WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for West Coast Avengers #6!

The Avengers have undergone numerous iterations over the years, with coming and going as projects, commitments, and personal struggles pull them in different directions. However, Iron Man and War Machine's West Coast Avengers are a different beast. Their dedication to second chances and rehabilitation has exposed a darker side of the main Avengers team—one that Tony can’t help but call out.

...the Avengers have always provided a chance to learn and grow from past mistakes.

In preview images for West Coast Avengers #6, the primary Avengers squad arrives to confront Iron Man about accepting Ultron onto his West Coast team. The conversation quickly moves from civil to impending battle as Captain America demands that Ultron prove he's changed by allowing himself to be arrested.

This moment gives Tony the perfect opportunity to highlight the difference between their teams, noting that the Avengers have chosen “a carousel of never-ending nonsensical violence” over offering a real chance at rehabilitation and redemption. They’ve lost sight of some of the core values the Avengers once stood for, and Tony refuses to stand by and let it continue.

Iron Man Calls Out the Avengers for Choosing Endless Violence

West Coast Avengers #6 – Written by Gerry Duggan, Art by Ton Lima, Colors by Arthur Hesli, and Letters by Joe Caramagna

The Avengers have defended the world against many of Marvel's most daunting foes, protecting the planet, the galaxy, and the universe at large by working together to nullify the most powerful enemies. That doesn't make them perfect, though, and they've always had their faults, both as a team and as the individual composing it. In creating the West Coast Avengers, Iron Man and War Machine chose to embrace those faults and present the team as a path toward redemption for those searching for a new path, including the original Ultron, now absent of the qualities that made him a villain.

Redemption has historically been a quintessential value of the team, and one of the earliest versions of the Avengers (often called "Cap's Kooky Quartet") was built on that very principle. It gave Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch a chance to redeem themselves and leave their villainous pasts behind. The fact that Wanda, Vision, Captain Marvel, and others now so vehemently oppose the idea that people—even Ultron—can change shows just how out of touch they’ve become. Iron Man isn’t wrong to point out that they’re choosing violence over offering help, and that says more about them than it does about the West Coast Avengers.

The Avengers’ Greatest Strength Has Always Been Redemption

The Avengers Have Lost Sight of Their True Purpose

While the Avengers’ primary mission has always been to keep the world safe, the team also plays a crucial role in the lives of its heroes. Few , past or present, haven’t stumbled along the way yet still found their way back to the team. From deeply personal struggles like Tony and Carol’s battles with alcoholism to Scarlet Witch’s world-shattering destruction and eventual atonement, the Avengers have always provided a chance to learn and grow from past mistakes. To now blatantly deny that same path toward redemption for a former enemy only proves Iron Man’s point about the unceasing cycle of violence the Avengers continue to perpetuate.

West Coast Avengers #6 will be available April 2, 2025, from Marvel Comics!