Warning: Contains spoilers for Avengers #21!!

As Marvel's two largest superhero teams, the Avengers have a storied history with one another. Though the relationship is often fraught with conflict, and they've been at odds with each other plenty of times, Cyclops and Captain Marvel are finally leading their teams toward true unification. They're both gearing up to face Earth-shattering conflicts, but this time they won't be facing it alone.

In Avengers #21 – written by Jed MacKay, art by Valerio Schiti – Cyclops and Captain Marvel get their teams together for a game of good old-fashioned baseball. The game serves to bring many of the world's most powerful superheroes together in comradery rather than conflict.

As the Avengers prepare to handle Sorcerer Supreme Doom, and the X-Men stare down the barrel of the debilitating R-LDS plague and become government targets, Scott and Carol agree to unite their teams in spirit though not literally.

Marvel's Top Superhero Teams The X-Men & Avengers Renew The Bonds Of Their Alliance

Avengers #21 – Written By Jed MacKay; Art By Valerio Schiti; Color By Federico Blee; Lettering By Cory Petit

Neither the Avengers nor the X-Men are ever without challenges, but both teams often face their greatest foes alone. Their solitude and power make them far more alike than different, as Carol rightfully points out in Avengers #21. Both teams have huge trials on the horizon, further cementing that their paths are so similar, they're best served walking them together. Moreover, the issues they face now are not isolated – they'll bleed out into the rest of the world eventually. Handling things alone spawned bitterness in the past, but together they have incalculable power and resources to make lasting differences.

The specific threats they face are no longer exclusive to their respective teams. With Doctor Doom as the acting Sorcerer Supreme, his sights are not merely set on the Avengers, and Carol and her team hold information about potential futures that would reshape the entire world. Moreover, if mutants are forced to contend with the R-LDS (Resurrection-Linked Degenerative Sickness) alone, the planet faces a potential outbreak of out-of-control mutant abilities. Any extreme measures they're forced to take to deal with the current government backlash and Greymalkin Prison could easily spill out beyond the boundaries of their team, as well.

Marvel's Mutants Feel They Can't Always Count On Earth's Mightiest Heroes To Protect Them

The X-Men & Avengers Have A Complicated History

While Cyclops and Captain Marvel reaching the level of stability and openness needed to create a solid alliance is encouraging, it has been a long road. Both teams have a vested interest in saving the world, but they've sometimes been each other's fiercest opponents. Avengers vs. X-Men is an obvious example of their dicey history, as they went to all-out war with each other after Iron Man's mistake led Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Colossus, and Namor to absorb pieces of the Phoenix Force to reshape the world. Yet, while AvX was their primary conflict, it wasn't the only one.

In the decades since the X-Men's creation, they've lived through seemingly endless tragedy, and have faced many of them alone. The Avengers offered little following the Genoshan Massacre, and in the wake of M-Day and a violent attack by the Purifiers, Carol Danvers (then Ms. Marvel) pushed the Registration Act rather than giving the X-Men the aid they desperately needed. As Cyclops and his team grew more radical in the wake of atrocities, the Avengers pushed back against them. Likewise, the creation of Krakoa and mutantkind terraforming Mars set them further apart from the Avengers, straining relations between the teams.

The Avengers And X-Men Are Connected In Too Many Ways To Be Ay Odds With One Another

Many Of Earth's Mightiest Heroes ARE Mutants

Despite repeated conflicts, many important bonds already exist between of both teams. Though she isn't a mutant, Captain Marvel served with the X-Men personally, especially following the loss of her powers to Rogue. Her personal history with the team is strong, and it's a bond neither she nor Cyclops have forgotten in the intervening years. Additionally, Magneto and his adoptive daughter, Scarlet Witch, have repaired their relationship and are, in some ways, more bonded than ever. Beast's return has allowed him to rekindle an old friendship with Tony Stark, too. Teams aside, many have personal reasons for unification.

Storm currently serves as the mutant voice for the Avengers, combining her love for both teams and their causes. Her recruitment itself was a demonstration of the Avengers' commitment to mutants.

There's been a great deal of crossover among the Avengers and X-Men, as well. Storm currently serves as the mutant voice for the Avengers, combining her love for both teams and their causes. Her recruitment itself was a demonstration of the Avengers' commitment to mutants. She's hardly the first to cross aisles, as Beast, Wolverine, Rogue, and others have called themselves Avengers at some point. In the wake of Orchis' attack on Krakoa, Captain America even assembled his "Unity Squad" to aid mutants in avenging the devastation caused at the Hellfire Gala, and Monet, Rogue, and Psylocke all served alongside Steve Rogers.

Captain Marvel And Cyclops Agree On One Thing – The X-Men And Avengers Need To Trust One Another

Working Together Makes Both Teams Better

While Cyclops appears more hesitant than Captain Marvel to agree outright to an alliance, both leaders know they can't weather the storms ahead alone. Their teams continue to keep certain things private, but agreeing to have each other's back in a direct agreement is a huge step. Trust is hard to come by, especially for mutants, but that is what both Carol and Scott offer to one another. They're not merely offering aid or moral , but a way forward at each other's side. It isn't the X-Men or Avengers, but the X-Men and Avengers, at last working in tandem.

The X-Men and Avengers are stronger together, and Cyclops and Captain Marvel are finally establishing the alliance they've always deserved.

By committing to this level of unity, Cyclops and Captain Marvel better both of their teams simultaneously. The X-Men have been caught in a bleak, depressing cycle, furthered by the fall of Krakoa, and mutants cannot continue to pick themselves up only to be knocked down again. Moreover, the Avengers don't have to hold the world's future in their hands or be responsible for saving it alone. These powerful heroes have unlimited potential and can redefine how superhero teams work. The X-Men and Avengers are stronger together, and Cyclops and Captain Marvel are finally establishing the alliance they've always deserved.

Avengers #21 is available now from Marvel Comics.