvengersfor the first time. It’s a running joke forAvengersfans that pretty much every hero (and several villains) have served on the team. Indeed, to spend three decades in the Marvel Universe and never be recruited, you’d have to be one of the most evil people on the face of the Earth…
Carnage Joins the Avengers for the First Time
Eddie Brock’s Killer Symbiote Earns a Place on the Roster
In today’sNew Avengers #3- from Sam Humphries, Ton Lima, Rain Beredo and Joe Sabino -Carnageofficially joins Bucky Barnes' New Avengers roster. The team run into the serial killer symbiote while hunting down Professor X-Tinction, the evil clone of X-Men’s Professor X. Carnage hooks up with the team for the opportunity to kill (and eat) the worst of the worst.
After realizing that Carnage is now bonded to the antihero Eddie Brock - not the serial killer Cletus Kasady - Winter Soldier welcomes him aboard, even as his close ally and lover Black Widow protests that Carnage is"a murderer wearing a monster.“Bucky shoots back that the team has deliberately recruited killers, and Carnage’s power and skill outweight the risk of bringing him aboard.
In recent comics, Eddie lost Venom andpartnered up with Carnage, forced to eat serial killers and supervillains to keep the symbiote from cannibalizing him and moving on. As part of the New Avengers, Eddie can target way bigger targets than working alone.
New Avengers Brings Several New Heroes into the Fold
And They’re an Official Avengers Team Thanks to a Shock Founding Member
Up until now, Bucky’s team didn’t have an official name, however this issue confirms that they’re the New Avengers. The name comes as the team attempt tobreak Bruce Banner out of the Hulk’s mind, where he’s been imprisoned by his monstrous other half. Citing the fact that he’s a founding member who’s been an Avenger longer than Captain America, Bruce officially confers the Avengers name on the roster, who Marvel has dubbed"Earth’s Deadliest Heroes.”
Carnage isn’t the only first-timer to join the Avengers via Bucky’s team, with Clea Strange and Laura Kinney’s Wolverine also being brought into the franchise for the first time. Bucky has put together a unique team to bring down the Killuminati - evil clones of the Illuminati including dark versions of Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Black Bolt, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Mister Fantastic.
The New Avengers don’t trust the main Avengers team to dispose of their evil clones, each of whom potentially poses a threat to life on Earth. Instead, Bucky’s band of killerAvengers- now includingCarnage- are personally hunting down the most dangerous men on Earth, with Mr. Ouroboros -the evil Reed Richards- at the top of their hit list.
