The following contains major spoilers for Avengers #57, available now from Marvel.
The past few months have seen Earth's Mightiest Heroes face some of their biggest challenges yet. On top of the threat posed by the Multiversal Masters of Evil, the machinations of Mephisto and his Council of Red have pushed the heroes to the far corners of time in the hopes of finding answers. Luckily, they've just uncovered one in the form of the Sgt. Szardos, aka the Soldier Supreme of World War II. Not only that, but he has just shown them a brand-new way to deal with a very old evil.
Avengers #57 (by Jason Aaron, Javier Garron, David Curiel, and VC's Cory Petit) finds Sgt. Szardos in the midst of one of his most important missions yet. While chasing the threat of Hitler's supernatural forces, the Soldier Supreme of this world is also being hunted. Before long, his unit is shipwrecked and possessed by Mephisto, who jumps from body to body until there are none left standing but Szardos. After interring the dead, Szardos reached out to the Ancient One for guidance on how to defeat his new nemesis. As it turned out, the answer to that question lie in an old-fashioned exorcism.
With a little help from two unseen guardian angels, aka the Avengers, Sgt. Szardos was able to take to the skies and lay his hands upon the aircraft Mephisto has possessed. Szardos used this and the demon's true name, to drive this Mephisto from his world. Their high stakes dogfight didn't just serve to highlight how powerful and fearless the Soldier Supreme truly is. It also showed how different of a threat this version of Mephisto is as well.
Rather than the near unstoppable force that the Mephisto fans know best, the one Sgt. Szardos takes on is much less capable. Despite the Ancient One's promise that Mephisto is an archfiend of unparalleled ability, the confrontation between him and the Soldier Supreme made it clear that his powers only extend so far. Even after sowing so much death in such a short time, Mephisto's fall comes in what seems like the blink of an eye. If Szardos had known how to dispel him from the start, all of those lives might have never been lost. Although now that he does understand, there is no telling how many he will save in the days to come.
Even if the primary Mephisto still proves to be more powerful than any exorcism can handle, his Multiversal counterparts likely don't share that strength. Considering how many members the Council of Red have already been defeated by a single Avenger, it's hard to imagine plenty more won't suffer the same fate. Mephisto's variants simply cannot compete as they are now. Now as History's Mightiest Heroes continue to grow in number after every victory they amass, it's beginning to look like the fight for the future of the Multiverse is already over.
Of course, there are plenty more Mephistos to go, and most importantly of all the primary variant of the devil that has masterminded the events leading up to now. Mephisto's alternate selves might be weaker than their enemies, but that is a fact that Mephisto is almost certainly aware of, if not playing into directly. Assuming he knows where the others have been and the defeats they have been dealt, Mephisto could very well be putting all of that knowledge to use. With any luck, they'll have a way to stop him before that day comes, even if it does take more than an exorcism.