Could the cast of Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers be an incarnation of Marvel’s The Illuminati? At least Skottie Young’s variant for the issue would imply this being that Black Bolt, Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic were all member of the group. And if you’re unfamiliar with the group:
The “Illuminati” was a secret organization comprised of several of the world’s most powerful heroes: Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange; Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans; Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men and mutant rights activist; Reed Richards, founding member of the Fantastic Four; Namor the Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis; and Iron Man (Anthony Stark), founding member of the Avengers. These six men worked together for an unspecified amount of time to mold and shape the status of the superhuman world and the world around it.
Minus Black Panther each member on this cover was a member of this group. Could they be re-uniting after the events of AvX? I guess only time will tell but this is definitely an interesting line-up to put together for an Avengers title.
Source: Newsarama