Back when Marvel NOW! was announced, we learned that Jonathan Hickman would be the new Avengers guy. After Brian Michael Bendis’ nearly ten year run with the team, Hickman will be taking over the writing duties on ‘The Avengers’ and ‘New Avengers’, as well as the ‘Fantastic Four’. There could be big plans on doing some big things with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Thanks to Comic Book Movie, we can get a better idea of what Hickman has up his sleeve, as well as some new cover art.

First, it was revealed that the first arc in ‘Avengers’ would be called ‘Avengers World’ and he plans on making the team “something bigger, something more” so that they can handle “threats larger and different than anything they’ve faced before.” This arc will also include the back story of Iron Man and Captain America’s contingency plan for the events that transpire in issue one.

Speaking of bigger, we knew that Hickman had plans to expand the roster of the main team, but we had no idea exactly how big. Here’s what the writer had to say about just how cramped the Avengers Mansion is going to be:

“One of the first things we all agreed on is that the roster should look more like the world. So far we’ve seen the biggest and most iconic characters, but as we reach issues #7 and #8, we’ll see more new characters and characters we’re reviving or recreating. Eventually there will be 24 characters. 12 will be either female or minority characters.”

I like the sound of that. Maybe we’ll even get a Filipino Avenger on the team! And if you need help conceiving one, Mr. Hickman, feel free to give me a call.

Next, with ‘New Avengers’, it was revealed that we haven’t seen the last of the Illuminati. Consisting of Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Namor, Mr. Fantastic and Beast, this team comes together to help Black Panther with an “earth-shattering” crisis in Wakanda so dire that the only man who condemned the original Illuminati is left with no other choice than to call on them.

Though the two books appear to be dealing with their own sets of problems, and one wouldn’t have to read both, Hickman says that these books will work in tandem and act as “two sides of the same coin”. To further expand on this, he says:

“Avengers is the day book and New Avengers is night. Avengers is how we want the world to be, New Avengers is how it is. One book is about life, one is about death. The logos reflect all this.”

Finally, regarding who will lead the teams, Captain America will lead the Avengers with Captain Marvel and Iron acting as “vice-captains” whenever they split up the team for different missions. On the flipside in ‘New Avengers’, “all think they’re in charge and none of them are.”

I don’t think I can properly express how okay I am with all of this. I’m very excited for the new Avengers books coming out of Marvel NOW. What do you think about what Jonathan Hickman has planned for Marvel’s flagship team? Share your thoughts below right after you check out the first two covers of ‘New Avengers’ and the fourth cover of ‘The Avengers’.