Warning: contains a cover preview for Defenders #4 and spoilers for Defenders #3!
Upcoming comic Defenders #4 will explore the original, symbolic forms of the Avengers from a reality that existed long before the modern Marvel multiverse. These primal forms later influenced the Avengers' costumed identities, and the cover for Defenders #4 showcases hilarious versions of familiar heroes broken down to their symbolic roots.
Within Marvel canon, all of reality has ended and been reborn seven times. The current Marvel multiverse is known as the Eighth Cosmos, but Doctor Strange's latest team is hot on the trail of a villain traveling back to the very beginning. So far, the team have made it through the Sixth Cosmos (the birthplace of both Galactus and science) and the Fifth Cosmos (the birthplace of magic), ending Defenders #3 (from Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez) in the Fourth Cosmos, a reality ruled by symbols and archetypes.
The latest issue ends in the Fourth Cosmos, which is colored with Ben-Day dots (a process often used to evoke old comics) and home to a Hulk-like being with four faces, each experiencing a different emotion. This depiction echoes Ewing's recent work on Immortal Hulk, which explored the relationship between Hulk's many personas, and it seems this cosmos is inhabited by heroic archetypes whose core symbolism will one day define the heroes fans know and love. The cover and summary for the issue, from Marvel.com, explain exactly what's going on.
BEFORE THERE WERE GODS... THERE WERE MARVELS! Doctor Strange and his Defenders land in the Fourth Cosmos - the home of the Archetypes of Good and Evil, primal entities of pure myth destined to echo through every reality to come - as the desperate Dr. Zota attempts to harness their power to rewrite all existence in his own hand! Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez explore the truest origins of the Marvel Multiverse in a cosmos-colliding epic you'll have to experience to believe!
Ambitious as exploring the gradually more and more primal versions of the Marvel Universe is, the real joy comes from seeing these supposed "primal" versions of familiar heroes. Captain America and Iron Man dominate Rodriguez's cover, with Steve Rogers' archetype possessing a shield and his temple wings, while Tony Stark's archetype blasts energy from his palms and, perhaps predicting his tendency to discount other viewpoints, lacks eyes.
Alongside Hulk's archetype is a version of the Invisible Woman whose insignia clearly marks her as one of four, a Captain Marvel with aircraft-like wings and small rockets circling her body, a Spider-Man with multiple arms, a blindfolded Daredevil, a tiny Ant-Man, and - best of all - a Thor archetype with a primitive hammer and a storm cloud for a head. A lurking blade-handed creature and scaled feet can also be seen, suggesting the archetypes of Wolverine and Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Damningly, the heroes seem to be engaged in a huge scuffle, suggesting that Marvel's habit of having its heroes fight at any opportunity is something baked into the very foundation of its reality. Seemingly absent are the Archetypes of Evil mentioned in the issue summary, though it's likely Strange's team will have to face them before moving on. Coming December 8, Defenders #4 will plunge fans into the Fourth Cosmos, likely slipping in many more jokes, barbs, and even profound observations about the archetypes which, in Marvel's mythology, apparently shaped the Avengers.
Source: Marvel.com