Synopsis
This issue begins with cryptic hints which I shall report as well as I can. I'll go into a lot of detail because I don't know what's not important.
They say you should start with a bang, and this issue starts with a big one. The opening page grandiosely depicts the Big Bang and the evolution of the universe under the heading 'Previously in Avengers'. But it also points to something in the future called the 'Light'.
The title page then lists 6 Avengers:- Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man and Thor. It has a diagram with 6 symbols in a circle around the Avengers A-symbol, each one representing one of the above. I recognise/deduce them to be Widow's spider, Cap's shield, Iron Man's chest implant, Thor's hammer and a target for Hawkeye, which leaves the H for Hulk. (Or possibly the H is Hawkeye and the 'target' symbol is a stylised hydrogen atom for the atomic-origined Hulk?)
The attribution of symbols has extra relevance because 4 of them (not Black Widow and Hulk (or Hawkeye)) have strings of other (currently blank) symbols attached to them. And some of the blanks will be filled in by the end of the issue. Cap and IM have the largest symbols in the inner circle, and their trailing symbols mostly occupy the next layer out. This establishes 3 tiers in the inner circle. Black Widow and Hulk (or Hawkeye) are on the bottom layer, with no add-ons. Thor and Hawkeye (or Hulk) are in the middle. Their attached strings of symbols are in a 3rd concentric circle. But Cap and IM's satellites end in an extra, large symbol each, placed outside all the others in a 4th 'circle' (and neither of these 2 are revealed this issue).
The next 3 pages continue with captions narrated from a future post-Light perspective. The narrator ponders when it all began. Was it when Hyperion was rescued from a dying universe (by AIM it appears)? Was it when the Shi'ar Imperial Guard were 'broken on the dead moon'? Or was it when Ex Nihilo terraformed Mars? The narrator thinks it's none of the above. Before the Light (shown blinding Hawkeye and Thor), before the War (lots of spaceships), before the Fall (lots of Iron Men lying broken, at least one of them looking like Iron Man 2020) there were 2 men and an idea (Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and the Avengers organisation in this series).
Now at last we leave the narrator and enter the story.
Tony wakes Steve from a dream about the Illuminati. He reminds Steve of their conversation at the end of the last issue of the previous series. How threats were getting bigger, and how Steve suggested the Avengers get bigger in response.
One month later we get to the Mars bit of the preamble. 3 new characters, a new female Abyss, a mechanoid Aleph and their leader(?) who is called Ex Nihilo (but has an Omega symbol on his chest) have turned part of Mars green with vegetation. They have launched a (3rd) 'origin bomb' to Earth to transform the planet. Ex Nihilo is creating a new Adam to populate the result. But Aleph wants to destroy Earth instead. Abyss agrees - humans are too dangerous to be allowed to live, even as an improved successor.
They detect an approaching spacecraft containing the 6 Avengers, who destroy to missile. The Avengers are here in response to the previous 2 bombs, which have transformed Perth and Regina via accelerated evolution. They land near the green area, and Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk to lead the charge.
But Abyss encloses him in a dark globe. And Ex Nihilo invades Iron Man's armour with vegetation, shutting it down. Black Widow and Hawkeye assault the alien with venom blasts and arrows, but he downs them with his own blast like a dragon's fiery breath. Inside the dark cage Abyss convinces Hulk that Thor is his enemy, and then releases him so they can fight. Cap takes out Abyss and Ex Nihilo with his shield, but Aleph pummels him into unconsciousness.
They send Cap back to Earth in the Avengers' craft as a message. But he awakes just before the spaceship is about to crash in New York. He leaps from the plummeting craft and just about survives the fall.
He comes to again 3 days later in a hospital bed in Avengers Tower. (The other 5 Avengers are now captives of the aliens.) He remembers Tony suggesting that they recruit a backup army of Avengers with specific skills for specific situations, but keep them in the background. Steve operates a console with the layout of Avengers symbols on it, and some of the sleepers are awoken. (We see Hyperion in chains and 2 females who are probably the new Captain Universe and Smasher.)
Steve now dons his new Captain America uniform, with the hard helmet and chinstrap (a la the movies and his Ultimate incarnation). He is joined by the troops he called for. Along with the 3 from the last paragraph there are Cannonball, the current Captain Marvel, Eden Fesi, Falcon, Shang-Chi, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Sunspot and Wolverine.
The book ends with the Avengers symbol diagram again, with the 5 captive Avengers greyed out, and Cap and his new team lit up. There are also the words Wake The World, which may be next issue's title.
The whole of Cap and Iron Man's squads have been activated, except the big symbols at the end of the chains. If I decipher the symbols correctly, Cap's team is Falcon, Ms Marvel, Shang-Chi and Spider-Woman. Iron Man's is Cannonball, Spider-Man, Sunspot and Wolverine. Thor is represented by 3 of his 4:- Captain Universe, Hyperion and Smasher. Hawkeye (or Hulk) has only 1 of his 4:- Eden Fesi.