WHAAAA?

For those of you following the current goings ons in the Marvel Universe, you know the whole place is undergoing a major overhaul. As the "Dark Reign" storyline comes to a close, taking along with it the oppressive regime of supervillain Norman Osborn, a new status quo is going to take hold. This new epic,the "Heroic Age", is going to be a period where heroes are heroes, villains are villains, and puppies are cuter than they've ever been. At least that's what I've gleaned from spoilers online.

Well, with the buzz surrounding the "Heroic Age", Marvel has been announcing the new line-ups for old teams. This includes shaking up the Avengers books, which have existed in pretty standard forms for about 3 years, since the end of the Secret Invasion storyline. As Marvel has been announcing the members for the new book "Secret Avengers", not too many shocking names have come up. This week Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Luke Cage's wife Jessica Jones were announced.



But the kicker was today's reveal: Benjamin Grimm, a.k.a the Thing, will be an Avenger!

What this means for Ben's position on the Fantastic Four remains to be seen. But this is another case of the regular Marvel Universe taking cues from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, in which Ben Grimm is also a member of the Avengers. I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude, despite the fact that Ben just plain belongs on the FF at all times.