Secret Empire Exposed: Occupy Avengers

Each week, we use our super sleuth skills to dig into the histories of the characters fighting on both sides of Secret Empire!

In the wake of killing Bruce Banner during CIVIL WAR II, Hawkeye took to the streets in an effort to help normal people. Along the way he put together a crew of like-minded individuals like Red Wolf, Nightshade, Nighthawk, Wheels, and the Fireheart Cousins. As Clint Barton ran off to help out with the Underground, the other heroes continued their efforts in the pages of this week’s OCCUPY AVENGERS #8 by David F. Walker, Martín Morazzo, and Jorge Coelho. Instead of fighting super villains, they focused on keeping people safe from Hydra goons and getting supplies to those in need.

After stopping a Hydra convoy, the new Nighthawk tried rallying people around the idea of focusing their efforts on fully destroying the evil empire, not just knocking out agents here and there. “They’ve left all of you,” she said to a group of survivors in a rural area. “Why? Because they think you’re not worth locking up or killing. I say they’re wrong. You are a threat.”

The action cut away to show the after effects of a brief broom closet hook up between Hawkeye and Black Widow, but then saw Clint talking to his squad about their upcoming plans. To destroy Hydra, they need to continue building the civilian army, hit even more food outposts, and make their way into another of Nick Fury’s secret bunkers. Of course, an organization as big and powerful as Hydra will have more than a few things to say about their plans, but we’ll have to keep reading to find out how it all plays out.

The Empire Strikes Back

Nighthawk and Nightshade started working together in the former’s 2016 eponymous series. The alternate dimension version of the hero—also known as Kyle Richmond—decided to keep the streets of Chicago safe. Once there, he started working with the former super villain Nightshade, now simply going by Tilda Johnson. The two eventually made their way into OCCUPY AVENGERS, but as Tilda recounted in this issue, “He died out of costume—gunned down by Hydra, not for being Nighthawk, but for simply being a black man.” Now she wears his costume as a way to honor the man who saved her life and plans on stomping out the people who killed him no matter the cost.