Marvel Comics is putting a fine, flaming point on the finale of its current 'Enter the Phoenix' Avengers arc in April's Avengers #44, which will crown a new host for the vaunted Phoenix Force, the legendary entity of death and rebirth that has been a part of Marvel Comics lore since the '80s, when it claimed its first host, Jean Grey.
Though it's been known since the arc's announcement that 'Enter the Phoenix' would put a known Marvel character in the role of the Phoenix, Marvel has now revised the solicitation text for Avengers #44 to put the spotlight on the new Phoenix's debut in the issue.
For comparison, here's the original solicitation text for Avengers #44, initially released with Marvel's April 2021 solicitations. Notice it makes Thor, a perennial favorite, the star of the issue.
"ENTER THE PHOENIX: THE FIERY FINALE! As the greatest heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe are trapped within the battle to decide the all-new Phoenix – a bloody battle that has narrowed to a handful of desperate combatants. Thor leads the rest of the Avengers in the fight to contain the Phoenix Force on Earth, in a quest complicated by the Thunder God's own mysterious connection to the cosmic firebird."
And here's the much simpler, revised Avengers #44 solicitation text, which highlights a lot less Thor, and lot more of the still-unidentified new Phoenix Force host.
"ENTER THE PHOENIX: THE FIERY FINALE! It all comes down to this. The final battle to decide who will wield the awesome cosmic power of the Phoenix Force. You don’t want to miss… the debut of the all-new Phoenix!"
Could the compared solicitations indicate Thor's gonna be the new Phoenix? It's not likely – Avengers writer Jason Aaron has stated the new Phoenix won't be someone who's hosted the cosmic entity before. Thor has held the power of the Phoenix before, including in Aaron's own flash-forward King Thor limited series.
"[This is] about doing something new with the Phoenix. Not having it go back to Jean Grey or one of the characters we've seen become the Phoenix host in the past, but something new," Aaron tells Newsarama.
"The idea is it'll be an ongoing thing – it's not just one arc and done," he continues. "Coming out of this arc, we'll have a new status quo for the Phoenix, and for the character that becomes the host."
And there's one more thing. Given 'Enter the Phoenix' will lead to Jason Aaron and artist Ed McGuiness's Heroes Reborn limited series, in which the power of the Phoenix remakes Earth as a world where the Avengers never formed, could the new host of the Phoenix Force be someone with an axe to grind against Earth's Mightiest Heroes?
Merging the Phoenix with a definitive, Avengers-level villain would certainly be a new longterm status quo worth highlighting in this way.
Time will tell, when Avengers #44 arrives on April 7.
Many have borne the terrible power of the Phoenix Force. Here are the ten best Phoenix hosts ever.
