Baron Strucker |
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Black Widow |
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Baron Strucker |
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Hydra Soldiers |
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Appearances
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Hydra
- Baron Strucker (Wolfgang von Strucker) (Recaptured)
- A.I.M.
- M.O.D.O.C. (George Tarleton) (Recaptured) (Final appearance)
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Maria Hill (First Appearance as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D)
Other Characters:
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Nick Fury (Mentioned)
- Bucky (James Barnes) (Resurrection)
Locations:
Items:
- Cosmic Cube
- Mjolnir
- Vibranium
- Panther Habit
- Wasp's Suit
- Bio-Synthetic Wings
- Ant-Man's Helmet
- Pym Particles
- Ant-Man's Suit
- Ant-Man's Ants
- Iron Man Armor
- Captain America's Shield
- Captain America's Uniform
- Hawkeye's Bow, Trick Arrows
- Hawkeye's Suit
- Satan Claw
- Black Widow's Gauntlets
- Black Widow's Suit
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Jet Pack
- Dreadnoughts
- Mandroid Armor
- Doomsday Chair
Vehicles:
Synopsis
An electromagnetic pulse goes off, momentarily shutting down the Avengers Mansion and ruining a trick shot that Hawkeye was attempting. Or rather, it was three EMPs back-to-back. Sensing a possible attack, the Avengers move to guard the front door only to find that there is no army of supervillains ready to overrun them. Instead, it's just Black Widow and she's come for help. Of course, after their previous run-ins with the Widow, the whole team is sceptical. Widow hastily explains that she is not actually a traitor; Nick Fury ordered her to infiltrate Hydra in order to discern the nature of the super weapon that A.I.M. was developing for them. It turns out that the Cosmic Cube has the power to alter reality to match the deepest desires of whoever holds it.
Now Hydra and A.I.M. are locked in all-out war for control of the Cube, no one else in S.H.I.E.L.D. knows about her assignment, and Fury has gone dark so Widow has no one else to turn to. With little choice except to trust her, the Avengers start a three-way fight with the two warring factions. M.O.D.O.C. races to complete the Cosmic Cube with Iron Man, Wasp, and S.H.I.E.L.D. hot on his trail while the rest of the team tries to stop Baron Strucker from getting anywhere near his weapon. Just as it is completed, M.O.D.O.C.'s ship is shot down and everyone promptly converges on the area. Hydra and A.I.M. both reach it at the same time and a stand-off ensues. Strucker is able to gain the upper hand and is about to claim victory when Hawkeye manages to achieve a version of the trick shot he was attempting earlier in the episode and delivers Ant Man right to the scene.
The battle outside is even more complicated than ever as S.H.I.E.L.D. (now under the direction of Maria Hill) attempts to arrest the Avengers and fight off both supervillain factions at the same time. In spite of everything that has transpired between them, Iron Man still orders the heroes to protect the Helicarrier when it is attacked by a Hydra robot.Captain America continues to battle Strucker for control of the Cube while Hulk, Hawkeye, and Widow arrive to back up Ant Man. With their combined efforts, Strucker is finally taken down and it seems that everything will be all right until he makes one last bid for victory. Cap and Strucker both touch the Cube at the same time, there is a blinding flash of light and nothing happens. S.H.I.E.L.D. rounds up all the combatants, including M.O.D.O.C., and Director Hill vows that she will see the Avengers registered and working for her. Hawkeye and Black Widow have a bitter sweet parting. Back at the Mansion, Ant Man asks what Cap would have changed, had the Cube worked, but his response is simple: nothing. However, a cut immediately after shows that this just isn't true.
Trivia
- At the end of the Episode, Acting Director Hill tells Iron Man that she is going to the President and Congress in Washington D.C. to get into talks about registering the Avengers as SHIELD agents, much to the team's distaste. This is a reference to the Superhuman Registration Act, which triggered the Civil War.
- At the end, the ressurected Bucky is shown to have lost his left arm in the explosion of the rocket. This could mean that he will possibly gain a bionic arm and become the Winter Soldier, and then the new Captain America like his comics counterpart.
