Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers Forever #13.
Marvel Comics finally reveals the identity of Avenger Prime, but this huge Avengers mystery failed to live up to its own hype. After years of buildup, the identity of Avenger Prime as Loki was actually pretty easy to guess, and the weird split of the current Avengers storyline between two different titles made this big reveal ill-timed too.
Jason Aaron's long Avengers run is coming to an end, and this much-awaited finale is being told through the pages of both Avengers and Avengers Forever. This complex plot can be boiled down to this: the Avengers have a double mission, to stop the Multiversal Masters of Evil, led by Doom Supreme, from killing the Prehistoric Avengers, and at the same time prevent Mephisto from conquering the Avengers Tower built to defend the God Quarry. This bastion was built by a mysterious figure called Avenger Prime, who has also recruited Avengers from across the Multiverse to help in this ultimate battle.
Avenger Prime first appeared in full in Avengers Assemble Alpha #1, but his face was still covered by a helmet. The true identity of the character is only revealed in Avengers Forever #13, by Jason Aaron, Aaron Kuder, Mark Farmer, and Frank Martin, where Avenger Prime reveals himself as Loki and steps up to fight against Doom Supreme, who has upstaged Mephisto by destroying Avengers Tower and is about to claim the power of the God Quarry for himself. However, there were plenty of clues that pointed to Avengers Prime's true identity as Loki, and his appearance in Avengers Assemble all but gave it away one month before the actual reveal.
Avenger Prime's Obvious Reveal Is One Of Marvel's Biggest Missed Opportunities
The name "Avenger Prime" was clearly a reference to the fact that the team's modern-day version was brought together for the first time by Loki's machinations in one of his attempts to get rid of Thor. Also, Loki was the first villain in Aaron's Avengers run, and after his Dark Celestials plan was foiled, he revealed that his true reason was to bring the Avengers together again. Avenger Prime's connection with the God Quarry was also a huge clue, as Loki was the last Marvel character associated with this mysterious location, and the only one to break through the barrier with the First Cosmos. If all that wasn't enough, in Avengers Assemble Alpha Avenger Prime appears wearing an Asgardian-style helmet, and with a pretty revealing green-colored tie (green is the color of Loki's classic outfit).
The Avenger Prime reveal should have been the big highlight of this Avengers saga, but it ended up being incredibly disappointing. Not only the clues were obvious from the start, but the actual revelation was delayed by three whole months to let Avenger Prime appear in the Avengers Assemble Alpha special but holding off on his actual identity. Bouncing between two titles (three, counting the special) has really hurt the finale of Aaron's controversial Avengers saga, which was already having problems keeping fans interested in an overtly-long plot whose stakes always seemed too high for its actual delivery. Ultimately, the revelation of Avenger Prime's identity could have salvaged this forgettable Avengers saga, but it ended up being a missed opportunity for Marvel.
Avengers Forever #13 is available now from Marvel Comics.