4. Avengers Vs. X-Men
Marvel ComicsOne of the most-hyped events of 2012 was Avengers vs. X-Men, in which the two teams came together in a massive battle. The Phoenix Force was returning to Earth and it wanted to bond with Hope Summers. This worries the Avengers, who remembered the damage done the last time the Phoenix Force was around in the form of the Dark Phoenix. Learning from Wolverine that the Phoenix is after Hope, Captain America asks Cyclops to turn her over to the Avengers. But Cyclops refuses, the X-Men believing that Hope powered by the Phoenix Force will restart the mutant race. A massive battle ensues as the Avengers try to stop the Phoenix Force. The Avengers do manage to prevent the Phoenix Force from bonding with Hope and instead it ends up bonding with Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus and Magik, creating the Phoenix Five. The rest of the series concerns the efforts of the X-Men and the Avengers trying to stop the Phoenix Five. In the end, the power of the Phoenix falls completely to Cyclops who becomes corrupted by it and even kills Professor X. Hes ultimately stopped by Hope and the Scarlet Witch, who use the Phoenix Forces power to restore the mutant population. Not only the X-books but pretty much the entire Marvel Universe was impacted by Avengers vs. X-Men, and it led to the Marvel Now event that saw the relaunch of virtually all of Marvels titles and a new status quo for many of the characters.