Comic events are always teased to be on the verge of changing everything. AVENGERS VS. X-MEN set out to be an ambitious crossover event that would top all previous ones put out by Marvel. While not the entire Marvel Universe was involved (the Fantastic Four must have been busy), many characters were pulled in and forced to fight against other heroes.

With the return of the Phoenix Force, it was clear that it would be bad news. Along with that, was the possibility of major changes happening. Being true to their vision, Marvel has made some changes to the Marvel Universe. Some are big and others will at least provide interesting stories in the coming months.

There will be some spoilers for AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #12. You will want to be sure to read the issue to witness the big changes happening for yourself.

The Return of Nova (no, not that one)

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN kicked off with the INFINITE issue showing a new Nova Corps member, Sam Alexander, racing towards and arriving on Earth. Actually, he was first seen in last years POINT ONE issue by Loeb and McGuinness. As he crashed onto Earth in issue #1 and gave the warning that the Phoenix Force was coming, he hasn't been seen since. He does make a glorious return here. His involvement is minimal as there are so many other characters in the fight. He might not be Richard Rider but it was a glorious sight to see his entrance here.

The Return of Jean?

In the midst of the fight, Cyclops gets closer and closer to becoming consumed by the Phoenix Force. He begins to contemplate all his recent acts, including the pain and suffering he's caused. This calls out to his human side as he begins to feel extreme remorse over everything. As the fire surrounds him, a familiar figure walks towards him telling him he needs to stop.

Whether or not this is actually Jean could be debated. Scott did have a lengthy conversation with her in the second INFINITE comic but that was more Scott talking with the ghost/memory of Jean. Jean's essence residing in the Phoenix Force could be possible but it could also have been the Phoenix Force, still influenced by its time with Jean, that called out to Scott.

Hope Fulfills Her Mission

What the heck is Hope's reason for existing? Since she first appeared in MESSIAH COMPLEX, she was destined for greater things. Bishop was determined that she was the cause of his horrific childhood in the future. She later became the leader of the Five Lights but that quickly didn't amount to too much. It was then determined that she was destined to be the host of the Phoenix Force. With the defeat of Cyclops, the power does go to her. What she does with that will change the Marvel Universe.

Cyclops' Supporters are Being Hunted

Another area that will lead to some debate is the fate of the Phoenix Five. Cyclops willingly gives himself up and admits to having blood on his hands. As he has a conversation with Captain America in his Ruby Quartz prison cell, Cap mentions Scott having a long list of crimes. As Scott proclaims his willingness to take full responsibility, Cap mentions his "fellow renegade X-Men" are still in hiding. Those mutants, the members of the Phoenix Five, Magneto and others, are now WANTED until they turn themselves in or are found.

Steve mentions that the Phoenix Force is also to blame and that he was at fault for not doing more for mutants but those on the run are supposed to turn themselves in. It might seem unjustified but there were countless lives that were lost as a result of the havoc caused by the Phoenix Force. Whether or not they should be held accountable is up to someone else to decide.

A New Avengers Team

We now from the Marvel NOW! news that we will see a new team of Avengers comprising of members of both the Avengers and X-Men. The upcoming UNCANNY AVENGERS title will see this mix unfold. This could mean Steve is trying to stay true to his word in doing more for mutants. As sanctioned Avengers, he's making a statement that mutants can be trusted and don't have to be feared. Having several on an actual Avengers team will mean better PR for them. Mutants and the X-Men won't necessarily be seen as something to fear and a group that doesn't feel the need to answer to anyone besides themselves.

More Mutants

This is the big one. The Marvel Universe changed when Scarlet Witch said, "No more mutants." With the popularity of the X-Men franchise, it was surprising that it's taken this long to figure out a way to revert that decision. With new mutants reappearing across the Marvel Universe, this will bring both good and bad ramifications. There will now be an even bigger need for the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. These new mutants will need to learn or re-learn how to use their powers. There will likely be new mutants that will use their powers for personal gain. In other words, we're likely to see evil mutants pop up as well.

This isn't everything that happened in the issue. Twelve issues may not have been necessary. It did provide the opportunity to give scenarios for the battle threads but most agree this could have been executed in a quicker fashion. Now that these and the other developments are in place, the Marvel NOW! world will begin a new era for the heroes.

A bear stole my pic-a-nic basket!

Glad to see Hope get in on the action. With her seeming to be the Mutant Messiah, it would've been disappointing if she had no involvement at all in the conclusion of the story.

This is pretty much all i cared about were just the developments.

i didnt wanna waste my money on that crap AvX event. good thing my friend let me borrow his issues 2-10 i still need to read issues 11 and 12. but now that o have the developments i think im good.

now onto Marvelnow! im getting:

-Iron man

-Hickman'sAvengers

-Thunderbolts

what are you guys getting??

meh.

I expected a bit more out of issue 12.

From marvel NOW Mighty Thor Thunderbolts.

One thing's for sure, there will be consequences to this whole AvX thing. I'm more interested in that.

Had this been a 6 issue mini I think it could been a much better series but marvel was dollar hunting. It worked for the most part. People kept buying this series. Im glad I didn't . Thanks g-man for covering this. Marvel also used this issue to tie in the marvel NOW! Launch.

dear god... that ending was anticlimatic.

And Scott Summers seems like a maniac (in another issue out this week, he claimed he would do it again because thanks to him their are new mutants). This man needs a lobotomy and or is younger self to kick his ass.

The Stepford Cukoos are pretty funny. Well I definitely want to see what happens to the remaining Phoenix 5, Colossus is on Cables X force so he will try and keep a low profile there (as much as he can being a giant silver dude). Emma and Namor should duck out to Atlantis for a long time, there in big time doo doo and Magik can always hang out in Limbo or just join an X force squad.

Hope in my opinion should leave for a while...I dont know where to but let the world settle before she goes and turns lead into gold or hamburger buns into doughnuts.

More mutants is a good thing, lets just hope they dont have two many rage mutant stories. I mean guys like ARGHHH I HAVE MUTANT POWERS I HATE THE WORLD ARRGGHHHH!.!!! But that will come into all X books soon enough.

Marvel now:lets do it. Im picking up Thunderbolts Cables X force and maybe Uncanny avengers.

Sad to say I'm one of the suckers who bought 1-12, it was lackluster in my opinion. Yeah, I got to see my favorites battle it out but as many have said, it could of been shorter, maybe 6 issues instead of 12, but of course, money and sales sadly win that battle too many times.

I'm just happy to see the new Marvel NOW! books starting, I'm definitely picking up the new Hulk and most likely Deadpool. Maybe a couple others I'll keep my eye on and see if the story grabs my attention.

Sigh... I miss Richard Rider...

Cyclops needs to pay for his crimes.

I can buy that the Phoenix force was controlling him at first, but since Scott was crossing the line BEFORE this whole mess started, things reached a point when it was not Dark Phoenix, but Cyclops all the way. He killed Xavier, he brought so much misery to the world, he ruined the X-Men more than any of their past villians ever did. He is evil, he has to go down.

Also, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH HOPE? Has she done anything worthwhile? She's supposed to have this whole "chosen one" destiny like it was a good thing, but to me, she's coming off as a "chosen one" in a Anakin Skywalker direction which is not good at all.

@Miss_Garrick said:

Cyclops needs to pay for his crimes.

I can buy that the Phoenix force was controlling him at first, but since Scott was crossing the line BEFORE this whole mess started, things reached a point when it was not Dark Phoenix, but Cyclops all the way. He killed Xavier, he brought so much misery to the world, he ruined the X-Men more than any of their past villians ever did. He is evil, he has to go down.

Also, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH HOPE? Has she done anything worthwhile? She's supposed to have this whole "chosen one" destiny like it was a good thing, but to me, she's coming off as a "chosen one" in a Anakin Skywalker direction which is not good at all.

How was Cyclops coming off bad before this. I think he did what he was supposed to do. I enjoyed Cyclops for the first time, these last several years.. His only goal was to bring mutants back. Did he fail? Number one thing you need to know in life, that no one likes to admit, every thing cost some form of sacrifice. Time, money, or in this case "being nice." Spend some time in the military and tell me if they act more like Cyclops or Spider-man.

One Development from Avengers vs. X-Men:

Cyclops was right and Captain America is a hypocritical dump turnip.

@jcbart:

hot damn, your right

More Mutants and it all took was a craptastic event for this to occur. Yeah the payoff is nice but 6 years of stories for this is a massive let down.

I hate you Marvel.

I'm still waiting for Cable to come back... like he said he would. "he will be needed to save Cyclops very soon." How soon is very soon?

I wonder if the fantastic four was left out because of Franklin having his powers active now. Maybe marvel wanted to altogether avoid putting Franklin and the Phoenix in the same room so to speak. He could have played a big role in this event and probably should have, but I guess this is Hopes time to shine

@hyenascar: The military, I'll buy. My dad was in the Navy during the Persian Gulf war, so I get that. Cyclops sent Oya to kill some Hellfire Club henchmen. She's 14 years old and Cyclops made her a killer. When The Phoenix Force is heading towards Earth, devouring entire planets in its path, The Avengers want to stop it, but Cyclops wants it to posess Hope. The Phoenix has been responsible for jean dying more than once, it has killed billions of lives, and he doesn't care.

Also, I've never liked him ever since he left his wife, Madeline and son, Nathan to go to Jean. And years later, he cheats on Jean with Emma Frost of all people and they kiss over Jean's grave. That's messed up.

Whatever his reasons, Cyclops has to go jail for what's he done. If someone in the military did some of the things he did, they should be held accountable too.

My favourite development about all of this is that now, Cyclops is officially the Biggest Prick in the Marvel Universe. I've been calling it for decades but it's nice for it to be official.

AvX is the first crossover I bought all the tie-in comics for (Obviously not Consequences or A+X yet). Whilst it could've been shorter, and with the fact a large number of the developments were predictable, I enjoyed it. I like crossovers because what's the point of having a detailed an expansive Universe if nearly everyone doesn't get together and, almost pointlessly, beat the snot out of each other occasionally?

@Miss_Garrick said:

Cyclops needs to pay for his crimes.

I can buy that the Phoenix force was controlling him at first, but since Scott was crossing the line BEFORE this whole mess started, things reached a point when it was not Dark Phoenix, but Cyclops all the way. He killed Xavier, he brought so much misery to the world, he ruined the X-Men more than any of their past villians ever did. He is evil, he has to go down.

Also, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH HOPE? Has she done anything worthwhile? She's supposed to have this whole "chosen one" destiny like it was a good thing, but to me, she's coming off as a "chosen one" in a Anakin Skywalker direction which is not good at all.

How did he cross the line? By ordering the deaths of genocidal maniacs out to destroy his species? What about Wolverine? All of the people he killed... a lot of them innocents. Thor? He took over the planet like the P5 did. Iron Man. Please. And don't even get me started on the Scarlet Witch. None of them were thrown in jail except for Cyclops. Because he's not an Avenger.

@FacetiousBeard said:

My favourite development about all of this is that now, Cyclops is officially the Biggest Prick in the Universe. I've been calling it for decades but it's nice for it to be official.

AvX is the first crossover I bought all the tie-in comics for (Obviously not Consequences or A+X yet). Whilst it could've been shorter, and with the fact a large number of the developments were predictable, I enjoyed it. I like crossovers because what's the point of having a detailed an expansive Universe if nearly everyone doesn't get together and, almost pointlessly, beat the snot out of each other occasionally?

Actually. Captain America's the biggest prick in the Marvel Universe.

@Miss_Garrick said:

@hyenascar: The military, I'll buy. My dad was in the Navy during the Persian Gulf war, so I get that. Cyclops sent Oya to kill some Hellfire Club henchmen. She's 14 years old and Cyclops made her a killer. When The Phoenix Force is heading towards Earth, devouring entire planets in its path, The Avengers want to stop it, but Cyclops wants it to posess Hope. The Phoenix has been responsible for jean dying more than once, it has killed billions of lives, and he doesn't care.

Also, I've never liked him ever since he left his wife, Madeline and son, Nathan to go to Jean. And years later, he cheats on Jean with Emma Frost of all people and they kiss over Jean's grave. That's messed up.

Whatever his reasons, Cyclops has to go jail for what's he done. If someone in the military did some of the things he did, they should be held accountable too.

Many, many ugly things happen in the military that most have no idea about. They, do many things so that you will never have to deal with the consequences. It's one thing to live your life a way you want, it's another thing to act like what they do isn't necessary or that it doesn't happen.

There is a saying from Firefly that I found to be incredibly true in my time in the military. " It's my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of sommbitch or another." I promise you that this is true.

As for Idie, there is no way, absolutely none you don't tell her to do what she did to save those lives. Or maybe your conscious would be clean to let hundreds and hundreds of people die on a moral ambiguity. If I found my loved one died because of that, I wouldn't have the words to describe the rage i would have.

Cyclops was looking at the Phoenix like we looked at the A-bomb. It was horrendous, killed 80,000 instantly and several hundred thousand from the radiation. From all prospects without something that instantaneous millions more would have died from the continuous war. He felt like the phoenix had already caused so much suffering, but Hope was destined to control the phoenix and it could bring back his race.

@LeeSensei said:

@Miss_Garrick said:

Cyclops needs to pay for his crimes.

I can buy that the Phoenix force was controlling him at first, but since Scott was crossing the line BEFORE this whole mess started, things reached a point when it was not Dark Phoenix, but Cyclops all the way. He killed Xavier, he brought so much misery to the world, he ruined the X-Men more than any of their past villians ever did. He is evil, he has to go down.

Also, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH HOPE? Has she done anything worthwhile? She's supposed to have this whole "chosen one" destiny like it was a good thing, but to me, she's coming off as a "chosen one" in a Anakin Skywalker direction which is not good at all.

How did he cross the line? By ordering the deaths of genocidal maniacs out to destroy his species? What about Wolverine? All of the people he killed... a lot of them innocents. Thor? He took over the planet like the P5 did. Iron Man. Please. And don't even get me started on the Scarlet Witch. None of them were thrown in jail except for Cyclops. Because he's not an Avenger.

He kind of hit the nail on the head. Maybe we could add in Daredevil, and possible sentry when he made the void, which is not so dissimiliar to cyclops and the phoenix.

@LeeSensei said:

@Miss_Garrick said:

Cyclops needs to pay for his crimes.

I can buy that the Phoenix force was controlling him at first, but since Scott was crossing the line BEFORE this whole mess started, things reached a point when it was not Dark Phoenix, but Cyclops all the way. He killed Xavier, he brought so much misery to the world, he ruined the X-Men more than any of their past villians ever did. He is evil, he has to go down.

Also, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH HOPE? Has she done anything worthwhile? She's supposed to have this whole "chosen one" destiny like it was a good thing, but to me, she's coming off as a "chosen one" in a Anakin Skywalker direction which is not good at all.

How did he cross the line? By ordering the deaths of genocidal maniacs out to destroy his species? What about Wolverine? All of the people he killed... a lot of them innocents. Thor? He took over the planet like the P5 did. Iron Man. Please. And don't even get me started on the Scarlet Witch. None of them were thrown in jail except for Cyclops. Because he's not an Avenger.

none of them nearly destroyed the earth. and none of them would do exactly the same thing if the had known what would happen. The man killed his fatherly figure, probably a lot of civilians, and nearly destroyed earth. But he would do it again because his failing created more mutants (it is only because he was defeated that new mutants appeared).

He was ready to gamble that a teenager could control the phoenix force and restore his race. he would gamble the life of everyone on earth (and in the universe) to create new mutants...

How insane is that ?

The difference between cyclops and wolverine is that cyclops is ready to send children to kill these people. And he never get his hands dirty by killing criminals himself (that's why he assembled Xforce in the first place). Logan kills them himself.

Cyclops could have asked Iddie to hide, or to protect civilians/the extinction team until someone came (he knew logan was on his way, and he could have contacted the avengers)

@Lamenoire:

no he couldn't. That was the point of the story if you read it. If she, herself, hadn't killed them everyone would have died. That was the point. He had 2 options let teenager kill to save eveverybody the bombs would have killed or let thousands die. Only had time for those two choices.

In the grande scheme of things Cyclop did what he was suppose to do which was protect and maintain the mutant race. Avengers jump the good in what they thought was going to be a treat and provoked all that happen. Shouldn't Cap be held responsible? Shouldn't Hope feel like an ass for not trusting one of her mentor? How does magneto always end up on the bad side of good intentions?

@jcbart said:

One Development from Avengers vs. X-Men:

Cyclops was right and Captain America is a hypocritical dump turnip.

This, Plus I'm getting sick of Wolverine's current 'holier than thou' attitude.

@hyenascar: You have many valid points. I just prefer the times when Storm was leader, because there was less need for the X-Men to do such shades of grey missions and more fighting pirmary colored supervillians.

@Miss_Garrick:

I like storm, especially in the mohawk era.. Two things occur to me.

1: She is going to be on one of the kill teams. X-Force

2: It's not like I think everyone needs to kill, and/or that everyone should be expected to. However, I just don't like when everyone throws a fit when someone does the rational thing in the face of a horrific situation.

Not to throw G-man under the bus cause I appreciate all of his views, but when I hear him say heroes don't kill, I think of all my friends and acquaintances who have put their life on the line, and did just that, killed, it makes me sick to hear it.

the seventh development is me loosing all interests in marvel comics

i mean my god.....talk about such an anti climax, seen that ending miles ahead since issue 6 (with the exception of the death of p-x)

oh and one more thing.........captain america is one of the biggest idiots jerks i ever known (he started a war with the x-men to prevent them from doing something that he eventually did and still think he is all high and mighty judging others labeling them and acting as a saint)

shoulva stayed dead captain a@#

@mr_iq said:

shoulva stayed dead captain a@#

I'm pretty sure their are more letters in America.

Ha, great stuff

wow good points all around. a imma say is that if you had the power to remake the world would you give it up? would you sacrifice your godly hood for other people? I think that's the point that was trying to across here. Plus no matter which side of the coin your on, for some reason the other guy will always seem like the villian. as for the military thing being a former military man myself, yes we do things so others can live better days but really to be honest sometimes i wondered if it was required. let's face it life isn't a comic once these guys get locked up 8 out of 10 chance they make it back out and in the end how do we know what we do is even right or just in the first place. In the end it all boils down to someone has to pay. people will rage and hate and retaliate and find a blame to make ourselves feel better. btw I don't know if it count but the thing was in the battle seeing as he is an avenger and he beat namor but was probably incapable of fighting the last fight. as for the rest of the four who knows. negative zone maybe. i loved how it ended with hope and the phoenix, no one should try to control the power of life and death but who can resist right

Can't say that I'm happy that Emma is on the run.

It's funny how Tony Stark can't be held responsible for his actions during Civil War and after, but Cyclops has to be put in jail for things he did while possessed.

@hyenascar said:

Not to throw G-man under the bus cause I appreciate all of his views, but when I hear him say heroes don't kill, I think of all my friends and acquaintances who have put their life on the line, and did just that, killed, it makes me sick to hear it.

Of course you misinterpret anytime I've said that. Military, police officers, etc are licensed to kill. Some dude putting on spandex and thinks they're above the law and can save lives doesn't have that right. They don't have the right to be judge, jury and executioner. Spider-Man, Batman, etc should not kill. Captain America was military. He has killed. He had the 'right.' Punisher kills whoever he believes is guilty. What if he was wrong? I'd find it insanely hard to believe that there was never a time he invaded the 'bad guys' place, started a shoot out and never harmed an innocent bystander that happened to be nearby. But sure, go ahead and throw my name into a statement and assume you know absolutely every thought I have based one one idea.

So a little kung fu was all jean needed to control the phoenix huh too bad for her then. Yet another marvel event that goes out with a whimper.

YES!!! Now do me a solid, Marvel and give Jubilee and Chambers their powers back!

@Shotgun said:

YES!!! Now do me a solid, Marvel and give Jubilee and Chambers their powers back!

Chamber has his powers back. He got them after Age of X for some reason. He's been working for Wolvie at the Jean Grey Academy

@jcbart said:

One Development from Avengers vs. X-Men:

Cyclops was right and Captain America is a hypocritical dump turnip.

Yeah if they let hope do her thing all will have ended nicely.

I wish they'd stop bringing the phoenix back, it's been a dead end for years, and you can't have someone have full control over it without discrediting all the hosts before hand and making that character really boring. It worked in the 70s, doesn't mean it works as well now.

I would not call these developments as much as clarifications of what everyone knew or predicted what will happen.

@ApatheticAvenger: Wolverine was one of the examples of a "hero" that kills. He shouldn't be an Avenger. Jason Aaron's Red Right Hand story dealt with Wolverine 'accidentally' killing innocents. But that's another story. This doesn't really have to do with AvX developments.

If only captain america believes and give hope a chance to prove her being a mutant messiah, then there should not be an AvX and phoenix five in the first place. And now captain america is blaming a phoenix possess cyclops for everything bad that happens in earth.....i really wish that cyclops would stand up and spit captain america in the face, instead of just "taking all the blame".

this event just proved again how much of a man and a true leader Cyclops is and what hypocrites are the Avengers.

I personally read all of the AvX and I think both Captain America and Cyclops are both hypocrites. Cap came in the very beginning just telling cyclops how its going to be like he's the end all be all of the law. Then you have cyclops who is instantly put on the defensive because of it. Il be honest at the beginning I kinda felt for cyclops, and I hate the guy. But once the odds switched and the Phoenix got involved things escalated extremely quickly. Cyclops started using his power to do whatever he wanted. Good bad it didn't matter. He was basically god and no one could tell him no or try to influence his will. It's just my opinion but I think both cap and cyclops are both to blame for this whole fiasco.