PREVIEW: Uncanny Avengers, #5

[klinton]

There are some things comics do better now than they used to, and other things they used to do better in general. Soap opera is one of the things they used to do better. Compare the one Giant-Size Avengers issue where Wanda learns the Whizzer is her dad (remember the Whizzer?) and even though it's not a particularly good issue and a bad retcon that other writers immediately rejected, it has more weight to it without taking too much time away from the action.

Some writers just don't like soap opera (Hickman, Ellis), but in Remender's case I think he just likes everything to be slam-bang action all the time, occasionally interrupted by discussions of the ethics of killing and whether humanity deserves to survive. He wants the story to be constantly intense, but it means relationship stuff gets shoved off-panel, like when Wasp/Havok and the renewed Scarlet Witch/Wonder Man romance came almost out of nowhere.

I imagine that learning Magneto is not her father is something of a release for Wanda. She was never happy with the idea, and he's never been anything but an opressive force in her life. Pietro, though, completely embraced his parentage.

With romantic relationships I think it depends on Remender's investment? His Betsy/Fantomex romance was perfection. Every writer since has cocked that up beyond all redemption.

I thought he did a good job with Janet and Alex too. I was rooting for them by the end of the 'Planet X' story.

Simon and Wanda I can't really voice an opinion on, as the whole concept makes my skin crawl. Hahaha.

But I full agree, the full tilt drama was far better back in the day. Thomas and Englehart were masters at pulling one's heartstrings, complete with teary tirades and flowery prose.

[Witchfan]

There's still the chance for an ass-pull, somewhere. There's still Erik and Magda's original babies still unaccounted for, because unless explicitly stated, that means it still happened. Magda arrived at Wundagore pregnant, she gave birth to a pair of twins in Bova's presence, then she left and died.

Where are those twins? If the retcon takes hold, according to the High Evolutionary, he picked up two children from the gypsies, and then put them back. He wasn't talking about Magda's twins because they are Magneto's.

Unless it's some Mr. Sinister-level cloning hijinks because omg.

And yeah, this whole thing was a corporate mandate. That's why Remender has just put in filler, endless filler. And because Secret Wars is happening, he can give even less of a fuck as everything will be wiped clean if needed.

Honestly if he wasn't interested in bringing his A-game, and since Secret Wars was already chugging along, why bother starting this story arc at all? Leave it on that 'cliffhanger' at the end of AXIS, where you 'hint' it, but not too much, so you can build on it after Secret Wars. We didn't need this story told, especially since there's nothing much to it at all!

The Low Evolutionary could be Magneto's son. The ghost that Brother Voodoo talked to could be his twin sister. The High Evolutionary could have raised Magneto's children as his own.

[Kurolegacy]

The Low Evolutionary could be Magneto's son. The ghost that Brother Voodoo talked to could be his twin sister. The High Evolutionary could have raised Magneto's children as his own.

Please don't give Marvel any ideas, it's just bad enough for them to do exactly that.

[HsssH]

I wonder, would people have preferred if after Secret Wars we just got simple "reality was slightly altered due to all the stuff that happened, one of the changes is that Pietro and Wanda are not related to Magneto anymore" retcon? I know that Marvel likes to pride itself on not doing reboots like DC, but doing these "smart" reveals and pretending that everything still happened as it happened creates messy backstories.

[Byakko]

I wonder, would people have preferred if after Secret Wars we just got simple "reality was slightly altered due to all the stuff that happened, one of the changes is that Pietro and Wanda are not related to Magneto anymore" retcon? I know that Marvel likes to pride itself on not doing reboots like DC, but doing these "smart" reveals and pretending that everything still happened as it happened creates messy backstories.

Honestly, yeah that would have been cleaner. Would it still get reader backlash? Of course it would. But as you said, it would be cleaner, and they had a perfect excuse for it. Secret Wars is happening, there are multiple realities and versions of everyone running around. Reality is in flux.

The timing for this arc was completely out of sorts. It's running parallel to Secret Wars, anything that happens in it literally does not matter because the incursions already happened, and everything can change again.

Hell, if Renew Your Vows gets super traction and sales, maybe that'll be the new reality when SW finishes. Since Miles Morales is taking the Spiderman mantle, at least partially, that gives Parker the breathing room to have a family, and if fans show through sales that's what they want, that can happen.

Of course the twins' new origins isn't something we want, but at least the explanation would be simpler.

There's been subtle changes to the timeline already. In Rage of Ultron (which is set post-SW, and also written by Remender) for example, there's a flashback scene at first showing the classic Avengers team (original costumes, Beast being part of the roster and in his original classic form, Pym in his Yellow Jacket phase etc.) fighting Ultron. In the old comics from this period, I know that Wanda a) couldn't fly and b) didn't have very good chaos abilities yet. However, this fight shows her being able to fly, and also being good enough with her chaos warp to hold Ultron for a bit. Subtly, this retcons her into having stronger chaos abilities beginning from the Silver Age, instead of it happening later. This really works fine, if the retcons happen like this, I'm okay with it.

Granted, a new origin is a totally different level of impact, but still, you have a retcon event happening, Marvel should just use it.

Edit: The scene from Rage of Ultron I'm referring to

[jackolover]

No, the events of this arc directly follow Axis.

Do you think it is directly after AXIS or as the cover showed with the broken Moon, this was after Avengers #43?

[jackolover]

Not going to lie. I forgot this arc hadn't been resolved. I'm not sure it really matters anymore now that every other book is neck deep in Secret Wars. I really didn't care for the big retcon with the Maximoff twins, but I was willing to give it a chance. Not saying this book has been bad, but it's just come off as really bland and disconnected. It's not Remender's best work. It's not his worst either. I just think this is one of those stories that needs to end so that the characters can move on to bigger and better things.

In issue #1, it mentions Havok caused Wasp to disappear, so I'm anticipating Janet's return after this arc, so she can appear in Rage of Ultron OGN just before Secret Wars.

[jackolover]

Was Magneto involved in an Original Sin storyline? I must have missed that. (Soooooo many comics out there. )

No, it was my mistake. In AXIS Wanda cast a spell to knock out blood of my blood, and only Pietro lies unconscious, but not Magneto. Now the Twins want to know the story. But I don't know where that image came from of Mags kneeling before the Twins, now.

[Habis]

I wonder, would people have preferred if after Secret Wars we just got simple "reality was slightly altered due to all the stuff that happened, one of the changes is that Pietro and Wanda are not related to Magneto anymore" retcon? I know that Marvel likes to pride itself on not doing reboots like DC, but doing these "smart" reveals and pretending that everything still happened as it happened creates messy backstories.

No need to even use Secret Wars. Wanda is the reality warper who created the House of M reality. She was very pissed with her dad after that, and she recreated the old reality but without mutants; the x-gene vanished even from cell samples, as it had never existed. She could easily have retractively altered reality so she was no longer Magneto's daughter.

No need to justify that they kept their powers after the loss of their x-gene, either. Pietro was depowered after House of M and recovered his powers using the Terrigen Crystals. Wanda is empowered by Chton, is a Multiversal Nexus Creature and at that point still was linked to the Lifeforce. She could stop being a mutant and still keep her mystic powers.

[Byakko]

She could stop being a mutant and still keep her mystic powers.

Amusingly, I just read the issue where Wanda finds out about her being a nexus being, and among the different versions and powers that the other ones have, psychic powers are another manifestation.

Ha, so MCU Wanda could still be a reality warping nexus being!

[jackolover]

Honestly, yeah that would have been cleaner. Would it still get reader backlash? Of course it would. But as you said, it would be cleaner, and they had a perfect excuse for it. Secret Wars is happening, there are multiple realities and versions of everyone running around. Reality is in flux.

The timing for this arc was completely out of sorts. It's running parallel to Secret Wars, anything that happens in it literally does not matter because the incursions already happened, and everything can change again.

Hell, if Renew Your Vows gets super traction and sales, maybe that'll be the new reality when SW finishes. Since Miles Morales is taking the Spiderman mantle, at least partially, that gives Parker the breathing room to have a family, and if fans show through sales that's what they want, that can happen.

Of course the twins' new origins isn't something we want, but at least the explanation would be simpler.

There's been subtle changes to the timeline already. In Rage of Ultron (which is set post-SW, and also written by Remender) for example, there's a flashback scene at first showing the classic Avengers team (original costumes, Beast being part of the roster and in his original classic form, Pym in his Yellow Jacket phase etc.) fighting Ultron. In the old comics from this period, I know that Wanda a) couldn't fly and b) didn't have very good chaos abilities yet. However, this fight shows her being able to fly, and also being good enough with her chaos warp to hold Ultron for a bit. Subtly, this retcons her into having stronger chaos abilities beginning from the Silver Age, instead of it happening later. This really works fine, if the retcons happen like this, I'm okay with it.

Granted, a new origin is a totally different level of impact, but still, you have a retcon event happening, Marvel should just use it.

Edit: The scene from Rage of Ultron I'm referring to

Assuming Rage of Ultron continues to be a post-SW story, then this possible alternative Wanda maybe could fly and have control of her Chaos magic, so that flashback could be an alternate reality flashback?

[Byakko]

Assuming Rage of Ultron continues to be a post-SW story, then this possible alternative Wanda maybe could fly and have control of her Chaos magic, so that flashback could be an alternate reality flashback?

But Uncanny Avengers is pre-SW, so it's pretty much just original 616-Wanda, so the flashback should reflect the 616 timeline unmodifed. If this arc was after SW, it'll be so much easier to explain everything, but it clearly started prior to the incursions even happening.

Why oh why didn't they just cut the arc and let it go. All Marvel resources should be handling SW, they're already delaying several tie-ins. Handling an arc set prior to SW is just kind of wasting time and money when all the events can be changed by the end of SW.

[Sans Simian]

Even more sad is that in spite of Axis having originally been meant for Uncanny Avengers not one of the members of the team were relevant in solving the problem of the event and instead were just mustache twirling villains whose lines could've been replaced with 'nyahaha' and there'd be no noticeable difference in quality.

One of the many things wrong with that blasted "event".

[Lutecius]

Poor Rogue stuck on this team.

#FreeRogue

Poor Alex. I thought he was finally free after being maimed both physically and as a character but this one line about the Wasp in UA 1 probably means the abuse isn't over.

#FreeHavok

[jen]

Poor Alex. I thought he was finally free after being maimed both physically and as a character but this one line about the Wasp in UA 1 probably means the abuse isn't over.

#FreeHavok

But Alex is free. He is now in X-Men for however much longer that goes. Rogue is still stuck playing second fiddle to a self-centered, crazy harpy with daddy issues. Rogue is one of the most popular and iconic heroes and she continues to be wasted as background noise. SMH