The new Avengers #1

History

The underlying US series was conceived by writer Sam Humphries and artist Ton Lima, originally solicited in March 2025 as 'New Thunderbolts*.' Following the theatrical release of Thunderbolts* (2025), Marvel publicly retitled the book 'New Avengers' in May 2025 — described at the time as a 'first-of-its-kind' comic book title change — with issue #1 hitting shelves on 11 June 2025. Humphries, whose prior Marvel credits include Uncanny X-Force and the Legendary Star-Lord ongoing, conceived the roster around the structural idea of assembling dangerous representatives from each corner of the Marvel Universe — mutants, the mystical world, the gamma family — as a dark mirror to the original Illuminati. Panini France, the exclusive French-language publisher of Marvel comics, collected the opening arc (issues #1–5) in its '100% Marvel' paperback line, announced during Panini's early-2026 Big News and released in April 2026.

Trivia · 8 facts

• This Panini France volume collects New Avengers (2025) #1–5 — the opening 'Killuminati' arc — in French, published under the '100% Marvel' imprint with a release date of 19 April 2026.
• The series is the fifth volume to carry the New Avengers title in Marvel Comics history, and the first since Al Ewing's 2015–2017 run.
• The book was originally announced and solicited as 'New Thunderbolts*'; Marvel executed a deliberate mid-solicitation title change to 'New Avengers' in May 2025, coordinated with the theatrical release of the MCU film Thunderbolts* (2025) — described by Marvel as a first-of-its-kind title switch.
• The creative team is writer Sam Humphries (Uncanny X-Force, Legendary Star-Lord) and interior artist Ton Lima (West Coast Avengers), with cover art by Stephen Segovia.
• The founding roster consists of Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier and Black Widow as co-leaders, with Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Namor, Clea Strange, Carnage (Eddie Brock), and the Hulk (Bruce Banner, in an advisory capacity) rounding out the team.
• The central antagonists are the Killuminati — twisted clones of the original Illuminati created by a clone of the Jackal — whose existence is eventually revealed to connect to a suppressed secondary persona implanted in Black Widow.
• A key in-story moment has Bruce Banner officially grant the team the authority to operate as Avengers, lending the group its name from within the narrative rather than by external decree.
• The French collected edition's contents were announced during Panini Comics France's early-2026 'Big News' editorial season, placing it alongside other high-profile 2026 Marvel releases such as an Avengers by MacKay Deluxe and a Civil War Omnibus.