A new team of Avengers are about to debut, bringing mystic might to the fight to save the universe. However, as Marvel reveals how the members have transformed, even longtime fans might not recognize the teammates called to serve on the ‘Arcane Avengers.’
For decades, Marvel’s Avengers have made a habit of avoiding mystic problems, at least in terms of recurring threats, with other teams like the Legion of Monsters and Midnight Sons clashing with eldritch threats. Now, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are finally getting in the game.
The change comes as Marvel’s Mangaverse continuity returns for its twenty-fifth anniversary. However, in a world where magic has run amok and the ‘Age of Superheroes’ is over, only mystic heroes stand a chance of turning the tide on a demonic apocalypse.
Marvel Mangaverse’s Arcane Avengers Are Unleashed
The Marvel Mangaverse’s return will play out over five standalone, single-issue comics, with the adventures of Miles Morales, X-23 and Magik bookending the story with Web of Blood and Web of Destiny. The third entry in this new line is Arcane Avengers, where a transformed Winter Soldier will lead a team of demon-fighting heroes, nearly unrecognizable from their mainstream depictions.
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Arcane Avengers Roster |
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Hero |
Mainstream Name |
Mainstream Context and Powers |
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Winter Soldier |
Bucky Barnes |
Former brainwashed assassin with shapeshifting cybernetic arms. Former sidekick of Captain America. |
|
Bloodline |
Brielle Brooks |
Half-vampire physiology including all benefits of vampirism with no weaknesses, can’t be detected by magic. Daughter of Blade. |
|
Wiccan |
William Kaplan |
Mastery of the mystic arts, ‘Demiurge’ destiny which will make him a god of magic in future. Son of the Scarlet Witch. |
|
Hawkeye |
Kate Bishop |
Olympic-level archer, former leader of the Young Avengers. |
Arcane Avengers is coming from Ashley Allen and Mirka Andolfo, with an awesome cover from Yuji Kaku. The issue’s summary reads:
The next one-shot comes by from the team of rising star writer Ashley Allen (Magik & Colossus) and artist Mirka Andolfo (Ms. Marvel) as they introduce the Arcane Avengers, a reluctant group of sorcerers led by Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. Cursed to defeat and imprison demonic yokai alongside teammates Bloodline and Wiccan, Bucky looks for opportunity to free himself and finally be free from his captor’s control. As a new wave of yokai incursion stretches the team’s resources, Bucky plots his escape, but the sudden reappearance of his former childhood friend, Hawkeye, throws all his plans into disarray in Marvel Mangaverse: Arcane Avengers #1, on sale September 16.
Marvel has confirmed that the Mangaverse has changed since fans last saw it, with technology failing and magic taking over the world, unleashing a wave of yokai villains. With an apocalypse building across the five issues, Winter Soldier’s team will fight to defeat a yokai army.
Seeing a supernatural take on the Avengers will be a thrill for fans, and may even act as a preview of Marvel’s latest line of comics…
Midnight Is About to Fall on the Marvel Universe
Marvel’s mystic universe is often its most siloed, often contained to Doctor Strange comics while sci-fi and traditional fantasy threats loom larger everywhere else. However, that’s about to change thanks to a new imprint, coming August 2026.
Marvel’s new ‘Midnight’ imprint takes place in a world where Marvel’s eldritch and supernatural forces have risen up, claiming the world as their own. Midnight X-Men (Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte), Midnight Fantastic Four (Benjamin and Kev Walker) and Midnight Spider-Man (Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scie Tronc) will depict how classic heroes have been transformed in this new reality, with the implication that these new series are just the beginning of this new canon.
So far, little is known about the Midnight comics, other than that some major X-Men heroes will become vampires, while the Fantastic Four will attempt to “unleash terror” upon this new world.
It sounds like a continuity where the Arcane Avengers would be right at home, and hopefully Midnight will find enough success that fans eventually get an Avengers tie-in set in this monstrous reality. Marvel has long had a vastly underused roster of horror/mystic characters, and 2026 appears to be the year they’re finally unleashed, first via the Midnight imprint, then via the Arcane Avengers.
Marvel Mangaverse: Arcane Avengers #1 is coming September 16 from Marvel Comics, with Midnight X-Men coming August 2026.