Because the World Still Needs Heroes - Champions Appreciation 2019

[Tofali]

I know what all those words mean, but when you put them in that order I want to run away screaming. When Marvel decided to port Miles over from the Ultimate Universe instead of creating the hero in the main universe they left a scab that writers will never stop picking at.

It was a horrible mini lol! I had to stop reading it because it was too cringey. 616 Miles didn't even look like 1610 Miles. The only interesting thing was the relationship between Fisk and 616 Miles.

[Phoenix_Renegade]

Sales estimates are out.
https://www.comichron.com/monthlycom...9/2019-05.html

52	54	Miles Morales Spider-Man	6	$3.99	05/22/19	Marvel	33,538
114	118	Champions	5	$3.99	05/01/19	Marvel	19,336
119	127	Magnificent Ms. Marvel	3	$3.99	05/29/19	Marvel	18,386
128	134	Marvel Team-Up	2	$3.99	05/01/19	Marvel	17,513
179	182	Ironheart	6	$3.99	05/15/19	Marvel	11,132
217	218	Unstoppable Wasp	7	$3.99	05/08/19	Marvel	8,348
226	226	Marvel Rising	3	$3.99	05/29/19	Marvel	7,854

lol! ha-ha-ha! We need unique heroes. We don't need miserable copies that try to "parasitize" on popularity and the name they don’t earn. The world don't need champions & ...

[Digifiend]

CHAMPIONS #9
JIM ZUB (W) • STEVEN CUMMINGS (A)
Cover by KIM JACINTO
• Who has betrayed the Champions, and who can they trust?
• Miles Morales returns, but will it be in time to save his friends?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Looks like the team has a traitor!

Also solicited: Ironheart, Magnificent Ms Marvel, Marvel Team-Up, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales, Agents of Atlas.
https://www.newsarama.com/45706-marv...citations.html

[Frontier]

CHAMPIONS #9
JIM ZUB (W) • STEVEN CUMMINGS (A)
Cover by KIM JACINTO
• Who has betrayed the Champions, and who can they trust?
• Miles Morales returns, but will it be in time to save his friends?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Looks like the team has a traitor!

Also solicited: Ironheart, Magnificent Ms Marvel, Marvel Team-Up, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales, Agents of Atlas.
https://www.newsarama.com/45706-marv...citations.html

What is this, the Titans?

[Snoop Dogg]

Excited for Bombshell to betray the team and hook up with Taskmaster! A grand tale of triumph and tragedy called...The Buy Us Contract!

[Digifiend]

I wonder if Nova comes back and invites a certain someone to stick around... and she's that traitor?

[Tycon]

Is it not Sparky? Technically, he’s the team mascot.

[Tofali]

Is it not Sparky? Technically, he’s the team mascot.

Yep, I think that is the only threat within the team that hasn't been explored yet.

[Digifiend]

That does make sense, considering the nature of Viv's injury on that cover. She's had a hole drilled in her belly - from Sparky phasing through her then turning solid?

However, there's a shadowed arm looming over them. There has to be a humanoid involved.

Why do they keep using the old logo? This preview cover has it, and the actual covers of issues 5 and 6 do too.

[FantasticVision]

Do we think this could be any of the Champions? Maybe Riri or Nadia? It doesn’t seem to spell good news for Viv/Riri either way, with all the pushing they’ve been giving Riri recently...

3977BCE7-7B98-4458-BAE3-B1B0BE66D508.jpg

[Frontier]

Do we think this could be any of the Champions? Maybe Riri or Nadia? It doesn’t seem to spell good news for Viv/Riri either way, with all the pushing they’ve been giving Riri recently...

3977BCE7-7B98-4458-BAE3-B1B0BE66D508.jpg

If we assume it's a Champion, I would probably guess Nadia if only because she's technically in the movies as a Hope stand-in (hence the need for "movie synergy.")

Whitley's writing of her has always had Nadia come off as not into boys or romance at all, but I wasn't really expecting him to go much farther then that.

[Digifiend]

We know it's not Viv, as she's definitely gay - that was established in Champions #2 when Amadeus kissed her and she didn't like it. She later tried to get with Riri, who was repulsed, since she isn't gay.

It's definitely not Kamala, Miles, Amadeus or Riri, who are all straight. Sam's had a girlfriend too hasn't he?

Nadia does seem to be celibate so far... but is that just because she's a workaholic? She has GIRL, the Champions, and she'd still be an Avenger too if her team didn't disband (she was on double duty at the time of No Surrender, as that's set after she joined the Champions in issue 18). She's only now starting to build a social life, which is part of why she's currently away from the Champions. Finding non-work stuff to do is part of her bipolar treatment. Another count against her: yes, she's Hope's comic counterpart, but I'd hardly call it movie synergy, as they're very different characters. They even co-existed in the Avengers Academy mobile game.

Snowguard probably falls foul of the X-Men problem the MCU had, due to her connection to the Alpha Flight characters. She's named after Snowbird and Guardian, so it doesn't make sense for her to show up in the MCU before they do. In other words, movie synergy wouldn't be a concern for Amka.

Bombshell wants to be Miles's girlfriend, so not her either. The rest haven't had enough solo storylines to tell their sexuality.

[FantasticVision]

I was thinking that perhaps Zub had requested Riri be allowed to reciprocate and was told no because they want Ironheart in the MCU and Marvel Rising and her solo series has made her more popular, which led to her rejecting Viv and leaving the team, which might not have been the original plan. Or maybe Riri would reject her but then come around to the idea, which I thought Champions #27 left open, before that changed to complete rejection in the first issue of the relaunch.

[mugiwara]

We'll never have proof that the redittor is telling the truth, but in case they are...

Kamala, Miles, Riri and maybe Shuri (she's still fairly recent), Nadia and Lunella are the only ones who get a real push right now from Marvel.
Lunella is like 10 yo.
Miles belongs to Sony and I doubt Marvel will want to get him on the MCU as long as they can have Peter.
Hope Pym made Nadia almost impossible in the MCU.

So it would be either Kamala, Shuri or Riri.
It doesn't matter that they showed interest toward boys. They have far less history than Icedude, so if he can be gay, they can be lesbian.
The most likely is Riri, because of the Viv thing.
Shuri is a possibility too. I mean, she actually is in the MCU.

There are Amadeus, Sam and Robbie, too, but even if the later is in Avengers, they don't get as much love from Marvel as the others. Not right now, anyway.
Same with Captain Holy Menstuations who is already out of the closet, which is literally intriguing and awesome.

Still, it's strange that so far, Marvel is focusing on some washed up X-Man rather than one of their rising stars for LGBT representation.

[Digifiend]

"Captain Holy Menstuations" - you mean America Chavez, right? That line from her solo is infamous cringe!

Lunella is in the fourth grade, yeah, but she's actually 9, not 10. Obviously she hasn't had her birthday yet, unlike Bart Simpson, another famous fourth grader.

And as for Miles... you do realise Aaron Davis was in Homecoming, right? They're setting up MCU Miles. In fact he's the one who'd have the classic status quo... Far From Home spoiler...
spoilers:

Peter's secret identity is kaput thanks to Jonah.

end of spoilers