Publisher Marvel Comics Genre Superhero | Format Ongoing series | |
First appearance Champions #1 (October 2016) Created by Mark Waid
Humberto Ramos Member(s) Ms. Marvel
Spider-Man
Nova
Hulk
Viv Vision
Cyclops | ||
The Champions are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appears in Champions #1 (October 2016) and was created by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos.
Contents
Publication history
In July 2016, Marvel announced the debut of the Champions, a team of teenage superheroes who became disillusioned with their predecessors and split off from the Avengers following the events of "Civil War II". The team, featured in a series by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos, initially consists of Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Nova (Sam Alexander), Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Viv Vision, and a teenage version of Cyclops. Executive Editor Tom Brevoort stated that while these are the initial members, the roster is subject to change not unlike the Avengers. Brevoort also stated that the purpose of the team is to "reclaim and redefine in a classic sense what being a superhero should mean. Rather than seeing the previous generation as these icons that came before them, now they've interacted with them on a one-to-one basis and learned they aren't better or worse than anybody else." Brevoort explained that the characters chose the name Champions to distance themselves from the Avengers and wanted something decidedly upbeat. Brevoort also revealed that he had a list of several other names in case the trademark dispute with Heroic Publishing, who owned the name, fell through.
Fictional team biography
In the aftermath of the Civil War II storyline, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), and Nova have left the Avengers and make plans to "put the world back together." After recruiting Hulk (Amadeus Cho), they head to Washington DC to recruit someone on Cho's suggestion: Viv, the synthezoid daughter of the Vision. On Viv's suggestion, the team heads to Baltimore to stop Pagalicci from kidnapping underage girls for human trafficking. After freeing the girls and stopping Pagalicci, they form the Champions.
During a camping trip, the team learns about each other's powers and is visited by the teenage version of Cyclops, who at first appears as an enemy but manages to win the team over and joins them. They later head to Lasibad, Sharzad to help a group of women and girls that are being gunned down by terrorists. After rescuing a small group, they form a plan to drive the oppressors away. After their victory, the team argues over who should be the leader when their ship gets hit by a bazooka. They survived the crash and Hulk and Cyclops used their powers to propel themselves forward because Viv saw land. Unfortunately, the 'land' they saw turned out to be an Atlantean ship and they were kidnapped. They manage to break free of their captors, escape the ship and fly away. But somewhere else, the Champions also inspired another well-known, but troublesome hero: the Unbelievable Gwenpool. They later appear in a small town that is experiencing a wave of hate crimes. Gwenpool arrives to help them and they figure out that the town sheriff is responsible for the spread of the hate crimes.
Some time later the Champions have allowed their logo to be used by other groups doing good like cleaning up beaches, teaching self defense classes, and other good works. This creates an opening for a group of as yet unidentified people who are against such things to put a black mark on the Champion's reputation by hiring a group of super powered delinquents to use the name and commit crimes under their name. The Hulk had previously predicted that this might happen and has been watching for it. As yet we do not know what they plan to do.