Avengers will return in July following its hiatus for Marvel’s Heroes Reborn event, with Avengers #46 kicking off a story arc titled ‘World War She-Hulk.’
And yes, in case you’re wondering, the title and story will pay direct homage to the classic crossover event ‘World War Hulk (opens in new tab).’
“Jason Aaron and Javier Garrón’s run on Avengers continues this July with the storyline She-Hulk fans have been waiting for! Beginning in Avengers #46, ‘World War She-Hulk’ will bring Jennifer Walters’ current journey to its pulse-pounding conclusion, setting the hero on a new path just in time for Avengers #50,” reads Marvel’s announcement of the story.
“An homage to the hit 2007 crossover event by Greg Pak, ‘World War She-Hulk’ will stand on its own as a new pulse-pounding saga in the Hulk mythos,” it continues. “The action-packed arc will see She-Hulk facing off against Red Guardian and the Winter Guard.”
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2007’s World War Hulk followed the aftermath of Civil War (opens in new tab), in which Marvel’s so-called ‘Illuminati’, a secret organization of its greatest minds and heroes including Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Black Bolt, Professor X, and more, banished Hulk to space, resulting in the landmark ‘Planet Hulk (opens in new tab)‘ story.
World War Hulk showed Hulk’s return to Earth, in which he declared war on those who exiled him, a conflict that roped in most of the Marvel Universe and had massive ramifications for Bruce Banner and the Hulk.
“After the shocking events of ‘Enter the Phoenix (opens in new tab),’ the Earth has become more fractured and volatile than ever, especially for the Avengers,” Marvel’s announcement continues. “Once She-Hulk is declared a global menace, Russia’s mightiest heroes, the Winter Guard, are tasked with bringing Jen to justice and face a fate no Hulk could hope to endure.”
Avengers just wrapped its ‘Enter the Phoenix’ story, in which the Phoenix Force pitted the Avengers and other heroes and villains against each other in a tournament to find its new host, with Echo ultimately bonding with the Phoenix Force for the long term (opens in new tab).
Now, prior to ‘World War She-Hulk,’ the title will go on a brief hiatus after Avengers #45 for Marvel’s Heroes Reborn summer event, which remakes the Marvel Universe into a world where the Avengers never formed, returning in July for Avengers #46.
“When the Russian Winter Guard invade Avengers Mountain to arrest She-Hulk, it sets off a global espionage adventure that takes us from the notorious assassin training academy of the Red Room to an undersea kingdom on the verge of violent revolution,” writer Jason Aaron states in the story’s announcement.
“Along the way, traitors will fall, regimes will crumble and the dark evolution of Jennifer Walters will reach its bloody red crescendo, all as we build toward the epic events of Avengers #50.”
She-Hulk has gone on a rampage in the pages of Avengers before, in 2003’s ‘The Search for She-Hulk (opens in new tab)‘ in which Jennifer Walters went on a Hulked-out bender, resulting in the Avengers tracking her down.
This renewed emphasis on She-Hulk by Marvel Comics comes as a live-action She-Hulk series is in development for Disney Plus – with Tatiana Maslany in the lead role.
Avengers #46 goes on sale on July 7. Stay tuned to Newsarama for Marvel’s full July 2021 solicitations coming later this month.
Planet Hulk and World War Hulk are both on the list of the best Hulk stories ever. Will World War She-Hulk join them?