We already know that big changes are coming to the Marvel Universe this summer. The publisher just announced one of its biggest: an all-female team of heroes called A-Force that looks like it'll be taking the place of the Avengers.
Two philosophically opposed teams of Avengers have been battling each other as part of the build-up to the upcoming Secret Wars event. Today's news seems to further speculation that those teams won't exist in the near future, to be replaced by a new squad with She-Hulk, Dazzler, Medusa and others. A-Force will be co-written by Margeurite Bennett and G. Willow Wilson, the latter of whom has been doing great work on Ms. Marvel, one of Kotaku's favorite ongoing comics. Here's Wilson's quote from today's release:
"She-Hulk, Dazzler, Medusa, Nico Minoru and other fan favorites, will take charge. We've purposefully assembled a team composed of different characters
from disparate parts of the Marvel U, with very different power sets, identities and ideologies."
The promo image sports almost every major heroine from the Marvel Universe and the central placement of She-Hulk seems to hint that Jennifer Walters might be the one in charge. But other proven leaders—like Inhumans queen Medusa and one-time X-Men boss Storm—could also be the one calling the shots.
Marvel's had other female-only teams before, with an all-woman X-Men most recent amongst them. But there's never been a team like this with the Avengers mantle, which places them right at the forefront of the evolution of whatever Marvel's doing next. The first issue of A-Force will hit this May.