Updated

: Aug 19, 2026 3:58pm UTC

With Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters in December, it should come as no surprise that Marvel Comics is marking the occasion by relaunching its flagship Avengers title this fall. But this isn't just a case of shaking up the team roster and slapping a new #1 on the cover. In the aftermath of the destructive events of Avengers: Armageddon, writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto's Avengers will profoundly transform Earth's Mightiest Heroes and explore what it means to be an Avenger in 2026.

As Armageddon continues to unfold and the clock counts down to the big relaunch, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of The Avengers #1. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see three brand-new pages alongside the previously revealed pages and covers:

We also had the chance to chat briefly with Zdarsky to learn a little more about how the new series builds on the foundation being established in Avengers: Armageddon. One of the common themes in that series has been the idea that the Avengers have great power but are too afraid to use it to its fullest. Both their nemesis, Red Hulk, and their current ally, former Captain America David Colton, have criticized the team for being weak. Does this idea carry over to The Avengers?

"Yeah, it does," Zdarsky tells IGN. "Spidey is the poster boy for power and responsibility, so going into Avengers, he and every other hero are considering what that means."

What about the "Avengers" name? Given how bad things are shaping up to become in Armageddon, is that name going to be more literal going forward? Not necessarily, according to Zdarsky.

"I think it was more literal in Armageddon, with everyone trying to avenge Steve [Rogers]," Zdarsky says. "It’s up to Spidey and his team to define what 'Avengers' means now."

The new series features a fairly nontraditional roster of heroes, including Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Daredevil, and at least one mystery character. We were curious how Zdarsky and Checchetto arrived at that lineup. Is this a case of focusing on the heroes who are still left standing after Armageddon, or were there other factors at play?

"They all evolve out of the Armageddon ending, so really the driving factor in this team’s makeup are straight-up story reasons," Zdarsky says. "But! Beyond that, I also knew that Marco loves drawing Spidey and Daredevil so I couldn’t let him down! But it genuinely feels like everyone is in the book for a solid reason. A lot of time in team books the reasons are power-based, but here it’s about their personalities and where they are in life."

Finally, Marvel made a very interesting annoucnement at SDCC with the reveal of Maximum X-Men. That series sees Storm spearhead a new mutant team intended to fill the void left by the collapse of the Avengers. That seems to reinforce the idea that Zdarsky and Checchetto's Avengers are operating underground and off the radar. Is that a necessity in the wake of Armageddon?

"Yeah, for sure," Zdarsky confirms. "It’s a bit harder to be an Avenger right now. And maybe the public isn’t too keen on a group featuring Spider-Man and Wolverine."

The Avengers #1 will be released on November 4. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.

For more, learn all about the very first Star Wars/Marvel crossover and read up on Marvel's newest symbiote hero, the Amazing Venom.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.