After 40 Years, Marvel Paves the Way For an Unexpected Avengers Team Up
Contains Spoilers for The Avengers (2023) #23!The Avengers are currently off on a cosmic Marvel jaunt, and now the publisher's most underrated cosmic misfits have made an unexpected return as part of the galaxy-spanning storyline. These aren’t exactly tier-one Avengers villains, or even Avengers villains at all, but it’s a team that delights readers every time they show up, and a classic continuity callback to boot.
The Avengers #23 – written by Jed MacKay, art by Farid Karami – has reintroduced a surprising Marvel team, as the long-dormant Excalibur supporting characters Technet show up to bother the Avengers.
In the issue, Technet are hired by Kang the Conqueror as part of his scheme to distract the Avengers while he steals something from The Grandmaster, and there’s no better team for the job. Technet are powerful, but more than anything else, they’re annoying. They can slow the Avengers down just long enough for Kang's scheme, a heist with Black Cat, to succeed.
Classic Marvel Weirdos Technet Are Back To Bother The Avengers, As Earth's Mightiest Heroes Go Interstellar
The Avengers #23 – Written By Jed MacKay; Art By Farid Karami; Color By Federico Blee; Lettering By Corey Petit
First introduced in Captain Britain (Vol. 2) #3 – written by writer Jamie Dalano, with artist Alan Davis – Technet are a team of inter-dimensional alien bounty hunters. As Captain Britain’s later team Excalibur jumped through time and dimensions in their wacky adventures, Technet was never too far behind, more a nuisance than anything else. Their longevity in the series was likely down to the continued presence of their co-creator Alan Davis, who not only drew the first portions of Excalibur, alongside writer Chirs Claremont, but also wrote the book himself later.
Kang needs to be careful; Technet has teamed up with heroes just as often as they’ve fought against them – it just depends who’s paying.
Technet’s modern appearances have been sporadic. They’ve occasionally shown up for goofy Marvel cosmic adventures, but without a classic Excalibur to bounce off, they don’t have any permanent role in Marvel. This latest team-up with Kang is the perfect use of Technet then. They’re in it for the money, and as Kang well knows, they’ll mostly just inconvenience the Avengers, while Kang pulls a heist. However, Kang needs to be careful; Technet has teamed up with heroes just as often as they’ve fought against them – it just depends who’s paying.
Technet Has A Long History With Time Travelers Like Kang The Conqueror
The Future Comes Quickly
The involvement of a time traveler also means that Technet’s own future selves could show up. In the future, Technet change their name to the Special Executive who, thanks to time travel, were introduced before Technet in continuity. It’d be just like Kang to recruit the same people across time for the same job, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Technet tangled with their own future either. Even if the Special Executive don’t show up however,Avengers’ reintroduction of Technet has already been a blast, and hopefully this is only a small sign of greater things to come.
The Avengers #23 is available now from Marvel Comics.
The Avengers
- Release Date
- May 4, 2012
- Runtime
- 143 minutes
- Director
- Joss Whedon
- Writers
- Joss Whedon, Zak Penn
- Producers
- Avi Arad, Chris Brigham, Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham
Cast
Steve Rogers / Captain America
Tony Stark / Iron Man
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