The Watcher continues his tale of a
fascist America ruled over by Steve Rogers, the former
Captain America, and his cadre of Super-Soldiers....
Government hit squad leader Frank
Castle, wearing the gray and silver armor designed by Tony Stark,
overcomes Namor the Sub-Mariner in the Arctic. The squad imprisons
Namor aboard their ship and also recovers the body Namor found frozen
in ice. They recognize it as Captain America, confusing them since
“Cap” is President of the United States. Cap thaws out and proves
his identity by subduing the hit squad (Castle, Clint Barton, Jasper
Sitwell); the last thing he remembers is the sinking of the Queen
Mary in 1942 which killed all the other Super-Soldiers. Cap frees
Namor who brings Cap up-to-date on the world situation. Cap locks up
Sitwell and Barton; Castle, who was inspired by Cap decides to throw
in his lot with the good guys—and to prove his sincerity he kills
Barton and Sitwell, shocking Cap. Cap persuades them to team up to
overthrow the fascist America and they, Cap, a bearded Namor, and
Castle as Iron Man, form the Avengers....
They consult the list of superhumans
marked for elimination by the government for possible allies and head
to British Columbia (the 57th American state). Cap meets a
veteran named Logan who transforms into the Wendigo to fight them; it
takes some time to convince him of the situation but he joins up and
calls himself...the Hulk....
They head to New Jersey, to the lab of
Dr Hank Pym and find Pym and his wife Anna dead, victims of a hit
squad. They catch a burglar, Samuel “Snap” Wilson, and once they
see his resolution to overthrow the government, they give him Pym's
tech and Sam Wilson joins the team as Giant-Man....
In Westchester, they find the Magnus
Academy a scene of carnage, the students all dead and their leader
Magneto, unwilling to listen to them, vows revenge against the human
world....
The Avengers take advantage of Castle's
security clearance to infiltrate the SHIELD Helicarrier. There they
discover a captive Thor imprisoned by the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak
(stolen from the murdered Dr Strange); they attack and free the
Thunder God and battle the SHIELD Super-Soldiers. Cap realizes that
they are not fighting as a team and are bound to be defeated. Cap
enters the Serum vault where he finds Dr Erskine, kept alive by his
own Serum while being kept in the dark about what is going on. Cap
takes Erskine to a communications center where he shows him the world
created by the Super-Serum. President Rogers appears and reveals
himself to be the Red Skull, his mind transferred into a body cloned
from Captain America's who faked his rescue from the Queen Mary.
The Skull tries to shoot Cap but Erskine jumps in the way saving the
hero who throws the villain into a power grid, electrocuting him. Cap
then rejoins the team and calls “Avengers Assemble” for the first
and last time. Their sacrifice ends the nation's tyranny and America
is free once again....