While Red Wolf and Hawkeye have proven quite the duo already, a country as large as the United States needs a bigger squad to ferret out all its dark corners. With that in mind, writer David Walker has always intended to slowly expand the OCCUPY AVENGERS ranks, beginning with issue #2 on December 7.

While we begged, pleaded, and bargained, he refused to tell us exactly who might be joining the roster. Walker did, however, agree to let us try to guess.

MVP
When Michael Van Patrick first showed up at the Initiative training camp, he seemed a shoo-in. A terrible accident later and he became a dead dirty little secret. However, genetic material that good cannot be ignored so Patrick ended up cloned multiple times. This one would be the last still standing.

“Clint is easy-going, but he has issues with clones, and anyone who is fanatical about what they eat, so that might be a problem,” Walker points out. “Plus, MVP is better looking than Clint, which would be tough on his ego.”

Mockingbird
An excellent hand-to-hand combatant and tactician, Mockingbird has had more than enough solo success to demonstrate she would be an asset on any team. Add in the fact that she can be a team player and has worked extensively with Hawkeye and she seems like a great fit.

“Quite possibly the perfect person to team up with Hawkeye to fight crime,” admits the writer. “The big question is this: could she put up with her ex-husband?”

El Aguila
While M Day did rob him of his mutant gifts, El Aguila remains a talented swordsman and open hand combatant. Additionally, he has charisma to spare, a big help when you wander town to town without knowing quite what awaits you.

“Nothing short of a full and equal partnership in Heroes for Hire with Luke Cage and Iron Fist will make this man happy,” asserts Walker. “Plus, Clint would be totally jealous, because this guy is suave and swashbuckling. Clint can barely swash and buckle at the same time.”

Free Spirit
Despite a rather dark origin involving subliminal mind manipulation and misinformed consent to medical experimentation, Cathy Webster remains an optimistic hero who truly believes in doing the right thing. She may well recognize Clint’s mission as a place where she can help others who will not otherwise be seen or heard.

“With a name like that, who wouldn’t want her on their team?” Walker enthuses. “Of course, she might be a little too peppy for a team of misfits with as much existential baggage as Clint and the rest of the [team].”

Shang-Chi
They call him the Master of Kung Fu? What other reason do you need?

Ok, here’s one more: he loves to stick up for the disenfranchised and the ignored and that fits perfectly with Clint’s mission statement.

“Let’s be honest, Shang Chi is too cool to be on anyone’s team,” the writer acknowledges. “In a perfect world, everyone would be on his team.”

Night Thrasher
The founder and leader of the New Warriors, Night Thrasher had been off the map due to death for a minute. Back now thanks to cosmic machinations, Dwayne Taylor might be looking to get back down to Earth and back to kicking in bad guy teeth.

“Hawkeye isn’t afraid of much—other than committed relationships—but I suspect Night Thrasher might be a bit intense for him,” muses Walker. “Hawkeye wouldn’t have to do much, just point at the bad guys and say, ‘Don’t break too many bones.’”

U.S. Agent
Who better to take with you on a trip across America than a guy who’s dedicated his life to wearing patriotic costumes and going by patriotic names? And, he’s got all that prior team experience!

“Hawkeye and this guy would get along for about five minutes, and four of those minutes they would be faking it,” the writer jokes.

Colleen Wing
A martial arts master with an undeniable talent for uncovering the truth, Wing offers these Avengers intelligence and physical skill, neither of which they can survive for long without in the field.

“She always seems to be pushed out of the spotlight by Misty Knight, which is a shame, because she can issue a beat-down with the best of them,” laments Walker. “She would provide a strong moral compass to the team, which would probably drive Clint insane.”

Travel the roads of America with OCCUPY AVENGERS #2 by David Walker and Carlos Pacheco, coming December 7!

The upcoming MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL #0—available on December 21—will find Carol Danvers back at the helm as commander of Alpha Flight. As one of the world’s toughest super heroes, she has a lot on her plate!

We asked writer Margaret Stohl what a typical day would look like for this acclaimed hero.

6 AM – BOSS FIT
“Just because you’re the strongest person on the planet doesn’t mean you don’t have to work at it. Carol has gotten all of Alpha Flight into BossFit, the hard-core workout regimen she devised herself. Puck named it BossFit the first time she bossed them all into doing it with her—and now no one can escape it. Not even Squatch…”

11 PM – GLOBAL BRIEFINGS
“At the end of every morning, Carol checks in with NASA, the US Joint Chiefs, the U.N., and S.H.I.E.L.D. to assess the best use of Alpha Flight resources. Carol takes her role as commander of Alpha Flight very seriously. Besides, when the Alpha Flight Board comes calling, she’ll have to defend her every decision.”

3 PM – AF OPS
“Carol’s Alpha Flight ops vary with any given day. One afternoon she might find herself answering an S.O.S. from a hidden satellite base in Antarctica, while the next she could end up exploring a disturbance at an alien refugee camp in the EU. Whether her missions take her deeper into space or back to Earth, Captain Marvel always fights for intergalactic justice, freedom and equality.”

7 PM – GO NIGHT
“Girls Only Game Night. Everyone has to blow off steam now and then; some nights, Carol has a rotating card game with Maria Hill, Jess Drew—when she has babysitting— and Natasha Romanoff. Other friends come and go, as you’ll see in MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL #0. What goes down behind closed doors? Junk food and pizza and gossip, the Women of Marvel at their finest and friendliest.”

11 PM – LIGHTS OUT
“When Carol can actually get to sleep, she turns in on the early side. More often than not, though, she tosses and turns, thinking about unresolved crises or impending conflicts. Carol doesn’t have an easy job, and she doesn’t wear the crown lightly. Still, when she does crash, she goes out like a rock—good thing, too. Especially with that 6 AM workout …”

Become part of Carol’s world with MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL #0 by Margaret Stohl and Ramon Rosanas on December 21!

In April 2017, with help from writer Al Ewing and artist Jonboy Meyers, the Inhuman Royal Family may have cracked the code of the Terrigenesis origins and will voyage deep into the cosmos to find out in the ROYALS ongoing series. Abdicating their Earthly rule, Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Swain, and Flint—along with Marvel Boy—have left the present to the new generation while they secure the future of the Inhumans out in the stars, hopefully leaving their violent and fractured recent history behind.

We hopped a transport trawler to catch up with the cast of ROYALS and spent the trip chatting with writer Al Ewing about these space bound Inhumans and the literal and metaphorical darkness they now travel into.

Marvel.com: As the book begins, the Royals have made the choice to leave the Earth. As they depart, what is their state of mind? Is everyone equally on board with this choice?

Al Ewing: Pretty much. It’s difficult to get into the whys and wherefores without dropping some massive spoilers, but I’ll do my best. Everyone’s on board—literally on board, it’s a spaceship—but there are different stakes, different things pulling and pushing at them. Some characters are going to be leaving loved ones behind on Earth, and some are eager to get moving and not look back, so all seven of them have their own things going on.

Marvel.com: Amongst the Royals, can you speak at all to each’s motivation for leaving the planet to head to the Kree homeworld?

Al Ewing: Well, the reason for the quest is to discover more about the secret origins of Terrigenesis, so that’s the main motivation there. There are reasons beyond that, but those are going to remain hidden for now; you’ll have to read the actual comics to find out more. In terms of why these specific characters are going on the quest—well, for some, it’s a royal duty, for some, it’s to prove something to themselves, some characters are running away from things on Earth, and some characters are just in it for laughs. Who belongs in what category, you’ll have to wait and see.

Marvel.com: Beyond the shattered Kree planet, they’ll also be visiting other strange corners of the Marvel Universe. Can you share or hint at what some of these other locations maybe?

AL Ewing: I’m kind of interested in the idea that we’re usually in the one galaxy in the Marvel Universe, or at least the one clutch of galaxies. I know the Skrulls are from Andromeda, and presumably that’s not the galaxy the Guardians are guarding [but] they’re all about the Milky Way.

But I like the idea of travelling across the huge gulf between the galaxies and finding some of the really far-off places of the Marvel Universe. A journey to the far stars, the far shores. So we can probably expect a long journey through total nothingness at some point, and some meetings with the creatures that live out there—the space equivalent of deep-sea fish. And on the other side of that…who knows?

Marvel.com: What sorts of threats await the Royal Family out in space?

Al Ewing: Ronan the Accuser is back! And he’s still cosmic-powered from the Black Vortex, a kind of magic mirror that granted various characters enhanced cosmic forms.

Ronan’s developed some new and interesting powers in the wake of the upgrade, but he’s really not been doing much with them except guarding the shattered shell that once was [the Kree homeworld] Hala from intruders—that’s his self-imposed penance, preserving the sanctity of this huge planetary graveyard. So when the Royals come to disturb his solitude—including Crystal, his ex, who broke his heart in the name of an Inhuman future that didn’t end up going all that well—he’s going to get annoyed. He’s going to get pretty accusatory, and given his new power levels, that’s a bad thing for the Royals.

Marvel.com: This will be your first time working with artist Jonboy Meyers. Given what you know of his work, how excited are you to be collaborating on this project and what kinds of things about the book will his art style really be able emphasize?

Al Ewing: From what I’ve seen of his work, I think he’ll be a fun guy to take on a space battle—he’s got a vibrant, energetic style that’ll fit in nicely—but I’m also curious as to what he does with the vast alien vistas I’m planning to get into, as well as things like Ronan the Accuser’s new cosmic-enhanced powers.

Royals by Paul McCaffrey

Marvel.com: The one wild card in the team is Marvel Boy. How does he fit into the rest of the group? What kind of story elements does it open up for you?

Al Ewing: Ah, Marvel Boy.

That was [editor] Wil Moss’ idea. We were batting back and forth ideas for a non-Inhuman to be on the team, and Wil suggested Marvel Boy, who we haven’t really seen that much of since YOUNG AVENGERS finished. And most of the other Young Avengers from that series have had a turn in the spotlight on other books, but not Marvel Boy, so it’ll be fun to bring him back.

Where he fits in: he’s got that Kree connection to the Inhumans, but he’s not actually a Kree in the normal sense. He’s a Kree from another dimension, and what’s common knowledge on Marvel Boy’s homeworld is a forgotten secret in the prime [Marvel Universe]. And Marvel Boy essentially comes to this realization, that the Inhumans have a problem because they don’t know what he knows, and maybe he should tell them. He’s got his own reasons for helping, as well, though. It’s not total altruism.

Marvel Boy opens up some extra-dimensional elements to things; he’s a citizen of the multiverse, so he’s the doorway to some big, interesting concepts, and he’s also a pretty cool character to throw into the mix. I’m essentially taking [YOUNG AVENGERS writer] Kieron [Gillen’s] version and mixing in a little of the original “Lord of Force and Fire” [Marvel Boy co-creator Grant] Morrison talked about. It should be a fun time.

Marvel.com: What can you tell us about the prophecy that while seven go into space, only six will survive?

Al Ewing: “Seven went forth, six returned.”

One of the seven who leave Earth is going to die. I figured it’s not a proper myth without some kind of sinister prophecy going on. Plus, we know the stakes are life and death, they are in pretty much any comic you pick up. But there’s a difference between being told that all of these people could die, and that one of these people will die. I’ve a feeling that’ll raise the stakes a lot, especially as every person on the crew is going to hopefully have a bit of a fanbase by the time I actually pull the trigger.

Set out for the stars with ROYALS by Al Ewing and Jonboy Meyers, taking off in April 2017!