Marvel Comics has revealed the fifth and seemingly last Heroes Reborn 2021 tie-in one-shot, at least on-sale in May anyway.
Heroes Reborn: Siege Society by writer Cody Ziglar and artist Paco Medina is a 'Heroes Reborn' reimagining of the Masters of Evil and/or the Thunderbolts concept, with very familiar names joining the line-up.
Baron Zemo remains the leader and he's joined by Victor Creed, otherwise known in the mainstream Marvel Universe as X-Men villain/sometimes-ally Sabretooth.
But rounding out the line-up is three superheroes with villainous pasts or origins -Natasha Romanov (Black Widow), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), and Scott Lang (Ant-Man) - all of who in the 'Heroes Reborn' Avengers-less reality apparently never made the hero turn.
Although not mentioned in Marvel's description, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver amalgam Silver Witch is also on the cover. They too originated briefly as villains in the Marvel U.
"After the Civil War that split the Squadron Supreme in half, Nighthawk formed his own Squadron in Europe," reads Marvel's description. "But not all of Europe is okay with it. Baron Zemo has put together his own team to take them down and the Squadron doesn't stand a chance."
Namedropping Civil War, arguably Marvel's most successful modern universe-wide event is noteworthy. Apparently, in the 'Heroes Reborn' reality, the Squadron Supreme, who essentially takes the place of the Avengers, had their own civil war. It'll be interesting to see if Marvel adapts Civil War into its own 'Heroes Reborn' special later in the event.
Siege Society joins four other Heroes Reborn one-shots - Marc Bernardin and Rafael De Lattore's Peter Parker, The Amazing Shutterbug; Jim Zub and Steven Cummings' Young Squadron; Steve Orlando and Bernard Chang's Magneto and the Mutant Force; and Ryan Cady and Michele Bandini's Hyperion & the Imperial Guard, which join the main Heroes Reborn series by Jason Aaron and others.
While almost certainly a reference to Under Siege, the classic Avengers story arc where Zemo and the Masters of Evil destroy the Avengers Mansion (which Newsarama named as the best Avengers story of all time), 'Siege' has become a loaded term in 2021.
Siege is the title of a book about a fictional race war that has been referenced by many prominent white supremacists and used as a reference in many white supremacists texts, including in some documents related to the January 6 capital insurrection.
Given Baron Zemo's Nazi origins and the events of January 6, it will bear watching if Marvel receives any blowback for the title.
Speaking of Civil War, it’s ranked #2 on Newsarama’s list of the most impactful Marvel Comics events of all time.
