Who is the new Ronin?

[The Night Phantom]

Do you have a pretty good idea as to who the new Ronin will be? If so, please answer the poll and/or post your reply.

Even if you’re not sure, feel free to post your speculations.

If you’re reading this after the news has already hit, refrain from answering the poll—that’s just gauche.

(Reminder: here’s what Newsarama and Brian Michael Bendis had to say on the subject:)

WHAT BRIAN BENDIS SAID AFTER WE LET HIM TALK:

“Once Echo is done is Japan, there will be no need for her to be Ronin anymore. The suit – the identity – will have served its purpose. There will be another person in the Marvel Universe without a theme… without a motivation … or who may have lost their desire to wear the costume they were wearing, and this person will don the costume as the masterless samurai of the Marvel Universe for the time to come.”

Q: Can you say if this character’s need or desire to appear in the Ronin costume has anything to do with Civil War?

“Yes.”

Q: Okay… do you have any hints for readers at all? Want to leave any breadcrumbs on the trail?

“Some people will love it … and some people will hate it.

“It’s someone with a long history in the Marvel Universe. There are quite a few people it could be, and it’s not necessarily the person you immediately go to, but it’s someone I have an affection for who also has a history of donning a guise that best suits his or her mental tone. And this is his or her mental tone right now. And it just so happens there is a costume that needs filling and a person who can fill it, and so it’s taken."

Q: Brian, considering your clue, maybe the two most common guesses are probably going to be Hawkeye and despite his position in Civil War, Hank Pym, who is the perhaps the classic example of a Marvel character who has changed his identity according to his state of mind …

“…Or Nick Fury…or Speedball…or Miriam Sharpe…or Clor… there’s a lot of people it could be. Really I can think of 10 or 15 right off the top of my head that would be interesting…Maybe Daredevil?. You know maybe it actually is Daredevil this time. Or maybe it’s someone we’re going to reveal is already in the group. Maybe it will be Captain America? Or maybe it will be someone from the Mighty Avengers who is working both sides as a double agent because he or he doesn’t believe in the Initiative?

"These people aren’t allowed to be doing what they’re doing, so maybe someone has to do it under the guise of 'ninja boy'…"

[redstatecap]

My vote: Who the F cares.

RSC

[The Night Phantom]

I sympathize, RSC. I was tempted to vote for “who cares?” myself. The problem is, I do care. Oh, I don’t plan to read Bendis’ Avengers comics anymore. But I figure one of these days he’s going to move on, and we might have Avengers comics written by the next Lee/Thomas/Englehart/Stern/Busiek (heck, maybe even written by one of those guys!). And then I’ll want to read Avengers comics that have, for better or for worse, inherited the legacy of Bendis’ membership choices. Also, in the meantime Ronin & co. might show up in some comic I will be reading; if, say, She-Hulk, Agent of SHIELD battles the masterless samurai, I will care who’s in the ambiguous-gender suit. (Hmmm…maybe I should have included Awesome Andy as a poll choice…!) So, in spite of myself, I care. I just hope Bendis doesn’t make whatever damage he inflicts to the legacy too difficult for the next writer to undo.

[thew40]

Jubilee.

Honestly, Jubilee.

Why? Because Joe Quesda has said that Jubilee will be playing a major role in the Marvel Universe, but would be showing up outside of an X-Book and wouldn't be in "The Losers." Plus, Wolverine's presence on the team would really lend to the theory that his once faithful sidekick is in that suit.

~W~

[daned]

While I'm tempted to say who cares, I just can't. Steve Rogers. Or some X-Men reject.

I know I'm going to cry whatever it is.

[Doctor Bong]

Tony Stark, with a Ronin-suit programmed to execute every ninja move under the sun...? From Bendis, I would expect anything... the more improbable & um unlikely, the better...

[dlw66]

For those of you familiar with American television, there was a drama/soap opera on tv in the 70's called "Dallas". At the conclusion of one season, one of the main characters woke up to realize that the preceding 30-whatever episodes had all been a dream. I'm hoping that is what's happening here... I will wake up one day and this will all never have happened, and my Avengers will begin numbering again right after the Kang story in Vol. III.

[redstatecap]

Mmm...Victoria Principle...mmm

RSC

[Doctor Bong]

Hope springs eternal, dlw66... I just wish it happens within the next 10 years, so I can still care.

[The Night Phantom]

thew40 said:

Jubilee.

Honestly, Jubilee.

Why? Because Joe Quesda has said that Jubilee will be playing a major role in the Marvel Universe, but would be showing up outside of an X-Book and wouldn't be in "The Losers." Plus, Wolverine's presence on the team would really lend to the theory that his once faithful sidekick is in that suit.

Interesting theory. One of the reasons I included Keniuchio Harada (the Silver Samurai) as one of the choices is that Bendis tends to infuse the X-Men’s corner of the Marvel Universe into New Avengers even above and beyond Wolverine’s membership (the Savage Land, Emma Frost, Professor X in the Illuminati, Xorn…). While Harada certainly constitutes an X-Men presence, he does not nearly so much as an actual X-Man like Jubilee (well, ex-X-Man…or ex-X-Woman…why the heck didn’t Stan call the team the X-People?!? Jean was in it!).

[balok]

Checking... checking... checking... nope, still no sign of caring.

[Yellowjacket]

I´ve read NA #27 yesterday. After reading for me the only possible conclusion is "who cares".
I haven´t read the others NA threads of newer date yet but to say NA #27 was terrible would be a major understatement.

[Nutcase65]

I gotta say Hawkeye. Cap trained him. Reading the interview about history and costume changes, c'mon Clint Barton changes clothes more than a stripper.

[Nutcase65]

I just re-read NA and I'm more certain it's Hawkeye. In the few lines he has you can sense a little of a amart-alec attitude and Hawkeye is too much the showman to stay out of the spotlight for too long. Also with the death of his father figure I think he's more apt to get involved again.

[The Night Phantom]

tananile said:

I have a guess who the new Ronin is...

[…]

I think it might be Jessica Jones, thus perpetuating the insanity of the man-suit. It also keeps one of Bendis' favorite characters around.

nutcase65 said:

Well Tana, Wong could be watching the baby. My only question is would she and Luke risk both of them being captured and leaving the baby without a parent un-incarcerated? Worse, with that baby having two super-parents, the 'good' guys would probably take the baby into protective custody.

That being said, when you look at the page in #29 just before Brother DooDoo shows up, the NA are opening the box with the Ronin costume in it. Who all is standing there? All of them and Jessica with the baby.

I think Tana is right.

I hope no one minds that I am responding in this thread, instead of its April Fools analogue, where these apparently serious posts were made.

When I was coming up with the choices for this poll, I considered including Jessica Jones. I considered including a lot of people but decided to opt for brevity. Some other candidates:

• Yukio (the Storm entry in the recent All-New OHOTMU Update #1 referred to her as a “masterless samurai”…)
  
• Kitty Pryde
  
• Laura Kinney (X-23)
  
• Natasha Romanoff (she’s the double-agent type)
  
• Angela del Toro (the White Tiger)
  
• Taskmaster

The fun in a puzzle like this is in trying to find and decipher the clues and make everything fit. Unfortunately, I don’t think of Bendis as the kind of person who would make things fit in a cohesive and satisfying way (for me), and so there isn’t nearly so much fun here as there should be. Certainly not enough for me to resume reading this series. Well, we’ll find out soon enough.

[Nutcase65]

since you're not reading it Phantom let me bring you up to speed on this. Therer is a scene in the issue where Jessica is with the NA and they have the empty Ronin suit just before teleporting away. It really works out as a strong possibility.

[The Night Phantom]

That makes sense. But in Bendis’ Avengers, I’ve come to expect nonsense. You know, like Maya Lopez in a Charles Atlas suit.

[Doctor Bong]

nutcase65 said:

since you're not reading it Phantom let me bring you up to speed on this. Therer is a scene in the issue where Jessica is with the NA and they have the empty Ronin suit just before teleporting away. It really works out as a strong possibility.

Well, congratulations on achieving the Honorary Jarvis-Head status, Nutcase...!!! Just don't let it go to your head...

[Nutcase65]

Thank you bongster, I'm just enjoying the pretty blue stars.

Won't be too long before two others are right here as well.

[balok]

nutcase65 said:

Thank you bongster, I'm just enjoying the pretty blue stars.

Except... they're green...

but congratulations, anyway.

The more I think about it, the more Tana's theory makes sense within the context of Bendis' habits. He likes particular characters and he wants to write about them.

Plus, deep inside, I'd rather not see him mishandle Hawkeye any worse than he already did during Misresembled (as in, "This comic book misresembles any Avengers book written by anyone good!")

[Doctor Bong]

nutcase65 said:

Thank you bongster, I'm just enjoying the pretty blue stars.

Won't be too long before two others are right here as well.

The thing is, Nutcase, no way anyone can convince me that it's better to be known as an Honorary Jarvis-Head than as an Avengers Founding Member...

[Nutcase65]

well, Jarvis has been the backbone of the entire team forever. He's been a team member for a longer run than any other.

[Doctor Bong]

I guess it's better than being an Honorary Alfred-Head...

[The Night Phantom]

Comic Book Resources has posted a story in which CBR has identified six candidates for the Ronin identity, discussed the pros and cons of the theories (i.e., do they fit or not?), then run them past Tom Brevoort for (noncommital) comment. The candidates (or “suspects”) are Blade, Angela Del Toro (White Tiger), Marc Spector (Moon Knight), Baron Helmut Zemo, Clint Barton, and Steve Rogers. Interesting read. There is, of course, no guarantee that Ronin is one of these six.

[The Night Phantom]

With the news now out, we can consider this poll closed. Breakdown of the 18 votes:

• Steve Rogers: 1 (5.5%)
  
• Clint Barton: 4 (22.2%)
  
• Matt Murdock: 1 (5.5%)
  
• Nick Fury: 1 (5.5%)
  
• Other: 1 (5.5%)
  
• Ugh, who cares?: 10 (55.5%)

[balok]

Interestingly, of those who expressed a preference, fully half guessed the identity Bendis swore no one would guess.

[scottharris]

balok said:

Interestingly, of those who expressed a preference, fully half guessed the identity Bendis swore no one would guess.

Bendis has a much higher opinion of his writing than anyone else does, which is saying something considering those fawning bootlickers at Wizard.

[The Night Phantom]

balok said:

Interestingly, of those who expressed a preference, fully half guessed the identity Bendis swore no one would guess.

I didn’t cast a vote, but from the beginning Clint struck me as the most likely choice. But the choice seemed a little too obvious. I felt Bendis would do something more difficult to predict, whether intentionally or not. So, it seems he defied predictability by going for the predictable. Oy! my head hurts.

Are we sure it’s not Ultron?