Avengers (2023) #21–23

Avengers (2023) #21–23

The Avengers traveled to Alaska to visit Cyclops and his new team of X-Men at their headquarters, the Factory. Although Captain Marvel and Cyclops initially made it look as though another Avengers/X-Men confrontation was about to erupt, the whole thing was essentially a joke. The teams had actually gathered for a baseball game and dinner, giving them a rare opportunity to interact without trying to kill one another.

The visit was particularly important for Storm, who had recently joined the Avengers but remained very much a part of the mutant community. Rather than forcing her to choose between the two groups, the meeting reinforced that she could belong to both. Scarlet Witch also had an important reunion with Magneto, allowing the two to address their complicated family history. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Cyclops privately discussed the long and often ugly relationship between the Avengers and X-Men. Rather than reopening old wounds, they agreed that the two teams needed to work together going forward, particularly with larger threats looming.

Back at the Impossible City, Captain Marvel decided the Avengers needed to become more proactive about the Tribulation Events Kang had warned them about rather than simply waiting for each disaster to occur. Scarlet Witch learned through her mystical contacts that an old archive belonging to Kang was about to be auctioned at the Speculatorium, an enormous intergalactic casino owned by the Grandmaster. The archive contained information concerning the mysterious Missing Moment, but its expected auction price made legitimately acquiring it virtually impossible.

Tony Stark offered the obvious alternative: steal it.

The Avengers infiltrated the casino and divided into two groups. Scarlet Witch, Storm and Vision created an enormous distraction on the casino floor by staging a fight between Wanda and Ororo. Meanwhile, Iron Man, Captain America and Captain Marvel disguised themselves and slipped toward the vault. Tony managed to defeat the security system, but when they finally opened the vault they discovered that someone had already beaten them to the prize.

Vision scanned the casino and found the thieves: Kang the Conqueror and Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat. Even more surprisingly, they were accompanied by Felicia’s deceased father, Walter Hardy, whom Kang had retrieved from approximately twenty years in the past.

The Avengers weren’t the only people being manipulated. Grandmaster knew exactly what was happening and had turned the entire affair into one of his games. His opponent was Myrddin, Kang’s mysterious rival in the race to reach the Missing Moment. Grandmaster had wagered on the Avengers while Myrddin backed Kang.

The Avengers pursued Kang and Black Cat through the casino, but Felicia had planned for that possibility. Kang had recruited her because he needed one of history’s greatest thieves to recover his stolen information, while Felicia agreed partly because Kang could give her something money couldn’t: another chance to see her father.

Felicia had also hired Gatecrasher and the Technet as muscle. When Scarlet Witch, Storm and Vision caught up with the thieves, the Technet attacked, giving Kang and Felicia time to escape. The rest of the Avengers joined the battle and eventually defeated the bizarre mercenaries, allowing them to corner Kang and Felicia before they could leave.

It appeared that the Avengers had finally recovered Kang’s archive when Kang surrendered the box carrying it. Unfortunately, the box was empty.

Felicia had pulled off another trick. The real archive had secretly been given to Walter Hardy, who had already escaped with it. Kang had specifically traveled twenty years into the past to recruit the younger Walter for the heist, allowing Felicia to work alongside her father without initially telling him that she was his daughter.

With Walter safely carrying the real prize, Kang summoned an entire army to the casino to complete their escape.

By the end of the confrontation, Kang and Black Cat had successfully outmaneuvered the Avengers. More importantly, Kang once again possessed the information concerning the Missing Moment that the Avengers themselves had hoped to acquire. Grandmaster and Myrddin had also been watching the entire affair as a game, suggesting that the Avengers and Kang were still pieces in a much larger contest neither side fully understood.

The Avengers were therefore left in a worse position than when they started: they still didn’t possess the information they needed about the Missing Moment, Kang did, and Myrddin’s actual intentions remained unclear.

Meanwhile, Felicia had gotten something considerably more personal out of the adventure. Kang had given her an opportunity to spend time with her father again, even if Walter came from a point in history before his death and couldn’t simply remain with her in the present.

Unfortunately for the Avengers, the casino job wasn’t actually over yet. Kang’s army had just arrived, meaning the confrontation continues directly into Avengers #24.