Warning: Contains spoilers forNew Avengers #1!
As a superhero team, Marvel’sAvengershave never had the equivalent supervillain team to test their mettle against, but that finally just changed with the introduction of the “Killuminati,” clones of the smartest, most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe, who have been twisted and turned bad by their creator, the infamous, classic Marvel villain the Jackal.
New Avengers #1, written by Sam Humphries, with art by Ton Lima, assembles an all-new Avengers squad to go up against the Jackal. However, the Jackal’s group of clones made from other Marvel heroes are the real threats to the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and their new Avengers roster.
The team faces the Killuminati,seven twisted clone versions of Marvel’s Illuminati members, including Mister Fantastic, Professor X, Black Panther, and more. The villains are somewhat messy and unpredictable, but they also have massive firepower, which makes them perfectly suited to go up against the stacked New Avengers lineup.
Meet the “Killuminati”: Marvel Just Introduced The Avengers’ Greatest Foes Yet
New Avengers#1; Written By Sam Humphries; Art By Ton Lima; Color By Rain Beredo; Lettering By VC’s Joe Sabino
The Avengers have faced some serious villains, but they’ve never faced anything quite as powerful and sinister as the all-new Killuminati. The Illuminati are a group of Marvel’s greatest minds and powers working together, soa lineup of their villain variants have the ability to truly dominate the Marvel Universe. Along with the aforementioned Mister Fantastic, Professor X, and Black Panther, the Jackal has also created warped versions of Doctor Strange, Namor, Iron Man, and Black Bolt. The seven heroes would make up a powerful Avengers lineup on their own, so their dangerous villain counterparts could yield truly devastating results.
The Jackal’s clones are corrupted, and their villainous nature isn’t the only thing that separates them from the heroes they’ve been based off of. Mister Fantastic’s clone is spaghetti-fied, Namor’s is basically a grotesque tentacled monster, and the others are also visually altered from the real versions of themselves. The Killuminati members also have unique names to differentiate them from the real Illuminati: Bolt, Mr. Ourobouros, Guru Strange, Professor X-Tinction, Luke Charles, Iron Apex, and Imperius Rex. As the fourNew Avengers members in the new seriesattempt to fight these freakish foes, they’ll need to flesh out their roster.
Marvel Has Other Villain Teams, But They Don’t Compare To The Killuminati
The Masters of Evil Just Can’t Measure Up
Marvel Comics has had other iconic teams of villains, like the Sinister Six or even the Dark Avengers, butthe Killuminati have a chance to become the coolest and most dangerous rival team that the Avengers have ever gone up against. Truly, any one of the team’s cloned members would be a powerful threat for a full team of Avengers to face, as proven byNew Avengers #1’s cliffhanger ending as they face the wrath of Bolt. The same can’t really be said fora group like the Masters of Evil, perhaps the Avengers’ most notable team of all villains.
While the Masters of Evil were originally led by Baron Zemo, and had serious foes on the team, their lineup has gotten more obscure and less threatening over time. In the pages of theOne World Under Doomcrossover, theMasters of Evil were recruited by the Avengersto help stop Doom’s reign. Although the team used that as an opportunity to strike against the Avengers, the Masters of Evil still lack an intimidating quality that the Killuminati effortlessly exude. The Killuminati might be somewhat disorganized in their debut, but their raw power makes them scarier than other villain teams.
Marvel’s Twisted Take On The Illuminati Turns the Shadowy Superhero Alliance Into Something More Sinister
Breaking Down the Jackal’s Creepy New Clones
The real Illuminati were alreadyan extremely secretive group of heroes, a team of Marvel’s supposed greatest minds working together to trade information and make decisions for the protection of Earth, basically ruling the world in shadow. As their name fittingly describes,the Killuminati could be Earth-616’s greatest threats, as they use their powers to destroy the planet and its people rather than protecting them. As Bolt opens his mouth to use his devastating power against the New Avengers, it looks like the Killuminati have already killed their creator, the Jackal, just moments after being let out of their cages.
Luke Charles is an alias for T’Challa in the comics, and is now one of the most intriguing members of the Killuminati, as his presence on the team already represents a marked difference between the villainous variants and the team they’re based on.When the Illuminati originally formed, all seven of the heroes used to create the Killuminati were part of the proposed group, but Black Panther actually rejected the offer to join. While T’Challa had a moral issue with the Illuminati, his cloned counterpart might be the Killuminati’s leader, especially as he seems more put together than the others.
If They Survive “New Avengers”, the Killuminati Have Major Potential In The Marvel Universe
Could There Be Even More Evil Clones Coming Soon?
Since the Killuminati is made up of all-powerful clones, it seems that the New Avengers will need to try to take the team out if they want to save the world from their wrath.The Killuminati will be extremely difficult to kill, as they appear to have all the abilities of the iconic superheroes they’re based on, along with some genetic abnormalities.However,Bucky is assembling an exciting New Avengers lineupthat will be plenty threatening on their own, with lethal heroes like Laura Kinney’s Wolverine, along with Hulk and even Carnage set to join the team in future issues.
Not only are the Killuminati seeminglysome of the most powerful new villainsto hit the Marvel Universe in ages, but the concept of creating twisted versions of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is a fun one that could and should be explored beyond this original lineup. There are even more Illuminati members that could be genetically cloned into terrifying villains next, like the Inhuman Medusa, the X-Men’s Beast, and Bruce Banner’s Hulk. With Hulk already set to join theNew Avengersseries, the revamped team’s lineup will have to hope that the Jackal wasn’t hiding more Killuminati clones to be discovered.
Facing off against real villains is difficult enough, but there’s something even more daunting about having to take down a depraved clone of a superhero.
The Killuminati isn’t only terrifying for the heroes to go up against because of their devastating power, but it surely feels strange or even wrong to fight corrupted versions of heroes that the New Avengers would call allies or even friends. Facing off against real villains is difficult enough, but there’s something even more daunting about having to take down a depraved clone of a superhero. Since many of Marvel’s most exhilarating stories revolve around hero-on-hero fighting and violence, it’s no wonder that villainous versions of the Illuminati might be the most fearsome rival team theAvengershave ever faced.
