Warning! Spoilers for Avengers #46 ahead!
The latest issue of Avengers sees Vostok, the Russian counterpart to the Avengers' Vision, take down She-Hulk with ease. The issue starts with Gorilla-Man betraying the Avengers by secretly teleporting the Winter Guard into Avengers Mountain. The Winter Guard is Russia's answer to the Avengers, with each member closely resembling the abilities of one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Their goal in infiltrating the Avengers' home base is to incapacitate and capture She-Hulk, which is no small task.
In Avengers #46 by Jason Aaron and Javier Garrón, the first to attempt to detain She-Hulk is Crimson Dynamo, the team's Iron Man. He activates his Hulkbuster armor, which detaches and proceeds to envelop and cage She-Hulk in a metal prison. She manages to smash her way out of the armor as it attempts to fly away. Next up are Red Guardian, Ursa Major, and Red Widow. Red Guardian and Ursa Major use souped-up Tasers on She-Hulk while Red Widow uses a sonic bazooka on her. None of this is enough to stop a rampaging She-Hulk, though, as she manages to fight all three of them off.
With Red Guardian and Ursa Major knocked out, Red Widow manages to call in Vostok while under attack. Vostok responds with, "It would be my pleasure." He transforms into a liquid metal form, reminiscent of the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day. While in liquid metal form, he infiltrates She-Hulk's eyes, ears, nose and mouth, immediately incapacitating her. This is an impressive feat, especially considering his counterpart, the original Vision, could not defeat a Hulk single-handedly. Although the character is largely unheard of, given this accomplishment it can be argued that Vostok is even more powerful than Vision.
Vostok was first introduced in 1988 in the pages of Captain America #352. He originally appeared under the name Sputnik along with the rest of the Russian superhero team the Supreme Soviets. Much like Sputnik, the Supreme Soviets would eventually undergo a couple name changes and become the Winter Guard. Vostok's origin story is rather different than Vision's. He was originally a human scientist and only became a synthezoid after a run-in with extraterrestrial technology. He has a wide range of abilities similar to Vision, including flight, super strength, energy blasts, and the ability to phase through matter. Where he surpasses Vision is in his ability to control any form of technology and to transform into his liquid metal state.
Vostok's capture of She-Hulk is the beginning of the World War She-Hulk arc of Avengers. The arc will continue writer Jason Aaron's (The Mighty Thor, Southern Bastards) run on the series and will be drawn by Javier Garrón (Miles Morales: Spider-Man). With both She-Hulk and characters of the Winter Guard gaining traction in the MCU, this arc of Avengers is one to pay attention to. Readers also won't want to miss Vostok surely testing his strength against other Avengers as they inevitably fight to free She-Hulk from the Winter Guard. Avengers #46 is available now in print and digital platforms.
