Writer Ed Brubaker and artist Mike Deodato were announced as the creative team for the Secret Avengers title.
As of the first issue, the roster includes Beast, War Machine, Valkyrie, Moon Knight, Nova, Black Widow, Sharon Carter and Ant-Man and the team is led by Captain Steve Rogers.
[2] In regards to the tone of the new title, Brubaker has said: Secret Avengers is definitely going to have a lot of the espionage plots and the Steranko influence, and the crazy Kirby technology, but I don't think there's going to be much soap opera.
[4]After Brubaker left the title, author Nick Spencer wrote the first Secret Avengers "Point One" issue (#12.1) and three Fear Itself tie-in one-shots.
Secret Avengers was then written by Warren Ellis from issues #16-21 and scribe Rick Remender picked up at #21.1 with former Hulk artist, Gabriel Hardman.
After the events of "Dark Reign" and Siege, Norman Osborn was deposed as America's "top cop" and his organization H.A.M.M.E.R.
In response to his hand in reforming the original Avengers and staving off the Siege of Asgard, The President appointed former Captain America Steve Rogers as America's new foremost law enforcement agent, as well as dissolving the Superhuman Registration Act at Rogers' request.
The opening issues show the team being proactive about known threats and cleaning them up, black ops style.
They are in direct opposition to a group called the "Shadow Council" seemingly led by Nick Fury.
After some research the group finds a link to the Roxxon Corporation, which leads to investigations of a mining site on Mars.
The Secret Avengers later have to deal with the fact that someone resembling Nick Fury is shown to be working for the Shadow Council.
[9] Some other operatives in the "Shadow Council" are an immortal named Aloysius Thorndrake and former Golden Age hero John Steele.
Shang-Chi offers himself as bait in order to capture his immortal father, Zheng Zu, who needs the blood of a relative to stay alive.
[13] In issue 14 we get Valkyrie's origin story, about how she defended her love during a battle and Odin made her an immortal.
[14] The Secret Avengers then track the Shadow Council to an underground city,[15] to Serbia to stop a soul-stealing truck,[16] to a multiverse,[17] a fictional Eastern European arms dealer who has demonic super-soldier serum,[18] and an alien hybrid breeding lab[19] During one battle the team gets killed, but Black Widow is able to teleport back in time.
The Secret Avengers discover them during a mission run by Captain America, who is testing Hawkeye's leadership skills before making him the new team leader.
[21] Giant-Man, Captain Britain, and the original Human Torch join the Secret Avengers with investigating a new threat called the Descendants, an army of synthezoids.
[22] During the battle it seems that Ant-Man is killed and Torch is severely damaged, but Agent Venom rescues the team.
Black Widow suspects that Ant-Man is a LMD, since he wasn't affected by The Abyss, but her suspicions are dismissed by Hawkeye due to Grady's heroic actions, causing her to quit in protest.
After Hawkeye is left to be rescued by Black Widow, Nick Fury Jr. sets a trap for the Al-Qaeda member who was going to perform the attack, by waiting him in the Oval Office to kill him.
[28] In the second mission, the Secret Avengers raid Bagalia and fight through the Masters of Evil, in order to free Taskmaster, who is going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
's new High Council (consisting of Andrew Forson, Graviton, Jude the Entropic Man, Mentallo, Superia, and Yelena Belova).
[29] When Daisy Johnson and Nick Fury Jr. were attending the weapons expo, they meet up with Senator Robert Ralston.
[30] Director Daisy Johnson gave Nick Fury, Hawkeye, and Black Widow the Protocol D which is the assassination of the A.I.M.
[35] In the All-New Marvel NOW!, a new Secret Avengers team was assembled consisting of Nick Fury Jr., Black Widow, Phil Coulson, and Spider-Woman.
The Secret Avengers serve as inspiration for films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU):