Synopsis
Superior Avengers (2025 series) #4 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Last issue the Superior Avengers fought the (ordinary) Avengers while both sides were supposed to be dealing with Graviton. The issue ended with Vision blasting a hole in Ghost.
This issue begins with another flashforward to the future our team come from. This time we revisit year 128 of Dr Doom's reign, after some of them killed him which let some of Earth's otherdimensional enemies in. In the chaos prisoners are escaping from 1 of Doom's prisons, including a woman and her child. Jailer Ghost is killing the escapees but 1 of Annihilus' invading Annihilation Wave distracts her, allowing the woman to rip off Ghost's helmet and brain her with it.
In the present Vision detects that Ghost isn't human but an artificial non-sentient drone. We see small octopoidal machines exiting from the 'corpse', which angers Dr Octopus (female and from the future like the rest of our gang). In earlier issues we saw that she used these drones to simulate some or all of the gang when they wanted to slip away from Doom's surveillance. Now she realises that Ghost has hacked them to obey *her*. Team leader Killmonger now knows they must end this battle and hunt down Ghost, so she calls on Onslaught who reluctantly reassembles himself (after Scarlet With tore him apart last issue) and mentally paralyses the 'human' Avengers and Graviton. The team board their plane and Vision lets them go.
Now we go back a few minutes to Doomstadt where Kristoff Vernard is watching the battle on a screen, gloating that *his* team have made the Avengers seem the aggressors. But then Ghost grabs him and phases them both down through the stone floor to a vault below. She says she's not here to harm him but to ask for his help. She tells him she's not who the team think she is. Her name is Ava Starr and the real Ghost was her jailer in the future until Doom's death allowed her to kill her and take her place. Kristoff is shocked to hear her say that his adoptive father is dead in the future because he believed his time platform had brought back heroes to prove how good and long Doom's reign would be. But she says instead that Doom valued his own power over the good of the world and the 'Superior Avengers' who governed the world for him rose up and killed him.
Now she explains who his Avengers are:-
Killmonger, who has become Kristoff's lover, was 1 of millions of orphans. But she persevered (and last issue we saw her reach the false hope of 'free' Wakanda where she donned Black Panther's costume) and caught the eye of Lord Doom. She entered his service and ruthlessly climbed the ladder of success, but secretly driven by revenge.
Dr Octopus is the last heiress of a royal family who Doom spared. He encouraged her scientific experiments on humans and gave her the cybernetic arms of the original Doc Ock from his trophy room.
When Doom destroyed Asgard and stole its magic he found All-Black the Necrosword and Undrjarn the All-Weapon and combined them into something that is either occupied by the soul of Malekith the Dark Elf, or just thinks it is. Either way it has its predecessor's bloodlust.
A 2nd Krakoan Age arose for the mutants, but again it collapsed. This time it led to the death of all mutants, and Onslaught rose from the ashes containing all their rage and pain mixed with nihilism. He may be the last remaining personality of Legion.
Abomination was born to members of a Doom-worshipping sect attempting to create super-soldiers for their lord. He wears Doom-like armour and an iron mask to hide the shame of his face not scarred like Doom's. He has super-strength but not very much intelligence. The others have easily persuaded him that all this is a test of his faith.
The real Ghost controlled the Negative Zone prisons. After Ava killed her she learned all the above from the AI in her suit.
Kristoff panics about Doom discovering that he hasn't actually succeeded in doing what was required - to prove Doom's reign would be great and long-lived. Ava points out that his bigger problem is that his team are here for their own purpose, and they'll kill him and Victor if necessary. She explains that they're gathering magic energy to take back with them to replace that which Doom stole and which was lost when he died. That energy is required to keep monsters at bay.
Now we return to the future flashback where Ava Starr sees her son attacked and possessed by 1 of the Annihilation Wave. And now Ava/Ghost says she doesn't know if he or their future can be saved from the Wave, but she doesn't trust the other Superiors to be any better for her world than Doom was. So now her only safe bet is to warn Doom what happens and hopefully prevent the future being so dire. Kristoff doesn't want to admit his failure to Victor but Ava adds that her teammates are prepared to destroy this world to succeed.
Meanwhile those teammates are still searching for her in Doomstadt. But Ock is more worried about the extreme amount of magic energy she siphoned off Scarlet Witch last issue. It will magically explode unless she can store it in the arcane battery they've constructed in the Negative Zone. Ghost was their only gateway there, but now Ock reveals that she created her own portal as a backstop. Presumably Ock does deposit the energy but we follow a different plotline that Killmonger cooks up when she asks Onslaught if he can track Annihilus (who they fought in #1) by his brainwaves. She wants to aim his Wave at a target that will raise them in Doom's favour. And Onslaught suggests it will also settle a personal grudge of hers.
We next see Wakanda's parliament in session. Princess Shuri doesn't want her country to surrender to Doom. Prime Minister Folasade personally agrees with her but the people don't. However the debate is cut short by Annihilus and the Wave descending from a portal in the sky. The PM tells Okoye to lead the Dora Milaje in defence of the city. But then Abomination appears on screen to announce that the Superior Avengers are here to save them if they will accept Doom's rule.
Characters
Good (or All)
Abomination (SupAv), Dr Octopus (SupAv), Ghost (SupAv), Killmonger (SupAv), Malekith (SupAv), Onslaught (SupAv).
EnemiesPlus: Kristoff Vernard, Okoye.