New Avengers: Illuminati

A five-issue Marvel miniseries from 2007, New Avengers: Illuminati assembles a secret cabal of the world's most powerful heroes—Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Charles Xavier, and Mister Fantastic—who have long been meeting in the shadows to make the hard calls for the planet. Written primarily by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed, with art from Jim Cheung and David Finch, this series pulls back the curtain on a clandestine group whose well-intentioned decisions have quietly shaped the Marvel Universe. It matters as a pivotal exploration of the moral compromises behind the scenes, laying groundwork for the tensions that define major Marvel events to come.