In a nutshell, it’s all about the Phoenix Force returning to Earth. In AVENGERS: X-SANCTION, Cable, who we all thought had died during Second Coming, returned from the future to battle the Avengers. Blaquesmith had told him that The Avengers were responsible for the death of Hope Summers and that led to the future he had experienced. When all was said and done, Cable succumbs to the techno-organic virus. Blaquesmith eventually tells Hope she can save Cable with the Phoenix Force. Once healed, Cable tells Scott that Hope is the Phoenix and he needs to protect her when the war comes.
AVX truly begins with issue #0. In it, Modok gets into a battle with the Scarlet Witch, Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman. Following their victory, Wanda is invited back to the Avengers Mansion but Vision, her estranged husband, turns her away based on the AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED storyline. On Utopia, Hope and Scott have a tussle and she leaves, eventually fighting the Serpent Society. And she tells Scott and Emma Frost that they need not fear her when the Phoenix Force comes.
As issue #1 begins, the Phoenix Force begins it’s destructive journey towards earth. Sam Alexander, who you may not know is the current Nova(Richard Ryder was trapped in an alternate universe at the end of the THANOS IMPERATIVE storyline along with Star-Lord) and Thanos) crash lands on Earth and falls into a coma. Iron man deduces that the Phoenix Force is to blame and the decision is made to get Hope and put her in protective custody. Cyclops refuses to let her go and all out war breaks out on the beaches of Utopia. Wolverine and Spider-Man break into the compound to retrieve Hope but she takes them out, leaving the island.
Meanwhile, in deep space, Thor and the Secret Avengers, encounter the Phoenix Force and lose badly. En route to find Hope, Wolverine and Captain America get into a scuffle because Wolverine insist Hope must die. Cap ejects him from the plane and he finds himself rescued by the mutant savior he has vowed to kill. She begs him to take her to the Blue Area of the Moon and they do. Unbeknownst to her, Wolverine has sent a signal to Captain America. Both The Avengers and the X-Men search a number of places for her including Latveria, Wakanda, Wundergore and The Savage Land before heading towards the moon. You know what that means: time for another fight. In the middle of it all, Thor falls from the sky and lands on the moon. The Phoenix is coming.
Hope feels herself losing control and begs for Wolverine to kill her. Iron Man and Giant Man make a disruptor to kill the Phoenix. But that becomes a major fail as it splits the creature which now bonds with Cyclops, Emma Frost, Sub Mariner, Colossus and his sister Magik(or as we now know them, the Phoenix Five). They defeat the Avengers, heading back to Earth with Hope in tow.
After arriving on Earth, the Five begin to reform the world. They offer free energy, along with unlimited food and water to the world. Knowing that something needs to be done as the Five remain unchecked, the Avengers concoct a plan to extract Hope from the Phoenix Five. It takes the Scarlet Witch to save them Hope leaves with Wanda and Scott echoes the words that mirror those of AVENGERS: DISASSEMBLED: “No More Avengers!”
Another battle between the teams occurs with Wanda severely injuring Magik and Emma Frost severely burning Hawkeye, who gets healed by the Phoenix Five. Iron Fist arrives at Avengers Mansion with the legendary Lei Kung The Thunderer. Kung believes he needs to take Hope to K’un L’un for training. Meanwhile, both teams continue to fight and take prisoners. During the process, Wanda injures Namor who, in turn, leads the Atlanteans in to war against Wakanda.
So this puts us seven issues in. The series is a rambling epic. And to fully appreciate the whole thing, you need to dive into the other crossover pieces. In AVENGERS, Noh-Varr betrays the Avengers but ends up being chased through Hela by the Kree, who he also betrays. In NEW AVENGERS, we get a bunch of the K’Un L’Un back story. SECRET AVENGERS resurrects (and eventually kills) Captain Marvel who passes his powers onto Ms. Marvel, who will be the NEW Captain Marvel. In AVENGERS ACADEMY, X-23 and other mutants have to decide where to leave their allegiance. And it goes without saying that the there are tie-ins in UNCANNY X-MEN, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, and X-MEN LEGACY. An, when it is all said and done(before MARVEL NOW comes along), there will be the inevitable sequels: AVX: CONSEQUENCES, AVENGERS + X-MEN(which may become the new UNCANNY AVENGERS and X-MEN titles) and A-BABIES vs. X-BABIES(yeah..go figure!)
Does all this drama work? Yes and no. Much of what happens is predictable and I find the AVX fight book(sorry…AVX: VS) to be a bore(we were told that this is a fight book…expect no more or less). It should be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Rumors had Cyclops dying during all of this. We do know for certain that the new Avengers team will feature Captain America and Wolverine and have more space adventures. We also know that Brian Michael Bendis will be writing an X-Men title where the five ORIGINAL X-Men arrived time displaced.
If you haven’t book into this now, wait for the trade paperback. If you can find back issues, grab them now. This is the title that will help to shape the future of YOUR Marvel Universe. And remember: don’t call it a reboot!
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