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Marvel’s latest, greatest superteam, the New Champions, is set to debut at the start of next year – but who exactly are these young heroes, and what will they have to do to earn their place in the Marvel Universe? The series promises to add an impressive line-up of fledgling characters to the publisher’s burgeoning roster of next-gen superstars.
New Champions #1 will give readers the opportunity to learn more about Liberty, Hellrune, Cadet Marvel, and Moon Squire, introduced in an issue of Spider-Woman from earlier this year. Further, these characters will be joined by some surprising additional allies – making for an eclectic mix of powers and personalities on the debut roster.
New Champions #1 (2025)
Release Date:
January 8, 2025
Writer:
Steve Foxe
Artists:
Ivan Fiorelli; Ig Guara
Cover Artist:
Gleb Melnikov
Variant Covers:
Paco Medina; Lucciano Vecchio; Federico Vincenti
WHO ARE THE NEW CHAMPIONS? What do four kids whose lives were derailed by Hydra, Scarlet Witch’s mysterious protégé, a cursed roller derby jammer and a Wakandan runaway have in common? Not much! But when Hellrune’s mysterious powers activate to bring them together, they’ll have to learn how to work as a team quickly — or face the wrath of the Cult of Hela! Steve Foxe and Ivan Fiorelli (TIMESLIDE) team up to introduce the next generation of Marvel Heroes!
While most of the New Champions take are designed to echo classic Marvel counterparts, each one garuntees to put a new spin on familiar designs and concepts.
The “New Champions Variant Covers” Series
The character designs featured in New Champions have a novel origin; they first appeared in a series of variant covers, inspired by the success of Spider-Boy, a character introduced as Spider-Man’s “forgotten” sidekick. Marvel tasked its best current artists to come up with alternate reality sidekicks for Marvel’s most popular characters, with the hopes they would one day enter the Marvel Universe as full-fledged characters. Now, that long-term strategy has paid off, with the debut of a series devoted to these exciting new heroes.
Series writer Steve Foxe had this to say about the team’s origins and the development of their own ongoing series:
As soon as I saw the New Champions variants, my mind started racing dreaming up possible origins and powers and codenames for these imagined sidekicks. Reverse-engineering the cast from the covers was unlike any other creative process I’ve ever been involved in, and I’m beyond stoked to debut a whole new class of Marvel heroes (and a few villains!) in NEW CHAMPIONS alongside Ivan Fiorelli, who makes each and every one of these new additions feel like they’ve been part of the fabric of the universe all along.
Foxe previously introduced four of his New Champions protagonists in this year’s Spider-Woman #7 as “the Assembly,” four superpowered kids kidnapped and brainwashed into doing Hydra’s bidding. The team stayed together to fight Hydra at the end of that issue, and the new series will be the next step in their journey toward being mainstay Marvel heroes. A large part of what makes them exciting additions to Marvel Comics comes from their character designs, and their power-sets.
Who Are The Assembly? New Marvel Heroes Origins & Powers, Explained
First Appearance: Spider-Woman #7 – Written By Steve Foxe; Art By Ig Guara; Color By Arif Prianto; Lettering By Joe Sabino
As depicted in Spider-Man #7, Liberty has hard-light wings that allow her to fly, as well as shield against projectiles. She also has an arsenal of hard-light technologies, including a hard-light tracker and light refracting cloaking devices. Cadet Marvel, meanwhile, has a glowing fist that is backed up with super strength, a combination which he calls a “jet punch.” Hellrune is teased to be an important part of bringing The New Champions together; according to Hydra, a flock of ravens descended upon her and granted her powers.
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Hellrune is able to control lightning, as well as the ravens, which can transfigure into different objects,and help her fly. She can also teleport herself and those around her, which may be what brings the New Champions together at the start of the team’s upcoming series. Finally, Moon Squire is able to take light and turn it into crescent darts. His powers apparently come from coming in contact with an Egyptian Patron after finding forbidden, ancient texts on the internet.
Who Else Is Joining The New Champions? Exploring The Series’ Mystery Heroes
Marvel Promises A Rapidly Expanding Roster
In addition to the Assembly, the New Champions will gain additional allies over the course of the series’ early arcs – several of whom are teased by the synopsis for the first issue. The team will also have Fantasma, aka Isabella Alvarez, a Brazilian roller-skating Ghost Rider; Amaranth, the current apprentice of the Scarlet Witch; and a mysterious runaway from Wakanda. Readers can learn more about the former two characters in Ghost Rider: Robbie Reyes Special #1 and the current Scarlet Witch ongoing series, while the latter remains a total mystery at this time.
All in all, artist Ivan Fiorelli best summed up the appeal of New Champions, with his comments about the series:
I’m really looking forward to diving into New Champions! What really excites me about this project is the opportunity to bring fresh faces into the Marvel Universe, and explore something completely new. These young heroes have their own stories to tell, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ll grow and evolve visually as the series unfolds. I hope readers will enjoy reading our pages as much as I will enjoy illustrating them!
Introducing new characters into the Marvel Universe is always a great honor for creators, and the appearance of fresh-faced heroes is always a reason for excitement among the fandom. New Champions is no exception; in fact the series represents one of the most expansive injections of new blood into Marvel’s hero community in years, and the debut issue of the series early next year will set a great precedent for another ambitious year at Marvel.
New Champions #1 will be available January 8, 2025 from Marvel Comics.
“}]] Marvel’s New Champions, explained. Read More