Movies News Talk
Uncanny Avengers Annual #1 – Written by Rick Remender, with art by Paul Renaud – featured a notably contemporary appearance by the meddling villain Mojo, who manipulated events to put together the twisted version of The Avengers including Doctor Strange, Man-Thing, Manphibian, Blade, Satana, and Ghost Rider.
Mojo, one of the most unbeatable X-Men villains, hails from a world reliant on television and is responsible for the story. The story begins with a normal day at Avengers Mansion becoming volatile when Ghost Rider comes crashing in from the roof, followed by the rest of his dark rebooted Avengers squad, who proceed to attack the Avengers. Mojo's story, however, takes a turn for the worse when he accidentally unleashes the true Spirit of Vengeance, leading the teams to work together to save the Marvel Universe.
The publisher should revisit the idea of a team that combined the forces of Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Blade, and more to make an incredibly formidable squad. This team-up could legitimately star as the heroes of their own series, if given an appropriately horrorific threat to face.
This roster would be a viable option for a series as the combined forces of The Sorcerer Supreme, the Spirit of Vengeance, and Vorgornus Koth alone makes for a powerful team. The whole team was a god-tier squad for the brief time it assembled, one stronger than the original Avengers, as evident by how they make swift work of the original roster. An Avengers team starring Doctor Strange could prove to be their best answer for the things that go bump in the night at Marvel.
As with any Mojoworld story, Uncanny Avengers Annual #1 is a self-aware, tongue-in-cheek narrative, one that self-consciously reflects on its use of a very traditional superhero story form.
It is a fun, ambitious single-issue Avengers story – but what might be overlooked is how viable of an idea Mojo actually offers with the "Supernatural Avengers." Though of course, as a villain, he makes them attack other heroes, this team-up could legitimately star as the heroes of their own series, if given an appropriately horrorific threat to face.
Although this Avengers sub-group ultimately did not last long, it was nonetheless impressive enough to warrant a potential comeback, which would make sense as part of Marvel Comics' continuing investment in the horror side of its Universe.
Uncanny Avengers Annual #1 offered just a glimpse of what was possible for the "Supernatural Avengers." Considering Marvel's recent committment to telling horror stories with renewed vigor, now would be the perfect time for the publisher to put together a version of the Supernatural Avengers for real. Though the events of the Blood Hunt crossover have complicated the relationships of some of the members from Uncanny Avengers Annual #1, some iteration of this line-up would still be a must-read for Marvel horror fans.