WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Heroes Reborn: American Knights #1 by Paul Grist, Chris Allen, Marc Deering, Guru-eFX, and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
Heroes Reborn has seen every corner of the Marvel Universe reshaped by the erasure of the Avengers from its timeline. While plenty of iconic villains still exist to torment Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Squadron Supreme are now the ones who bear the mantle of the world's protectors. Things might seem better on the surface with these changes, but much like the entity orchestrating this reality they are much worse than they appear upon closer inspection. As Matt Murdock and Luke Cage have just discovered, it doesn't even take that much digging before the cracks in Mephisto's grand scheme become readily apparent.
Metro P.D. Detectives Misty Knight and Jessica Jones have been working to figure out just who is behind the mask of the Saint, Washington D.C.'s newest lethal vigilante. Along with Commissioner Luke Cage, the detectives have followed the trail of bodies back to the House of Mephisto, this reality's largest religious organization. The local branch is home to Cleric Matthew Murdock, a devout man who is close to the Saint's last surviving victim, Lonnie Lincoln, aka Tombstone. A follower of Mephisto himself, Tombstone is even visited by Matthew in the hospital, although the visit is not a friendly one.
As soon as Jessica and Misty see the body, they know that Murdock is their man, and it doesn't take long after that for Luke Cage to catch up with him. At the House of Mephisto, Murdock assaults Cage, but the fight ends as soon as Luke refers to him as Saint. Matthew tells him that the "S" on his costume stands for Serpent, the form which Mephisto is said to have taken when he visited the world. The battle gives way to a discussion about just why Matthew has undertaken his violent crusade, and it all hinges on his faith, or rather the questions he has about it. As Matthew explains, he sees the same cruel people come to him for forgiveness right before they go out into the world to commit more evil. Not only that, but the prospect that all of them are reflections of Mephisto leaves Matthew wondering whether or not their creator is as benevolent as they have been led to believe.
While people such as Norman Osborn have come to find the world of Heroes Reborn to be their new favorite reality, the changes in this new world have caused far more pain to those less prone to acts of evil. Deadpool and Scarlet Witch may have been turned into maniacs, but even they recognize that things are not as they should be. In the case of Matt Murdock, the designer of this horrid reality might have tried to turn him into a villain, but at his core Matthew is still Daredevil, a true hero. The seams holding Mephisto's vision of the Marvel Universe together are already starting to come apart, a fact that more and more people are starting to realize.
When it comes to those that Mephisto cannot fully corrupt such as Matt Murdock, they could very well be the ones to spell out his eventual downfall. While the Squadron Supreme will certainly be willing to fight for their new home when the time comes, the remaining Avengers are already in the shadows, making moves to set things right in the world.
The prospect of other heroes or even villains realizing that something is wrong with the world might be precisely what the Avengers need to help restore the world. With everyone recruited to their side of the fight, their odds of winning their impending fight against the ruthless protectors of this new world improve little by little.