Issue opens with Doug Ramsey, drawn amazingly by Davis and Neary. Doug is listening to a wide range of music, he sets up a new Danger Room session.
Illyana doesn’t hide the fact that she’s bored by how long Doug is taking to get the session started.
This issue takes place after issues 47 – 51, I own all but issue 49 – no Magik so I don’t own it. We know this as Magma and Karma are not part of the training session due to being sick. Dani is sick but as the leader of the team, she had to be present.
Doug starts the training season, Illyana is surprised they are in Central Park whereas Sam is more surprised Doug is having them fight the Avengers. Who are Captain America, Thor, She-Hulk, Monica Captain Marvel, Black Knight and Dr. Druid. I take it, these must be the current Avengers but f you were going to program “The Avengers” you’ll go with the all stars, right?
Sunspot references New Mutants 40 and Avengers v X-Men, in that the Avengers are no friends to the Xavier School.
To even the odds, Doug presses some keys and the Avengers turn into, The Teen Avengers! Davis / Neary are such a great art team, they manage to actually deage the Avengers but also keep them recognizable.
Magik takes on Black Knight but it doesn’t break out into a sword fight like I thought it would. I do like how she simply dodges Captain Marvel.
Sunspot fights She-Hulk, and abuses the Danger Room policy by taking the time to kiss She-Hulk. That’s not using the hardlight constructs correctly!
Captain America defeats Wolfsbane but Cannonball is able to knock him off of his feet. Captain Marvel knocks Sam back though. As Sam continues to fall, Thor catches him.
Captain Marvel is caught off guard by seeing a giant monster in the sky. This was her childhood boogey-man so Dani just took her out.
As Thor is about to land, Cannonball blasts away and throws Thor into Sunspot. Sunspot catches Thor and flings him towards Captain America.
In front of Dani, Sam and Sunspot turn into Thor and Captain America. She was doing a head count and had forgotten an Avenger. She, like me and history, had forgotten about Doctor Druid. Good thing Warlock, who also disappeared, is on set to take out the Sorcerer Unsupreme.
The New Mutants are impress they won over the Avengers but Dani feels like it was too easy. Which it was, once they were turned into teenagers.
An earthquake triggers the Danger Room to go to its default setting. Communication is down, so the team can’t contact Magneto & X-Men, a line of dialogue that is constantly needed to explain why the older class-men are not involved in the high jinks.
They get outside and see –
They see a giant green ship!
Out of the ship comes . . . Impossible Man! This is a sequel to Uncanny X-Men Annual 7.
Dani comes at Impossible Man, as she isn’t up for any nonsense. Illyana starts trying to subtly nudge Dani to calm down. Illyana wants Dani to watch her tone as Impossible Man has untold powers – including the ability to take the mansion out of the ground.
Sam and Sunspot can’t believe that the Scavenger Hunt story was real. Impossible Man enjoys the story and uses his shape-shifting power to retell it. He took Nick Fury’s eyepatch, he took both Black Queen’s and Wasp’s costumes, Iron Man’s original gray armor and Hulk’s purple pants, he took captive Zabu, the Sabertooth Tiger, Doctor Strange’s skylight and the Fantasticar.
He has returned so that he can continue the good times.
The New Mutants walk away, they don’t have time for these games. Impossible Man thinks they are scared and like Marty McFly, Warlock doesn’t like the idea of being called a chicken. Warlock v Impossible Man, is a fun match up, does it need to be a giant sized annual? I’m not so sure but this issue is gong to get pretty big.
Magik has a plan, she can teleport them to wherever the duo goes. From Limbo, she can create a scrying pool to keep an eye on the shape shifters.
Doug doesn’t like that Warlock left, as now he doesn’t have much to offer the team.
Dani agrees with Illyana’s plan, Sam adds that they should use their graduation outfits. Last (and first) seen in Uncanny X-Men Annual 10, so this could be three years since Impossible Man’s last visit.
Art Adams originally drew them but Davis / Neary get a shot to bring them back. I still think Magik’s is probably the best, the others seem to be something Xavier half designed.
At the Hudson River Towers, Hulk (Impossible Man) is fighting Thing (Warlock).
The team tries to calm the civilians. Magik tries to teleport the two to limbo but the floor falls apart out from under her. Before she can fall into the river, Cannonball saves her.
I like do like how Warlock sticks to his yellow and black color scheme whereas Impossible Man is stuck having to stay green and purple. With a giant explosion, the combatants teleport away. Doug recommends they go back to Limbo and relocate them.
The team is now in Sunspot’s home city, Rio de Janiero. I like them pointing out that Warlock and Impossible Man are both aliens, so there is a disconnect there.
Doug is worried that their costumes might start a panic. Sunspot has a solution to that and runs off.
So I can only imagine Sunspot picked out everyone’s swimsuits. Nice of him to give Rahne a shirt, even though she still feels like she is revealing too much. Him giving Dani a one piece and Illyana a bikini, I think, speaks volumes. Doug is worried that someone might notice how tight his swimsuit is. Doesn’t help that Dani and Illyana are flaunting their goods.
Wolfsbane picks up on a scent take takes off.
Dani isn’t happy that all the women in Brazil are attractive. None of the guys try to score easy points by telling her that she is also attractive. Rahne shifts back and everyone catches up to her. She is shocked to see an almost naked man standing and flexing his muscles. Dani also likes what she is seeing.
The two muscle men are actually the two aliens. Impossible Man is in body paint.
Everyone is enjoying the show, maybe too much. Cannonball knocks the two into the water and the water short-circuits Warlock and has Impossible Man’s makeup fade away.
The women of the audience don’t like being tricked by the two guys and start throwing items at them. They disappear again. Illyana teleports the team away.
In London, the duo are having a tennis match. The duo move on and Claremont sneaks in Warlock as Captain Britain and Impy is Captain America. When the boys of the team arrive, Impy turns into Magneto and Warlock takes Xavier’s form. The aliens just want to continue their fun.
The two are continuing their fighting. Impy turns into Viper and Warlock is Spider-Woman.
So naturally, Warlock turns into Spider-Man and Impy becomes the Green Goblin. They’re in Russia now, so the KGB are trying to shut the fight down. Illyana doesn’t live here anymore but she doesn’t want her homeland to be trashed.
Magik teleports Warlock to Limbo and yells at him. Cannonball has a chat with A Thanos inspired Impossible Man.
Warlock comes back, now looking like male Captain Marvel taking on old foe, Thanos. The two keep escalating, Warlock turns into Watcher and Impy is Galactus.
We are treating to Warlock as Red Ronin and Impossible Man is Godzilla. The team finally tells Warlock to stop matching Impossible Man and beat him at something he can’t do. With that, Warlock goes from yellow and black, to multiple colors.
This causes Impossible Man to cry and everyone is back at the mansion. Illyana is tired of all of the crying
Magneto comes home, finally. The students start talking over themselves, trying to hide what they’ve been doing. Impossible Man is in a shape of a chair. The television is on and coverage of the tennis game comes on and Magneto yells at the students.
Back cover ad is for the Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson wedding! Amazing Spider-Man Annual 21, and a special look at their relationship in Marvel Saga 22.
Head Writer / Coordinator / Production Mike O’Sullivan
Overseer Jeff Christiansen
Coordination Assistance Mike Fichera
Writers Madison Carter, Jeff Christiansen, Anthony Cotilletta, Patrick Duke, Mike Fichera, Kevin Garcia, Daron Jensen, Rob London, Chris McCarver, Sean McQuaid, Roger Ott, Markus Raymond, Marc Riemer, Jacob Rougemont and Stuart Vandal
Image Refurbishment / Production Assistance Gally Articola, Anthony Cotilletta, Mike Fichera, Mike O’Sullivan, Roger Ott and Emily Schmidt
Cover Art Mike McKone and Rachelle Rosenberg
Special Thanks Steven Boyd, Shawn “Keebler” Byers, Peter David, Aida Duran, Steve Topper, Jeph York, http://www.g-mart.com and the guys at the Appendix (www.marvunapp.com)
In loving memory of Arthur Jensen (2000-2015)
My heart goes out to Daron Jensen, over the lost of Arthur, as that is simply heart breaking!
I wanted to spotlight a few entries –
Obnoxio the Clown
Nice that the late Alan Kupperberg’s creation gets a spotlight. Kitty isn’t mention in the Old Man Logan spotlight.
Secret Wars II
In my mind, Secret Wars II has a lot to do with the X-Men and the New Mutants but the event was much larger than that. The New Mutants were really affected by the event. Nice that Magik gets name checked in it.
Spider-Man (Morales)
Miles time with the All New Ultimates, which also had Ultimate Shadowcat as a member, gets spotlighted.
“Ultimate Universe” (Reality-1610)
Really surprised that the entire Ultimate Universe can be squeezed down to five pages, especially with the lack of crossovers (at first).
Puff
Glad to see the green dragon from Secret Wars has an official name. I want to say she got the name in Shadow and Flame, but I’ll find out when I reread that series – someday. Also nice is that she doesn’t have any other adventures that I have to track down.
I like how in Zsaji’s spotlight, Colossus cheating on his then girlfriend, isn’t mention. That should be in his spotlight. Zsaji’s entry shall be her heroic sacrifice.
Nice to actually read about Ruby Summers, as I’m not going to seek out those X-Factor issues.
Other spotlights worth checking out –
Age of Ultron
Cabal
Children of the Secret Wars, from the amazing What If 114 issue. Apparently they showed up in another issue, which I wish was revealed in this issue. Apparently Avengers Forever 11 and 12, had an appearance by a few of these kids, I wonder if I picked up on that, when that issue came out.
Egyptia is a region of Secret Wars 2015’s Battleworld, so it is nice to read about the proper version.
Incursions, always good to know more about what Hickman’s Avengers run was leading up to.
Iron Avengers, from Earth X – always nice when Marvel acknowledges that maxiseries.
Maker (Ultimate Reed Richards) had an update, but doesn’t mention Ultimate Kitty Pryde. Not even due to Cataclysm.
Nightcrawler, but the one from Age of Apocalypse, that was a member of Uncanny X-Force.
Shiklah, Deadpool’s wife
Spider-verse, nice to read what that entire crossover event was about, in three pages.
Tyler Stone from Spider-Man 2099, who I read (before) had gotten a complicated twist to his story. Though the entire Stone family is pretty complicated.
Throg, that mentions Pet Avengers, all over the place, but Lockheed isn’t named – not even once. Lockjaw is the only member to get name checked.
Thunderball, of the Wrecking Crew fame, gets two pages.
Volcana, the best aspect of Mocular Man, gets two pages.
Weirdworld, another domain of Battleworld, the original version, gets three pages.
There are sixteen pages before we get to the New Mutants, and from there, this annual gets pretty good. Until then, it is some very deep entrenched ROM plots but I’ll try to get through them so that it doesn’t seem completely odd, once we get to the New Mutants. I type that, as I barely remember this issue.
Issue opens with ROM and a lady Spaceknight (I imagine) as they approach a day care center that has children inside being held captive by Dire Wraiths.
The ESPer Unit of SHIELD is on site to try to help with the Dire Wraith situation. The lady Spaceknight’s name is, Starshine. They all can’t be winners like, ROM! One of the agents states that the terror levels are spiking and Starshine quickly flies into the day care center. Everyone else worries that the children will be endangered but ROM understands that more children will be endangered, if the Dire Wraiths get out of the day care center.
The Dire Wraiths are young and without a leader, so they are directionless. The children’s instructor wakes up and the filthy Dire Wraiths resort to their instincts and murder her – in front of the children! Like the Warwolves, but less less interesting, the Dire Wraiths can absorb the appearance of their victim. Instead of wearing the person’s skin, the Dire Wraith sticks its tongue into the teacher’s forehead and sucks the teacher’s essence and transforms into her as her body turns to skeleton. All of this, again, in front of the teacher’s students – who can’t be older than ten.
One of the other jerk Dire Wraiths is about to do the horrid tongue trick to a small child when Starshine breaks through the wall, with ROM right behind her. The heroes fight the aliens. The children are saved and outside, two Dire Wraiths escape by transforming into Deathwings, like black pterodactyls. The two spaceknights give chase. ROM hesitates to kill the Dire Wraith, as it is only a child. Starshine follows Charlton Heston’s eleventh commandment, “thou shall not hesitate.”
ROM hints that Starshine is really his old friend, Brandy, a character I know I’ve read about in the past but she didn’t much impression besides “lady friend of ROM.”
Apparently, ROM (I had to read this page twice and I wasn’t even to recap it but then I realized it is pretty important for later) fired his gun and kept the chamber open too long – or something. In that fraction of a second, the Limbo ROM sends Dire Wraiths to, something came back!
The being goes down the river until coming across some simple mountain folk. A holy man is baptizing folks when the ooze takes the shape of a young man. They accept the teenager as a gift from God, and we see that the teenager has an evil smirk. He’s going to own these folks.
Now we get to the main point of the issue, the New Mutants arrive! Weeks have passed and Sam is taking his friends to his family home, in Kentucky. Illyana wishes that Storm was here, so she could use her powers to put out the forest fire. This causes Xavier to recap Uncanny X-Men 185, in that Storm lost her powers. Well, more like they were stolen from her by that jerk, Forge, when he was trying to steal Rogue;s powers.
Sunspot and Cannonball aid the firefighters in making a firebreak. They do this, from the shadows and from a distance, so that Kentucky doesn’t feel grateful for having mutants help them – I guess?
Meanwhile, back at the limo. Xavier senses that there is a group of firefighters that need help. He sends Wolfsbane to save them. She finds them and lets out a howl. She’s trapped in the same fire and Xavier wants to send Magik, who has been dreading using her powers.
She has very little control over her stepping discs. She could teleport right to where Wolfsbane is, but maybe a day late or thousands of years early. Being told she is their only hope, so she heads out. Such a nice three panel sequence, where she teleports them to limbo and back to safety.
Illyana, for a moment, gets scared as she didn’t recognize her surroundings. Xavier hugs her as everything went right for her.
Magma is next up, she’s going to put out the fires by creating some hotter fires. As they leave, Rahne notices that a church in the middle of the fire, wasn’t even singed.
Coming out of the church is the Priest and the boy from the river – who now looks like he is in his twenties. The new guy clearly started the fire. ROM and Starshine are nearby, as this is where the Dire Wraith ran to. Following them is the Wraith-Hunter Ranger Command Camp. I wonder what these soldiers are doing these days. In ROM 60, we learn that the Dire Wraiths are gearing up to become a global threat.
One of the ESPers reaches out for Dire Wraith telepathic signals and passes out. This is a stronger connection than the time Doctor Strange helped them, in ROM 54. ROM only had 75 issues, plus annuals, so they are gearing up for the big Total War stroyline, which has actually been going on since issue 52 and ends with 65 with 66 being an Epilogue issue. I guess Mantlo takes nine issues to wrap up everything else.
The ESPer’s last words (before passing out” is “the horror! the horror!” which reminds ROM of another old foe, one he thought was long gone.
The Town of Cumberland, Cameron County, Kentucky. The Gurthries are happy to have their eldest son back home.
Josh, the future Icarus, has been hanging around Illyana and Magma, he’s a bit smitten with them. Illyana finds him cute, in a way. Shame he’s dead now, now that she’s been back for a while.
The local area has had some problems recently, besides with these latest fires. One of the younger sisters, I doubt it is Paige but it could be, thinks it is a miracle that the fire stopped. Robert elbows Illyana, as they were the miracle workers this day.
Mrs. Guthrie references how the new preacher should have a sermon about today’s events. She goes on to talk about the new preacher came out of the river, naked, and not being able to talk and now he quotes scripture like he was always meant to.
ROM and Starshine approach the church. Now that they are finally alone, ROM wants to talk to his love Brandy Clark but name disgusts Starshine. Starshine flies away, as she is upset. ROM is about to go after her, but ROM hears the old preacher repeat “the horror, the horror.”
ROM turns and recognizes the silhouette of an old foe!
We finally get to the villain of the issue, and it is a great one! Probably, my favorite ROM villain – Hybrid! The product of a Dire Wraith and a Human, so he’s a mutant! I really enjoy this villain, he’s a hot mess and so very twisted.
I looked it up, thinking that I owned all but two of his appearances. Of the 13, I’m missing six, so I’m at that part where I own half and the debate rages if I should try to get the other issues. I have to add ROM 62 as Magik appears in that issue, so one day, I’ll be five issues away. So I’m going to see if Hastings has X-Man 31, Avengers Academy 23, 24, 25 and New Warriors (2014) 1 and I’ll own all of his appearances. If Hastings even has three of the issues, I’m going to commit to getting the other issues and add Hybrid to my favorite character list – which, apparently I take very seriously. Hybrid’s appearance in this issue really took me by surprise and I instantly liked this issue even more. Reading this back issues, I have to confess, I feel like I must have skim right through them to get to the next issue. Probably due to me buying back issues by the 20 or 30 (pending on sales) so I was just trying to own them all and read all of them. They feel like a big sense of memory in my head. Thanks to this blog,
Since writing the above, I did go to Hastings (as this post and the next one is going to take forever) and they only had the New Warriors issue so I was able to buy that one. I’ve tried to back order the Avengers Academy three issues and the X-Man issue but I doubt they’ll be able to get them shipped.
Hybrid attacks Starshine, ROM mistakenly shows concern for her so Hybrid now knows that ROM cares for the golden spaceknight.
Meanwhile, Sam and Josh are hunting like how their father use to do.
The old preacher, Joad, has died. The New Mutants and the town comes out to the funeral. As the young preacher arrives, Xavier senses grave evil as the young man arrives. As Illlyana is in-tune to such things, she can also sense the danger. Rahne also senses evil from the young man,
Soon. Sam can’t believe what he is hearing, that Joad was murdered by an evil mutant. Illyana corrects him, not a mutant, something far more sinister. Nearby, Hybrid is able to overhear everything.
Hybrid returns to the church, transforming into his natural form. He gives us a quick recap of his origins, ROM 16 & 17. Hybrid doesn’t waste any time before threatening to turn Starshine into his new bride. This is one of the things that makes him such a twisted villain, he really wants to enslave women and turn them into baby making machines – which is disgusting. He first tried to turn Kitty into his bride in his first appearances (ROM 17 – 19) and then all three – Rogue, Mystique and Destiny – in ROM 31 & 32. He’s a pretty proper character, now that I’m looking at the years of his appearance. Debut in 1981, returned in 1982 and now, two years later in 1984 for this issue. A year later he’ll be back and then disappears for twelve years. Then 15 years later, had a bit of a resurgence and he hasn’t been seen since 2014, two years after his last run.
Hybrid reverses the spells that made Brandy into Starshine and now she is human again. After that, he causes the church to sink into the ground.
The town and the New Mutants are going through the mines to see if they can find the church. Sam doesn’t like being in the same mines that caused his father’s black lung. Magik doesn’t like being surrounded by such darkness, even though she knows it doesn’t compare to Limbo. Hybrid plans on making the ladies of the New Mutants into his brides. He’s the worst. He just happens to be one of those characters that I own so many of his appearances, so I feel like I really get the character, but his character design really sticks with him.
The mine collapses. Sam has a PTSD flashback to something he hasn’t personally experienced. Illyana tells Magma to light up the place as she tries to calm Sam down. Xavier knows that Magma’s flame is going to eat up all of the oxygen in the room. Cannonball blasts his way through the mine, but takes a super nasty fall at the end.
Magma, without missing a beat, tells Sam that she could have made it all the way through, without causing herself any grief. A bright light appears and the team is in front of the church. Is Dani not part of the team? We’re getting references to ROM issues but not New Mutants.
Hybrid brings Xavier to his flippin’ knees with a mental blast. Everyone is super rightfully disgusted by the fact that Hybrid wants to turn Illyana, Magma and Wolfsbane into a breeding ground. Cannonball leads the charge to attack Hybrid.
Hybrid takes the team down. Hybrid gets a good dig into Rahne, who is super religious and he’s an acting preacher, so she feels conflicted.
Magma tries to burn Hybrid but he turns the lava towards Sunspot, which I don’t really mind.
Hybrid is telepathic, so he has an edge against everyone. Look at how gross Hybrid is in the middle panels! He amost kisses Illyana but look at what he was trying to do there, is that his tongue? Illyana luckily teleports away. Hybrid continues his plans to marry Magma and Wolfsbane.
Illyana is in Limbo, to calm down – which must make her sad that that place can calm her. She sees ROM there, so that’s good timing. ROM mentions Kitty, who Illyana says “knew” so what is happening in their title that Kitty may be gone?
Illyana recognizes that this isn’t her Limbo but ROM’s limbo – that’s why there are Dire Wraiths there. Would it have been that hard to have just named ROM’s Limbo something else? Rimbo?
Illyana and ROM teleport back to the church.
Illyana teleports the two into the church, I guess we needed the establishing shot. ROM allows himself to get excited that Brandy has been reverted back to human.
Oh man, how gross is Hybrid kissing Brandy? There’s no coming back from that!
ROM charges at Hybrid, who claims that ROM’s weapons probably won’t affect him. Hybrid also promises to name his first born after ROM.
Magik is tired of being told she’s nothing more than a vagina and brings out her off model soulsword.
Magik runs her soulsword through Hybrid.
Brandy tries to use her spaceknight powers but realizes she is human now. She grabs ROM’s gun and blasts Hybrid until he fades away.
Brandy falls backwards and ROM catches her. She’ll be okay. ROM and the New Mutants say their farewells.
The next issue is ROM 61 but not for us.
There is an ad for the Dazzler and Beast miniseries, Beauty and the Beast. Get it?
Storm doesn’t blink, she wants Charles back. Husk is perfectly intent to rip out the X-Men’s heart so she’s going to keep Charles.
To make sure that nobody mistakes Husk for not being properly motivated, she retells her origins. Generation Next risked their very lives in order to get Illyana and no one could be bothered to regroup and come back to the Core and make sure their families had bodies to be buried.
Her team – Chamber, Skin and Vincente – are all dead. The goons in the Portland Core (I’m sure it switches back and forth from Portland to Seattle) didn’t know what to do with prisoners.
Once word came down that Apocalypse was defeated, everyone abandoned the Cores. The Gurthries apparently heard a rumor where Paige’s body could be found and they followed it. Her real family (who she turned her back on, so she could become an X-Man) found her when the X-Man abandoned her.
Storm tries to explain how Colossus (the worst) told the X-Men how only Illyana and Kate survived.
Husk doesn’t need excuses, the X-Men went to check on Bishop, they should have gone back for everyone. Weapon X sneaks up to Husk but doesn’t get Charles. In fact, everyone is standing pretty close to each other, not sure why no one just grabs Charles. Kurt should just teleport in and out. Dash and grab, as it were.
Silver Samurai tells Weapon X to stand down as help has finally arrived. Psylocke has arrived and somehow, has become Asian in this timeline! She hands Charles to Weapon X.
Weapon X tells Nightcrawler to teleport away with Charles, he takes offense to Weapon X giving out orders but he follows them.
The X-Men have a quick fight with the Guthries but then Magneto arrives. Magneto has Sunfire burn the Guthries. The two make short work of the youngsters.
Quicksilver is about to punch Husk but Rogue tells her son-in-law to stop. Stepson, right? Rogue tries to explain how, once Apocalypse was dead, the X-Men decided to start anew with the living and not worry about the dead. I guess that is harsh but that’s a decision winners can make.
Rogue won’t kill Husk, just lock her away in a cell. I guess for attempted child capture? After giving that threat Kirika kills Husk, so that was a waste of a page.
With Paige’s dying words she reveals that Charles was bait and Sinister has larger plans for Magneto. Rogue asks Magneto what he knows about Sinister being alive. Magneto reveals that he didn’t save the day, when the bombs were dropping. The issue ends with the reveal that Jean stopped the bombs, even though we saw her super die at the hands of Havok. Also, Sinister has Jean.
I imagine the X-Men free Jean and Sinister gets his butt kicked.
. . .
With this, we end our visit to the Age of Apocalypse.
Retrospective of the Wolverine satellite of titles from M-Day to Second Coming, from Wolverine’s perspective. Those titles are – Wolverine, Wolverine : Origins, X-Force, X23 and his son, Daken the Dark Wolverine.
The events that span that era are – House of M, Civil War, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Necrosha and Second Coming.
The one we care about the most this the X23 section, as it mentions Laura’s involvement in Belasco’s attempt to bring Magik back in New X-Men : Quest for Magik.
So that makes this a keeper.
I must state though, that not really ever been a follower of X23 nor Daken, it was nice to be able to read what their deals were as we start with their origins and follow their tales up to the then present day. Also, it gave me a chance to find out what that whole Romulus nonsense was all about in the Wolverine titles.
There is a list of trades in chronological order. I can only recommend these ones :
Wolverine : Enemy of the State / Agent of SHIELD
Wolverine : Old Man Logan
X-Necrosha
Wolverine : Origin
Weapon X
X-Men : Original Sin
. . .
Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of those who served in the military and sacrificed their ultimate gift.
It took ten years but Bachalo has become the leader of an army of inkers.
Yoshida is the writer of the excellent, Kitty Pryde & Lockheed – Shadow & Flame miniseries featuring Paul Smith on pencils.
In the previous issues, Magneto and his X-Men are the protectors of the populace. Their main mission is to hunt down the rest of Apocalypse’s goons. The X-Men are no longer the ragtag group but are now a large team.
The X-Men have met a group of young mutants. Magneto, Sunfire, Gambit and Quicksilver are on a separate mission. Weapon X and a new mutant, Kirika have defeated Northstar & Aurora and are now on their way to rejoin the X-Men.
This issue opens with a classic X-Men playing football scene. Weapon X and Silver Samurai let old scores surface but Storm tells them to calm down. Like anytime anyone is told is clam down, it doesn’t work. The two keep fighting as Kirika keeps trying to break it up and protect Weapon X.
After the game, the X-Men are watching news coverage of the Guthrie clan making a very public appearance. Which will be the reason why I own this issue and the next.
The Guthries are Cannonball, Icarus and a blonde sister. It can’t be Husk as she was part of Generation Next, and is believed dead.
Cannonball blasts Weapon X out of the fight and Kirika calls Weapon X “dad!” so that’s a thing now. I’m pretty sure she’s suppose to be AoA’s X23.
The sister has the ability to grow to Giant Man height, if not bigger, so she’s a new one. She’s able to make short work of this B-Team of X-Men.
Kurt teleports Dazzler up to the giant’s ear and she dazzles the giant. Storm finally knocks her off of her large feet.
The Xavier Institute. Monitor Room. Xorn comes in to relief Rogue. Xorn, who looks like a lady or a dude in a mask with long hair. Xorn doesn’t like hearing that the Guthries are losing the fight and side kicks Rogue. Xorn takes off her mask, and Rogue claims that she had died. Xorn corrects her, it was more like “left to die.”
Meanwhile. Cannonball is doing better in any fight that he would ever have against a Wolverine. Weapon X tries to soak Cannonball but in the distraction, the Guthries all motor off.
The Mansion. The B-Team comes home (it is what the giant Guthrie called them) and they get worried as clearly a fight broke out. Storm asks where Rogue and Charles are.
With a “Welcome Home, X-Men. Hope You’ll Survive the Experience.” –
Husk is back and she is (rightfully) pissed!
Dazzler thought she died in the Seattle Core. Husk has to correct yet another X-Fool, and state that she was left for dead. She’s pretty upset that no X-Man ever came back, clearly years have gone by (maybe just the one) and someone should have gone to the Cores and check on them.
Issue ends with the four empowered Guthries reunited.
This is our last visit to the Civil War tie-ins that I own.
This is the only X-Factor issue I own of this volume, so lets learn about what has been happening for the past eleven years.
The villain of the series, Singularity Investigations (a bad detective agency to counter X-Factor Investigations – the good detective agency) is still present. Madrox and Strong Guy have learn that Damian Trip,, the head of Singularity, shares the same DNA as his son. I like how everyone is astonished in this recap. A little tease of who may be appearing in this issue. Spider-Man has told Siryn that the X-Men and key Avengers know the secret of M-Day, and that news hasn’t made it to X-Factor, until now. Monet, Rictor and Wolfsbane has learn that a Madrox duplicate is not only a SHIELD member but also a registered hero. Layla (who is still a great character at this point) had a run in with Quicksilver but wasn’t that astonished as she saw it coming.
The team is upset with Quicksilver as they know he was critical in the House of M event. He cost Rictor his powers, and countless others. Quicksilver tries to explain that his love for his sister, Wanda, and the Avengers were going to kill her. Strong Man grabs Quicksilver by the throat, I guess I also hadn’t thought about how Pietro was choosing one live over millions but he too didn’t know that was going to be the outcome.
Quicksilver brags about how his new ability, thanks to the Inhumans’ Terrigen Mists, can give depowered mutants a version of their powers back. He threatens to try his powers on Strong Guy, as he doesn’t know what would happen if he touched a mutant who still has his powers. This makes Strong Guy put Quicksilver down.
Quicksilver wants them to be united as they fight a common foe. Monet cites that the former population of Mutant Town would say that Pietro was the common enemy. Quicksilver likes Monet, she reminds him of himself in his younger days.
Everyone turns to Madrox to get his opinion. Should they reveal the truth about M-Day, should they let Quicksilver join the team and should they register? He can’t take the pressures and leaves.
Madrox walks down the steps and runs into Layla. She knew the truth about M-Day as she was the new character find of House of M. Madrox is upset as she is clearly holding information back, he threatens to do something to her. She questions if he is going to send her back to the orphanage, as a cab is coming up in a few minutes. This quiets him.
There is three panels of quiet. Madrox isn’t good at making decisions, hence why he is a good team leader. Layla is there to provide some direction. She tells him to go North, and to buy a certain hat, gloves and a scarf – it’ll come in handy. She hints that they will be arguing for a long time, he asks what makes her say that. Because they will be married, eventually. Going in this direction, should give him some insight on the registration issue.
Madrox is thinking about how Quicksilver’s plot is making him forget about Tryps. Is the son really the younger version of the father? Tryps is like time trips, right? Madrox thinks Tryps could be a clone, that is another option. This train of thought makes him think about how Spider-Man must be a clone, as he is everywhere. Madrox does eventually buy a hat, gloves and a scarf.
Madrox runs into Aegis, who was a member of New Warriors, when I last read of him. Aegis is running as SHIELD is after him, as he isn’t going to register. Aegis is under the impression, that once you register, the government can make a super group of whichever needed heroes and send them on missions. Which is sort of what the Initiative does, but they stay in one state. Madrox is going to stick around with Aegis, as heroes should hang together.
SHIELD stands down a street, waiting for Aegis. Little did they expect, a crowd of folks are storming down that same street. Naturally, it really is Madrox, times a hundred. Aegis is also dressed like how Madrox is, so he is able to sneak in the middle of the crowd. That’s who the extra set of clothes was for.
Madrox offers Aegis a spot on X-Factor but he rather go through the sewers and hope to run into Captain America.
Once alone, Madrox summons his dupes back to him. Once he has everyone, he gets dizzy and falls backwards down the subway tunnel that Aegis just went down.
Quicksilver is trying to rent a storefront from a lady. Someone shouts that Pietro should come outside.
It is the Astonishing X-Men! Wolverine can smell Quicksilver but Kitty is quick to point out that only Wolverine can smell him. Calero does a great job of handling these legendary characters.
Quicksilver tells the team that he is letting the lady exit stage left, so don’t harm her.
Beast can’t believe the lady doesn’t know the X-Men are the good guys, in this scenario. Layla arrives, and Cyclops and Wolverine recognize her. Kitty should too, but she doesn’t get a moment with Layla. Layla mentions that X-Factor knows the truth about M-Day. Layla explains further about how she had parents in the House of M timeline but here, she doesn’t have parents.
X-Factor arrives and Siryn speaks first. Cyclops’ team should have shown some respect for X-Factor by telling them that they were arriving. Rictor is the reason they are there, as he called them as he thought this was the only way to force the confrontation. X-Factor really doesn’t like that they were not informed about M-Day, I reckon it is because it makes them feel like a satellite team or a C-Team – which they were at this point, so removed from the X-Circle.
Colossus begins to make a move but Siryn shuts him down. Cyclops blasts Madrox, which instantly creates ten of him. Madrox stands up to Cyclops, daring him to blast him a few more times.
Scott tries to explain their reasons but Madrox points out that those reasons were already present, people will always fear and hate mutants.
Cyclops tells them how Emma promised Stark that the X-Men are staying neutral during Civil War. Also, they don’t need to register, they don’t have secret identities and they work and live at a school, so training has never been an issue with the X-Men.
Kitty doesn’t like that Quicksilver and enter and exit scenes,, as he pleases.
Madrox is going to call a press conference and declare that X-Factor stands against registration.
Since Cyclops won’t stand with Madrox, he tells them that they can get the heck out of Mutant Town. Cyclops tells his team that they are leaving. He also warns that once Quicksilver steps out of Mutant Town, the Astonishing X-Men will be back for him.
Issue ends with Wolfsbane wondering if they won but Madrox isn’t sure.
There are several short stories in this issue but we’re only focusing on one of them –
“Talking About My Generation”
By Scott Lobdell & Alvin Lee
Inker Scott Hepburn
Colorist Gary Yeung
Letterer Dave Sharpe
UDON Chief Erik Ko
Most of the stories take place before the original crossover, except for the last one as it sets up the upcoming miniseries.
This story opens with Colossus sitting on his butt, as the X-Men fight Sentinels. He’s thinking about all he has ever known, is fighting.
I do like how Rogue and Sabretooth keep fighting on, as if they always expected Colossus to falter. Sunfire is there too, he’s also disappointed in Colossus. Rogue promises to have words with him, later.
Back home, Magneto is even more disappointed in Colossus. This is probably the most Colossus deals with the fact that his brother is a Horseman of Apocalypse.
Look at Shadowcat there! Why would you ever leave the house!?!
Colossus starts to unload his problems onto his common-law life. She’s ready to just leave and recommit themselves to having a family. Hopefully they don’t plan on moving to the Midwest.
Magneto arrives, he has a new goal for the couple. He wants them to start teaching the next generation of students.
There’s a story featuring Sabretooth. A character who gets plenty of attention in the pages of Exile.
Weapon X, Logan, gets a story, back when he had both hands.
The final story picks up with the bombs would be exploding at the end of X-Men Omega. The bombs were exploded overhead, so no one dies.
I’ve read the first issue and now, I’ll be reviewing the last issue. Let’s see what we’ve missed!
Magneto has lost his powers, just when Quicksilver and the Humans, have decided to attack him and his throne. Quicksilver, working with Namor, announce Magneto’s death and Quicksilver as the new King. Being King, means that Quicksilver now has the command of SHIELD. Last issue, I imagine, Magneto has joined with his greatest enemy – humanity! Along with his daughter, Polaris, they have teamed up with Death Locket, Misty Knight, Black Cat and Hawkeye, are staging a prison break – as if they were Michael Scofield.
Monarchy of M. Human Relocation Center. Magneto, Polaris and the humans, are sneaking out, through the tunnels. Black Cat is impress with Polaris, and her abilities to be sneaky. Magneto is powerless but he has truckloads of fight within him. His grandchild, Wiccan and Speedy arrive. Once they learned that grandpapa is powerless, Wiccan attempts to restore his powers. It doesn’t work, they need their mommy.
So happy that the creative team remembered that Magik was in training to become a SHIELD agent. Looks like she made the grade.
We get a huge stand off of the mutants versus the humans. Race war style!
Meanwhile, in Magneto’s throne room. Quicksilver is trying to get himself prepared to even sit on his father’s throne. Quicksilver is technically, the king but he doesn’t feel like he has earned it yet. His father comes into the room, shouting and yelling at his silly son. Quicksilver notices that his father’s yelling isn’t causing all of the metal, in the room, to shiver.
Polaris comes in, to try to even the playing field. Namor comes in, right after her, and harpoons her! In her dying moments, Quicksilver kicks her, to her face! Namor starts to choke Quicksilver but Magneto attempts to fight the sea king. Since he is depowered, Namor makes short work of the (former) Master of Magnetism.
Meanwhile, Wanda’s twins knock out the harpies, that are keeping their mother in a coma. Wiccan can’t wake his mother up, so they head back upstairs, Namor doesn’t miss a beat, taking out Speed then turning his attention to Wiccan. Before Wiccan is knocked out, he successfully restores Magneto’s powers. Before that page ends, Namor is super dead.
Magneto takes his throne, Shaw reports to him that the humans have been arrested. Magneto explains that the Atlanteans were the true enemy. Magneto releases the humans, who are now spared reeducation. Always a good thing. Oh that Magneto, he isn’t quite that different from those he despises.
In private, Magneto tells his grandchildren that he was just paying a debt, he still views humans as the enemy.
I’m glad that Polaris wasn’t killed. Quicksilver can’t believe he has been forgiven by his father. Polaris still holds a grudge, as she hits him with her right elbow.
Magneto’s Private Chambers. I like how this final page, bookends the first pages of the first issue. Magneto was bored, and now that he has survived a three day battle – he’s happy to just sit back and enjoy being king.
Not a bad issue, I will just go ahead and assume that Wanda wakes up.
Special thanks to our friends, Tina & Damian for watching Walker Dennis for nearly four hours before we made it back to pick him up. Without them, we’ll never watch movies in the theater.
This film is an absolute blast!
We are going for full spoilers here.
In 1991, we see Winter Soldier being sent on a mission to kill two targets.
In Largos. The film puts the year and the countries’ names in giant white text, which feels like a bold choice. I really like how we first see Captain America leading his team of Avengers – Falcon, Black Widow and Wanda. They are chasing Crossbones and we see some great team dynamics. Everyone gets a moment to shine. Unfortunately, one of Wanda’s moments is that Crossbones tries to kill himself (and Cap) and she starts floating him to the sky. He doesn’t quite make it there and explodes, taking out an entire floor.. Seven Wakandans were in the building, and are now dead.
At MIT, Tony gives a speech and a demonstration of a new therapy tool. It lets you essentially have a holodeck session from Star Trek Next Generation. He relives a moment with his father (returning John Slattery) and his mother, played by the beautiful and elegant Hope Davis! I’ve liked Hope Davis ever since I saw Mumford – one of my all time favorite films! We see a young CGI Robert Downy Jr. that looks like it could have been from one of his earliest films. Though the scene lasts too long and I start thinking about how it is only slightly better than the face lifts that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan received in X3. We get the first hints that Tony and Pepper are no longer a couple.
Jim Rash, of Community fame – who the Russo Brothers directed this film (and Winter Solider AND the next two Avengers films) also directed Rash in several episodes of Community.
General Ross, now the Secretary of Defense, has come to the Avengers Compound with news. I like how William Hurt came back to reprise his role. He is there to tell them about the Sokovia Accords. Cap is not a fan of the Accords. The UN is run by dudes, and dudes have agendas. What if they don’t approve of a mission that the Avengers really want to go on or are told to go on a mission that they don’t want to be involved with.
I’m not sure how anyone can be Team Tony but I’m definitely Team Cap, I was back in the original comic storyline and I’m still committed.
Vision makes a few good points but he’s wrong as he is on Team Tony. Vision makes an argument about escalation, buy does his best not to use that word as that is how Batman Begins ended with that incredible speech of Commissioner Gordon’s.
I do like Vision and Wanda together, I wish it had more romantic undertones, instead of me reading too much into their moments.
Him wearing that sweater is pretty great too.
If they don’t sign the Accords, those members will no longer be Avengers.
The character who will later be revealed to be Baron Zemo – played amazingly by Daniel Bruhl, torments a retired Russian general. I sort of recognize him from Inglourious Basterds, at least, I can visualize him from it. I need to watch Rush to see him with Chris Hemsworth. I’ve never seen this before but he hangs the general upside down, so that his head is in the sink. The sink continues to fill so that, ideally, the water will rise to the point that it goes above his nose. Seems like a truly gruesome way to torture someone and to die. He really wants to know where Winter Soldier was kept in 1991. Oh, we saw earlier that Winter Solider can be controlled by repeating 12 words in a certain sequence.
Cap gets a message that Peggy Carter died in her sleep. We go to LONDON for her funeral. We see the lovely Emily Vancamp from Winter Solider and ABC’s Revenge. She’s back as Sharon Carter. She recites the amazing speech from Amazing Spider-Man 537 –
Such a great speech and Emily really nails it. We can see that Cap likes her too, she’s Peggy’s niece.
We never see her wear this –
but bravo someone tricky her to get into this outfit and getting photographed.
Vancamp and Chris Evans have great chemistry together. There is a moment where the two kiss and Falcon & Winter Solider totally see it and give Cap thumbs up, like jerk best friends. We don’t get enough of this but whenever Falcon and Winter Solider are together, their rivalry is so fun to watch. They are both best friends of Steve’s and they know it and hate it.
Vision is alone with Wanda, she doesn’t know it yet but she’s not allowed to leave. She likes Vision and we can tell he likes her, but there isn’t enough romantic tension for my taste. Wanda is playing the role of Nitro in this but is then quickly forgotten about, for a sizeable chuck of the film. I guess that happened to Nitro too, in the first quarter, he was mentioned a bunch but then the story moves away from him and he’s forgotten. Outside of the Wolverine tie-in issues, of course.
VIENNA. The Accords are being signed by like 119 countries. We meet T’Chaka, the current King of Wakanda. So we know something horrible is going to happen to him. He seems very friendly. T’Challa is standing by a window and sees an oddly parked white van. The van explodes and T’Chaka dies. The world suspects that Winter Soldier was the cause of the explosion. Cap and Falcon go off to bring him in, ahead of the military and police. Black Widow tells them not to as they are not signed Avengers.
T’Challa is played by Chadwick Boseman who was Jackie Robinson in 42. A film I still need to watch. I know him from a nonhit NBC show, Persons Unknown, that we watched on Hulu or Netflix, years later and I still think about to this day, like three years later. He was also on Lincoln Heights, a show my wife started watching, as she watched nearly everything on ABC Family but not so much now that it is Free Foam. At first, T’Challa is bad arse but it isn’t until the final scenes of the film when I became all about Black Panther. I do like the character, especially written by Christopher Priest and his “Sturm und Drang,” Black Panther Volume Three Issues 26 – 29. Such a great storyline that involves all of the Kings of Marvel – Black Panther, Magneto, Namor and Doctor Doom. So great!
We are introduced to Everett Ross, played by Martin Freeman, Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit films. I wish we got a scene with Everett Ross and T’Challa, that would have been fun for this Christopher Priest fan. I really need to watch BBC’s Sherlock, especially now that Freeman (Watson) and Benedict Cumberpatch (Sherlock) are now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also, Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat is heavily involved in the series. Plus, the seasons are way short so I should be able to do so. I’m working my way through X-Men Evolution Season Two (expect to see that post one of these days) and the OC (a show I’ve been wanting to watch for a long time and Hulu now has) then maybe I can watch Sherlock then. If my wife doesn’t want to watch it as well. We like Elementary so she might want to see Sherlock, same characters but that’s all they have in common.
The chase sequence with Winter Solider being chased by Captain America, who is being chased by Black Panther who is being followed by Falcon, is so great! Black Panther, in action, is a real treat to see. That stairway sequence that starts it, and how Cap doesn’t want to fight the German police but he has to protect his friend Bucky, is so much fun.
BERLIN. Cap and Tony are arguing about what to do. Zemo reads the twelve words and now the Winter Soldier is his. I like how Cap and Tony are about to reach an agreement but Tony says one wrong thing and Cap backs out of the deal. Tony’s dad mentioned a bunch over the years, how he knew Captain America, in his younger days. The government has taken Cap and Falcon’s equipment. Steve chases Winter Solider and has this great moment, on the roof, when he grabs a rail and the helicopter that Winter Solider is using to escape and Steve actually prevents the helicopter from taking off. He’s so strong!
Bucky, finally under his own control, reveals that Zemo wants the other five would-be Winter Soldiers.
We begin the sequence of heroes recruiting heroes to fight their friends.
Sharon Carter gives back Cap and Falcon’s weapons. Cap recruits Hawkeye, who recruits Wanda. She takes out Vision, at the Avengers Compound. Hawkeye also recruits Scott Lang, Ant-Man and Paul Rudd’s first minutes are instantly classic. The film really takes a depature here as we lead up to one of the best scenes in a film, possibly ever. We’ll get to that in a few paragraphs. Ant-Man shakes Captain America’s hand, way to long. Lots of jokes here and I want another Ant-Man film, so quickly.
Meanwhile, Natasha and Tony chat. She wants to recruit Black Panther and Tony wants to recruit someone else. QUEENS. In a very small apartment, we see Marisa Tomei as Aunt May. I honestly thought we weren’t going to see the character outside of the airport scene so this entire scene (and how long it lasted) was a very pleasant surprise. We of course, meet Tom Holland, the third actor to play Peter Parker, in fifteen years. He sort of looks like a young Tobey Maguire – they both have wide faces. Maybe I’m crazy.
Turns out, RDJ and Tomei dated back in their early acting days. Both were together for films “Only You” and “Chaplin” which I’ve seen the second one but don’t quite remember Tomei being in it. I’ve liked Marisa Tomei but when I look at her films, I haven’t seen that many of them so I’m not sure where I really like her from. I didn’t care for My Cousin Vinny, not when it came out (I was too young) and I couldn’t get into it a few years ago either. Too much that Joe Pesci, I like mine a little more controlled like in JFK or in smaller doses like in the Lethal Weapon films. What Women Want, The Guru and Anger Management, I’ve seen her in, not large parts but she’s the aspect in those films. I don’t quite remember her from both Wild Hogs or Loverboy but I’ve seen those. She was interesting in Lincoln Lawyer, a film I couldn’t get into. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is a good film, while she’s on screen. She was great in Crazy, Stupid, Love. I still want to watch the Wrestler. She had a small part in the great, The Big Short, film too.
Tom Holland is a new face to me, he’s great as Peter Parker and sign me up for that upcoming Marvel / Sony Spider-Man film. He tries his best to not repeat “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” when Tony asks him why he fights the good fight. Have to save that for his solo film, I suppose. I like how small their apartment is and how Peter had to build everything he wanted. Tony has great chemistry with Peter too, I’m glad RDJ is signed on for Spider-Man : Homecoming. I imagine at some point, that film will have a dancing scene in it.
The Airport Scene. So many great scenes leading up to this and out of this but this scene, I just want to watch again, if that’s possible without spending twenty dollars.
Thanks to Tumblr user, ageofsuperheroes, for the following images.
We get Team Cap –
vs Team Tony –
Plenty of images of Team Cap but it was so hard to find an image of Team Tony, I imagine due to Spider-Man.
It really is a great costume redesign –
I really like how they kept the white eyes, that’s crucial ever since Amazing Spider-Man did it right. I like the bold reds and the blues and how separate they look. I know there are smaller details that might bug me but overall, it is a costume I can approve of. I’m hoping that we don’t get too much of the make-shift outfit in his own film – I”m also hoping we don’t get an hour of origin story either – and so his solo film takes place 30 minutes before Civil War and the rest of his film takes place after the film.
We get some great matchups here. Spider-Man gets plenty of time to banter. Falcon has to tell him to stop at some point. Ant-Man gets flung from one of Hawkeye’s arrows into Iron Man’s suit. Black Widow fights Hawkeye. Black Panther gets to fight Winter Soldier. Falcon v War Machine. Ant-Man turns into Giant-Man, as there is an ant in every giant. That’s a WordWorld reference for you folks that don’t young children.
Thanks to YouTuber Abdoukarim Bonitzer for hosting that video!
Vision phases through Giant-Man, and Scott Lang freaks the heck out. I wish Kitty got to fight this much, like Vision does, in the X-Men films.
Captain America and Winter Solider steal the Avengers Quinjet, after Black Widow lets them do it. In the chase, Vision misses Falcon and hits War Machine, knocking him out of the sky. Poor Rhodey is nearly crippled by this action. Tony is sad that his friend is hurt.
I kept waiting for this meme to take place in the film, but that would have been too much fun in a film that is already pretty fun.
Black Widow knows she’s going to be in trouble and leaves. Spider-Man’s mask is lifted, providing a reason to have Holland on set, as he clearly could have been CGI-ed up to that last part, but clearly he was present as he has such a presence.
Bucky tells Cap, in the Quinjet, that he remembers all of his kills.
Tony, in his own jet – and this reminds me that I do sort of like Iron Man’s new armor. Mostly red with yellow highlights. He learns that Bucky was set up and that it was Zemo, dressed as Bucky, that blew up the United Nations. Tony goes to The Raft, where Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Wanda and Falcon are being kept prisoner. Falcon reveals where Cap and Bucky went but only if Tony promises to go there as a friend and ally. Tony is all committed to this. Which I have to remember that we have yet to get the Cap/Bucky shield fight with Iron Man, which I can’t imagine how they get to that point. When they do, it is spectacular!
All the heroes, including Black Panther following Iron Man in a jet, make it to the snow base that Zemo has been trying to get all movie long. He killed the five would-be Winter Soldiers, he never wanted them. Behind a glass plated door, he starts a devastating film. We see the beginning of the tape from the beginning of the film, but now we see who Winter Soldier killed. Winter Soldier straight up killed Tony’s parents! Including Hope Davis!
If Cap was a good friend, he would let Tony beat on Bucky for like ten minutes and then break up the fight. Tony realizes that Bucky was under mind controlled but Winter Solider killed his mother so a beating must be thrown down.
Zemo, not a German (which is a real shame) is from Sokovia and has been listening to voicemails throughout the film of his wife about their son. They died, and by the time he got back to his family (he was on a mission) the Avengers were gone and his father were holding Zemo’s wife and son’s dead bodies. He thought they were safe living so far out of the city but since the entire country was air lifted, no one was safe. Zemo wanted to take the Avengers out from within. Which may not have completely worked but the Avengers have definitely said and done things that no one will be forgetting anytime soon.
Since Cap won’t let a rightful beating happen, he prolongs the fight by getting involved. At the end, Tony wants his dad’s invented shield back and Cap drops it. Iron Man took off Winter Soldier’s cybernetic arm.
Zemo is about to kill himself but Black Panther stops him and it is this moment that I really dig the character. His fight was never with Bucky so he changes to the proper target. Something Tony tried to do but his mother’s murderer is standing in front of him so justice must be beaten out.
Everett Ross has Zemo (who I also wish had some sort of purple fabric on) in the same prison cell that Winter Solider was in earlier. Zemo’s plans may have been stopped but he hints that he may have additional plans that are still playing out.
At the Avengers Compound, Tony got Rhodes some cybernetic leg braces. Stan Lee, as a FedEx carrier, asks Tony if he is “Tony Stank” which I and Rhodes enjoys. In the box, is an old school phone from Steve and a letter. Whenever Tony needs these (Secret) Avengers (that’s what I’m calling Cap’s team, in my mind) they will be there. As Cap is breaking out the Avengers from The Raft.
Credits start to roll and we get the mid-credit sequence wherein Black Panther agrees to put Bucky on ice until they can find that red Russian notebook with the twelve words. Cap’s cool with it but it seems an odd choice.
So then two minutes of credits and I have to use the bathroom so we missed the after credits scene.
Thanks to YouTuber Closery for hosting this video so that I could pee with peace of mind This would have been fun to have seen in proper quality and sound.
I forgot how Spider-Man and Cap shared that fun exchange about Queens / Brooklyn, that was a nice touch. Spider-Man also got to make a Empire Strikes Back reference too.
This was such a great film, lots of humor and great characterization. Everyone got a moment to shine and clearly the Russos know how to handle this many characters so we don’t have to fear for the space Avengers films.
I believe that captures all of my thoughts on the film. I’m not sure if I’ll get to watch X-Men Apocalypse, but who knows at this point.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 