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I was reading some of my old comics and noticed this variant cover of New Avengers #1.

New Avengers #1 Variant cover

Who is the guy in black between Ironman and Captain America? I just re-read this issue and the few after so I know he isn't in it. There is another variant that features Ronin but this is definitely not Ronin's look nor does he show up until the next arc of the story (about 5 issues later).

Is this some early concept look for Ronin or some character that didn't make the cutting room floor?

Note: This is the 2nd Printing variant (1E) cover for New Avengers Vol. 1 #1, 2005.

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  • Sentry is the only hero not clearly represented from the original lineup there, and who is on the normal of the cover. I've never seen that outfit though.
    – phantom42
    Sep 11, 2015 at 14:31
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    Cobra Commander?
    – gowenfawr
    Sep 11, 2015 at 14:44
  • @phantom42 I considered that too but that would be a huge change in his appearance. It would be really interesting if that was the case though.
    – Matthew Green
    Sep 11, 2015 at 15:08
  • It looks distressingly like Mr. Freeze from Batman and Robin.
    – Rogue Jedi
    Oct 17, 2015 at 18:40

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It appears to be the character Lancaster Sneed, aka Shockwave. Sneed is a mercenary and normally appears as a villain, so I have no idea why he appears on the cover as part of the team roster. He does appear in the issue, but only as a background character along with numerous other villains.

Also, this must be an alternate, unused design for Sneed, because his normal armor is yellow and orange like so:

enter image description here

Note: Sneed HAS worked with SHIELD before, so it's entirely possible that he was on the team in early drafts of the roster.

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  • I see the resemblance but that would be such a bizarre character to add to the cover and the story. Surely it's got to be someone else. Though you certainly found more than I did so +1.
    – Matthew Green
    Sep 11, 2015 at 15:28
  • @MatthewGreen - he does appear in the issue, but it's just as a background figure. I'll see if I can find anything saying why he's on the cover.
    – Omegacron
    Sep 11, 2015 at 15:45
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    @MatthewGreen - I tweeted David Finch to see if he can shed some light on it. All I can figure is that maybe the variant was a feint. After all, this issue WAS revealing the new lineup, and Sentry was the powerhouse of the group replacing Thor, so maybe they didn't want to spoil that.
    – Omegacron
    Sep 11, 2015 at 16:04
  • That's very true. It could all have been a ruse. It would be so awesome to get a WoG answer from David Finch!
    – Matthew Green
    Sep 11, 2015 at 16:07
  • @MatthewGreen - still no response from Finch. I seem to have terrible luck getting anyone important to reply on Twitter. Although Brandon Molale did once retweet a post where I said he'd be the perfect Captain Marvel.
    – Omegacron
    Sep 18, 2015 at 20:49

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