New Avengers #33
The Trust, Part 2
Years Ago
Captain America (Steve Rogers) is running a drill with his team of Avengers — Goliath (Hank Pym), the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Hawkeye (Clint Barton), the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) and Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff — and starts off by telling them that their powers are useless unless they know how to fight in battle. When Clint scoffs at this idea, Cap demonstrates his point by taking his bow and snapping it in two. When Hawkeye tries to attack Steve easily overpowers him. He tells Clint that by the time he is finished training, his archery skills will be the least thing that Hawkeye is known for.[1]
Now
In a hotel room, Clint Barton (now known as Ronin) hides out with his teammates in the New Avengers — Luke Cage, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Wolverine (Logan), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), Echo (Maya Lopez), and Doctor (Stephen) Strange — after their mission in Japan, Danny is curious to know where Clint learned to fight.[2] This makes him remember that moment years ago and they all take a moment to remember how great Captain America was.[3][4] Having just survived a plane crash, the team turns on the TV to see what might be going on in New York that caused the trouble. They catch a news story about how Ultron has returned and is currently fighting with Iron Man (Tony Stark)’s Avengers team.[5]
Wolverine tells them to turn it off because its just noise. They have bigger fish to fry, namely the discovery that Elektra (who had been leading the Hand ninja cult in Japan) has turned out to be a Skrull impostor.[6] This leads to Luke accusing Spider-Man of being a Skrull because of his flip-flopping behavior during the recent superhero civil war.[7] Danny gets between the two and suggests that Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) must be the Skrull in their midst, reminding them that she stole the corpse and ran off with it.[8] He’s convinced that she did this to cover up the fact that she was the spy. Logan doesn’t buy it, however. Still, Luke keeps on pushing Spider-Man and the two almost come to blows.
That’s when room service comes knocking at the door, prompting Doctor Strange to cast a spell to hide everyone but Echo from view. Opening her bathrobe as a distraction, Maya receives the massive spread they ordered. Once he is gone, Strange drops his spell and Logan suggests everyone calm down and grab a bite to eat. As they chow down, the talk goes from Skrull paranoia to questioning what the villains have been up to while all of this has been going on.
At that moment, in Hell’s Kitchen, the Owl (Leland Owlsley) has four guns pointed at his head. Those threatening him are Madame Masque (Whitney Frost), Crimson Cowl (Justine Hammer), Doctor Jonas Harrow, and the Wizard (Bentley Wittman). He tells them not to act so hastily because he has called them to offer them the purchase of a life time. He then reveals that he has the cyborg mercenary known as Deathlok (Luther Manning) in his possession and is willing to sell him off for the right price.[9] The meeting is then interrupted by a crook named John King who tells the Owl that he is not authorized to sell Deathlok. Leland scoffs at this, telling King that he doesn’t work for anyone but himself. This is fine for John’s boss, the Hood (Parker Robbins) who invisibly sneaks up behind the Owl. The Hood says that the Owl will be a cautionary tale and fatally shoots him.[10]
When the other criminals open fire, the Hood vanishes as suddenly as he appeared. The Wizard and the others are furious and think they have been set up. When they turn to John, he tells them that the Owl was a penniless loser who just broke out of jail and tried to sell what was not his to begin with. He had to be put down because that’s the price for going against the one in charge. The gathered villains are curious to hear more about the Hood.
Meanwhile, the New Avengers are teleported back to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum in New York City. There, they are greeted by Luke’s wife Jessica Jones and their daughter.[11] As the team begins settling in, Clint tries to give Echo back her Ronin costume, but Maya tells him to keep it as she no longer needs the disguise and he is suited for it now.[12] Jessica notices tenseness in the room as nobody can trust each other. Strange reminds them how he cast a spell of intent to prove they were all who they said they were, but nobody really trusts it.[13] Luke tells everyone to go out and mull things over and that he will formulate a plan with everyone who comes back.
After everyone is gone, Jessica demands Luke tell her what’s going on. Rather than tell her about the Skrull they discovered, he begins quizzing her about all the changes she made in her life. Namely that she quit drinking and started loving him. This doesn’t accomplish anything but deeply upset his wife.[14]
Meanwhile, Wolverine goes to a shady bar that is frequented by supervillains. He demands the bartender tell him what’s going on in the underworld. After the damage Wolverine caused last time, the bar owner is reluctant to talk. However, Logan convinces him by embedding his claws into the bar. The barkeep tells him that the Hood is in the backroom. Although Logan doesn’t know who that is, he decides to check it out anyway. He interrupts Parker and John discussing how they are going to use Deathlok to attack Avengers Tower. While Wolverine manages to get the drop on them and grab John, the Hood manages to turn invisible. Still able to detect Parker with his enhanced senses, Logan orders him to come out. The Hood complies, revealing that he has both of his guns pointed at Wolverine’s head.
Recurring Characters
New Avengers (Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Ronin, Echo, Doctor Strange), Hood’s Gang (The Hood, John King, Jonas Harrow, The Wizard, Madame Masque), Jessica Jones, Dani Cage (unnamed), Wong, The Owl, Crimson Cowl, Deathlok, Ultron, (in flashback) Avengers (Captain America, Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver), Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
Per Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers, this flashback takes place prior to Avengers #42. Per the Sliding Timescale, this moment would have happened roughly 10 years prior to the main story.
The New Avengers just got back from rescuing Maya from Japan as seen in New Avengers #27-32.
Everyone is speaking about Cap in the past tense here because at the time of this story he was believed to have been killed in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was shot with a chronal bullet that has caused him to relive his life in a constant loop. He will be rescued from this purgatory in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
Spider-Man quips that he hasn’t been to Chicago since he was on a book tour for “Webs” a collection of Spider-Man photos that Peter Parker took over the years. This book was first published in Amazing Spider-Man #304. He is referring to his trip to Chi-Town in issue #307 of that series. However, that was not the last time that Peter has been in Chicago. He was there again in Spider-Man Unlimited #6. But given how busy Spider-Man is all the time, I think we can forgive him for not remembering for the time he was slumming it with Thunderstrike.
The other Avengers battle with Ultron is chronicled in Mighty Avengers #1-6.
That Elektra was a Skrull was revealed last issue. In Mighty Avengers #16, we learn that the Skrull’s true name was Pagon and she was sent to infiltrate the Hand as part of a invasion of Earth. This happened prior to New Avengers #1. This invasion will occur in Secret Invasion #1-8.
Luke is referring to the events of Civil War #1-7. One of the significant moments about that event was that Spider-Man supported the Super Human Registration Act at first, even going so far as to reveal his true identity to the world in issue #2 of that series. By issue #5 he realized he made a big mistake and defected from Iron Man’s side. Peter will ultimately make the world forget his true identity following the events of Amazing Spider-Man #545.
Iron Fist’s theory that Spider-Woman is a Skrull is proven correct, as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, Veranke took the place of Spider-Woman circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
Luther Manning was the original Deathlok who first appeared in Astonishing Tales #25. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Univese: Alternate Realities 2005 #1, he comes from a possible future designated Reality-7484. Although Owlsley claims that this is Luther Manning, the Deathlok profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 states that this was actually a robot. One such robot, nearly identical to Manning, was created in Marvel Two-In-One #54 (as explained in Deathlok (vol. 2) #32. If this is the same robot or not is not immediately clear time of this writing (April, 2024).
The Owl actually manages to survive this attempt on his life, as we’ll learn in Daredevil (vol. 2) #118.
Jessica is telling her daughter how a family vacation led to the accident that gave her super powers. This story was told in Alias #22-23. Her and Luke’s daughter is unnamed here because they haven’t decided on a name yet. They eventually settle on Daneille “Dani” Cage in New Avengers #38. Jessica hopes that if he daughter develops superpowers she doesn’t want her wearing something but is interrupted by the Avengers arriving. Likely, Jessica doesn’t want her daughter to become a superhero due to her failed stint as the hero known as Jewel. That said, time of this writing (April, 2024) Dani Cage has yet to manifest any superhuman abilities.
Echo created the Ronin identity while she investigated the Japanese underworld for the team in New Avengers #11-13. Clint took on the identity in issue #27. Clint will continue to use the Ronin identity until New Avengers (vol. 2) #1, when he returns back to his Hawkeye identity.
Strange cast this spell in New Avengers #30 when everyone was questioning who among the group they could trust. The reason why Strange could not expose any Skrulls in their midst (namely Spider-Woman) is because the Skrulls found a means of evading virtually all forms of detection. This is because — years earlier — they captured a number of heroes (including Strange) and learned all of their secrets. See New Avengers: Illuminati .
Jessica Jones, as seen in the Alias series, was an alcoholic. That was until Alias #28 when she discovered that she was pregnant with Luke’s child. The two started a serious relationship immediately afterward. Their daughter was born in The Pulse #13 and the two had just recently got married in New Avengers Annual #1. And before you ask, no, Jessica is not a Skrull. Unnamed here, Jessica and Luke will name her Danielle “Dani” Cage in New Avengers #34.
Topical References
Spider-Man claims to see talk-show personality Oprah Winfrey from their hotel room window. Her self title talk show was originally filmed in Chicago. That said, she has long since relocated to California. On top of this, she is a real world person and therefor references to her are topical. As I write this she is 70 years old so she’s not going to be around for much longer. You could also replace this reference with a more contemporary Chicago resident.
