One of the complaints voiced an awful lot in regards to contemporary superhero comics is "Why can't heroes just be heroes?". Between Civil War, Avengers vs. X-Men and Injustice Gods Among Us, often it seems as though Marvel and DC's heroes are too busy fighting one another to bother confronting the real evils of the world. It's a trend that's continued in the pages of Jonathan Hickman's Avengers comics and the recently concluded "Time Runs Out" storyline. As Marvel transitions into Secret Wars and whatever comes after that big crossover, the time has come to see a Marvel Universe where Earth's Mightiest Heroes live up to their mandate again. However, it's not the old guard like Cap and Iron Man who can redeem the Marvel Universe now. Instead, we need the All-New, All-Different Avengers to light the way.

They lived long enough to see themselves become the villains.

I think what Secret Wars will ultimately show is that the time of Iron Man, Captain America, and the old Avengers is done. These heroes, valiant as they are, couldn't live up to their own legacy when the chips were down. It's time for a newer generation of heroes to shoulder the burden and become the Avengers . And perhaps that what All-New, All-Different Avengers is at the end of the day. The team (which debuts in Marvel’s FCBD special this weekend) is comprised almost entirely of newer characters and younger heroes inheriting the mantle of older heroes - the new Thor, the Sam Wilson Captain America, Ms. Marvel, the Miles Morales Spider-Man, and so forth. It's not just about promoting diversity and change (although as IGN's Joshua Yehl argued before , both are important when it comes to keeping the Marvel U. relevant).The significance of the All-New, All-Different Avengers is not simply that they’re new, but that they deserve to be the Avengers. Thor alone embodies the changing tide of the Marvel U. The Odinson was deemed no longer worthy to wield Mjolnir and harness the power of Thor. This new heroine is worthy, already wielding Mjolnir in ways its former owner never dreamed. She's earned the right to be called Thor because of her valor and bravery. Sam Wilson has earned the right to be Captain America because of his empathy and his willingness to sacrifice his life in defense of others. Miles Morales has earned the right to be Spider-Man because he risked everything to carry on the mantle of Spider-Man in a world where Peter Parker died. And whomever the new Iron Man (or Iron Maiden) is, it's a safe bet they deserve to wear the armor more than Tony Stark right now.Why are these new Avengers so worthy where the old team isn’t? Beneath all the spectacle and plot twists and grand acts of betrayal, Hickman's Avengers comics have made a very simple, poignant argument for why Marvel's heroes have failed to live up to their responsibilities, and why the new generation needs to be better.Failure is at the heart of Hickman's Avengers saga. It's a very long, complicated exploration of the old truism "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." This run started out in 2012's The Avengers #1 with a singular idea - the Avengers Machine. In response to an ever-growing lineup of enemies and threats facing the world, Iron Man and Captain America agreed that the Avengers needed to get bigger. The idea of Earth's Mightiest Heroes needed to blossom. And it did. With the Infinity storyline, we saw just how powerful and resonant the Avengers ideal was. Captain America and his allies rallied entire worlds to their banner and beat back an invasion by the Builders. The greatest and most feared leaders in the universe - Gladiator, Ronan, Annihilus - were all in awe of the Avengers.But that wasn't enough. The Avengers Machine was doomed before it even began. New Avengers and its shadowy conspiracies has always been the counterpoint to Avengers' high-minded idealism. That series explored what happened when the Illuminati learned that the multiverse itself was dying an early death. They took it upon themselves to save everything, no matter the cost to themselves, their allies, or the countless trillions of innocent lives endangered by the World Incursions. And after two years, despite all their plotting and secret pacts and terrible sacrifices, the multiverse died anyway. Hickman's entire epic culminated in one last, bitter fight between Iron Man and Captain America.The message is clear. The Avengers failed not just their world, but all worlds. Iron Man and the Illuminati failed because they put themselves above the people they seek to protect. They made a choice no true hero ever can make -- who should live and who should die. Captain America and his Avengers failed because they couldn't see past these rivalries and betrayals. They spent the last months of Earth's existence hunting the Illuminati rather than dealing with the bigger picture. It says a lot about what the Avengers became that Doctor Doom, the most egomanical tyrant in the Marvel Universe, did more to prolong humanity's survival than they did.No doubt Secret Wars will offer some degree of redemption for Cap’s Avengers and Iron Man’s Illuminati. But after all the mistakes they’ve made, perhaps the best thing these veteran heroes can do is step back and allow the younger generation to take the reins.Heroes like the new Thor, Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales live up to the Avengers ideal without compromise. They can lead the way in a Marvel Universe that moves past all the darkness of conflicts like Civil War and AvX and AXIS and into a more optimistic, post-Secret Wars future. They can set an example as the Fantastic Four reunite (Marvel's corporate overlords willing), the Inhuman empire grows and the X-Men move past the schism that's kept them divided since 2011. Maybe we can even go a couple years without Marvel publishing an event comic predicated on the idea of one team of heroes fighting another.

It doesn't mean the new Marvel Universe needs to be all sunshine and rainbows. It doesn't mean these newer heroes won't face adversity and hardship, or that they won't make mistakes and face impossible conundrums of their own. They're young and, in some cases, still largely untested when it come to the scale of threats the Avengers usually face. But that's half the fun. After all, the Marvel Universe is a place where flawed heroes battle overwhelming odds and don't always triumph. The point of a hero isn't that they always win, but that they keep fighting regardless.The Avengers have always been very flawed individuals. But together they're something much better. In Avengers #44 this week, Thanos himself described the Avengers as "The greatest heroes you have ever seen. The valiant. The courageous." As we move into Secret Wars and whatever lies beyond, hopefully we'll be reminded of how great these heroes can be when they work together.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN