If you picked up Avengers: Armageddon #1 and felt a little lost, you’re not alone. The latest crossover event from Marvel Comics has been building for almost a year since it follows the consequences of Doctor Doom’s death in 2025’s One World Under Doom event. Which means it’s going to reference plot points that happened in other comics that you probably didn’t read before.
Well, I’m here to fix that by walking through what’s going on, no comic history degree required.
First, why is Doctor Doom dead?
Before Armageddon, the One World Under Doom event follows Doctor Doom, the ruler of the small European country Latveria, who’d taken over the entire world after he became the Sorcerer Supreme. He ran things his way, believing he alone knew how to fix humanity’s problems.
His downfall is not what you’d expect. While Doom despises Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) with a passion, the dictator is surprisingly close to Reed’s daughter Valeria who tries to reason with him. While fighting the heroes, Doom makes the preceding events a fixed point in time that can’t be altered or prevented in any way. Then he detonates his armor, weaponizing the shards as they fly across the battlefield.
Unfortunately, Valeria is mortally wounded by the shards and dies before Doom’s eyes. Horrified and devastated by Valeria’s death, he eventually meets with the cosmic entity Living Tribunal. Doom agrees to give up his life as punishment for his actions in exchange for the Tribunal resurrecting Valeria. Before he dies, Doom meets with Mister Fantastic to confirm that Valeria is alive and doing alright. He tells his old foe to take good care of the world and disintegrates.
Mister Fantastic finds Doom’s will hidden beneath his mask. In the will, Doom leaves the nation of Latveria along with his wealth and possessions to Valeria, but she refuses to accept Doom’s inheritance. However, she decides to start a charity so she can give away Doom’s fortunes and relocates to Doom Island with her brother Franklin.
Meanwhile, with Doom gone (more on where he actually went in a second) Latveria is deemed unstable now that the country is without its leader.
Enter Red Hulk, who thinks he’s the good guy
Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is a longtime military general who can turn into the Red Hulk, a giant, furious red version of the classic Hulk. He’s always been the “do whatever it takes” type, even when the Avengers disagree with his methods.
Once Doom is dead, Ross is rescued by the U.S. Marines after a failed invasion of Latveria led to his imprisonment. Despite going against the U.S. government with his failed invasion, Ross is reinstated as General. He suggests that America occupy Latveria to block opportunists from claiming the advanced weaponry and technology that’s hidden in the country. Ross is later appointed as a consultant on Latveria. Eventually, Ross uses his Red Hulk persona to claim Latveria as his own. He renames it “New America” and launches a global crusade to force democracy on the world.
The ironic thing is Ross says his mission is to spread democracy across the globe. But he’s doing it with an army of Gamma-powered followers and rogue factions of the U. S government. Democracy is supposed to mean people are choosing their own leaders. Ross is skipping that step and is acting more like a dictator. Not only is he using Doom’s leftover weapons, he got his hands on a machine that lets him predict the future to make sure he wins.
To add to the hypocrisy, Ross sends troops to invade the neighboring country of Symkaria. He’s not spreading freedom or democracy; he’s expanding an empire.
Meanwhile, what happened to Captain America?
After Doom’s fall, Latveria descends into a brutal civil war. Different factions want a piece of it, including the pacifistic Homeland Party, the unruly Latverian Liberators, and the militaristic True Latverians led by Marius Wolf disguised as the mysterious Salvation.
A newly reformed version of S.H.I.E.L.D. (the spy organization that had been shut down for years) sends Steve Rogers, still Captain America at this point, to protect civilians and figure out if Doom left behind a stockpile of dangerous weapons. Turns out he did, and it’s not what anyone expected: a child clone of Doctor Doom himself! Ross uses this exact moment to make his move, invading with a strike team made entirely of other Hulks.
Steve tries to get the kid to safety while Red Hulk’s Hulked-out strike team declares their intent to level the city. Steve fights Red Hulk while Sam Wilson (the other Captain America) gets the kid out of harm’s way. Unfortunately Steve falls into a coma which, according to Marvel, acts as “the spark that starts the fire of Armageddon.”
Steve’s body is in a coma, but his soul gets pulled down into Hell, where he runs into Doom again. He’s been down there the entire time plotting against Hell’s ruler, Mephisto.
Now, who is this “Colton” guy storming the Pentagon?
David Colton was introduced in Chip Zdarsky’s Captain America (2025) run as the U.S. government’s new Captain America for a post-9/11 world.
After witnessing the events of 9/11 firsthand, Colton decided to enlist in the Army. He suffered constant bullying from the other recruits and even got a savage beating from his sergeant. Colton was chosen by the U.S. government to receive a replica of the Super-Soldier Serum (similar to the original Serum that gave Captain America his powers). Colton is christened the new Captain America and sent to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. The job broke him. He committed acts of violence he couldn’t live with and went into hiding for years as he dealt with the trauma of it.
He resurfaces in Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #1-4, a four-issue prelude series by Zdarsky and Luca Maresca. Wolverine and Teri, an associate from Logan’s past, are tracking a missing mutant named Tyler with regenerative abilities similar to Wolverine. The trail leads them to Primewarrior, a corporation creating the next generation of super-soldiers. Colton gets pulled into that fight, and the series also digs up the shared history between Wolverine, Colton, and the villain Nuke. They’re all products of the same Super-Soldier lineage that eventually became Weapon X.
At one point Colton is badly hurt, and Wolverine saves his life using an Origin Box. That artifact was created by Tony Stark from the Ultimate Universe, built to recreate superheroes that the Maker (that reality’s twisted Mister Fantastic) had wiped out. Nobody’s sure exactly whose powers Colton ended up inheriting, but the results give him the ability to fly, Hulk-level strength, and near invulnerability. His power is so raw that he’s later described as an “unstable Sentry-level power that could tear the Avengers apart.”
So what actually happens in Avengers: Armageddon #1?
The issue opens with General Ross and his Gamma-powered soldiers having seized Doomstadt and the rest of Latveria. He renames Doomstadt by declaring it the “Democracy City of New America,” with his sights set on doing the same to neighboring Symkaria. It’s clear that Ross is targeting countries that are “technically” but are prone to falling into authoritarianism. In other words, any country that isn’t as “progressive” as he likes is not safe.
Reed Richards meets with United Nations Secretary-General Renata Riani at the Secretariat to offer the Fantastic Four’s assistance. However, Riani orders him to do nothing and to keep every super-powered hero out of the conflict. She makes it clear that she blames Reed for Doom’s takeover and the ensuing fallout due to his rivalry with Reed. Riani also accuses superhumans of doing whatever they want while regular humans suffer the consequences. She says that “real people need to tackle these ‘super-powered menaces’ and take back control” of their destinies.
Reed meets with the Fantastic Four, Sam Wilson, Captain Marvel, Vision, Namor, Spider-Man, at Stark Tower to figure out what they’re going to do next. That’s when Tony Stark shows up to reveal he created a new mass-surveillance network called the Ironalert System. The system suggests that Ross has gotten his hands on some form of predictive technology that makes his strategies unusually effective.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council votes to launch a military coalition against Ross with the United States leading the charge. In Virginia, David Colton storms the Pentagon to shut down its super-soldier program. Captain America, Captain Marvel, the Vision, and Wolverine step in to intercept him to recruit him for their fight against Ross. After he tears the lab apart, Colton agrees to help the team instead of fighting them.
Back at base, the team finishes prepping a Quinjet for New America. Spider-Man tells Iron Man he’s going to stay behind to protect the people of New York, which Iron Man can’t even fault him for because he has a point. If all the big-name heroes are gone, who’s going to be around to stop someone like Wilson Fisk from using the situation to his advantage? Colton arrives with a new green and yellow suit. Riani calls Reed to once again remind him and his fellow heroes to do nothing or face legal consequences if the team intervenes. Iron Man responds to her threat with a blunt “appreciate the warning Secretary-General and we’ll take it under advisement” as he ends the call.
The issue ends with Iron Man rallying the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Wolverine, and Colton with the classic “Avengers, assemble!” battle cry as everyone defies the U.N. outright. As Ross’s forces keep pushing into Symkaria, the time has come to end his reign of terror and their dear friend Captain America.
Phew, that’s all lot in one issue
Yes but the story runs deeper than one single issue.
At the end of the day, the Armageddon event is the consequences of Doom’s obsession with power; he’s not the only one paying the price. His precious country of Latveria is at war with itself. Ross is shaping up to be just as dangerous as Doom which means Valeria could be in trouble, since she has a legal claim to Latveria. And Colton could help turn the odds to the heroes’ favor or he could hand Ross the victory he seeks.
Armageddon is a journey that will change the status quo of the Marvel Universe. And we’re not even halfway into the five-part saga yet.
