WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Dark Ages #2, on sale now.
Dark Ages #2 shows off a grizzled Captain America who's more than willing to slice a vampire apart.
Steve Rogers makes an appearance halfway through Dark Ages #2 by om Taylor, Iban Coello, Brian Reber and VC's Joe Sabino, meeting up with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in the pair's cave laboratory. Clad in a hooded poncho and sporting a beard, this version of America's finest super soldier wears a tactical outfit with plenty of pouches and straps, bearing a passing resemblance to actor Chris Evans' portrayal in Avengers: Infinity War.
The Dark Ages version of Captain America, however, differs from other interpretations by immediately dispatching a vampire with his shield, cutting its head clean off. In a casual conversation with Tony and Pepper, Cap says that he's spent time in Europe, which is "still ruled by an iron fist," and leads Iron Man outside for a personal one-on-one discussion. At the last moment, Cap reveals that he is allied with Apocalypse and ambushes Tony with a shield strike to the face, before revealing that he is actually not Steve Rogers at all -- but rather the shapeshifting mutant Mystique.
Dark Ages #2 continues the post-apocalyptic story of Issue #1, seven years after an electromagnetic pulse wiped out all electricity on Earth. The first issue saw Marvel's heroes teaming up to fight the Unmaker, a sentient machine trapped underground that violently attempted to free itself. After vaporizing the likes of Scarlet Witch and the Thing, the Unmaker was finally stopped by Doctor Strange, who opened a portal to a realm without electricity in his dying moments. The portal stayed open after Strange's death, knocking out lights across the globe and disrupting most technology, including Iron Man's suit, which sputtered out of commission in an accident that left Tony without a leg.
Thanks to the darkness pervading the globe in the aftermath of the electromagnetic pulse, vampires and werewolves have risen to haunt the wilds. Meanwhile, humanity has slowly soldiered onwards and banded together in walled cities, each connected to the other via powerful telepaths like the X-Men's Charles Xavier.
The real Captain America was last spotted in Dark Ages #1 alongside Wolverine and Honey Badger, assisting civilians who were trapped in the destruction caused by Unmaker's fury. There is currently no indication as to the true Steve Rogers' whereabouts in the unpredictable new future of Dark Ages, which is classified as occurring on Earth-TRN891.
Dark Ages #2 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
DARK AGES #2 (OF 6)
- TOM TAYLOR (W) • IBAN COELLO (A/C)
- VARIANT COVER BY MEGHAN HETRICK
- VARIANT COVER BY BRYAN HITCH
- VARIANT COVER BY RYAN STEGMAN
- It has been years since the age of technology ended in a single moment, like a switch had been flicked to off for an entire planet. Now Earth’s heroes attempt to bring humanity together in the darkness. X-Men and Avengers, vigilantes and villains all work together to create something better. But something darker than the night is descending on the world. Our postapocalyptic world is about to face Apocalypse.
- 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Source: Marvel