It was announced earlier today at NYCC that Nick Spencer and Luke Ross would be taking over for Secret Avengers when it relaunches in February. The catch with this title, however, is that the members of this team don’t even realize they’re part of it. Spencer said in an interview with EW, “S.H.I.E.L.D. has decided that they want their own Avengers team but Avengers are loose cannons: They’re independent operators, they don’t have security clearance and they have a history of becoming bad guys.”
Because of this, Spencer is calling back to Secret War and utilizing the mind implanting technology to activate these sleeper agents. When a code word is said, they chips activate in their brain and they do the mission. After the mission is over, they say the word again and it wipes their memory clean of any mission they might have had. Spencer has said that he wants this book to be “A covert ops, black ops spy book.”
This incarnation of the Secret Avengers will feature a large cast, most notably Nick Fury Jr and a new Iron Patriot. Joining those two are Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Taskmaster, and Black Widow, with Hulk, Winter Soldier and a few surprise guests making appearances throughout the book.
Not much else has been announced, but with a team like this, a concept like that and Spencer behind it all, I’m excited to see what happens. Secret Avengers #1 will be released in February.
