Marvel’s Avengers franchise just transformed two powerful heroes, turning them into major threats for a new era. While fans are used to ‘dark variants’ from alternate realities, the new arrivals are trying something new…
New Avengers Introduces 2 Major New Villains
Captain Britain and Medusa’s Dark Reflections Revealed
In today’s New Avengers #6 – from Sam Humphries, Ton Lima, Rain Beredo and Joe Sabino – Marvel unleashes Lord Britain and Rapunzel. The pair are evil clones of Brian Braddock’s Captain Britain and the Inhuman leader Medusa, with more violent takes on their powers. Lord Britain wields a fiery sword (the opposite of Captain Britain’s ‘Amulet of Right’) while Rapunzel has weaponized her hair with metal spikes, while also seemingly believing it has a mind of its own.
The new villains are the latest members of the Killuminati – dark clones of the Illuminati who the New Avengers have been targeting over the last few months. Each clone wields the abilities and expertise of the original – Reed Richards’ genius, Iron Man’s engineering brilliance, Doctor Strange’s magical knowledge – but without any moral restraint.
Captain Britain and Medusa are lesser-known members of the original Illuminati, joining after the original roster. However, that doesn’t make them any less dangerous – Captain Britain is a multiversal-level operator, while Medusa has led her people in galaxy-spanning wars. Their dark reflections are likely to spell trouble for a team that’s already on the brink of collapse.
Our Take on Avengers’ New Villains
When Marvel launched its latest volume of New Avengers, it made the smart decision to pit the team against some truly interesting new villains. At the same time, it hasn’t been afraid for ‘Earth’s Deadliest Heroes’ to live up to their nickname, allowing them to kill off Killuminati members at an impressive rate. With Carnage, Wolverine and Black Widow on a team, it makes sense that their enemies have a short shelf life.
With Rapunzel and Lord Britain, New Avengers just replenished the stock of deadly villains for the New Avengers to go up against, while also offering fresh satires of two of Marvel’s most capable heroes. It’s clear that Lord Britain will poke fun at the original’s aristocratic outlook, while the measured, always diplomatic Medusa has become a cheerful killer who can’t wait to spill blood. It also hints fans may see more Killuminati clones, with Illuminati members including Emma Frost, the Beast and Hulk still up for grabs.
It’s always fun to see great heroes turn evil, and New Avengers has pushed that idea way further than normal. This is no mere ‘villain era’ for Captain Britain and Medusa, but the debut of new characters who unleash the full potential of their inner darkness. Hopefully, the New Avengers don’t take them out too quickly for fans to enjoy these dark reflections of two iconic heroes.
New Avengers #6 is available now from Marvel Comics.