WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Avengers #32 by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Francesco Manna, Jason Keith and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.

The Avengers are no strangers to intergalactic threats. They have fought Skrulls, Kree, Thanos the Mad Titan, Galactus and his many Heralds. Earth's Mightiest Heroes also just got done with a cosmic mission that resulted in them bringing a human baby with the Starbrand back to Earth.

One of the most powerful cosmic entities in the Marvel Universe is the Phoenix Force. Of course, the fiery bird has primarily been attached to the X-Men and Jean Grey, though it has made its presence felt over the last several years in a multitude of Marvel storylines.

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Now, the Phoenix Force is back in a major way in Avengers #32 in a story entitled"Earth's Mightiest Villains." The story brings together many of the threads that have been spun throughout Jason Aaron's time as the writer of Avengers, with Mephisto playing puppet master to a group of enemies that have plagued the team.

One of these antagonists is Namor, the Sub-Mariner. He is the current King of Atlantis and leader of the Defenders of the Deep, who always finds himself at war with the surface world. Only this time, he is taking his newfound war against the surface world to the extreme with violent attacks against the Roxxon Corporation and the Avengers.

When a mysterious undersea bartender floats the idea of gaining new allies, instead of considering vampires and Russians, Namor turns to an old friend in the Phoenix Force.

Namor ends Avengers #32 by looking to the stars and beckoning the Phoenix Force to Earth. While the next issue of the series kicks off a new story arc involving the antihero Moon Knight and the Age of Khonshu, the Sub-Mariner reminisces about still being able to feel an ember of the Phoenix in the back of his brain, also mentioning that their time together was too brief.

Vowing to sacrifice every part of himself to reunite with the Phoenix once more, Namor makes the proposal that if the Phoenix helps him lay waste to the Avengers, then he will help it set the galaxies ablaze. Now, we're taking a closer look at how and when Namor and the Phoenix become so close and how that cosmic force has impacted some key Avengers in a major way.

The Phoenix Five

The Phoenix Five Consisting Of Namor, Magik, Cyclops, Emma Frost, And Colossus

In 2012, Avengers vs. X-Men pitted Marvel's premier teams against one another. It followed years of storylines where the mutant population dwindled after Scarlet Witch uttered "No More Mutants" and used her reality-warping powers to inadvertently wipe out mutantkind. The spark that ignited Avengers vs. X-Men saw the Phoenix Force return, with the X-Men believing its return as a positive sign for mutants, and the Avengers seeing the Phoenix as a global threat.

During Avengers vs. X-Men, the Phoenix Force was split between five members of the X-Men: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Magik and Colossus. Namor used his newly-gained cosmic powers to lay waste to Wakanda, making a mortal enemy out of the Black Panther.

The Asgard/Shi'ar War

The "Asgard/Shi'ar War" took place in Mighty Thor #15-19 and involved another war between two rival factions. While Jane Foster was the Thunder God, she was forced to compete in the Battle of the Gods with the Shi'ar gods K'ythri and Sharra.

The Phoenix eventually comes into play, along the X-Men's Quentin Quire, a potential host for the Phoenix who already wielded a sliver of its power. The Goddess of Thunder and an Unworthy Thor are forced to work together to stop the raging cosmic bird.

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Prehistoric Avengers

Avengers 10000 BC Marvel Legacy

Fans got to meet one of the very first hosts of the Phoenix in 2017's Marvel Legacy #1. The special one-shot introduced the Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C., a group of prehistoric versions of familiar heroes like the Ghost Rider, Iron Fist and Black Panther, along with Thor's father, Odin. Of course, among their ranks is a cavewoman possessed with the Phoenix Force.

As shocking as this is, it doesn't top the revelation that the cavewoman Phoenix was romantically linked to Odin. Avengers writer Jason Aaron has revealed details on each member of the prehistoric Avengers in special one-shots, though he has yet to peel back the curtain on the Phoenix. The team was last shown when Iron Man was transported into the distant past, where he crossed paths with Mephisto.

Wolverine Phoenix

Marvel Comics' Wolverine as the Phoenix

To finish off the surprising Phoenix hosts, Wolverine was even shown to control the cosmic entity. First, the Wolverine Phoenix appeared in the far-flung future storylines with King Thor, as the duo fought a powered up Doctor Doom. The villain was able to steal the majority of powers from the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC, only missing Black Panther, the Phoenix and Odin.

A much younger Wolverine-Phoenix appeared in the monumental Avengers #10, aka Avengers #700, although it was later revealed to not be the present-day Wolverine who came back from the dead. Instead, it was a Wolverine-Phoenix from an alternate timeline, who also teamed up with an alternate Loki that assembled the Infinity Stones in Wolverine: Infinity Watch.

Namor reunited with the Phoenix spells bad news for the Avengers. It could potentially be one of the biggest threats Earth's Mighties Heroes will ever face, though they do have a cosmic ace up their sleeve in the form of the Starbrand baby to counteract the Phoenix Force.

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