Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s digital comics subscription service, is currently offering all fans free access to some of Marvel’s most iconic stories from recent years, including now-classic Marvel Comics events and critically acclaimed runs featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and more.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a look back at these classic stories and maybe help you decide whether or not you would like to check them out. Our next series reassembles the most famous team of superheroes to stop a bigger threat than they’ve ever seen before…
Avengers: The Final Host
The Avengers have taken on incredibly powerful villains like Thanos, Kang the Conqueror, Dr. Doom and many others. They’ve even taken on Celestials in the past, but not quite like this. A group of Celestials have become infected with a virus known as the Horde and have come to Earth to wipe it out. Millions of years prior, a team of heroes led by Odin defended the Earth from the First Host of infected Celestials. Now, the heroes of today must reassemble to take on the Final Host.
The Avengers have been disbanded and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have gone their separate ways. But, when Steve Rogers invites Tony Stark and Thor for a drink, you can bet they’re going to show up. You can also bet Steve will have another motive. He wants to put the team back together, with the big three at its core. Captain America knows the world will always be facing some sort of threat and will always need heroes. It doesn’t take long before that becomes painfully evident.
Dead Celestials begin falling from the sky. An army of bugs erupt from the ground. It was a day unlike any other and Earth’s mightiest heroes would once again find themselves united against a common foe. As the title might give away, the Avengers are reassembled.
When a new comic series launches, it typically does so with a slow introduction to a story arc and maybe a small-time villain for our hero(es) to quickly dispatch en route to the bigger story. Writer Jason Aaron took a very different approach with his 2018 Avengers series by opening it with a potential world-ending threat and a massive story.
The Final Host is an incredibly menacing big bad for the start of this new series and not one that is simply used to set up the series going forward. The presence of Celestials has existed in the Marvel Universe for a long time, but this story takes it to a new level by introducing the Horde and the idea that life on Earth was created as a result of a Celestial virus.
For Marvel fans who are looking for a big, Earth-shattering Avengers story to jump into, this one will certainly fit the bill.
On top of the huge new villains, this story also brings together a fairly different team of heroes. Sure, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor are at the core of this new team, but they can’t save the world themselves. Some more familiar faces join the ranks of the Avengers. Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and She-Hulk (now simply Hulk) are all up for the fight. Plus, the Avengers get some new blood in the form of the young Robbie Reyes, also known as Ghost Rider.
So on top of the unique start to a series and more-than-formidable threat, this story also gives us a brand new Avengers lineup that creates some very fun group dynamics. Plus, there’s a bit of a strange romance between Thor and the Hulk which makes Tony very uncomfortable. So that’s entertaining as well.
You can read “Avengers: The Final Host” for free now. And be sure to check back as we look back the rest of these classic Marvel Comics stories over the next several weeks.