In Avengers: Tech-On Avengers #1, the Red Skull proves how formidable he can be by recreating the Scarlet Witch’s most infamous moment.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Avengers: Tech-On Avengers #1, available now from Marvel Comics.
The infinite possibilities that abound in the Marvel Multiverse have introduced fans to some of the most stunning versions of their favorite heroes over the years, and now one of the most iconic villains of all time is getting their turn. Avengers: Tech-On Avengers #1 (by Jim Zub, Jeffrey “Chamba” Cruz, and VC’s Travis Lanham) has just given the Red Skull an infinite amount of power which he then uses to enact the Scarlet Witch’s worse moment to devastating effect.
The Avengers have only recently moved on from their latest victory over Thanos, one that ended with the destruction of the Infinity Stones, and are now holding a press conference at Avengers Tower to honor those who lost their lives in the fight. Unfortunately, the somber quiet of the moment is broken by an explosion rocking the upper floors of the building followed by the sudden arrival of the Red Skull, who wears eerily familiar gems. As it turns out, the Skull managed to harvest the remains of the Infinity Stones, and they don’t need to be as powerful as they once were to still be a devastating weapon in the wrong hands. The villain then borrows a page from the Scarlet Witch’s playbook and utters three words that change everything – “No more powers.”
2005’s House of M #7 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel singlehandedly created one of the most iconic moments in all of comic book history. When the attempt at a perfect world that Wanda Maximoff had created finally fell apart, it did so with a whisper rather than a bang. With a simple utterance of “No more mutants,” the Scarlet Witch depowered almost every Marvel mutant.
The Red Skull returns to this moment in the new series as he strips the superpowers from every hero on Earth. From Krakoa to Jersey City, heroes such as Storm and Kamala Khan are at a complete loss for words, although their experiences are nothing compared to those who are transformed completely by the Red Skull’s actions. Ben Grimm, better known as the Thing of the Fantastic Four, returns to his human form, something that he has sought since he was first exposed to cosmic rays.
As cathartic as this moment is for the Thing, it is little more than a horror show for heroes such as Logan, who suffer from the loss of their powers. Without his healing factor, Wolverine’s body can’t compensate for the ill effects of the adamantium bonded to his skeleton. His condition would have become fatal where he not placed in a medically induced coma, and even that doesn’t offer any permanent solution to the problem.
It’s hard to imagine the full scope of what the Red Skull has done in this issue. Regardless, the Captain America nemesis has wreaked a level of havoc and destruction on the heroes of the Marvel universe that has not been seen since the infamous actions of the Scarlet Witch.
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