The Trust, Part 3

This story happens concurrently with the events of Mighty Avengers #7.

While at a bar looking for leads on what the criminal underworld is up to, Wolverine (Logan) interrupts a meeting between the Hood (Parker Robbins) and his right-hand-man John King. Overhearing them talking about how they plan on using Deathlok to attack Avengers Tower he ambushes them to get answers.[1] Parker gets John out of the room before fighting it out with Wolverine. He succeeds in shooting Logan in the dick, which only makes the mutant furious. Unable to hold off Wolverine’s attacks the Hood suddenly transforms into a demonic form and fights him off. He then flees into the night. With no more fight left in him, Logan sits down to have a drink and let his healing factor get to work and hopes that his dick will grow back bigger.

Meanwhile, back at the Santcum Sanctorum, Doctor (Stephen) Strange is in bed with his love, the Night Nurse (Linda Carter). Despite her best efforts, he seems distracted while they were DTF. He admits that he and his teammates in the New Avengers are having a hard time determining who to trust. They have a meeting coming up where they are going to plan their next moves. Strange then asks Linda to come back for the meeting so he can introduce her to everyone, not just as the Night Nurse, but as his girlfriend.[2]

As Linda leaves, she is watched by Ronin (aka Clint Barton). After looking at his new Ronin mask for a moment he hits the shows. He is interrupted when Echo (Maya Lopez) enters unannounced. She is embarrassed to have caught him in the show but Clint invites her to join him. Unsure how to handle the offer, she slams the door closed instead.[3]

Later, Iron Fist (Danny Rand) arrives at the Sanctum for the meeting ahead of everyone else. He takes the time to see if Doctor Strange can help him with an issue he has with his powers. He recently had some trouble over someone stealing the Iron Fist from him and hopes that Strange could use a spell to prevent that from happening again. Strange points out that there have been many Iron Fists before Danny and, just like his own title of Sorcerer Supreme, it is one that must be passed down to someone when the time comes. Neither of them are really fans of the idea of someone younger replacing them.[4]

That’s when Spider-Man (Peter Parker) arrives with Echo and Ronin. Peter is convinced that he might be the Skrull spy within their midst, either that or he’s still punchy after his clone days.[5] He is joined by Luke Cage who is deeply suspicious of everyone because he thinks that the Skrulls have been pulling the strings this entire time.[6] That’s when Luke’s wife Jessica Jones enters the room and tells them all that Luke thinks she is a Skrull.[7]

Doctor Strange tells the others that he might have a solution to their situation. He has found a spell that will be able to show each other their true inner selves, potentially exposing any Skrulls in their midst. Jessica wants to get this over with so her husband can stop being so paranoid about her and their child. That’s when Peter asks if they came up with a name for their little girl. Jessica and Luke then reveal that they named her Danielle, after Iron Fist, who is honored to hear this.[8]

Strange casts his spell and images of who each hero is on the inside materialize before them. For Luke Cage, it is an image of himself back during his early Hero for Hire days and he is chided for his fashion choices back then.[9] Danny is shown an image of the first Iron Fist and he is relieved that there is no secret desire to dress in women’s clothing. Jessica Jones appears in her Jewel identity, suggesting that she still secretly wants to be a superhero, something she flatly denies.[10] Peter Parker appears as he did when he was a young man, before he was bitten by the radioactive spider that turned him into Spider-Man.[11] For Echo, she appears as a female Daredevil, something she finds very interesting.[12] For Ronin, the image of Captain America appears over him, something that he doesn’t want to discuss.[13] Doctor Strange appears as he was in his old life, a physician.[14] That’s when Wolverine finally arrives and he appears to them as a noble samurai warrior.

With everyone proven to be who they say they are comes at a good time, as Logan has come to tell them about the Hood’s planned attack on Avengers Tower.[15][16] After Luke and Jessica make up, the team agree that the right thing to do is to try and stop the Hood from blowing up Avengers Tower, even if it means they might get arrested. When they arrive its just as Iron Man (Tony Stark)’s team — the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Wonder Man (Simon Williams), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew),[17] Ares, and the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) — are leaving the building. At first the New Avengers thinks that they are too late to stop the attack. However, they look down on the streets and discover that innocent people are being invaded by alien symbiotes. Without a second thought, the New Avengers also head into the city to stop the carnage.[18]

Recurring Characters

New Avengers (Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Echo, Ronin, Doctor Strange), The Hood, John King, Jessica Jones, Dani Cage, Night Nurse, Wong, Mighty Avengers (Iron Man, Wasp, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, “Spider-Woman”, Ares, Sentry), Symbiotes

Continuity Notes

1. This is where we left off last issue. In this story, Deathlok is referred to as Luther Manning the original Deathlok of Reality-7484. In reality, this is a robot duplicate as will be explained in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3.

2. The reason why the New Avengers are lacking in trust was because they discovered that Elektra (leader of the Hand) was actually a Skrull in disguise in New Avengers #31. This hinted at a coming invasion that will unfold primarily in Secret Invasion #1-8.

3. The Ronin identity was originally used by Echo while she was investigating the Japanese underworld for the team, as seen in New Avengers #11-13. Clint adopted the identity when the team went to rescue her in New Avengers #27-31.

4. Indeed, both the mantles of Iron Fist and Sorcerer Supreme are passed down over time. The details:

   • As told in Marvel Premiere #15, Danny Rand was trained in martial arts in the other dimensional city of K’un-Lun. In order to obtain the power of the Iron Fist, one needed to defeat the dragon Shou-Lao. In the recent past his powers were taken away by a martial artist named Junzo Muto in New Warriors (vol. 2) #8, these powers were later restored to Danny by the dragon known as Chiantang in Black Panther (vol. 3) #38.

   • The mantle of Sorcerer Supreme has also been passed down through the generations. Strange obtained the mantle from his master, Yao (also known as the Ancient One) in Marvel Premiere #10.

5. Peter Parker has been cloned many, many times. The first of which he encountered in Amazing Spider-Man #149, who later became known as Ben Reilly. A few years after that, his foes the Green Goblin and the Jackal made a mess of his life by trying to trick Peter into thinking he was the clone and that Ben Reilly was the original Spider-Man. This led to quite the identity crisis and a very long and convoluted series of events that ran from Web of Spider-Man #117 until Spider-Man #75. If you want the Coles Notes version check out Spider-Man: The Osborn Journals #1.

6. In a way, they are, they were responsible for the breakout at the Raft that led to the formation of the New Avengers (New Avengers #1-2). They also posed as SHIELD agents who were illegally mining Vibranium in the Savage Land (New Avengers #3-6), and have also infiltrated Hydra and the Hand (New Avengers #11-13). This entire conspiracy will be explained in New Avengers #40-47 and Mighty Avengers #12-19.

7. Seeing Luke and Jessica fight makes Ronin joke about never getting married again. Clint was married to Bobbie Morse (aka Mockingbird) starting in Hawkeye #4. That union apparently ended in tragedy when Mockingbird was seemingly killed by Mephisto in Avengers West Coast #100. In reality, Bobbie was swapped up by a Skrull spy prior to her death, as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #8. Per New Avengers: The Reunion #2, Bobbie was swapped out in Avengers West Coast #91.

8. Spider-Man asks if Strange’s spell will take them back to the House of M. This was a reality warp created by the Scarlet Witch in House of M #1-6. He is asking because he was living his ideal life in that reality as we saw in Spider-Man: House of M #1-5.

9. This is an image of Luke as he first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1.

10. Jessica briefly operated as the superhero known as Jewel (and later Knightress) but got out of the game after failing to get Avengers membership and a traumatic period where she was the slave of the Purple Man. See Alias #22-23. She has mostly stayed true to this decision time of this writing (April, 2024).

11. Way back in Amazing Fantasy #15, but I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?

12. Maya has been in Daredevil’s life since Daredevil (vol. 2) #9. However, time of this writing she has yet to take on the identity herself.

13. Clint had a long history with Captain America (Steve Rogers) dating back to Avengers #16 and the two had become close friends over the years. At the time of this story, Captain America is believed to have died form an assassin’s bullet in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. This is a raw point because Iron Man just recently offered Clint the opportunity to become the next Captain America in Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #3, something he turned down. Steve isn’t really dead, but trapped in a time loop and will be freed in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.

14. Stephen Strange was originally an egotistical and money driven surgeon until a car accident injured his hands that he could no longer do his job. This led him down the path to becoming a master of the mystic arts. See Strange Tales #115.

15. Spider-Man mentions that he met Luther Manning, he is referring to a trip through time he took in Marvel Team-Up #46. Here they state that Manning is believed to be dead. That’s not accurate as Manning (aka the Demolisher) was last seen in Daredevil #335-337. He was last seen in New York’s sewers where he was trying to figure out what to do with his life. Manning will pop up in Paradise X: The Heralds #1-3, Paradise X #1-10, and All-New Invaders #9-10, however these are all in his original appearance suggesting that these moments are from earlier in his personal timeline.

16. Wolverine comments how Hawkeye was also believed to be dead. Clint was killed when the Scarlet Witch went mad and attacked her teammates, as seen in Avengers #500-503. However, he was resurrected by the Scarlet Witch during the House of M as seen in New Avengers #26.

17. The woman who appears to be Spider-Woman here is another Skrull impostor named Veranke as we’ll learn in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, she took the place of the real Jessica Drew circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.

18. The “Venom Bomb” is later revealed to be the work of Doctor Doom, as we’ll learn in Mighty Avengers #8.

Topical References

• A banner outside of the Sanctum Sanctorum announces that it will be the future location of a new Starbucks location. This should be considered topical as this is a real world brand.

• Night Nurse makes a joke about bringing Band-Aids to the meeting. Band-Aids are a brand name of adhesive bandages. While most product references would be considered topical, this might not be the case with Band-Aids since the brand has since become a proprietary eponym.

• Jessica jokes that they named Danielle after Danny Partridge of Partridge Family fame. The Partridge Family was a musical family sitcom that ran from 1970 to 1974. The role of Danny Partridge was played by actor Danny Bonaduce. This could be considered a topical reference since you could replace it with a more contemporary stand in and the joke will still work.

• Danny uses the term “cross dresser” to describe his fears that he might enjoy wearing women’s clothing. This term has fallen out of common use as the nuances of transgender identities have become more commonly understood in modern society. Danny’s fear of being a closeted trans person is a regressive attitude that is only commonly associated with those who are bigoted toward that community so this comment is kind of cringe by today’s standard.

• Clint refers to Deathlok as the “Robocop guy”. Robocop is the titular character from a 1988 movie of the same name. A black comedy disguised as an action film, it tells the story of Alex Murphy a police officer horribly maimed on the job and is rebuilt as a cyborg for his corporately run police department. Time of this writing this franchise has produced four movies, two TV shows, two cartoons, and a bunch of comic books (some published by Marvel). That said, this should be a topical reference since you could replace the reference with literally any fictional character that is a cyborg.