Published Jun 22, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT
Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.
Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.
Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.
Marvel has officially confirmed that it's rebuilding the Avengers franchise around six characters, with major information about what fans can expect from a bold new era with a significantly different focus to what has come before.
Recently, Marvel announced a new Avengers roster was coming, with an unusual roster of beloved heroes. Now, we have fresh images of this new team, new information about the era they represent, and a tease of the secret sixth member.
Following the current Avengers: Armageddon event, Marvel will launch Avengers Volume 10, from Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto. Here's what you need to know.
Avengers Is Rebuilding Around Captain Marvel, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil AND...
The current Avengers: Armageddon event sees Earth's Mightiest Heroes teaming up against the Red Hulk, who is using predictive technology to enforce a corrupted version of Democracy with his Hulk army, founding the nation of 'New America.' In response, the Avengers have recruited David Colton - a Sentry-level powerhouse with a deeply unstable past.
Marvel has officially announced that following Armageddon, Avengers Volume 10 will star a team known as 'Earth's Mightiest Survivors,' implying Armageddon will kill off the vast majority of the franchise's characters - likely at Colton's hands. The team is comprised of Luke Cage, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Wolverine and Spider-Man, as well as a mysterious sixth member (on who more shortly.)
New cover art from Ryan Stegman, Clayton Crain, Peach Momoko, Marco Checchetto, Chip Zdarsky and Simone Bianchi showcases both the new team and the team's new logo, split in two with different colors/shades representing how badly the team have been broken.
Why Is Marvel Focusing On These Specific Heroes?
In real terms, Marvel is clearly repeating Brian Bendis' 2005 franchise revamp, which broke up the classic team and introduced the New Avengers. Bendis operated under the philosophy of showcasing all Marvel's "coolest" characters, and likewise brought Spider-Man and Wolverine onto the team for that purpose, with a more 'street-level' bent to their adventures (while the less well-received Mighty Avengers handled larger-scale threats.)
In-world, these heroes appear to be the survivors of Armageddon, and that status is already being set up. In Avengers: Armageddon #1, Spider-Man declines to join the strike on Red Hulk, staying in New York to protect the city from more mundane threats who might use Red Hulk's campaign as cover for their own misdeeds.
Fellow street heroes Daredevil and Luke Cage (the current mayor of New York) are likely doing the same, though that hasn't been shown yet. In contrast, Wolverine and Captain Marvel are part of the strikeforce against Red Hulk, but they're also two of the most durable heroes in Marvel history, so it makes sense they'd survive whatever's coming for the rest of the team.
It's unlikely that Marvel has real plans to kill off Iron Man, Sam Wilson's Captain America and the Vision. Fans are speculating that Avengers: Armageddon will be more like the '90s Onslaught Saga, which seemingly killed off Marvel's most iconic heroes, only to reveal they'd been shunted into an alternate dimension and bring them back with massive fanfare in Heroes Reborn.
The real aim is likely to clear the deck and give the new Avengers roster some breathing room for a few years before bringing back Iron Man and the rest with similar pageantry (probably in synergy with the MCU.)
There's a Secret Sixth Member
Marvel has teased a mysterious sixth member multiple times. Avengers Volume 10 #1's summary reads:
IN THE WAKE OF ARMAGEDDON, A NEW TEAM ASSEMBLES... Superstar team Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto reunite for a trailblazing new era of AVENGERS! With the world order completely rewritten after AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON, there comes a day, a day unlike any other, when a new group of Earth's mightiest heroes find themselves united to avenge the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Luke Cage and [REDACTED]! The Avengers take center stage once again in the Marvel Universe, and it all starts here. Don't miss it!
Meanwhile, Marvel's press release for the issue reads:
With the world order completely rewritten after the events of Avengers: Armageddon, a day unlike any other arrives, when a new group of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes find themselves united to avenge the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Luke Cage and an all-new hero set to make their explosive debut soon!
That hero may be planned to debut as part of Avengers: Armageddon, but it's more likely that Marvel is talking about the events of Ultimate Impact: Reborn. This series is focused on the 'Origin Boxes' - artifacts from the alt-universe of Earth-6160, which can imbue anyone who opens them with the powers of a classic hero or villain.
That series has already introduced four new characters - the mystic Sightseer (power of Doctor Strange), the villainous Mogul (powers of Juggernaut), the maniacal Hostilicus (powers of Captain Marvel) and the new Wonder Man, Vin Lerner.
There are still more Origin Boxes in circulation (one was recently used to empower David Colton), so it's possible the series will introduce the Avengers' new sixth member at its conclusion. However, our money is on Vin Lerner joining as the Avengers' last core hero.
Wonder Man is primarily associated with the Avengers franchise, and if a new version is going to thrive, Marvel needs something to give him some prominent adventures off the back of his debut. Avengers membership makes sense in that context, especially because it would give this relatively low-powered team a second big gun beyond Captain Marvel.
Who Will Lead the Reborn Avengers?
With this new roster revealed, fans are wondering who will lead the team, and there are only two real candidates. Spider-Man and Wolverine are both self-confessed loners with no desire to lead, and Daredevil and the mysterious sixth hero have so little history with the team, it would be strange for Marvel to put them in charge.
That leaves Luke Cage and Captain Marvel, with both making good candidates. Luke Cage could give the team legitimacy as mayor of New York, and led the New Avengers for years during the New Avengers period this new era is seemingly trying to recreate (as did Carol Danvers.)
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel is far and away the new team's biggest gun and led the most recent iteration of the Avengers. It would be a little clumsy for Marvel to return her to leadership after she just stepped down and expressed excitement to see who takes over next, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.
This Reboot Is About More Than Just the Right Characters
While Marvel is putting some beloved, eye-catching characters on show for this new era, Avengers Volume 10 is about a lot more than a roster change. For the last decade, Avengers comics have floundered with fans, failing to feel connected to the wider Marvel Universe. Zdarsky has spoken extensively on his desire to make Avengers a must-buy comic for fans, telling Marvel:
Avengers is a book that should lead the Marvel Universe, where big things happen and surprises keep hitting. That's what Marco and I are doing with every issue and I can’t wait for people to fall in love with these gorgeous pages.
As signified by the new logo, Avengers isn't just entering a new era - it's attempting to right a ship that's been drifting off course for a long time. The new roster are popular, but they're also a fundamental break from the classic Avengers fighting gods and alien armadas every issue, with little time for character exploration. These new Avengers are some of Marvel's most emotionally complex characters, with Zdarsky stating:
It's going to be great to see these characters interact with one another and see how they untangle themselves from the situations we’re going to throw them into.
Marvel's new Avengers era is an attempt to revamp the franchise and make it one of the publisher's most compelling comics, with a move towards a small roster of relatable characters and more interpersonal drama, all in the aftermath of an explosive event that will seemingly kill off several classic heroes.
Avengers #1 is coming November 4, 2026 from Marvel Comics.
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