Doctor Doom's son locks lips with Killmonger as the secret of the Superior Avengers heats up

Superior Avengers #5 cover with Kristoff Vernard kissing an alt-reality Killmonger
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Doctor Doom's personal Avengers have a big secret - they may not be on his side at all. Drawn from timelines where Doom rules supreme, the so-called Superior Avengers are not allies of Doom as they claim, but enemies sent to take him out.

In Superior Avengers #5 by writer Steve Foxe and artists Luca Maresca and Kyle Hotz, that conflict comes to a head as Doom's heir Kristoff Vernard may find himself at the wrong end of a knife, as shown on the issue's main cover by RB Silva, seen here alongside Kyle Hotz's variant cover:

"KILLMONGER STRIKES! Is this a sign of budding romance? Or MURDER?" reads Marvel's official description of Superior Avengers #5. "The pieces are falling into place, and the team is ready for their true mission to begin. But who is playing who?"

As stated in the solicitation text above, the assassin Kristoff is currently locking lips with on the cover is in fact an alt-reality version of Killmonger, who is one of Doom's secret enemies masquerading as one of his personal Avengers.

All of the Superior Avengers are alt-reality versions of well known characters, including Doctor Octopus, Abomination, Ghost, Onslaught, and finally Malekith, who can be seen on Hotz's variant cover in the gallery above. The "Superior" moniker in Marvel Comics is usually used to denote characters who straddle the line between hero and villain, which certainly applies to the anti-heroes of the Superior Avengers.

Superior Avengers #5 goes on sale August 6, with just one more issue in the limited series to go after that.

Read up on the best Avengers villains of all time.

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George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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