King in Black Hints Marvel's Newest Team Are A Suicide Squad
Marvel's newest team have been suspicious since their first issue, but a new preview hints at the Union's dark origins as a secret Suicide Squad.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Union #2!
Marvel's new team the Union just keep getting darker. As the freshly formed British team struggle on without Britannia - the woman who was supposed to be their leader but was cut down in the opening salvo of Knull's King in Black attack - a preview of their next issue seems to suggest the team are Marvel's secret Suicide Squad.
Though very little is still known about the team, there have been many cues that something truly dark is going on behind the scenes. In their first issue, Snakes, Choir, and Kelpie were treated more as prisoners than heroes, and a variant cover by series writer Paul Grist had the team's Welsh member admit she was once a villain, and its Scots member identify herself as an actual water demon who was surprisingly quick to attack her handlers when provoked.
In a preview of The Union #2 from Marvel Comics, the group's adventure continues where it left off, with their inspiring leader dead on the ground and Union Jack stepping up to try and keep them alive. However, as newscasters report on Britannia's demise, they reveal that the team was intended to protect Great Britain and Northern Ireland as they withdraw from S.H.E.D., the Super Hero European Directive. It's a clear reference to the ongoing complexities of Britain cutting ties with the European Union, but one that implies a new sense of darkness behind the Union's origins. Enjoy the preview pages below:
As the team shows an immediate preference for violence, and aggression towards the soldiers who were contending against them in the war games of issue 1, it seems that Paul Grist and artist Andrea Di Vito are implying that these characters are former super-villains and monsters being pressed into service in order to give Britain a quick and easy replacement for the protection offered by their membership in the EU.
This would finally explain why Britain would choose to be represented on an international level by such shady characters, and why the team seem to be a carefully curated government project rather than the team having formed naturally, as is normal for Marvel comics. So far, the comic has offered plenty of subtle jabs at British politics, and it seems that even the Union itself - a shoddy collection of dangerous individuals being wheeled out as an elite unit in order to score political points - is the biggest jab of all.
The British government has faced plenty of ridicule as it has struggled to secure trade agreements and replace EU regulations in the wake of the Brexit vote, and it seems that in the Marvel universe, that extends to super-powered protectors, with the Union being the best available choice now that S.H.E.D. will no longer protect Britain from threats like the King in Black. Sadly, Knull's attack seems to have come at the wrong time, leaving Britain in the hands of heroes who are darker than they appear and have very little experience working together. Fans of the team will have to check out The Union #2 on February 13 to see if they can actually pull together or whether they're as expendable as any other Suicide Squad.