| The Cabal | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Secret Invasion #8 (January 2009) |
| Created by | Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Leinil Francis Yu (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Member(s) | Current members: Namor Thanos Maximus Terrax Corvus Glaive Proxima Midnight Black Swan Maker Former members: Norman Osborn The Hood Taskmaster White Queen Doctor Doom Loki |
The Cabal is asecret society ofsupervillains andantiheroes appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. A villainous counterpart to theIlluminati, the group was formed in the "Dark Reign" storyline shortly after the "Secret Invasion" event.
The Cabal first appeared inSecret Invasion #8 and was created byBrian Michael Bendis andLeinil Francis Yu.[1]
During a presentation shown by Bendis during the 2008 convention season, a picture was made public of a secondIlluminati group consisting of villains and former villains. Presented in the same pose as the cover ofIlluminati #1, this group was revealed to includeNamor,Doctor Doom,Emma Frost,Loki,The Hood, andNorman Osborn. Namor is revealed to be affiliated with two different Illuminati groups simultaneously allied with both heroes and villains.
Uncanny X-Men writerMatt Fraction mentioned in an interview that theUncanny X-Men annual in January would explain how Frost was invited into the team.[2] Loki was revealed to have dealings with Doom in the pages ofThor, and Namor was shown to have formed an alliance with Doom at the end of his last limited series. Namor had previously been aligned with Doom in the 1970s seriesSuper-Villain Team-Up. A past connection between Frost and Namor was presented inUncanny X-Men Annual #2, where it was revealed that Frost and Namor shared a brief romance while attempting to recruit Namor into theHellfire Club as the new White King.
The group, referred as the Cabal in certain interviews[3] and inMarvel Spotlight: Dark Reign, first appeared at the ending ofSecret Invasion #8 when Osborn greets the villains after gaining control of theFifty State Initiative program.[4]
The Cabal parallels the original Illuminati and Bendis has said "[t]he idea was, in the original pitch, that there was a secret group, a cabal, that got put together that was the mirror image of the Illuminati, with five or six characters who almost mirrored the other group."[4]
The Cabal are gathered for the second time since their first meeting (after the banishment ofThor), projected upon a psychic plane by Emma Frost, who reminds them to set up psychic shields. Doctor Doom scoffs arrogantly that he has no need of such things, and Loki cautions him otherwise, as they are all of dubious trustworthiness. Loki seeks to use her own Avengers to weaken and break Osborn, a goal shared by Doom and Namor, and gathers all of them once more in her previous guise as theScarlet Witch.[6]
Namor and Doctor Doom are secretly working behind Osborn's back, aware that their plots against Osborn could erupt into a massive battle.Morgan le Fay desperately attempts to warn Osborn that Doom will betray him, but he ignores her. Loki had been preparing to place "cracks" in Osborn's mental armor to hasten his eventual fall from power, using the Mighty Avengers for such a purpose, and scheming to set the Mighty Avengers against hisDark Avengers.[7]
Loki questions Doom not placing his trust in him even after all these months, but Doom warns him that Doom is not the puppet of men, gods, or tricksters and that even if he was so inclined to place such trust in others, he understands that there are empty vessels in which trust should never be placed in, claiming that Loki was "false". It is revealed that Doom also desires to use the Asgardians to his own ends.
As the X-Men and Dark X-Men prepare to face off, Frost reveals her role as a double agent, hardened through her discovery of Xavier's torture and Osborn's lack of concern for mutants, defeating the Dark X-Men with Namor's assistance.[8] Frost extends an invitation toCloak and Dagger to join the true X-Men as they teleport to Utopia. Both Frost and Namor's relationship with Osborn appear to be deeply strained at this point, with Osborn telling the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men to bring him Namor's head and Frost's heart and thatCyclops sees them do it. Frost and Namor both officially quit the Cabal, to be replaced with two new members.[9]
Norman Osborn choosesTaskmaster as the fifth member of his new Cabal, despite doubts from the Hood. Osborn warns the Hood that one or both of them might soon turn against them due to Frost and Namor's betrayal destabilizing the Cabal. However, Osborn adds that he is prepared for such betrayals, and after dealing with them, he will form a new Cabal, an organization he can control completely.
In theSiege storyline, Osborn reunites the Cabal, having succumbed to his Green Goblin persona and the fear that Asgard would pose a threat to the natural order and Earth itself. Osborn's ally, theVoid, violently attacks Doom, who is revealed to be aDoombot. Loki and Osborn manipulateVolstagg into destroyingSoldier Field, prompting a war against Asgard.[10]
Following a brutal battle, Thor manages to kill the Void along with his good half, Sentry.[11] Osborn, the Hood, and Taskmaster are all eventually apprehended and placed in custody, while Frost and Namor remain with the X-Men and Doctor Doom remains ruler of Latveria.
During the reborn Illuminati's quest to save Earth from the incursions (collisions between universes), the moral cost begins to overwhelm the members, except Namor. When the Illuminati decides to give up, Namor brings together a new Cabal consisting of himself,Thanos,Maximus,Corvus Glaive,Proxima Midnight,Terrax, andBlack Swan to destroy the other worlds.[12] Eight months later, having taken over the ruins of Wakanda as a base, the new Cabal is given permission by Earth's governments to take down the incursions, though Namor admits his Cabal members are more vicious and uncontrollable than he thought.[13] Growing disgusted with their slaughter, Namor collaborates with the Illuminati in a plan to destroy the Cabal by trapping them on the next universe to be destroyed, but Black Panther and Black Bolt leave Namor to die for his past actions.[14] Unbeknownst to the Avengers, however, that world ended up having two simultaneous Incursions, allowing Namor and the Cabal to escape to the third Earth,the Ultimate Marvel Earth, and upon arrival, meeting that universe'sReed Richards.[15] When the final incursion occurs, the Cabal escape in a specially designed life-pod.[16][17]
An alternate universe iteration of the Cabal from Earth-2099 appear inMarvel 2099, consisting ofNorman Osborn, Bruto Olafsen, Manfredi, Chief Woland,Crossbones, andCarnage.[18]
Two incarnations of the Cabal appear inAvengers Assemble.[19]
The Cabal appears in the comic book prequel forMarvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, consisting of Doctor Doom,Magneto, MODOK,Super-Skrull,Taskmaster,Albert Wesker, andAkuma.
| Affiliated teams | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locations | |||||||||||
| In other media |
| ||||||||||
