Avengers: Marvel Reveals Who the Team’s Greatest Villain REALLY Is – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Avengers #38 features a major retcon that cements an unlikely Marvel villain as the team's most enduring threat ever.

WARNING: The following contains mild spoilers for Avengers #38 by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, Jason Keith and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.

In recent issues of Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes have gone up against some truly dangerous threats. They've faced the menace of Dracula and his vampires, a political dispute with Atlantis, as well as rising tensions with the Squadron Supreme and Russia's Winter Guard. But as Avengers #38 reveals, all of these enemies pale in comparison to the malice of Mephisto. The demonic character is essentially the Marvel Universe's version of the Devil, and he has been orchestrating events and playing an elaborate game to defeat the Avengers far longer than anyone realized.

Over the past several months, it's become evident that Mephisto was the one who has been pulling the Winter Guard and Dracula's strings, and he is behind Phil Coulson andthe Squadron Supreme. He's even the one who has set Namor on a collision course with the Phoenix Force. But Mephisto hasn't just been playing this game for the past few years. As this issue reveals, he's been manipulating the Avengers for a very, very long time.

Avengers #38 is a standalone issue that serves as a prelude to the upcoming "Enter the Phoenix" storyline, but it delivers a massive punch. The issue reveals that Mephisto has been trying to get rid of the Avengers ever since the Stone Age, back when the team was comprised of Odin, Agamotto, the Phoenix, Starbrand and the first Ghost Rider, Iron Fist and Black Panther.

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The issue reveals that this original roster of Avengers faced a teenage Thanos in battle on Earth, and the young Titan didn't travel there by accident. Thanos did so at the suggestion of Mephisto, who convinced the young Mad Titan that Earth was a place where he could get close to Death. And, as it turns out, that was just the devil's first attempt to mess with Earth's heroes.

In the distant past, Mephisto took on the form of a crow and convinced Apocalypse to rule over the world. This prompted a confrontation in the past between Thor and Apocalypse, and it involved another version of the prehistoric Avengers. It's possible this may even be connected to theevents chronicled in 2013's Uncanny Avengers storyline, "The Apocalypse Twins."

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Avengers: Marvel Reveals Who the Team's Greatest Villain REALLY Is - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero