Marvel has been slowly teasing the details to its next big event, AXIS. While we don't know much about AXIS yet, we do know the series involves Red Skull (in his new guise as Red Onslaught) assembling a team of villains to threaten the world. Standing in opposition to Red Onslaught's axis of evil is an eclectic lineup of heroes. The series will be written by Rick Remender, who introduced this new version of Red Skull in the pages of Uncanny Avengers

Marvel's Next Event Comic is AXIS

Red Onslaught

Doctor Doom

Sabretooth

Green Goblin

Loki

Carnage

We're expecting Marvel to reveal more information about AXIS soon as the convention season heats up. But until then, we thought it would be fun to examine the 12 characters revealed so far, what they've been up to lately, and how they might tie together in this conflict.If you don't know why Red Skull has transformed into Onslaught or why the heck anyone would want to team up with Deadpool, read on.The Red Skull has continued to plague Captain America decades after World War II thanks to a combination of clones, heirs, and general Cosmic Cube-related tomfoolery. The current Red Skull is the first option, cloned by Arnim Zola during World War II and kept in cryogenic storage until recently. This Red Skull is at the height of his youthful, fascistic mania, and he sees the mutant problem as the perfect opportunity with which to sow fear and hatred across the globe.And Red Skull isn't afraid to get his hands dirty. He dug up the recently buried body of Charles Xavier (killed by a Phoenix-crazed Cyclops in the climax of Avengers vs. X-Men) and grafted Xavier's brain to his own. Now Red Skull isn't just a tyrannical madman, he also has the mutant abilities of the most powerful telepath on the planet. Red Skull has also assembled a group of genetic super-men called the S-Men to oppose the X-Men and Avengers.Red Skull has been lurking in the shadows since his first clash with the Avengers Unity Squad and the loss of his hand. But that story also ended with a flash-forward to three months in the future, with a handful of Avengers caught in a wartorn landscape and Skull having transformed into an all-powerful villain called Red Onslaught. Just as Xavier's mind was once the breeding ground for the psychic monster Onslaught, Red Skull has transformed into something even more terrible than before.Apart from death, taxes, and alien invasions, Doom seems to be one of the few constants in the Marvel Universe. This armored villain has survived everything from a showdown with Celestials to being eaten alive by prehistoric sharks in recent years. He even beat brain damage to reclaim his mantle as ruler of Latveria.While Doom's hatred of the Fantastic Four has cooled lately (he even has an uncle-like affection for young Valeria Richards), he has made himself a powerful new enemy in the form of Scott Lang, the current Ant-Man. Lang's revenge for the death of his teenage daughter was for Doom to be judged by the Living Tribunal. Doom's face was finally shown to the world. Though hardly the hideous monstrosity everyone always assumed he was, Doom now faces an ultimatum. His face will be permanently and irrevocably scarred for each new terrible act he carries out. Doom will only be as ugly as he wishes himself to be.Somehow, we doubt that'll stop Doom from oppressing the weak and crushing all who oppose him. If he enters into an alliance with Red Onslaught, it's only because the villain has something Doom wants.Sabretooth's villainous stock has seen a major rise in recent years. Since cheating death at Wolverine's hands, Victor Creed has resurfaced and managed to gain control of the Japanese faction of The Hand. Now in control of an army of deadly ninjas, Sabretooth has become a force to be reckoned with in the criminal underworld of the Marvel Universe.Sabretooth has used that power to further various ends. He's allied himself with his frequent lover, Mystique, joining her new Brotherhood of Mutants and helping her to gain control of the island nation of Madripoor. He's resumed his hobby of tormenting Wolverine, targeting both Logan and his school on various occasions.Recently, Sabretooth took advantage of Logan's lost healing factor and subjected him to a gauntlet of foes aimed at proving that his old enemy isn't the good and noble hero he strives to be. That's really been Victor's primary goal throughout their decades-long rivalry - to force Logan to accept they're both the same, coldblooded killers.Having more or less succeeded, but unaware of the lengths to which Wolverine is currently going to exact his revenge, Sabretooth is now faced with the problem of what to do next. He's not a man who handles peace and luxury very well. Perhaps by joining with Red Onslaught and his axis of evil, Sabretooth may find the opportunity for fun and bloodshed again.For a brief period, Norman Osborn managed to establish himself as the most powerful and respected villain in the Marvel Universe. He manipulated his way into becoming head of the S.H.I.E.L.D. replacement H.A.M.M.E.R., replacing his usual Green Goblin attire with the Iron Patriot armor instead. Even after being exposed for the madman he is, Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R. returned to plague the Avengers. When Osborn was last seen during Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers saga, he had been turned into a power-mimicking Super-Adaptoid and left comatose and severely wounded in the aftermath of his battle with Earth's Mightiest Heroes.But now Osborn has returned to his old ways. He again donned his Green Goblin costume during Dan Slott's Superior Spider-Man saga and did his best to bring Otto Octavius' reign as Spider-Man to a screeching halt. The fall of the Kingpin allowed Osborn to build a criminal empire of his own in New York. Though it hasn't been revealed how Osborn recovered from his injuries, he did undergo facial reconstructive surgery to hide his identity. As Superior Spider-Man ended, Osborn escaped custody and disappeared. The good news is that Spider-Man was able to inject Osborn with a serum that eliminated his Goblin strength. The bad news is that this also cured Osborn of his insanity. The Marvel Universe may find that a sane Norman Osborn is even more dangerous than a crazy one.With Red Onslaught no doubt making a grab to rule the world, there's little doubt Obsorn will want to join up to nap himself a piece of the pie.The presence of Loki on Red Onslaught's team will no doubt spell chaos. The question is for whom, and to what ends Loki is ultimately working for.Loki has undergone a number of bizarre transformations in recent years. He was reincarnated as a woman after the most recent Ragnarok. Then after reverting to his old body, Loki "sacrificed" himself to stop The Void during the Siege storyline. Loki was then resurrected in the body of a young boy, one who wished to defy expectations by being a force for good. Loki has currently aged into a teenage form, and whether he's truly good, bad, or somewhere in between is very much up for debate.These days, Loki wields a powerful sword called Gram and carries out missions for the All-Mothers of Asgardia. Each successful mission will wipe away one of his past crimes. Is forming an alliance with Red Onslaught part of that plan, or is Loki merely looking to stir up mischief? Loki is known as an "Agent of Asgard" these days, but given his trickster ways, it's not hard to imagine that he might wind up being a double agent playing both sides of AXIS.No Spider-Man villain is quite as crazy or bloodthirsty as Carnage. The combination of a human serial killer and an alien symbiote has resulted in nothing but bad things for Spidey and his fellow heroes. And it seems nothing can keep Carnage down for long. The villain survived being ripped in half by the Sentry, medical experimentation, and a trip to the Microverse. Now he's back, healthy as ever, and looking to cause more chaos and death.Currently, Carnage is battling the only hero crazy enough to operate on his wavelength - Deadpool. The fact that both are major players in AXIS suggests that neither will gain the upper hand in their showdown, but maybe AXIS will allow for a rematch between these insane killers.

Head to page 2 for a look at the heroes of AXIS.