Warning: SPOILERS for Captain America and the Winter Soldier Special #1Marvel Comics unveils the origins of the new, sinister group that has replaced the Illuminati as the new secret cabal of the Marvel Universe: the Outer Circle. After pulling the strings of the world for a century, the Outer Circle has been exposed by Captain America and the Winter Soldier, but their threat is as dangerous as ever.
The Illuminati were the most important group in the Marvel Universe before the Secret Wars event and the All New, All Different reboot. Composed of the most powerful and influential superhuman leaders in the world, the Illuminati formed after the Kree-Skrull war and consisted of Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, and Namor, with Captain America and Black Panther joining briefly at a later stage. Their purpose was, initially, to share information and strategy, but the Illuminati also acted preventively to protect Earth from its worst threats. This noble mission did not make the Illuminati's existence less controversial, as they were effectively a secret cabal of superhumans with the self-appointed power to decide Earth's affairs. While the members of the Illuminati showed at least a measure of moral dilemma over their role, the Outer Circle has no such qualms.
Introduced as a group of mysterious villains in the Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty ongoing series, the origins of the Outer Circle were revealed in Captain America and the Winter Soldier Special #1, by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Kev Walker, and KJ Dìaz. In 1922, motivated by the senseless destruction brought by the First World War, Prince Wulf Fortunov of Latveria assembled a small group of the most influential people in the world: the first multi-billionaire, Etien Argent; a former Wakandian head engineer, Ika Agboje; the most influential European artist, Ana; and Gavrilo Princip, the revolutionary who started the Great War by shooting Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Together, they became the Power, the Money, the Machine, the Love, and the Revolution, an "outer circle" whose purpose is to control everything, steering the world toward what they believe to be a brighter future.
The Outer Circle Is Even Worse Than The Illuminati
What makes the Outer Circle stand out from other similar shady cabals is that they are not actually working together. Instead, they designed a complex system of rules that ties their hands in what they call "the century game", in which every member makes their move. The creative team of Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty may have gone a bit too far in describing the reach of the Outer Circle, as they seem responsible for every major event in the past century, including the creation of Captain America himself. However, this sets the Outer Circle up to be the perfect replacement for the Illuminati, who did not appear again in the post-Secret Wars continuity. If the Marvel Universe needs big, untouchable villains pulling the strings from the shadows, then the Outer Circle is a perfect choice, as they are all fresh characters with a lot of potential for development.
Of course, the Illuminati's appeal was that they were not actual villains, or at least they did not see themselves as such. They firmly believed that they were acting for mankind's sake, which is also apparently the Outer Circle's motivation. However, while the Illuminati still had moral dilemmas regarding how they justified their own actions, the Outer Circle (except for the Winter Soldier, who has taken the seat of the Revolution) has no such issues, which makes them an even bigger threat to the Marvel Universe.
Captain America and the Winter Soldier Special #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.