Avengers #501 — Nick Peron

Jan 22

Jan 22 Avengers #501

Chaos Part 2

Iron Man finds himself in hot water after his speech to the UN devolved into a drunken rant about why Latveria should be wiped off the map.[1] Tony insists he doesn’t know what came over him and apologizes profusely for what happened. The Chief of Staff is not impressed and tells Tony not to have him ask for his resignation as the Secretary of State.[2] He understands and lets the Chief of Staff go, as he is currently racing to Avengers Mansion after a code white — the most serious alert — was raised.

Someone has attacked the mansion, claiming the lives of Ant-Man, Jack of Hearts, and the Vision on top of destroying the property.[3] As Captain America, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Falcon and Captain Britain try to figure out who was responsible, the She-Hulk has suddenly gone savage and is attacking everyone. After Cap gets a bus thrown on him, Captain Britain is knocked down. While Hawkeye keeps She-Hulk busy, Iron Man arrives on the scene and punches She-Hulk in the face with enough force to knock her out for the time being. He then magnetizes his armor and lifts the truck off of Captain America. Luckily, Cap wasn’t hurt as his indestructible shield took the brunt of the impact. That Wasp was also seriously hurt, so Falcon is ordered to take her to the nearest hospital. That’s when Yellowjacket arrives on the scene in giant size. Getting caught up on the situation, he offers to carry Falcon and the Wasp to the nearest hospital as it will be the fastest way.

Later, when Captain America arrives at the Beth-Israel Hospital, he has a doctor snap his dislocated shoulder back in place. That’s when he gets a status update on the other Avengers who were caught up in the battle. Captain Britain is in the hospital in critical condition. She-Hulk has been taken into SHIELD custody and put in stasis until a full investigation can be conducted. Ant-Man is confirmed deceased and his remains are sitting in the morgue.[4] Meanwhile, the Vision’s remains have been transported to Stark Enterprises and put into storage until the proper clearance and authorization is cleared to examine them. The Wasp is also in the hospital in critical condition.

Yellowjacket stays by her bed side wishing she would pull through. He cannot understand why she didn’t revert to her normal human size after getting knocked out, as her current insect size makes it impossible to operate on her. He pleads with Jan to wake up as he needs her to be ok. When she doesn’t wake up, Hank tearfully tells Jan that he now believes that the only thing he will ever be remembered for is creating Ultron.[5] Thinking that it was his creation that attacked the Avengers, Hank says that this isn’t what he wanted, for himself, or his team.

Soon, Iron Man is meeting with Cap, Hawkeye, and Falcon in the hospital atrium. There, they try to make sense of who attacked them and why. So far, they think that Ultron was responsible and try to figure out how he could have planted duplicates inside Vision’s body.[6] That’s when Yellowjacket joins them and accuses Tony of getting drunk and making a fool out of himself in front of the United Nations. While Stark doesn’t deny what he did and agrees he was drunk, but he hasn’t been drinking. He thinks that this is part of a greater coordinated attack on the Avengers considering it happened just before they received the code white distress call from the mansion. While Captain America and the Falcon believe Tony, Hawkeye isn’t sure sure he can. He points out that Tony sounds a lot like Clint’s father who had his own struggles with alcohol.[7] Tony takes offense to this and reminds them all that he has been funding the Avengers for years before storming off to cool down.

The remaining Avengers discuss this further, but everyone is firm in what they believe. Yellowjacket then tells them that the United Nations has called an emergency meeting to discuss the team after everything that has happened. That’s when their communicators begin giving off another alarm. While Cap, Hawkeye, and Falcon head off to check it out, Yellowjacket decides to remain behind so he can stay by Janet’s bedside.

The others land the Quinjet in the middle of Central Park as a safety precaution, in case this is another attack. However, when they get to the ruins of the mansion they are shocked to discover a large group of heroes waiting outside. Along with SHIELD director Nick Fury are the Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing), Daredevil, as well as former former Avengers including Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Photon, Crystal, Daredevil, Darkhawk, Demolition Man, Firebird, Firestar, Hellcat, Hercules, Jocasta, Justice, Living Lightning, Mantis, Moon Knight, Quasar, Rage, Sersi, Silverclaw, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Starfox, Stringray, Sub-Mariner, Tigra, Triathlon, Warbird, Vision (remains), US Agent, Wonder Man, Jim Rhodes, and Rick Jones!

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Hawkeye, Falcon, She-Hulk, Captain Britain), SHIELD (Nick Fury), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Black Knight, Black Panther, Black Widow, Photon, Crystal, Daredevil, Darkhawk, Demolition Man, Firebird, Firestar, Hellcat, Hercules, Jocasta, Justice, Living Lightning, Mantis, Moon Knight, Quasar, Rage, Sersi, Silverclaw, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Starfox, Stringray, Sub-Mariner, Tigra, Triathlon, Warbird, Vision (remains), US Agent, Wonder Man, Rick Jones, Jim Rhodes

Continuity Notes

Tony Stark has had a history of alcohol abuse that was first addressed back in Iron Man #128. Tony has been more or less sober since his last big bender which lasted from Iron Man #167-182. He has gotten drunk in Iron Man #308 and (vol. 2) #1 since then, but these were instances where his body was taken over, or he wasn’t aware of his past history of alcohol abuse. In issue #503 we learn that Tony’s intoxication was artificially induced by the Scarlet Witch’s hex powers. Wanda is responsible for everything that happens in this story.
At the time of this story Stark was the US the Secretary of State as of Iron Man (vol. 3) #79. While you’re here, it should also be mentioned that the Avengers have also been recently designated a sovereign nation in and of themselves back in Avengers (vol. 3) #61.
Jack of Hearts, Ant-Man, and Vision and the destruction of Avengers Mansion all turn out to be temporary as they will all be restored eventually:
- After Jack of Hearts explodes here, his disbursed energies are collected by Project PEGASUS and they are able to bring him back in Marvel Zombies Supreme #2.
- Ant-Man didn’t actually die, as revealed in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5. The Young Avengers will go back in time to this moment and pull Scott Lang forward in time, making it appear he perished in the blast. This created a divergent reality. One where Scott actually died, and another where he only appeared to die. Unofficial Appendix to the Marvel Universe has designated the Reality-61108 as the one where Lang dies. However, time of this writing (February, 2023), this has yet to be referenced in an official publication and could be subject to change at a later date.
- While the Vision is torn apart here, his data is downloaded into Iron Lad’s armor, which becomes sentient and takes on his appearance in Young Avengers #5. This second Vision will get destroyed in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade ##9. The true Vision will eventually be repaired in Avengers (vol. 4) #19.
- Heavily damaged last issue, Avengers Mansion will be shut down in Avengers Finale #1, because Tony Stark will be unable to afford repairing the place and running an Avengers team at that scale. The Mansion will be repaired and return to becoming a headquarters to the Avengers in New Avengers (vol. 2) #1.
If Scott Lang was brought forward in time in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5, then technically there should be no remains left behind. As of this writing (February, 2023), how identifiable remains could have been found remain unexplained. See below for my theory on this.
As with any other time we have Hank Pym crying like a little bitch in the middle of a crisis we get a greatest hits of his biggest failures:
- His many identities: Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, and Yellowjacket. These persona’s first appeared in Tales to Astonish #35, 49, Avengers #28 and 59 respectively.
- How he and Janet were married and once divorced. The two tied the knot in Avengers #60. Janet divorced his ass after he hit her in Avengers #213. They have dated on-and-off since then, most recently being off as of Avengers (vol. 3) #79.
- Hank blames himself for the creation of Ultron, a killer robot that first appeared in Avengers #54. His creation of the robot was explained in issue #57.
When pointing out how they can’t know that Ultron is involved, he points out that the robot could be controlling Iron Man’s armor right now. A valid concern as Ultron had done that very recently. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #26-48.
Harold Barton’s struggle with alcoholism was first mentioned in Solo Avengers #2. His death will later be depicted in Hawkeye (vol. 4) #12.
A veritable who’s who of former Avengers and allies. Let’s talk about everyone here. All of these statuses are as of this writing in February, 2023:
- At the time of this story, three of the four members of the Fantastic Four have been Avengers. The only one who hadn’t at this point is the Human Torch. Johnny became part of Captain America’s anti-registration “Secret Avengers” that was active between Civil War #2-7. However, time of this writing (February, 2023) Johnny hasn’t been part of any proper Avengers team.
- Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman both joined an ad-hoc version of the team gathered by Captain America in Avengers #300. They remained on the team very briefly before returning to their own team in Fantastic Four #326.
- The Thing was granted membership on the western branch of the team in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #10, but he quit before he was ever really an active member. This will remain the case until New Avengers (vol. 2) #1.
- Black Knight, aka Dane Whitman, has been a member of the team on-and-off for years starting in Avengers #71.
- Black Panther, aka T’Challa, is another on-and-off member that joined back in Avengers #52.
- Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, has been an occasional member since joining in Avengers #111.
- Photon, Monica Rambeau, previously known as Captain Marvel. She first join the team in Avengers #227. She has also been on an off for years.
- Crystal, of the Inhumans, has only had one stint with the Avengers from Avengers #337 until Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1.
- Daredevil, aka Matt Murdock, has never been more than an associate of the Avengers at this point. He won’t officially join the team until New Avengers (vol. 2) #16.
- Darkhawk, aka Chris Powell, has never officially been an Avenger. He helped out the west coast branch in Darkhawk Annual #1/Avengers West Coast Annual #7/Iron Man Annual #13 and in Avengers West Coast #93-95. He only came to add extra support when their roster was low and left shortly thereafter. Yet he keeps being lumped into the Avengers roster for that ever so brief involvement.
- Demolition Man: Dennis Dunphy was given membership in Captain America #348. This was when the Avengers had disbanded between Avengers #297 and 300. Although he wouldn’t enjoy membership for long as he would go MIA in Captain America #349.
- Firebird, Bonita Juarez, attempted to get membership starting in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #4, and was passed over in favor of the Thing in issue #10. She wouldn’t become a reserve member until Avengers Spotlight #27. However, since then she has remained mostly a reservist.
- Firestar and Justice, aka Angelica Jones and Vance Astrovik, became Avengers at the same time in Avengers (vol. 3) #4.
- Hellcat, aka Patsy Walker, was never actually given full membership. She was offered a spot on the team in Avengers #151, but opted instead to go with Moondragon and learn how to unlock her mental powers.
- Hercules has been affiliated with the Avengers since Avengers #38. However, he wasn’t granted full membership until issue #45.
- Jocasta has been associated with the Avengers since her creation in Avengers #162. However, feeling neglected and overlooked she ran off on the night they were going to give her full membership, as seen in Avengers #211.
- Living Lightning, Miguel Santos, was briefly a member of the west coast team starting in Avengers West Coast #74. He has been a reserve member since issue #92 of that series so he could focus on his university studies.
- Mantis, joined the team in Avengers #114, however her interactions with the team have been sparse since she left for space in order to become the Celestial Madonna in Giant-Size Avengers #4.
- Moon Knight, aka Marc Spector, joined the west coast team in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #21. His membership was short lived and he left following the events of issue #41 of that series.
- Quasar, Wendell Vaughn, was a member in long standing starting in Avengers #301. He quit in the team in Captain America #401 so he could focus on cosmic threats. He has only had minor interactions with the team since as he is mostly based in space. More recently, Quasar was exiled from Earth after absorbing Ego spores to save the planet in Maximum Security #3. This marks his first time on Earth. His profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #9 states that he somehow purged the Ego spores from his system sometime prior to this story.
- Rage, aka Elvin Haliday, managed to strong arm his way onto the team in Avengers #329. However he was forced to quit in issue #342 when it was revealed he was only 13 years old.
- Sersi, the Eternal, she became an ally of the team starting in Avengers #310. She then officially joined the group for a single stint from issue #314 to 375.
- Silverclaw, Maria de Guadelupe Santiago, first became affiliated with the team in Avengers (vol. 3) #8. She was a sponsor child that Jarvis supported for years. Due to her age and the fact that she came to America to study at ESU she was given reserve status in Avengers (vol. 3) #30.
- Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, the web-head has made three unsuccessful bids to join the Avengers over the years as seen in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, Avengers #236-237, and Avengers #315-318. He was given reserve status in Avengers #329 but never really did anything with it. He won’t become a full fledged Avenger until New Avengers #1.
- Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew, has only been an occasional ally of the Avengers over the years. She also won’t become a proper member until New Avengers #1.
- Starfox, Eros the Eternal of Titan joined the team seeking adventure in Avengers #232. He left in Avengers #260 to investigate rumors that Nebula was the granddaughter of his brother Thanos. Since then he has mostly been space bound, but has helped the team on a few occasions.
- Stringray, aka Walter Newell, became affiliated with the Avengers when they moved their headquarters to Hydrobase between Avengers #278 through 311. As he is mostly a sea based hero, his usefulness to the Avengers has always been limited.
- Namor the Sub-Mariner had a stint on the team from Avengers #262 to 293. He has been in reserve status since and seldom joins the team.
- Tigra, Greer Grant, was a reluctant member when she joined in Avengers #211, but quit in issue #216 as she felt out of her depth. She later joined the west coast roster in West Coast Avengers #1 and remained with that group until (vol. 2) #47. She has maintained reserve status since.
- Triathlon, Delroy Garrett, Jr. was a member of the Triune Understanding he first appeared on the scene in Avengers (vol. 3) #8. Thanks to the Triune’s manipulations he was brought onto the team in issue #27. However, he became a respected member of the team. He drifted away from the team after Avengers (vol. 3) #59.
- Warbird, aka Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel, An ally starting in Avengers #161, she was given full membership in issue #184 and served until issue #200 when she was gaslit into returning to Limbo with her rapist, Marcus Immortus. She wouldn’t return to the team until Avengers (vol. 3) #4. After a rocky return due to her drinking problem, Carol got sober, but later left the team to become a high ranking member of the Department of Homeland Security in Avengers (vol. 3) #70.
- US Agent, aka John Walker, was imposed on the west coast roster in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44 and remained a member consistently until the team was dissolved in issue #102 of that series.
- Wonder Man, Simon Williams had started off as an Avengers foe in Avengers #9. He became an ally starting in Avengers #151 but he wasn’t given full membership status until around Avengers #193.
- Jim Rhodes, aka War Machine, Rhodes was affiliated with the west coast team starting in Avengers West Coast #94 and remained with that team until it disbanded in issue #102. Here, Jim is depicted without his trademark War Machine armor. This is because at the time of this story Jim had long since lost it during a trip through time in War Machine #17. He won’t become War Machine again until Avengers: The Initiative #1.
- Rick Jones has been an honorary Avenger since the team’s inception because he was the one who brought the founding members together for the first time. He also went on many of their early missions, but he drifted away by Avengers #17 and has only had minor interactions with the group since.

Scott Lang’s Remains

After Scott Lang was caught in an explosion last issue, there was a skeletal hand found in the remains. The Avengers assumed that it belonged to Scott Lang. Then, in this issue, there is a drawer in the morgue that is said to contain Scott’s remains as well. However, since Scott was brought forward in time in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5, then there shouldn’t be any remains of him whatsoever.

Some people speculate that Scott somehow swapped placed with his Reality-61108 counterpart. However, this doesn’t make any sense. In the Children’s Crusade, Scott is pulled forward in time, creating the divergence. At no point do these characters interact or converge at all. As such, since we aren’t implicitly told or shown the 61108 Scott Lang go from one reality to the next, assuming that such a thing happened is speculation at best, and not a very good one, since it ignores the usual rules of time travel in the Marvel Universe.

What seems more likely to me is that the Avengers misidentified the remains last issue. If someone can identify a body based on a skeletal hand, they’re a fucking liar. So why are we assuming the Avengers can properly identify it. It could be anybody. With Scott’s departure, the only person that skeleton can belong to is Jack of Hearts, unless there was someone else there we don’t know about, but that seems unlikely.

The fact that these remains were put in the morgue and labelled as Scott Lang is also a huge assumption. In fact, IRL it would be really irresponsible for them to name a corpse that could not be identified by sight.

In fact, forensic science would be needed to identify the remains, which would mean matching it up with a DNA sample from Scott from a known source before the explosion (like taking hair from a comb, for example), through matching relative DNA from an immediate family member. That process takes weeks to complete even in the best of times right now, nearly 20 years after this story was published.

So in this case I think Occam’s Razor applies: The simplest solution is the most likely one. So in this case, they remains belong to someone else and everyone has been misidentifying them based on am assumption.