In a recent issue of the Immortal Hulk, the Avengers responded to a call from an uneasy ally, who is also a secret X-Men villain.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Immortal Hulk #46 by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, Paul Mounts and VC’s Cory Petit on sale now.
The Avengers have often been held accountable by outside forces, whether it’s the Superhuman Registration Act, government liaisons, or even general public opinion. And now, the Avengers showed that they’ll still respond to calls from their old government liaison, Henry Peter Gyrich.
Gyrich, who is currently in charge of the Alpha Flight space program, reached out to the Avengers in Immortal Hulk #46. Previously, Gyrich sent the U-Foes to hunt the Hulk, before they were defeated. With a great deal of reluctance, Gyrich contacted the Avengers. Surprisingly, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes responded, arriving to confront the Hulk shortly thereafter.
Gyrich was introduced as a bureaucratic nuisance to the Avengers, appointed as their government liaison by the National Security Council. During his first few appearances, Gyrich criticized the Avengers’ security and revoked their priority status, denying them the use of vital assets such as the Quinjet. One of Gyrich’s most infamous moments was in 1979’s Avengers #181, by David Michelinie and John Byrne, when he demanded that the Avengers cut down their roster to seven members.
Gyrich has also been a bitter opponent of mutantkind, ever since he joined Project Wideawake in 1981’s Uncanny X-Men #142, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Gyrich was placed in charge of the Sentinel-creating project, determined to deal with the mutant “threat” once and for all. In 1984’s Uncanny X-Men #185, by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., Gyrich used an untested weapon in an attempt to capture Rogue and strip her of her powers. This weapon accidentally hit Storm, robbing her of her mutant abilities.
Generally, Gyrich has been an opponent of superhumans, mutants, aliens and anyone else who threatens humanity. When Gyrich became commander of Alpha Flight in 2020’s S.W.O.R.D. #1 by Al Ewing and Valerio Schiti, he also took control of Gamma Flight and went on a manhunt for the Hulk.
Of course, this hasn’t prevented Gyrich’s vendetta against mutantkind from continuing. In 2021’s S.W.O.R.D. #3, by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Ra-Anthony Height, Bernard Chang and Nico Leon, Gyrich was revealed to be part of Orchis, an anti-mutant group, and possibly Krakoa’s biggest opponents. Not only is Gyrich currently working with Orchis, he also has a mole on S.W.O.R.D., Krakoa’s mutant space station. All of this makes Gyrich a bigger threat to mutantkind than ever.
Considering the Avengers’ response to Gyrich’s call about the Hulk, it may only be a matter of time before he calls them in against Krakoa. It’s true that the Avengers may have only reluctantly answered Gyrich’s call before, considering he has no real authority over them. Even so, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes haven’t had the best of relations with Krakoa, just like many humans. Similarly, the Hulk posed a big threat to the Avengers, forcing them to respond to Gyrich in spite of their history with him.
If Gyrich were to call the Avengers about Krakoa, they might at least look into the mutant nation, since the X-Men are harboring several former supervillains. It’s possible that, if Gyrich asked the Avengers to neutralize Krakoa, a major conflict would ensue. Given the history of superhero fights, however, the Avengers might realize that their fight with the X-Men is a big misunderstanding and opt to side with Krakoa.
The outcome could be similar to 2020’s X-Men/Fantastic Four #4, by Chip Zdarsky and Terry Dodson, where the Fantastic Four ultimately realized that the X-Men were still heroes. The Avengers and the X-Men don’t have the best history of cooperation, however, so the result of their conflict would be unclear. If Gyrich did call the Avengers to confront Krakoa, however, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would likely respond reluctantly.
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