Marvel may have just revealed its new Phoenix on a Heroes Reborn variant cover | GamesRadar+
Marvel has revealed a slew of April variant covers which the publisher states will set the stage for its May-launching Heroes Reborn 2021 event – but the Carlos Pacheco drawn covers, which depict the status quos of prominent Avengers in the world of Heroes Reborn 2021 where the Avengers never formed, may have revealed something of a much bigger spoiler for a current Marvel story.
Potential spoilers ahead for Avengers ‘Enter the Phoenix’
One of the variants – the cover for Daredevil #29 – shows Echo confined in a straight jacket in what appears to be an asylum. As with all the variants, the image is captioned with a title offering some insight into the character’s Heroes Reborn 2021 fate, in this case “The Lost Prisoner.”
Interestingly enough, Marvel’s previous solicitation for May 19’s Heroes Reborn #3 states that “the Phoenix” is the “newest inmate” at the infamous Ravencroft Asylum. And what’s more, the cover of Avengers #44, the finale of ‘Enter the Phoenix,’ which revolves around the Phoenix Force hosting a tournament to find its new host, shows an apparently female figure who bears a striking resemblance to Echo in silhouette as the new Phoenix host.
Putting those pieces together, has Marvel inadvertently shown its hand on who will now possess the Phoenix Force?
Avengers writer Jason Aaron previously told Newsarama that whoever becomes the new Phoenix host will have a new status quo for some time.
“The idea is it’ll be an ongoing thing – it’s not just one arc and done,” Aaron told Newsarama before ‘Enter the Phoenix’ kicked off. “Coming out of this arc, we’ll have a new status quo for the Phoenix, and for the character that becomes the host.”
There are some wrinkles in the theory that Echo will be the new Phoenix host. For one thing, she lost her fight against Namor in Avengers #42 and was presumably eliminated from the tournament. But, seeing as the Phoenix apparently offered to skip the tournament altogether and give its power to Thor, we’re betting the rules of the tournament don’t matter so much to a cosmic entity.
Echo could also be another inmate of Ravencroft, held there alongside the Phoenix – perhaps a way for the Phoenix Force to escape confinement.
We’ll find out when ‘Enter the Phoenix’ concludes in April 7’s Avengers #44.
In the meantime, here are all six April titles scheduled for Heroes Reborn variants so far (one of which shows Black Panther in Echo’s old identity of Ronin… hmm) along with their release dates:
And of course, here’s a gallery of all six variants.
If Echo becomes the next Phoenix, will she join the ranks of Marvel’s best Phoenix Force hosts?