'NON-TEAM' ASSEMBLE! Marvel Teases Defenders Relaunch

With Hulk, Beast, Valkyrie and many of the old crew riding high in the world (or is that worlds) of Marvel right now, you'd think 2011 would be a good time for a new Defenders series to strike, while the proverbial iron is hot. Luckily that's what LooseCannon asked Marvel's VP Executive Editor Tom Brevoort over at CBR and here is Tom's cool-inducing response;

Defenders is one of those series that we’ve been talking about a lot, Axel and I, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some movement on that front in the near future. 

By that same token, we’re going to want to feel confident that we’ve got a pitch that captures the essence of what people loved about the Defenders in the past (without being manacled by faithfulness to the old title) before we green-light anything. But stay tuned.

I would be all over this book. 

While a 'best of the past line-up' is what I'd love to see kick things off (written ideally by Kurt Busiek), you can click through to see the starting eight I'd chuck up, if asked to create a non-team not "manacled by faithfulness to the old" .

Hulk: A no-brainer - Hulk is one of pulp's best creations. Ever. 

Namor: Namor opens up all the treasured areas of Marvels past. Plus seeing how his attitude rubs up his team-mates is always good readin'.

Dr Strange: It simply wouldn't be the Defenders without him.

Cloak and Dagger: C&D are key Marvelittes looking for the right fit. Chuck them in the non-team lock and you might just see them click.

Spider-Man 2099: The best of 20-99, his addition gives a good excuse for a bit of time travel, and enough edge to bring something more to the table than his namesake. Plus that costume just flat out rocks.

Sleepwalker: Old Sleepy opens up new realms to explore, adds novel powers and perspective, plus I just really like the idea of Rick hanging out with the guys during 'awake time'.

Deathlok: When's adding a cyborg ever a bad move? Not quite Punisher-dark, Deathlok adds a tonne of firepower and espionage. That Namor attitude I was talking about -  that stops with him.

Okay, that's me done. Who are your random eight?