Champions (2016)

Heroic Organization
Full Name	Champions (2016)
Alias	Champs
Origin	A group of young heroes who banded together after the second superhuman Civil War disillusioned by their elders such as the Avengers
Foundation	George Washington Bridge, New York City, New York
Headquarters	No information
Commanders	Ms. Marvel
Agents	Cyclops, Falcon, Hulk, Ironheart, Nova, Patriot, Red Locust, Spider-Man, Viv Vision
Special Abilities / Weapons	No information
Goals	No information
Type of Heroes	No information

“	We see it all around us more and more every day -- people with power punching down. Taking lives when they don't have to. Meeting unarmed perps, even unarmed kids, with lethal firepower. That's the world we're inheriting, where violence does all the talking. But we can be better than that. We have to start enforcing justice without unjust force. What happened here today was sickening. And stuff as bad -- worse -- happens every day in this world. The strong abuse the weak -- who have to worry more all the time about who they can trust and who they can't. You want that to change? Us, too. We're in a war for a better tomorrow. Join us. Help us to not take the easy road, and I promise we'll fight every fight they can throw at us. Help us win the hard way -- the right way -- not with hate, not with retribution, but with wisdom and hope. Help us become champions.	„
	~ Ms. Marvel

The Champions are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appears in Champions #1 (October 2016) and was created by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos.

History

The Champions originated from the departure of Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man and Nova from the Avengers, who had become disillusioned by the behavior of their elders, specially in regards to the second superhuman Civil War. The three young heroes desired to rectify the state of distrust by the people towards superheroes in general, and soon recruited other two teenagers with similar ideals, the new Hulk, and Viv, daughter of the Vision.

Their first joint mission consisted of saving a group of girls being trafficked by Pagliacci in nearby Maryland. Having succeeded and caught the attention of the bystanders, the young heroes revealed themselves to the public, with Ms. Marvel proclaiming their team's objective of fostering a better tomorrow through hope and wisdom rather than unjust force. Her speech became viral on the internet, and the team were soon dubbed the "Champions" in social media.[1] One of the people encouraged by Ms. Marvel's speech was the younger self of Cyclops, who was admitted into the Champion's ranks after requesting to join them.[2]

Publication history

In July 2016, Marvel announced the debut of the Champions, a team of teenage superheroes who became disillusioned with their predecessors and split off from the Avengers following the events of "Civil War II". The team, featured in a series by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos, initially consists of Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Nova (Sam Alexander), Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Viv Vision, and a teenage version of Cyclops.[1][2] Executive Editor Tom Brevoort stated that while these are the initial members, the roster is subject to change not unlike the Avengers. Brevoort also stated that the purpose of the team is to "reclaim and redefine in a classic sense what being a superhero should mean. Rather than seeing the previous generation as these icons that came before them, now they've interacted with them on a one-to-one basis and learned they aren't better or worse than anybody else."[3] Brevoort explained that the characters chose the name Champions to distance themselves from the Avengers and wanted something decidedly upbeat.[4] Brevoort also revealed that he had a list of several other names in case the trademark dispute with Heroic Publishing, who owned the name, fell through.[3]

Fictional team biography

In the aftermath of the Civil War II storyline, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), and Nova have left the Avengers and make plans to "put the world back together." After recruiting Hulk (Amadeus Cho), they head to Washington, DC to recruit someone on Cho's suggestion: Viv, the synthezoid daughter of the Vision. On Viv's suggestion, the team heads to Baltimore to stop Pagalicci from kidnapping underage girls for human trafficking. After freeing the girls and stopping Pagalicci, they form the Champions. [5]

During a camping trip, the team learns about each others powers and is visited by the teenage version of Cyclops, who at first appears as an enemy but manages to win the team over and joins them. They later head to Lasibad, Sharzad to help a group of women and girls that are being gunned down by terrorists. After rescuing a small group, they form a plan to drive the oppressors away. After their victory, the team argues over who should be the leader when their ship gets hit by a bazooka.[6] They survived the crash, and used Hulk and Cyclops to propel themselves forward because Viv saw land. Unfortunately, the 'land' they saw turned out to be an Atlantean ship and they were kidnapped. They broke free of their captors and escaped the ship and flew away. But somewhere else, the Champions also inspired another well-known, but troublesome hero: the Unbelievable Gwenpool.[7]

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