What happens when your heroes hate each other almost as much as their enemies? New Avengers has the answer.
With five issues of New Avengers on stands, and the second arc kicking off November 12, writer Sam Humphries is exactly where he wants to be: in the blast zone between combustible personalities, bad decisions, and very sharp knives.
“The fan reaction is great,” he said over a late-night Zoom session. “I got to give a shout out to all the Bucky-Natz fans out there… I have a lot of surprises for you.”
I first spoke with Sam Humphries ahead of New Avengers’ debut on AIPT Comics Podcast Episode 332, and now he’s returned to fill me in as the new story arc kicks off with issue #6.
From the jump, Humphries wanted this title to justify its space next to Marvel’s flagship Avengers: same brand, totally different voltage.
“I wanted the character interactions to be very combustible,” Humphries said. “Every chat should feel like ‘Is somebody about to leave the team right now?'”
The cover to New Avengers #6. Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
Clea, The Scene-Stealer
One breakout is Clea, and Humphries cheerfully admits she muscled her way to the mic.
“I was half bullied into taking Clea,” he said with a laugh, crediting editors Alana Smith and Sydney Stubbs for pushing the pick. Reading recent runs, doubling back to the old Lee/Ditko lore, and diving into her labyrinthine family tree turned “you’re going to love her” into inevitability. Humphries added, “She really did start taking over.”
Issues #6 and #7 spotlight her perspective — not as comic relief but as a modern, dangerous, and hilarious presence with teeth. Humphries loves the tension she creates with her husband’s worst impulses mirrored in a twisted opponent: Guru Strange. As Clea puts it in #7, she sees “a seed of truth” in him — and that’s exactly why she wants to put him down.
Clea is doing her best in New Avengers #4. Courtesy of Marvel.
Bastards, Never Philosophers
Humphries keeps returning to a single mission statement: this is not the team that stands around and moralizes.
“They’re not an overthinking team,” Humphries said. “They are a gut-dealing squad.”
If the classic Avengers are built around the “moral core,” these New Avengers are built to act when lofty ideals stall out. That difference isn’t just aesthetic — it’s an inevitable collision course.
“As things get bigger and bigger, they’re not going to be able to hide what they’re doing from that so-called moral core,” Humphries said.
It’s also why leadership shifts. Humphries suspects Captain America would wince at parts of Bucky’s tenure, but then applaud his self-awareness when Bucky nominates Natasha to lead at the end of #5.
“A good leader leads by example, and you don’t have to have the big chair to do that,” Humphries said.
Carnage Wants Blood; Eddie Wants Rules
Two issues in the new arc are told from Carnage’s point of view, a choice that hums with danger because Eddie Brock and Carnage have a deal — and very different definitions of “acceptable targets.”
As Humphries explained, “Carnage has his eye on the rest of the team.” Eddie’s job, then, is to keep that hunger pointed at “bad guys,” while Carnage is laser-focused on bigger, bloodier game. You can hear the grin when Humphries adds, “There are a lot of questions, a lot of suspicion, a lot of secrets.”
Carnage/Eddie doing their best from New Avengers #5. Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Meet The Killuminati
The headline villains remain the Killuminati — “neurogenic clones” who preserve the core nature of Marvel icons and then twist the nurture at the moment of creation. The approach makes each foe feel uncomfortably plausible:
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Iron Apex: The mind of Tony Stark with a shattered ego and something to prove. Added Humphries, “What’s more dangerous than Tony Stark with a broken ego?”
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Luke Charles: A warped inversion of T’Challa’s identity as a man of the people.
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Guru Strange: All earthly indulgence, zero enlightenment — “sleazy, grossly horny,” Humphries said with a laugh.
By the end of #6, two more ring the bell:
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Lord Britain: He’s a neurogenic clone of Captain Britain but “very much a supporter of the ruling class,” Humphries said, a ruling-class guy rather than a protector of the whole Isles.
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Rapunzel (Medusa clone): She’s “all over the place,” Humphries said, to the point that she even has silent conversations with her living hair.
The New Avengers #7 variant cover features Rapunzel and Lord Britain. Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
Humphries loves the canon rope ladder the original Illuminati provided: “Great, more characters I can create twisted clones of.”
And a spicy hint: Sam teases that with the new Killuminati members popping up in #6, Namor might take a hankering to one of them — so expect volatile chemistry on top of the punching. Humphries also notes the Illuminati roster’s history of substitutions gave him room to “do a little character shopping” for future twisted clones.
Sex, Violence, Boundaries, and Negotiation
Yes, intimacy is part of the story’s larger texture, including another Bucky/Nat moment in #6. Humphries frames it as Fast & Furious energy: heat and mess as emotional stakes. But this is still Marvel Comics, so “we’re not delivering R-rated books,” Humphries said.
The trick is pushing where the story demands and then negotiating in good faith with editorial. As Humphries added, “You only get that leeway to try things if you know the answer might be no.”
On the violence front, he’s noticed how far mainstream superhero books have moved — a practical reality when your cast includes Wolverine, Namor, Clea, Hulk, and a symbiote with an appetite.
Things are only going to heat up (from New Avengers #1). Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
The Joy (and Headaches) of The Shared Universe
Running a book that pulls from multiple editorial offices means Humphries is constantly on the phone — and constantly inspired.
“You really do get to bring in all sorts of different elements when you need them,” Humphries said, That’s how smart constraints turned a scheduling headache into one of the series’ cleverest beats: the Banner/Hulk encounter in space.
As Humphries added, “It ended up working for everybody… elevated because of the restrictions.”
Secrets in Every Issue
Solicits may spill a few beans (Humphries didn’t write them, FYI), but he promises the second arc will still offer up reveals with every single issue,including a true whooper in #10.
In the meantime, the “family” he once promised is getting further from stability.
“This team is barely holding it together,” Humphries said. Trust being undermined, bonds frayed, and a symbiote keeping score — it’s everything Humphries set out to do.
And how long could he keep it going? He laughs, dares himself, and keeps raising the number: 100… 120… 200. Then he shoots the moon.
“Let’s go to 1,000,” Humphries said with a smile. “Maybe with the legacy numbering we could get there.”
New Avengers #6 is out November 12. Issue #7 follows December 10.
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