Avengers #291
Shadows of the Future Past!
Doctor Druid awaken from a disturbing dream, the latest of many that he has been having recently. In it, he is walking on an alien world where he is sought out and romanced by a beautiful blond haired woman. The dream ends with her putting a crown on his head. Each time he has this dream he longs to come back to it and as he wakes up this time he realizes that returning to this dream world will be a matter of life and death.[1]
Looking out his bedroom window, Druid sees that the She-Hulk and Black Knight are hard at work clearing the rubble around Hydrobase after the Avengers recent battles.[2] When the Black Knight makes a sexist comment, She-Hulk scolds him for having such a regressive attitude.[3] Getting dressed, Doctor Druid goes for a walk and tries to figure out what his dreams mean by going into a state of meditation. It is in this state that he is once more visited by the beautiful woman in his dreams who beacons him to come to her. Captain Marvel then arrives and clears up much of the debris with her energy powers. This annoys She-Hulk, prompting Monica to take off to clear her head, chastising herself for her poor leadership of the Avengers.
That’s when Namor and his bride Marrina arrive to luge a barge of the cleared rubble off the island. That’s when Thor arrives and tells the others he hasn’t been on hand to help because he has been assisting Jarvis with breakfast. The Avengers are happy to see their tireless butler back on duty after recovering from his recent injuries.[4] As the team sits down to the massive breakfast feast, Captain Marvel returns and tells her teammates to tell them that they have been invited to a party being thrown by city hall.
That evening, the Avengers arrive at the part to much fanfare. As they mingle with the crowds, Doctor Druid mistakes one of the party goers as the woman from his dreams when he sees her from behind, but he quickly realizes his mistake. Marrina shocks everyone when she pulls a goldfish out of a fish tank and eats it raw. When Namor tries to stop her, his new bride suddenly cannot stop herself from smashing the tank and gorging on the fish. Briefly reasserting control, Marrina flees the party. When the Sub-Mariner catches up to her he is horrified to discover that she is beginning to transform into a monstrous form as part of her Plodex programming.[5] She swats him away and then dives into the nearby pier and swims away. Fearing for her safety, Namor dives in after her.
Hearing the commotion, the other Avengers race to the pier but can’t follow because the tidal wave made by Marrina’s departure has threatened a moored ship. Captain Marvel tries to follow after them in her energy form but discovers that she has trouble maintaining cohesion by traveling in water and is forced to pull back. Once again she begins to question her leadership capabilities and wonders if someone would be better off running the Avengers.
Elsewhere in time and space, Kang the Conqueror has survived his last encounter with the Avengers and Immortus.[6] He is then ambushed by what he thinks is another divergent Kang and kills his attacker. Removing their mask, Kang is surprised to discover that his attacker was a young boy. That’s when a female Kang gets the drop on him and blasts him with a weapon that teleports him away. The female Kang is impressed with his Kang the Conqueror defended himself and considers him a worthy addition to the Council.[7]
Back on present day Earth, the ships and costal communities have been threatened by a massive serpentine creature that the media has dubbed the Leviathan. The attacks have been happening for many days now and the Avengers have been investigating the creature’s origins, but have been unable to stop the monster. This is primarily due to the fact that the Sub-Mariner and Marrina are still missing. Doctor Druid believes that this might be the prophesized crisis that the woman in his dreams have been warning him of and, with Captain Marvel continuing to doubt her ability to leave, takes advantage of the current crisis to try and pivot himself into the leadership position.
When they finally get news that the Leviathan has been spotted near the Bermuda Triangle, the Avengers are mobilized and head out in a Quinjet to confront the monster. However, when they arrive they are stopped from attacking the creature by the Sub-Mariner who tells them that the Leviathan is actually Marrina. Namor threatens to fight the Avengers to the death if they try and harm her. That’s when they spot the Leviathan heading to a heavily populated tourist town on the coast.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Thor, Black Knight, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Sub-Mariner, Doctor Druid), Leviathan, Edwin Jarvis, Nebula
Continuity Notes
These dreams are the product of manipulations by Ravonna Renslayer who is manipulating Druid in order to get access to a powerful weapon that is trapped in a Time Bubble that exists some 20 years in the future. This is all part of a long running scheme to get revenge against Kang the Conqueror. See Avengers #294-297, Fantastic Four #337-341, Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #17, Fantastic Four Annual #25, and Avengers Annual #21.
This rubble was created during the Avengers battles with the Supreme-Adaptoid and Seth. See Avengers #286-290 and Thor #390.
She-Hulk mentions how the Black Knight spent an extended period of time fighting in the Crusades. His spirit was sent back in time to possess the body of his ancestor back in Defenders #4. He only recently returned to the present day back in Avengers #225.
Jarvis was injured when the Masters of Evil attacked Avengers Mansion. See Avengers #273-277. Jarvis is depicted wearing an eyepatch here. This is because his optic nerve was damaged in the attack, as explained in Avengers #280. Jarvis will no longer need to use the eyepatch by Avengers #317.
Marrina is a member of the Plodex race, which sends its children to alien worlds where they adapt to their environment and conquer the planet. Marrina’s origins and biological nature are detailed in Alpha Flight #2, 3-4, 14-16, and 39-40. It’s revealed in Avengers #293 that this transformation was triggered because Marrina is pregnant, which triggers her Plodex DNA.
Kang was last seen fleeing into Limbo after being driven mad following the events of Avengers #267-269.
This female Kang is revealed to be the woman in Dr. Druid’s dreams and this council is the Council of Cross Time Kangs per Avengers #294-297. Avengers Annual #21 and Avengers Forever #9 confirm that these are not divergent Kangs, but others who murdered the Kang of their native reality and usurped his identity for their own ends.
Topical References
She-Hulk specifically tells Dane Whitman to get himself into the 1980s. This should be considered a topical reference.
The mayor of New York City is depicted as Ed Koch. This should be considered a topical reference as Koch was mayor from 1978 to 1983. He has since passed away in 2013.
