Master of the Ring Part Five

Steve Rogers arrives at a diner to share information between the Avengers and the X-Men. His annoyed to see that Wolverine is there instead of Cyclops, particularly since Wolverine is a member of the New Avengers and he could have delivered the information straight to Stark Tower instead of having him meet here. Wolverine explains that Cyclops is busy leading the X-Men, and besides, he really wanted to get some pie.[1] As they exchange information, Steve becomes a little sullen when he tells Wolverine it also includes information on the Scarlet Witch.[2] That’s when Wolverine asks why Steve is walking around wearing his costume without his mask on. Cap explains that he made his identity public again, and that he wears his uniform as it has a way of calming people down.[3] Logan thinks Steve is full of shit, and is about to tell him this when they hear an explosion that has come from a few blocks away. Rushing outside, the pair try to figure out how to get to the site of the blast in time, prompting Logan to commendeer a vehicle. When the driver of a convertable refuses to give up his car, Wolverine convinces him by showing off his claws and the pair are soon on their way.

At the site of the explosion, Spider-Man and Moon Knight are shocked to discover that they are still alive after the Ringmaster used his magic ring — which is constructed from a fragment of the Cosmic Cube — to turn the fluid in Spider-Man’s webshooters into explosives. The Ringmaster gleefully says he neglected to tell them that he made them invincible as well, just to psyche them out. When Spider-Man says the Ringmaster almost gave him a heart attack, the villain likes the idea and uses his ring to make both the web-slinger and Moon Knight begin to suffer from heart attacks. As the Ringmaster is busy gloating over his new age of villany he is ambushed by Daredevil. Annoyed, the Ringmaster then will the three heroes to be trapped at large cannons that are pointed at the ground. However, before the cannons can be fired, Frenchie arrives in the Moon Coptor and blasts the Ringmaster, breaking his concentration again. When he tries to use his ring against the Moon Coptor, the Ringmaster realizes that the devie has limited range. When the three heroes start piling onto him, the Ringmaster gets upset and blasts them away. Before he can unleash his power upon them again, his ring finger is shot off his hand by the Punisher. Frank Castle then departs as quickly as he arrived.

As the heroes realize what happened, Captain America and Wolverine arrive on the scene to learn that the danger is over. When ambulances arrive, Captain America recovers the Ringmaster’s finger so it can be surgically reattached. He removes the ring, which he intends to turn over to SHIELD for safe keeping. With everyone departing, Spider-Man takes the opportunity to ask if Wolverine actually hates him, Logan confirms that he does.[4] When Moon Knight offers Spider-Man a lift, he accepts it since his web-shooters have been totaled. However, he asks if they can stop for some fast food on the way since he promised to bring some home to his wife.[5] When he returns home, Mary Jane tells him that it had better have been Thanos that kept him out so late, and is less than happy that Peter brought back hamburgers.[6] When he tells her that he had a rough night, she decides to cheer him up with a little romance.

Meanwhile, the ring returns to Chen Hsu, who believes that it has come one step closer to finding its true owner. At that same moment, Sleepwalker has arrived at the scene of the blast and finds it deserted.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Captain America, Wolverine, Daredevil, Ringmaster, Titannus, Sleepwalker, Mary Jane Watson

Continuity Notes

1. This story takes place shortly after Wolverine became part of the New Avengers when the team first formed in New Avengers #1-6.

2. Steve itemizes a few of the things that are on the Avengers data dump that he is handing over to Wolverine, they include:

   • Information on the break-out at the Raft and on Sauron and the Savage Land. All of these events happened, again, in New Avengers #1-6. Unknown to everyone at the time, these events are part of an upcoming plot by the Skrulls to invade the Earth, as detailed in Secret Invasion #1-8, and New Avengers #40-47.

   • Steve also mentions the Sentry, whom the New Avengers all discovered was locked away in the Vault for reasons they could not understand in New Avengers #1. The answers to those question will be answered after this story in New Avengers #6-10.

   • Lastly, he mentions the Scarlet Witch, who had just recently went crazy and decimated the original Avengers as seen in Avengers #500-503.

3. Steve Rogers revealed his identity to the world in Captain America (Vol. 4) #7

4. The reason why Spider-Man is asking this is because X-23 says everyone, especially Wolverine, hates Spider-Man back in Marvel Team-Up (vol. 3) #6.

5. Spider-Man refers to himself married here. At the time this story was published he was married to Mary Jane Watson. However, not long after this story, his marriage was erased from existence by Mephisto in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In the altered timeline, he’d be referring to Mary Jane as his fiancee instead of his wife.

6. Believe it or not, Spider-Man has faced Thanos on a number of occasions at this point. Specifically in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, Infinity Gauntlet #1-6, and Spider-Man #17.

Topical References

• Spider-Man specifically asks to be taken to McDonalds, wondering if they are still open. This should be topical for two reasons: One, McDonalds is a real world company and thus automatically topical. Even if you were to accept that McDonalds exists in the Marvel Universe, most of them are now open 24-hours a day.