The untapped potential of Jonathan Hickman's The Avengers or how much I'll miss him in the book

[Pat Thomas]

How can so many of you be so down on a book that hasn't even come out yet? Because of a sample issue from FCBD? We know who the cast of characters will
supposedly be, but not really a whole lot of other information. This could suck, or it could be great. Yet so many people have already convinced themselves they
won't like the book, no matter what, and that Marvel has lost their collective mind. I can't believe it's come to the point where we now complain because we aren't
excited about upcoming comics. Maybe that's a sign it's time to find another hobby, so go find one instead of whining to people who don't want to hear it anyway.
If comics only make you unhappy, why he hell would you even follow them?

[ijacksparrow]

The FCBD issue was bad, but it's the whole "Avengers on a budget" premise that seems eye rolling to me. ANAD can be anything, but they aren't Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It seems to me that they are going back to the street level kind of feel that Bendis used to go before, and I just wish they could still be a high concept epic team like they were during Hickman's run.

[nightw1ng]

Did Hickman do anything significant with Captain Universe? I felt like he was setting her up to have some big role, but I don't recall her doing much.

[shgs]

Just like the X-Men are Uncanny and Spider-Man is Amazing, The Avengers are Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Everything about Hickman's screams epic, but like I've said earlier, going from one event to another made the books suffer. I feel that Feige envisioned The Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and the scope is epic in nature. Hickman did the same, but went even bigger, and I'd REALLY love to see that more fleshed out. Yes The Ultimates looks good in concept, but I feel the roles are reversed. ANAD Avengers team would fit better as The Ultimates, and The Avengers should be a direct follow up from Hickman's run. Instead, they are basically rehashing the "New Avengers" formula, but this time with Mark Waid writing and instead of Marvel's most popular superheroes, the heroes that Marvel want them to get more popular.

It's just not a good idea for your flagship book to me. If the book wasn't selling well or wasn't critically acclaimed under Hickman's tenure I'd understand, but that's not the case. It's annoying to me to see all the potential and build-up that Hickman made with The Avengers go to waste for "Avengers with a budget and kids". Make them the Ultimates. Make them the New Warriors. Or get these same characters, add more powerhouses and FOLLOW UP on what Hickman envisioned, which is very much in sinch with what The Avengers are actually known for: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Firstly, Hickman's run came to a very conclusive end so there's not a huge amount to follow up on there. Like someone said above, they can't possibly go bigger.

Secondly, who cares if what threads are left from Avengers are picked up in a non-Avengers book instead of ANAD Avengers? It's a title. How can you possibly be so invested in the title Avengers? Let Marvel use their branding how they see fit to promote the characters they want to promote; the book(s) you claim to want are still available - the name is just slightly different. 'A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' The Avengers are not 'going to waste' just because you don't want to buy it.

I think you are also underestimating, massively, the popularity of Ms Marvel, Thor, Miles and Iron Man when you say they are not (some of) Marvel's most popular superheroes.

Did Hickman do anything significant with Captain Universe? I felt like he was setting her up to have some big role, but I don't recall her doing much.

Nope

[Smoov-E]

I like how the "on a budget" and the teen heroes is all folks need to harp on how this isn't a real true Avengers team or how this comic and entire new line will crash and burn doom & gloom..........which is the exact same thing thrown at Hickman before and during his run. X-Men had to find money and nobody screamed bloody murder how it's the end days for them and that entire line has been set up to include teen heroes since day 1 and they've faced street to cosmic level threats( which everyone on the ANAD Avengers roster HAVE done except arguably Ms. Marvel ) and again folks still love it yet when it's done elsewhere it's pearl clutching and OMG HOW CAN THIS TRAVESTY BE THEY'RE NOT MIGHTY( like Cap's kooky quartet was )

[Omega Alpha]

I'll miss Hickmans Avengers books, especially NA. He's left a lot of the characters in interesting places though, Namor & Black Panther, Sunspot, Cannonball and Smasher, Dr. Strange, Hyperion etc. It looks like some of the other writers will be picking up where he left off, Ewing on NA, Aaron on Strange and Robinson on Squadron Supreme.

I really, really hope somebody, and by somebody I mean Abnett or Ewing, picks up on some of the cosmic stuff he left dangling, like the Annihilation World, Thane & Ebony Maw and the Space Knights.

The space knights will appear in Venom: Space Knight.

And yeah, that seems as random as it gets.

Looks like the cosmic stuff will be picked up as well, since we know Starbrand will appear in a book.

[Haquim]

I guess I should be glad I'm not picking up very many of the tie ins. What title is that in? I like Faiza but yeah, that should never happen. Doom could sneeze and wipe her out existence. He could just snap her neck like Scott's. Even if he wasn't God Doom,she's not much of a threat to even to just his level of sorcery alone.

Captain Britain and the mighty defenders. Faiza has Excalibur, she's a 616 survivor. Yet she's not a threat to Doom in battleworld.

[deus ex]

yeah Ive enjoyed Hickmans run alot. infinity was the first avengers event that i really enjoyed to be honest, his new avengers was also very unique and made me take an interest in characters i never used to care about.

im kind of underwhelmed by the post secret wars news but il have to wait and see i suppose.

[adameastment]

I have to admit, that now I read back through the previous issues there does seem to be some things that were there to set up potential stories, I can only assume that they were there in case Secret Wars happened but there wasn't such a massive refresh in the marvel universe or something. For instance, I felt like the Original Sin story lacked something not sure what, but it just seemed a little disjointed once it had ended.

The same goes for "getting bigger", we know that Tony did it because he wanted to focus on the multiverse collapse so he had enough avengers to cover any real danger. But was that it? There are little bits like that, that although they aren't there to be expanded upon you can see that if Hickman got another book he would have so much material to work from

[xMatt]

i actually feel like Hickman's avengers in his own run had a lot more potential for some awesome stories and it simply got... swallowed up by how big it was IMO.

And really... how do you go bigger than "LOL the whole multiverse got destroyed. you didn't really accomplish anything LOLz." Of course this version of the Avengers is smaller... you can't go any bigger and trying to match it would just end up feeling underwhelming. So you have to go in the total opposite direction.

And once again, this feels like complaining just to complain. The Ultimates seems to be following in the foot steps of "bigger" threats across the multiverse. Titles are just titles... if you want stories like that, then its right there

This is a great post and I'm glad you wrote it. I completely agree with the idea that, after a huge story, having a more personal and somewhat smaller scope is good. It's a serial format! We can't always have stories trying to one up each other, otherwise we'd have the Avengers fighting the Beyonders every couple of years.

Also, any news on a Hickman-Avengers/New Avengers/Avengers World Omnibus?

[Chrysalis_Changling]

The FCBD issue was bad, but it's the whole "Avengers on a budget" premise that seems eye rolling to me. ANAD can be anything, but they aren't Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It seems to me that they are going back to the street level kind of feel that Bendis used to go before, and I just wish they could still be a high concept epic team like they were during Hickman's run.

well after the events of superior iron-man it would make literally no sense for iron-man to just waltz back on the scene and everything's back to normal...no consequences from his stupidity

"Avengers on A Budget" is a result of him being sued

[Punisher007]

See I'm looking forward to ANAD Avengers, precisely because it's NOT Hickman's run. I didn't find his run to be the "brilliant epic" that so many others seemed to. His plots were overly-long, drawn-out, and tedious imo. His dialogue was hamfisted, and he shoved so many damn characters onto his team that most of them didn't really get much panel-time/stuff to do. Basically the whole thing felt like the writer desperately screaming "ooh ooh, look how epic and brilliant this is, oh and epic." And sorry, just didn't see it.

[Marvel/DC Fan]

Not interested at all in ANAD Avengers books aside from Uncanny Avengers. Not a fan of Ewing's writing or the integration of teen heroes on the teams. I'm not a big flag waver for Hickman's run either, probably the last really good run on the Avengers I have read is the Busiek/Perez era.

[EgoManiac]

Hickman's Avengers/New Avengers was the 1st comic that really pulled me and I followed in real time but I'm ready for the change in landscape that ANAD will bring in. I enjoyed Hickman's run, I loved the scope I loved the interaction between the characters, but the perpetual exposition and with minor moments of payoff is getting tiring especially with Secret Wars now which itself was suppose to be the payoff. I'm still optimistically following it along hoping issues 6-9 will be the payoff. I did enjoy Infinity by the end so SW should exceed it.

Its awesome and brilliant but I'm ready for a change. I LOVE anything Al Ewing does and Soule so I know I will be kept entertained.

This feels similar to the drop off in scope I felt when I finished World War Hulk, it took me a while to adjust to the change in tone of everything and even take minor threats seriously and the direction new writers were taking but now I've acclimated to it.

[Zero Hunter]

See I'm looking forward to ANAD Avengers, precisely because it's NOT Hickman's run. I didn't find his run to be the "brilliant epic" that so many others seemed to. His plots were overly-long, drawn-out, and tedious imo. His dialogue was hamfisted, and he shoved so many damn characters onto his team that most of them didn't really get much panel-time/stuff to do. Basically the whole thing felt like the writer desperately screaming "ooh ooh, look how epic and brilliant this is, oh and epic." And sorry, just didn't see it.

I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way. To me Hickman has one trick and that is going big. Everything is big big big and in the process he made the Marvel U to me feel smaller and claustraphobic. Everything and everyone is tied into his story lines pretty much universe wide like a black hole in the center of the Marvel U just sucking everything in. Now that he has gone as big as he can since he pretty much destroyed everything he walks away and lets the next poor sap have to make something out of the rumble.