Issue #3 of Avengers: Armageddon is where the event shifts from focusing on the aftermath of Doctor Doom’s death to exploring the fallout of the heroes’ actions. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Namor, Wolverine and Winter Soldier defy the U.N. to stop General Thaddeus Ross’ (Red Hulk) invasion of Symkaria, only to lose him after Russia’s Winter Guard kidnaps him. They also managed to alienate new recruit David Colton, a psychologically disturbed ex-soldier with Sentry-like abilities who believes the heroes enable threats like Ross by letting them live.
Now that humanity is turning against superheroes only a matter of time humanity is turning against superheroes, and desiring the need to handle things on their own terms, do they have a point? Are most heroes like Iron Man or Captain Marvel just, at the end of the day, an out-of-touch, privileged class of super-beings who think they can do whatever they want and can operate outside the law? Or does anyone who gets superpowers have an obligation to use those powers to save humanity from threats they’re not strong enough to tackle themselves?
Someone’s Disarming the World
The issue kicks off with yet another global crisis. Someone is traveling around destroying the weapons of military bases, particularly the nuclear ones. U.N. Secretary-General Renata Riani denounced the situation during a press conference, since countries who still have their weapons could deploy them in a state of panic.
She also reveals that the culprit is believed to be a super-powered individual, though she doesn’t name them. That mystery culprit is David Colton, a former Captain America created to protect American interests in a post-9/11 world. Nick Fury Jr. is watching Riani’s remarks. Now that he’s revived S.H.I.E.L.D, there’s no telling how he’s going to react to current events.
Meanwhile, the Avengers examine the Origin Box, a mysterious artifact emitting multiversal energy and can even grant a person abilities tied to people living in alternate realities. Wolverine (Logan) gave the box to Colton which led to him gaining super strength, flight and invulnerability.
Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) is incredulous that Wolverine would give such power to a man who was discharged from the military due to his violent outbursts. But Wolverine believes that Colton isn’t that man anymore and only gave him the box to save his life. Now Logan wants the “big brains” of the team to figure out how to strip Colton of his powers. The team needs to come up with a solution quickly because Colton has attacked every nuclear base in the world and nobody can stop him.
The Streets Are Divided
A crowd of protestors have gathered outside of Stark Tower. Some are anti-hero who fear they’re living in a “super police state”. The rest still believe in the idea of having superheroes do what they think is best. Some even support Colton’s push to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Not even Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Human Torch (Johnny Storm) can agree if heroes are in the right here.
Spidey acknowledges that superheroes are given a lot of leniency from the law, which gives them the power to do what they believe is right. He sympathizes with the people who are afraid of that kind of unchecked power. Johnny however, reminds Spidey that the average hero didn’t ask to be blessed (or cursed depending on your power set) with their abilities. But since they have, they’re obligated to use them.
An Update on General Ross
General Ross wakes up inside a base hidden within Russia’s snowy mountains, surrounded by the Winter Guard and Russian Minister Maxim Milyukov. Ross doesn’t even try to figure out what’s going on. He immediately makes his way through the exit door and Milyukov lets him walk while asking an important question: where is he going to go?
Milyukov reminds Ross that the United States turned their back on him following his takeover of Latveria. That the country he loves so much sent “unelected superhumans” to detain him, with one of those superhumans nearly killing him. And yet, Milyukov can’t help but pity the disgraced general. He has a plan to help Ross get revenge on Colton. Milyukov says he knows that Ross has been using an experimental form of Gamma-radiation to increase his strength but it’s taking a toll on his mind. Milyukov has a solution that will fix that and make Ross “unstoppable.”
Wolverine and Bucky Try Diplomacy
After dropping another set of nuclear weapons into the sun, Colton flies from space (where he can breathe without a spacesuit) to his cabin where Logan and Bucky are waiting for him.
Logan asks what is Colton’s plan here? Sure, get rid of the nukes, but then what? Guns? Tanks? Soldiers? What is he going to do when civilians complain about one man deciding to play God; do they have to go to? Where does it end? The system is at its best when the heroes “let sleeping dogs lie” until it becomes a crisis that needs an intervention.
Colton isn’t buying it. To him, reasons like that are why Doom and Ross became tyrants because the heroes allowed things to go that far. When he asks Bucky for his opinion, he surprises both Colton and Logan by showing them the locations of secret nuclear stockpiles.
“You didn’t get all of the nukes. Want to know where the rest are?” Bucky asks Colton.
Bucky explains to Logan that as heroes, they have the power to save the world from the trigger-happy fingers of world leaders. Logan pops his claws as he braces himself for a fight, so Colton grabs him and flies him into the deep vacuum of space. Colton drops Logan, watching as his healing factor fails to save him from the external pressure forcing the air out of his lungs or the water in his body vaporizing. Colton warns Logan that he does want to hurt Logan’s friends, but he will if they try to stop him.
From Bad to Worse
Reed Richards heads to Stark’s lab to ask about Doctor Doom’s prediction device. Stark describes it as a crystal ball that can predict the future by showing you the results of the decisions you make. It does it by creating entirely new universes, all contained within the device. Stark admits he’s horrified by how immoral time travel can be and wonders if using this device is even ethical.
That’s when an unresponsive Wolverine crashes through the ceiling courtesy of Colton. Colton dismisses Stark’s dilemma because he knows Stark’s going to use it anyway, so he takes it to “remove the temptation.”
The next time we see Colton, he and Bucky have dismantled the last of America’s nukes in Montana. Bucky says that while everyone is worried about the Dooms of the world, there are “men in suits with terrible childhoods” with enough firepower to destroy the world a thousand times over.
Colton agrees and it becomes clear that the trauma both men endured fighting in wars while the politicians stay safe in their office pulling the strings has taken a toll on them mentally. The duo are interrupted by the arrival of Captain Marvel, followed by Vision and Iron Man. But before a proper brawl can commence, Vision warns that “something happened.”
Elsewhere, Fury tells Secretary-General Riani that S.H.I.E.L.D. has only tracked down one other Origin Box, but it was already empty. He claims that several of these power boxes have popped up over the past few weeks. Fury does reassure her that he has no plan to use these boxes on himself or allow anyone else to use them.
Then a furious Black Panther (T’Challa) shows up, confronting Fury about a device the U.N. coalition used on Ross’s Hulk army to neutralize their healing abilities. A device S.H.I.E.L.D had been working on for years. Who else has access to these devices? And more importantly, how long until they’re used to kill the heroes?
Fury misinterprets T’Challa’s as him being angry that regular people are trying to defend themselves from dangerous Gamma soldiers, side-stepping the whole “secretly trying to kill superhumans” thing. He reveals the real reason he brought back S.H.I.E.L.D by sharing what the acronym stands for now: “Strategic Human Intelligence Enforcement and Logistic Defense.”
“That’s right ‘Black Panther’,” Fury says. “The people are in charge now.”
The sound of alarms going off cuts Fury off. Turns out, Colton really did fail to locate all the world’s nukes. He completely missed Russia’s supply of weapons with several missiles heading towards the U.S.!
Colton’s approach just proved Logan right. Sometimes making a decision is like rolling a snowball down the top of a mountain. It gets bigger and harder to control, taking out everything in its path. Colton genuinely thought he was doing the right thing and now the whole planet is going to suffer as a result of Colton trying to play God.
