Contains spoilers for Avengers 1,000,000 BC #1
After years of teasing, Marvel finally reveals the origins of the Prehistoric Avengers, the first group of heroes who protected Planet Earth back in 1,000,000 BC. The person who founded the team should also have the honor of being called the First Avenger, and it's not who fans think.
During Jason Aaron's long tenure as writer of Avengers, it was established that the Earth's Mightiest Heroes have a legacy that expands back in time to when the planet was still young. The Avengers already existed in 1,000,000 BC, when a group of heroes consisting of Odin, the Phoenix, Agamotto (the first Sorcerer Supreme), the first Black Panther, Iron Fist, Starbrand, and Ghost Rider got together to protect Earth from threats such as a Celestial invasion or time-travelers like a young Thanos from another dimension. Until now, the history of the group remained mostly a mystery, including a turbulent relationship between Phoenix and Odin that may have generated Thor.
In Avengers 1,000,000 BC #1, by Jason Aaron, Kev Walker, and Dean White, readers finally learn the truth of how the first protectors of Earth got together, and how they eventually disbanded, confirming what had been teased two years earlier in Avengers #39. The Phoenix host, a mutant woman called Firehair, is responsible for assembling the Stone Age Avengers. After being gifted with the power and the knowledge of the cosmic being, Firehair recruited Odin, the All-Father of Asgard, and other extraordinary people who were the first inheritors of the "legacy powers", gifts that would be ed down through generations to protect Earth from its enemies. However, the Phoenix is also responsible for the team breaking up after she refused Odin's clumsy and arrogant attempt to marry her.
The Phoenix is a character that made its debut in the X-Men comics and has since been tightly connected to Marvel's mutant lore. Even if it was later explained that the Phoenix Force had visited Earth many times before her famous and fateful bonding with Jean Grey, it is still surprising to see Marvel firmly establishing that a Phoenix host is the first Avenger in history, and perhaps the most important. After flying away enraged by Odin's proposal, Firehair says that if she left at that moment, the planet would wither and die without its foremost defender, as the "union of protectors" that she forged had grown too fractured. This is surely a huge step away from traditional depictions of the Phoenix as a cosmic force of destruction and rebirth that does not care for the struggles of mortals.
In the eyes of many fans, Marvel's First Avenger is Captain America. Despite not being a founding member, Steve Rogers embodies everything the team stands for. However, the Avengers lore has changed forever, and from now on it should be ed that the Earth's Mightiest Heroes owe their existence to a mutant woman and to the cosmic power of the Phoenix Force.
Avengers 1,000,000 BC is available now from Marvel Comics!
