Timeless #1 Spoilers Teases 2023 Kang Avengers Series and The Missing Moment Search?! Demythifying Timeless #1 Spoilers, Marvel History and Marvel 2023!
Timeless #1 (full spoilers here) ended with this tease.
Well that Avengers logo calls back to a 1985 to 1988 run on the team that had an eclectic and ever changing roster that also included the debuts of the Council of Kangs as well as Council of Cross-Time Kangs as chronicled below.
Avengers #255 (February 5, 1985) – Last issue with Mighty Avengers logo.
- Wasp joins team.
- Scarlet Witch and Vision leave team.
Avengers #256 (March 12, 1985) – New Avengers logo.
- Avengers team featured as Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hercules, Starfox and Wasp.
- Black Knight joins team.
Avengers #260 (July 9, 1985) – Thicker new Avengers logo
- Same roster no changes.
Avengers #261 (August 6, 1985)
- Starfox leaves team.
Avengers #262 (September 10, 1985) – Back to thinner new Avengers logo.
- Namor joins team.
Avengers #267 (February 11, 1986)
- No change to Avengers team.
- First appearance of Council of Kangs.
Avengers #268 (March 11, 1986)
- No change to Avengers team.
- Second appearance of Council of Kangs and it disbands.
Avengers #269 (April 8, 1986)
- No change to Avengers team.
- Kang vs. Immortus.
Avengers #270 (May 6, 1986)
- Namor leaves team.
Avengers #272 (July 8, 1986)
- Marrina joins and leaves team.
Avengers #276 (November 11, 1986)
- Hercules leaves team.
- Thor joins team.
Avengers #278 (January 6, 1987)
- Wasp leaves team.
- Doctor Druid joins team.
Avengers #279 (February 10, 1987)
- She-Hulk joins team.
Avengers #282 (May 12, 1987)
- Namor joins team.
Avengers #285 (August 11, 1987)
- Captain America and Thor leave group.
Avengers #286 (September 8, 1987)
- Marrina joins team.
Avengers #291 (January 19, 1988)
- Thor rejoins team.
Avengers #292 (February 16, 1988)
- No change to Avengers team.
- First appearance of Council of Cross-Time Kangs.
Avengers #293 (March 15, 1988)
- Namor leaves team.
- Second appearance of Council of Cross-Time Kangs.
Avengers #294 (April 19, 1988)
- Captain Marvel leaves team.
- Third appearance of Council of Cross-Time Kangs.
Avengers #295 (May 17, 1988)
- No change to Avengers team.
- Fourth appearance of Council of Cross-Time Kangs.
Avengers #296 (June 21, 1988)
- No change to Avengers team.
- Fifth appearance of Council of Cross-Time Kangs.
Avengers #297 (July 19, 1988)
- Black Knight, She-Hulk and Thor leave team.
- Doctor Druid leaves team due to apparent death.
- Kang-Nebula joins teams and leaves team due to apparent death.
- Sixth appearance of Council of Cross-Time Kangs.
Avengers #298 (August 16, 1988)
- Captain America appears, but there is no apparent Avengers team.
Avengers #299 (September 20, 1988) – Last issue with current Avengers logo.
- Still no apparent Avengers team.
Avengers #300 (October 18, 1988) – Classic Avengers logo returns.
- The Captain (Steve Rogers no longer Captain America) and Thor join the team.
- Fantastic Four’s Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman join the team.
- Gilgamesh joins the team.
Interesting to see 1/2 of the Fantastic Four on the Avengers, but Kang did debut as Rama-Tut in Fantastic Four #19 on July 9, 1963 and he’s technically a Nathanial Richards aka a version of Reed Richards’ father.
A year later, quite literally, on July 9, 1964 Kang debuted in his familiar persona in Avengers #8.
Kang has had other prominent personas too during is Marvel run.
- Immortus (first appearance in Avengers #10 in 1964)
- Scarlet Centurion (first appearance in Avengers Annual #2 in 1968)
- Iron Lad (first appearance in Young Avengers #1 in 2005)
The Avengers #256 – 299 era from 1985 to 1988, using the Avengers logo that appears embossed for 2023, is collected in two Epic Collection tpbs.
Avengers Judgment Day collects Avengers #256 to #285 while Avengers Heavy Metal collects Avengers #286 to #303.
It should also be noted that the Avengers logo teased in 2022’s Timeless #1 was also used, in an augmented fashion, for an Avengers animated series in 1999 to 2000 called Avengers United We Stand.
The Avengers logo tease from Timeless #1 I believe hints at an eclectic Avengers roster, possibly handpicked by Kang, that will include some core iconic Avengers, but rounded out by non big gun Avengers icons.
I’m also rooting for some kind of Council of Kangs to reemerge which may also hint at Myrddin’s identity.
What say you? Has this Avengers logo been used elsewhere hinting at other Avengers line-ups?
There’s also something that could be cleaned about 2023 perhaps from the Kang collection Marvel solicited as part of its December 2022 solicitations, but which lands in stores on January 25, 2023.
It should also be noted that a Kang appeared in Loki Season 1 on Disney Plus and the same Kang or perhaps another is set to appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania film in theaters on February 7, 2022.
An upcoming Avengers film called Avengers: Kang Dynasty has also been teased for May 2, 2025.
That film is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 6 (MCU Phase 6).
If you’re still stumped about Kang’s two most prominent personas, Kang and Immortus, and who’s who, the above and below are classic Marvel Handbook bios for each from 2005 and 2006 respectively.
Many veteran readers who enjoy Kang’s adventures remain a bit perplexed by his Immortus connection as well as his other personas, but we took a stab at demythifying Kang’s key personas here.
Why Kang Avengers?
Well, Marvel collected several issues of Kang appearances, details here, in a May 11, 2005 trade paperback they called Kang Avengers: Tim and Time Again.
