CBR has the exclusive debut of two covers for the upcoming Defenders: Beyond series, one of which sees Galactus' mother definitively state that she's become Marvel's next Phoenix.

Defenders: Beyond #3 comes from writer Al Ewing and artist Javier Rodríguez, with a variant cover by Ben Caldwell. Rodriguez's cover for the issue reveals Marvel's Phoenix Force has found a new home in Taaia, Galactus' mother who first appeared and starred in Ewing and Rodríguez's 2021 Defenders series. The synopsis for the issue reads, "Loki’s Defenders manage to escape the Second Cosmos and the Beyonder, but Taaia is grievously wounded in the process and none of Loki’s or Blue Marvel’s expertise seems to be helping. Enter – the Phoenix! But what is the price of a universal constant’s aid…?"

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While Taaia does take control of the Phoenix Force in Defenders: Beyond #3, it remains unclear whether she'll remain the cosmic entity's avatar once the miniseries concludes. In Jason Aaron and Javier Garrón's current Avengers run, Echo/Maya Lopez was chosen to become the next Phoenix after she fought Namor during the "Enter the Phoenix" storyline. Marvel has also teased that Thor may have a mysterious connection to the Phoenix Force that will be further explored in July's Avengers: 1,000,000 B.C.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Ewing said Taaia's character came from a place of "deep love." "I wanted a character from the Sixth Cosmos, original home of Galactus," he explained. "I wanted that character to draw from the magic of Galactus' co-creator, Jack Kirby. Javier obviously knocked the art side out of the park, and on my end, I wrote her with a loving pastiche of Kirby's wonderfully bombastic, operatic, and poetic writing style -- that beautiful "word jazz" that seemed both unique to its time and far ahead of our own."

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Other heroes who make up this version of the Defenders team include Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Tigra and Loki. Ewing also teased more appearances from well-known characters across the Marvel Universe. "One of the Silver Surfer's old foes makes trouble for his old non-team," he said. "A beloved ex-Defender makes a promised return. Very soon, you'll learn why I had to show one issue to the X-Office."

In the series, the Defenders have to face the Beyonder, an infamous cosmic-level antagonist best known for creating Battleworld, where he brought members of the Avengers, X-Men and a handful of villains, forcing them all to fight one another in Marvel's original Secret Wars in 1984 "We meet up with [Beyonder] early and get a closer look at the Beyonders and the Beyond than ever before!" Ewing said about the character's role in the new series. "What's their connection to the mysterious Omega Council and their Concordance Engines from previous Defenders runs? Why does a remnant of the Second Cosmos still exist today? What's the mysterious furnace that powers the engines of Beyond, and where does it lead? Why is the Beyonder so different from the Beyonders?"

Defenders: Beyond #3 releases later this year from Marvel. The series launches on July 20 with Defenders: Beyond #1.

Source: Marvel