The Avengers have had a massive roster in their now 60+ year history; from the initial line-up to iconic reveals of new teams, it’s become a tradition with new series and spin-offs of the franchise to switch things up, explore new characters and relationships, and celebrate the larger idea of the team.
Avengers Assemble: The Serpent Scenario offers not only an exciting new lineup, but also a new mission. While the main Avengers book sees power players on an impossible city floating in Earth’s orbit, dealing with the overwhelming world-ending events the team was formed to face (and going on zany space-casino heists), the team in Avengers Assemble – known as the Aveng.E.R.S., or Emergency Response Squad – was formed to deal with more terrestrial threats.
Marvel
It’s an exciting team: Captain America leads Avengers classics like Monica Rambeau, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, and Hercules alongside new additions to that massive roster like Shang-Chi and Lightspeed (yes, of Power Pack fame!). Though the main Avengers has been using the 1980s title design on its covers, Avengers Assemble (and the currently running West Coast Avengers) is more closely leaning into that 1980s style of team.
It also more closely resembles the sorts of adventures you might expect to find in an Avengers story by classic writers like Steve Englehart or Mark Gruenwald, just updated for a modern age. From radioactive ape ghosts to jilted, cosmic Latverian fiances, the adventures are strange but easily addressed by the team’s specific roster. It’s the Big Bad that most resembles that bygone era of Avenging, however: the Serpent Squad, a confederation of snake-themed supervillains, has been around since 1973. They are heavily engrained in Captain America and Avengers lore (hell, Cap dated a member).
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The miniseries delights in its episodic nature: each issue sees a different combination of the team going against a flashy new conflict, while the series backbone runs underneath. The Serpent Squad, backed by Mephisto, is gathering various MacGuffins under the cover of the primary conflicts.
Writer Steve Orlando is joined by a new penciler each issue, and while the name of the game might be to celebrate the legacy of the franchise or its unique new lineup, the book spotlights its unique threats with as much veracity. The second issue’s ape ghosts (the victims of the Red Ghost’s failed experimentation), illustrated by Scot Eaton, vastly overshadow Night Thrasher and Hercules; they seem more exciting than the Serpent Squad regardless of their short role in the book. Marcelo Ferreira’s Nightstalkers (a team of vampire-hunting villains who just happened to steal their name—and a zombified member—from some 90s heroes) captivate every bit as much as She-Hulk and Wonder Man.
The Serpent Scenario begs for a follow-up series, and the Aveng.E.R.S. for a deeper exploration. Contemporary Marvel Comics can certainly afford three active Avengers teams so long as each book remains as unique and thrilling as this one.
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