Calamity Jon Morris sets it out
here. I've already given my idea on the blog, but I'll repost his rules and my doofy-ass concept. I'm sure you guys can do better than me.
"Oh, and for the record, the self-imposed rules of this game was to create a seven-member core team composed of two returning vets, two members who'd never before been members, two latter-day revisions of existing Avengers and one brand-new character, plus two honorary or reserve members who were wild cards and could be any of the above criteria.
You don't have to follow those if you don't wanna."
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)
Jebus Crebus, I barely know who exists in the Marbles Universe, much less all their histories and relationships and who's been in the Avengers and who ain't. So, forgive my breaking of the rules, k? The concept of this incarnation is to scale back and localize. The Avengers run the NYC beat of the Marvel U - they don't have to run all over the goddamn Universe as a general rule, but they're heavy hitters associated intimately with the most superhero-intensive place on the planet. Sure, they only deal with local problems, but no place else has local issues like the Apple. Rather than an arm of SHIELD, these guys are deputized by the NYPD.
Veteran former members: The Thing and Spider-Man.
The most streetwise and recognizable of New York's massive hero community are recruited by Mayor Bloomberg in a kind of combination PR move/first move toward officializing and normalizing standard law enforcement with a community heavily populated by superhuman freaks. Chosen as much for their personal popularity and photogenic appearances as anything else. No one mistakes these guys for the organizational masterminds an effort like this will require, though, so...
Newbies: Magneto and The Kingpin
WHAT?!?! Two of the most dangerous villains ever in the Avengers, and as the brains behind the outfit no less? Sure, why the fuck not? Since 9-11 (did 9-11 even happen in the Marvel universe? See, this is what I'm reduced to) civic pride and patriotism have overridden avarice and vengance as the motivation for these two. Magneto, as a concentration camp survivor, is especially enthusiastic about the war on terror, and has suprisingly flipped his fanaticism for mutant power for American power, coming to the realization that the freeest nation on earth is the best bet for a place where mutants are free of persecution. He still secretly believes in the superior in homo superior, but is willing to work toward it a step at a time. Wilson Fisk, on the other hand, lost a lot of money and property in the WTC attack, and has come to realize that the economic health and stability of the city is essential to his own well-being as a major lndowner. His underworld connections are dubious about him "going straight" but respect his power and savvy enough to not move on him immediately and still provide an invaluable information network which he uses to serve the city - and still himself, of course.
Reboots:
La Nueva Visión: Affiliated with the original in name only, the New Vision is a lovely and idealistic but tough and ruthless young woman from Spanish Harlem, of Boriqua/Brazilian extraction, which she shows by wearing the colors of her namesake and the Brazilian flag. Responsible for busting up several dangerous drug cartels in her home neighborhood by a combination of community activism and out-thugging the thugs, she has the goodwill of the people, the police, and magnificent oratorial and PR skills. She and Fisk are known to each other, and she's unofficially there to keep an eye on him.
Scarlet Witch: Affiliated with the original in name only, she's La Nueva Visión's partner in more ways than one, although few know it. It was her Candomble power that was the secret weapon in the guerrilla-populist war against the cocaine cartels in Harlem. Educated by herself and her family until recently becoming an associate of Dr. Strange, her mystical knowledge is vast but strangely spotty. Sexy-goth-creepy like wow.
The Unknown:
The Cleanup Man is 23 year old R.K. Locke Jr.. Born shortly after the Rodney King scandal in Los Angeles, his family moved from there to NY when he was ten year old. A black man from a family with a history in law enforcement, his parents quit public service in shame after the acquittal and subsequent riots of '92. He renamed himself Rodney King Locke Jr. after his father's example to remind himself of the need for justice and equality, and although his parent's are bitter about their history, Junior (as he is called) remains idealistic. An immensely powerful metahuman who entered NY Police Academy as soon as he graduated (early) from CUNY, he's reform-minded, sharp as a tack, and crazily naive as a result of rebelling against his parent's cynicism but adopting their ideals wholeheartedly. His identity is public, his powers are nearly on a par with Superman's, and he's a PR man's dream. But someday his fragile ideals are going to come into hard contact with some ugly realities...
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)
Ha ha! I'll play this game. We'll have CAPTAIN AMERICA back in the leader's chair, only it'll be a return to the glory days when the Avengers was full of reformed supervillains. So filling up the 'revamped Avenger' slots:
The new DOC DRUID aka Dr Strange's old enemy Kaalu, who had a brief reappearance in the 80's, where he used his villainy to help Dr Strange out. His moral-relativist brand of magic is evil but works for greater good! "I've saved a whole orphanage and I only had to kill one baby! Hooray!"
The new HERO FOR HIRE is a rebuilt Super-Adaptoid with bits of jukebox in him, so if you want him to imitate a superhero you need to stick a quarter in him in the middle of battle. Cue the no-pocket heroes desperately scrabbling for change!
New members who haven't been members before:
The HYPNO-HUSTLER! Maybe a female version to balance out the genders.
PRINCESS PYTHON! Only her python has inhaled Pym Particles and become freudianly enormous - the better for fighting crime!
And the new character is DOCTOR OMEGA-BRAIN, a hideous giant-domed mutant with evil intellect, who is working behind the scenes to unbalance Cap's rule. Only it turns out he's the other returning avenger, MR FANTASTIC! In stretchy disguise! What a twist!
― Vic Fluro (Vic Fluro), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)
I don't know, if I was going to do the Avengers, I'd be more interested in playing with the non-superstar core of the group rather than have some contrived group dynamic. Continuity is pretty screwed up at this point, but if the Bendis run never happened, I think it would have been fun to do some crazy sci-fi with a team consisting of Dr. Pym, The Wasp, The Vision, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Dr. Strange.
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)