The New Avengers, Vol. 1: Killuminati

The New Avengers (2025) #1

by Sam Humphries, Ton Lima (Artist), Rain Beredo (Colourist)

Nothing could make these volatile individuals a team - but Bucky Barnes and the Black Widow are going to give it a shot. Because demented duplicates of the Illuminati are threatening the world - and if they figure out how to work together, they'll be as unstoppable as the originals. Bucky and Natasha need allies who will do anything to take out the deadly doppelgangers of the Killuminati - but wrangling a team of murderers, monsters and warlords presents its own dangers. Welcome to the New Avengers - hope you survive the experience!

Collecting NEW AVENGERS (2025) #1-5.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels

Kindle Edition

Published March 11, 2026

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got to say I loved this book. I like the unstable team of bad@$$s kicking butt and taking out tge bad guys. When they are not beating, mocking or taunting each other. They don't get along, mist of them don't even like each other, but if they don't kill each other the might earn each others respect and save the world in the process.

The Winter Soldier and the Black Widow are together again. With most of the heroes are facing Doctor Doom. A new treat has emerged. Corrupted versions of Marvel's greatest minds the Illuminati. Where the Illuminati wanted the best of the world the Killuminati want to destroy it. A team of New Avengers that not only don't mind, but look forward to getting their hands dirty are the only hope. A team of killers to stop a team of killers.

This book really worked for me. I like the character development of the characters earning each others respect. Lots of action with no punches pulled. However everyone has their secrets, who can you trust completely? The book finishes with a shock revelation then a huge variant cover gallery.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always expect ‘product integration’ to be a thing with Marvel and DC but the fact this title launched as Thunderbolts just to become New Avengers once the movie did the same thing just shows how little effort went in to this title. The idea is decent - Black Widow and Bucky form a team of some interesting characters, which we’ve seen before, but it really goes nowhere that interesting. Each issue has a different artist and the OTT nature of the villains doesn’t mesh with a team comprising of mostly ‘street level’ heroes. If it were more grounded and basic it could’ve been really good.

2/5

[PebbleInTheBrook1794 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The premise for New Avengers: Killuminati is both high-concept out of left field, and it's not completely to the benefit of the book, I feel. But, overall, Humphries' character work on Laura Kinney/ Wolverine (particularly), Namor, Eddie Brock as Carnage, Clea and Bucky and the Black Widow, is endearing.

The book's pemise is that the old Spider-man foe, the Jackal, has continued his cloning activities, and has cloned the Illuminati from samples of their DNA. So, that's clones of Reed Richards, Namor, Tony Stark, Xavier, T'Challa, Dr Strange, and Black Bolt, fully-formed and distorted, villainous copies of their namesakes. This is SO silly, and is a cheap throwaway premise with pseudo-stakes just for this series/arc, unfortunately.

I feel that the premise is not developed seriously by Humphries, ie. no real exploration of Nature vs Nurture for the bad clones, and they appear as adult(explain that?), bad distortions, for the morally grey and compromised set of heroes to overcome and kill. That's too tailor-made to this series. The clone idea isn't bad, it's just underdeveloped and throwaway.

So what I like more about Humphrie's series I
is how the team interacts (and the art, principally by Ton Lima, communicates this well, too). Particularly that's with Wolverine/Laura Kinney, and Humphries' version of her is one I want to read, and more than any other version of her by other writers of her I've encountered. Laura's interactions with Namor are memorable, and Namor is suitably written with arrogance that is ultimately broken down by Wolverine due to their being team mates (I love it!). Both Clea and Eddie Brock make interesting supporting characters in a new team environment. And Bucky, Natasha and the rest are adequate, but it's Laura in the context of this team that I truly like.

I should mention the narration, which changes with each issue, but is mostly from Bucky or Natasha's POV I think, but Laura is represented as well. It's not bad. I remain enthusiastic most for how Humphries writes Laura, and, at the least I'm now enthused to read Sam Humphries' Alias series. His solo Jessica Jones should be similiar personality-wise to a vulgar Wolverine, and it'll be good to see her shine there. Overall, there are good aspects to Humphries and Lima's New Avengers: Killuminati to be enjoyed.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veiled as Thunderbolts* and then altered at the last minute to New Avengers a la the the movie, this book follows on from Kelly and Lanzing's Bucky Barnes adventures by uniting him with a new team of misfits to track down evil clones of the Illuminati. Black Widow, Clea, Namor, Carnage, Laura Kinney Wolverine, and the Hulk all come together to punch familiar faces and quip their way through it.

This was surprisingly fun. I didn't have much in the way of expectation, but Humphries assembles an enjoyable team, even if they do bicker a little too much. The dialogue hits mostly, aside from Wolverine who I was almost convinced had been possessed at one point because she just felt so strangely out of character. He does respect where everyone's at in the Marvel Universe at the moment though, with Hulk's Hulkspace from Immortal/Incredible Hulk and Carnage's current status quo all coming into play. The villains are over the top and stupid, but I kinda liked that, and the final page cliffhanger did leave me scratching my head and curious as to what the resolution here was going to be, so that's a win too.

The artwork's...fine. Ton Lima and Tiago Palma's styles are similar enough that things look okay when they swap, but I wouldn't really say either of them have a style I could pick out of a line-up. Still, cutting your teeth on Avengers book is pretty good, I'd say.

If it looks like a Thunderbolts book and it smells like a Thunderbolts book, I'm gonna enjoy it, more than likely, and New Avengers does that decently enough.

[Luke]

I barely got through the first issue, and even then I was struggling. Humphries writing is rough, and I don't feel like he effectively embodies any of these characters, and the premise, while fun, feels nonsensical and uninteresting, as it's clear Humphries has very little connection to Marvel's Illuminati team.

[Ezgi Kantarcı Oğuz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This narrative does not work well with another existing team of Avengers, just failing to notice cities being leveled and thousands being killed. I get the idea of a darker team, but it is not pushed far enough. And the fun element of the team dynamics is mostly playground name-calling.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very fun team. The character voices and the dynamics are great. Unfortunately, I didn't find the mission that drove the action all that engaging. Still, I'd like to see more of them in perhaps a new arc with new adversaries.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one point, Bucky says the team and the mission is messy, and with a line-up like this, you'd expect the story to be as well. But it's actually quite fun, and I'm looking forward to reading the next volume.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 stars

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25
This book is a mess. Sloppy. Forced. Generic. Opened strong. I wanted to like it more than I do.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot going on

[alibraryofalana ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

not the tony stark clone saying "rise and grind"

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good graphic novel.

[Aloysius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should’ve named your team the New Defenders, Bucky! But yeah, great story going after corrupted clones of the Illuminati.

[Sam Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know if this was so bad it was good or if it was just plain bad, but I did laugh! The character writing for most characters was awful though. Bucky and Laura in particular were Not Great

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but just pretty generic for marvel.