Warning: contains spoilers for AXE Judgment Day #6!The official epilogue to Marvel Comics' recent crossover event AXE Judgment Day seemingly sees the Avengers taking a dig at the cast tattoos that were revealed ahead of David Ayer's Suicide Squad, as Earth's Mightiest Heroes consider toppling a planet-destroying god as all in a day's work.
Suicide Squad was an adaptation of DC's comic team of captured supervillains, who are blackmailed into acting as a government-approved strikeforce formally known as Task Force X. Ahead of its 2016 release, the movie had intense buzz, not least because of an impressive cast which included Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. During the film's production, members of the principal cast received commemorative tattoos displaying the word "SKWAD," celebrating the project. Unfortunately, the film largely underperformed with fans and critics alike upon its release, and castmates have since expressed regret at immortalizing their involvement.
Kieron Gillen, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia, and Clayton Cowles' AXE Judgment Day #6 brings the massive cosmic event to an end, culminating the events of the Avengers and X-Men's collaboration with the ancient Eternals to defeat the infamous Progenitor Celestial. In the aftermath of their own losses, the remaining heroes attempt to take a breather and begin their life anew on the path to return to the status quo. While others are in mourning, founding Avenger Iron Man suggests moving back to their classic Avengers Mansion but is ultimately convinced by his other teammates to stay within their Celestial mountain base as a tribute to their greatest "victory" yet. However, hero Brandy Selby aka Starbrand offers her own method of honoring their recent accomplishment in the form of matching tattoos for each member of the team. Unfortunately, Starbrand's older contemporaries are not quite as receptive to the suggestion, shrugging off both the idea of getting tattoos as a group and the idea that the Celestial was a big enough threat to warrant such a reaction.
The Avengers Don't Do Group Ink
It's hard not to read this as a jab at Suicide Squad, as Nighthawk and Captain Marvel shoot down the idea of celebrating a superhero team's world-saving victory with matching tattoos. Notably, Nighthawk has a history as a deliberate Batman parody in Marvel stories, meaning that it's effectively a character who appeared in the Suicide Squad movie (played by Ben Affleck) who flatly turns down the suggestion. Captain Marvel's argument that the Avengers face too many cosmic threats to make this one special shows why the Avengers might consider themselves above the celebration that accompanied the Suicide Squad's big-screen debut.
The first Suicide Squad film may not have become the pop culture juggernaut that fans or the cast expected, but its legacy goes on - both in the ways subsequent DCEU movies utilized the characters it introduced, and in the tattoos adorning its cast - whether the Avengers approve or not.