Is the Trinity returning to the Avengers?

[goldenfist]

This article from newsarama.com I had post it for the fans who
love classic Avengers.

For the three cornerstones of the Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor — it’s been a rough few years.

Steve Rogers found himself on the losing side of the superhero Civil War, ending with his untimely “demise.” Tony Stark split the Avengers by backing the Superhero Registration Act, only to find himself forced underground by Norman Osborn. And Thor, betrayed by his former colleagues in the Civil War, has recently been cast out of Asgard by the machinations of his half-sibling Loki.

But according to Previews, despite being battered and broken, there is some hope that the Avengers Trinity could be back in business. According to them, November’s issue of Wizard will have a Marcos Martin cover of the Avengers, with the following blurb:

o Avengers Assemble
We’ve waited and we’ve begged, but can we finally be close to seeing the classic trinity of Thor, Iron Man and Captain America back together again at the House of Ideas?

The fact that the question is even being asked is a good sign — if Marvel didn’t have something to say, would it make the magazine at all? The trio (and yes, I do consider Bucky Barnes to be Captain America, at least till Steve returns in full) last joined forces in the Secret Invasion, but before that, it’s surprising how long it’s been since the Trinity joined forces in the mainstream Marvel universe: they haven’t been together since 2003, several months before Avengers: Disassembled hit, cementing Brian Michael Bendis’ take on the top-selling Marvel characters. What say you on all this?

[redstatecap]

I say that I'm trying to avoid making any scathingly sarcastic remarks in response to the usual serving of Marvel pablum.

[scottharris]

Unless this is accompanied by a change in writers, it's not of much interest to me to be honest.

On a different note, I was in a comic store today and noticed something really weird -- the Avengers were on the cover of Punisher, but it wasn't the current team, it was... the Dr. Druid team. So I had to read it. Turns out it wasn't really them (as I guessed) but rather The Hood had somehow resurrected all the villains killed in Captain America #319 and sent them to hunt down Punisher; one of these was Mirage who was using his illusion powers to disguise the team as the Avengers. But since he's been dead so long, he didn't know the current roster (I'm extrapolating here) so he disguised them as the team circa Avengers #280 -- Druid, Captain Marvel, Black Knight, Thor in his armor with the beard, etc. There were too many villains though so they also had people like Beast along who weren't on the team. It was sort of an interesting story though really a stretch in terms of trying to figure out how to milk the Avengers for even more tie-in sales. But it did remind me how much I dislike the Punisher, so that was good.

[humanbelly]

I. . . I may be taking a risk by saying this. . . but I was never a member of that very vocal crowd that had an unwavering desire to have the Big Three on the team as often as possible. I've always been more in the camp of folks who felt that having Cap, Iron Man & Thor on the roster tended to take a lot of potential character development out of the mix. That would always be better attended to in their own books-- although I think there were some nice threads still thrown their way over the years (Tony & Don Blake catching-on to each other's secret identities; some truly painful animosity between Cap & I.M. during Tony's stint as leader; Thor blowing up at an ungrateful media). But far more often, important turning-points in the solo books were handled with a "I'd rather not talk about that just now" or even a phone call along the lines of "I'm tied up with personal business-- join you as soon as I can" when they came up in the Avengers.
There's also the palpable sense of the Big Boys being First Among Peers, as it were, and it always rankles me. Kirk, Spock, and Bones--- and then everybody else. Unintentional, I'm sure. But the unquestionable aura of authority that comes with being a founding member always seems to diminish (for me) the brilliance of everyone else's light.

HOWEVER-- Even given all of that-- and the awful, impossible-to-repair history between Tony & Steve-- and the fact that Thor doesn't seem to even fit into this equation anymore-- I WOULD ABSOLUTELY WELCOME THEIR RETURN. OH PLEASE YES, ANYTHING. I WOULD CRY!

But, I also fully expect it will be a cynical, sales-grabbing gimmick (Thor-clone, anyone?) by Marvel, that will further alienate long-time Avengers readers, even as they make a pretense of having listened to their concerns and make a show of trying to draw them back in.

Oh, bitter, bitter---

HB