This post contains SPOILERS for A.X.E: Judgment Day #3
As seen in the latest issue of Marvel Comics' Judgment Day crossover, Captain America is teasing the return of his Avengers/X-Men hybrid team (which may include Eternals too). In the aftermath of 2012's Avengers vs X-Men event where the two teams went to war over the powerful Phoenix Force, Captain America created a Unity Squad featuring both human and mutant heroes to promote stronger relations between the species. Now, a similar team has been formed in this new crossover which may dictate the future of the Marvel Universe (should the team make an official comeback).
At the beginning of Judgment Day, the Eternals chose to go to war with the X-Men under the leadership of the new Prime Eternal Druig. Discovering that the X-Men's mutant DNA has a lot in common with the Deviants, the Eternals see the formation of Krakoa, the mutants' expansion to Mars, and their resurrection protocols as examples of "excess Deviation" that must be corrected. As such, the Avengers, X-Men, and a group of Eternal defectors came together to try and end the war. Reviving the Progenitor Celestial who was serving as the Avengers' base of operations, the hope was that the Progenitor would be able to order the Eternals to stop fighting. However, the plan massively backfired when the Progenitor declared to the world that it would be judging the people of Earth both individually and collectively, promising to destroy the planet should the majority be deemed failures.
Choosing to judge Steve Rogers first in the new Judgment Day #3 from writer Kieron Gillen and artist Valerio Schiti, Captain America is deemed a failure due to the state of America itself, the country whose people and values he's sworn to protect and uphold. Understanding that their odds of a positive are slim, Rogers orders a coalition of Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals to start working on a solution while he speaks to the world, reassuring the planet that a "Unity Team" has been put in place to hopefully save the day from its imminent judgment (not unlike the team he assembled in Uncanny Avengers).
Interestingly enough, the concept of a more official Unity Squad once Judgment Day ends might have already been teased. As seen in the recent Immortal X-Men #3 (also written by Gillen), the powers of the precognitive mutant Destiny showed her a mass of potential futures and nexus events for the X-Men, one of which simply carried the word "Unity". Considering the weight Marvel has put behind that particular word in the context of Avengers and X-Men coming together (and now Eternals), perhaps the future will indeed feature a more permanent A.X.E team going forward.
While the first Unity Squad disbanded after the events of Civil War II, it looks as though Captain America's belief in the team and what it represented still stands. Now more than ever in the Marvel Universe, reviving a united team of Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals for the long term could do wonders to foster unity itself for all three races who call Earth home. Judgement Day #3 is on sale now.
