It seems like only yesterday that Billy Kaplan, the Scarlet Witch’s reality warping/magic wielding son and former member of the Young Avengers, was worrying himself sick over the idea that his longtime boyfriend, the Kree/Skrull hybrid Teddy Altman, was actually a subconscious manifestation of his vast powers and not an actual person.
Things have changed quite a bit for Billy and Teddy since then as the pair have become entangled in multiple fights to save the universe from existential threats, all the while falling deeper in love with one another. In their most recent appearances in Marvel’s ongoing Empyre event, Teddy’s been off fulfilling his destiny as king to play a role in the Kree and Skrull’s ongoing intergalactic skirmishes, as Billy’s been on Earth dealing with an invasion of plant people.
Because Empyre very much seems to be Marvel’s attempt at boosting Teddy’s profile within its comics, it stood to reason that the event might end with him coming out on the other side of things with his sense of heroism renewed as the universe returns to normal ” and the publisher’s latest solicitation points to that very much being the case.
Today Marvel announced that Empyre‘s set to be followed up with a new series called Empyre: Avengers Aftermath from writer Al Ewing and artist Valerio Schiti that, as the name implies, delves into what happens when all of the dust settles and everyone has a chance to return to their normal lives. The cover art for the first issue pictures Teddy and Billy embracing one another as a gaggle of noted Avengers look on, and the issue’s solicit text makes clear that everyone’s coming together to celebrate the couple’s recent marriage.
This week’s Empyre #4, by Ewing, Schiti, and Marte Gracia, ends with something of a twist when it’s revealed that Billy and Teddy were actually married in secret before the major events of Empyre called the latter into space, suggesting that Avengers Aftermath could truly be focused on the world’s heroes moving on with their lives after their latest war. Alternatively, though, it could very well be the beginning of yet another arc in which two superheroes get all their friends together to celebrate their love before their relationship takes a melodramatic turn that puts even more strain on their dynamic. Y’now. Like comics do.
Empyre: Avengers Aftermath is set to begin in September.
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