Marvel Announces Codename of Unique New Avengers Team
The future of The Avengers is about to look very different, and Marvel fans just got a glimpse of what is in store for the next era of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In the midst of fighting a cataclysmic threat, Wolverine drops the name of his new squad of mighty mutants, and it's a moniker fans should get used to: "X-Vengers."
The X-Men and Avengers franchises are no stranger to crossovers. Many mutants have joined the Avengers throughout Marvel history, starting with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in 1965. (Marvel might not recognize their mutant status anymore, but at the time, it was a big moment of cross-pollination for Avengers and X-Men.) The teams have been allies, as well as adversaries, as the Marvel Universe's two biggest hero organizations.
That integration is getting even more complete in 2026 and 2027, as Marvel upends its paradigm completely with the Avengers: Armageddon event, which promises to change Earth's Mightiest Heroes forever. And it seems a big part of that change is that there will be a lot more mutant members.
That's what makes the concept of the "X-Vengers," an official mutant Avenger team, so exciting. Marvel has toyed with this idea before, including testing the waters of the X-Vengers name with one of its Age of Revelation miniseries earlier this year.
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Marvel's Queen in Black #2!
Wolverine And Storm's "X-Vengers" Team Are Stepping Up As Earth's Mightiest
Queen In Black #2, Written By Al Ewing; Art By Paco Medina & Iban Coello
In Queen in Black, the Asgardian villain Hela has taken the powers and throne of Marvel's King in Black, Knull. The new Queen of the symbiotes promptly set about trying to conquer Earth, causing a coalition of the planet's Mightiest Heroes to unite in its defense. That includes a heavy mutant presence.
In a standout moment from Queen in Black #2, Wolverine uses himself as an "adamantium lightning rod" to take down a symbiote foe. Wolverine sinks his claws into the enemy's back and his Storm blast him with lightning. It's a classic mutant tag-team tactic, and it is something Marvel fans should expect to see more of, because Wolverine and Storm are going to be major players in the next phase of Marvel Comics.
Wolverine has already been confirmed to be part of the post-Armageddon main Avengers roster, alongside Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, and more of Marvel's surviving heroes. And Storm is set to lead the new Maximum X-Men book, which will also feature Wolverine. Marvel is marketing the team as a replacement for the Avengers. It's possible they'll make the "X-Vengers" moniker stick.
Mutants Are Key To The Future Of The Avengers In Marvel Comics
Here's the synopsis for Maximum X-Men #1:
In the wake of the events of AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are no more! So who will stand in defense of the Earth? The X-Men will! Storm gathers an elite team for just that task, including Wolverine, Colossus, Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, Firestar, and Justice! Mutants by birth, heroes by choice! And their first challenge is a full-on invasion from the Negative Zone! Is this Annihilus again — or something far, far worse?
So, while Marvel fans know that the Avengers will quickly be reforming, in Marvel canon there will be at least some interregnum period where there is no official Avengers team, leaving a vacuum for the "X-Vengers" or "Earth's Mightiest Mutants," or whatever Marvel decides to brand them as, to fill in.
That said, Maximum X-Men #1 actually drops a month after the new Avengers #1. Both are coming at the end of the year, in November and December, respectively.
Giving Marvel's mutants a permanent, full-fledged presence within the Avengers organization is a natural direction for both franchises to go in. The kind of synthesis that Marvel has been teasing and toying with the idea of for a long time, but which it might finally be the right time to go all in on. After all, the X-Men franchise is considered to be the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Consequently, a similar amalgamation of the X-Men and Avengers is likely to happen on screen. Assuming that's the case, it makes sense Marvel would trend in this direction in the comics too.
Some Marvel readers would prefer the opposite; cleaving the Marvel Universe of the X-Men and the Avengers' Universe in two. But as long as they are going to continue to coexist, it is fitting that Marvel's mutant population should be represented by an ongoing Avengers team of their own, the "X-Vengers."
Queen in Black #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.