New take on West Coast Avengers introduces cast member who's a "jerk"

In this Yahoo Entertainment/Newsarama article, they tell everyone that Marvel's introducing a character called Blue Bolt, who appears to be a variation on a character from the Golden Age, on the cast of the new Avengers West Coast, who's a former villain, yet still portrayed as a jerk. And he's not the only crook on the team:

As revealed at this year's San Diego Comic Con, the West Coast Avengers will return this November with an all-new and surprising line-up headed up by Iron Man and also featuring Spider-Woman, War Machine, Firestar, and even Ultron. Now Marvel has revealed that another former villain will be joining the squad: Blue Bolt.

Unsure who that is? Don't worry, it's a new character, though one that riffs on the '40s Joe Simon creation of the same name. Real name Chad Braxton, the new Blue Bolt is described as being an "experienced Marvel henchman with unrefined lightning-based abilities." He will cross paths with the Avengers thanks to a new prison release program.

"Reckless, undisciplined, and downright rude, Blue Bolt may just be the biggest jerk in the entire Marvel Universe," says a statement about the new book. "Can the Avengers whip him into shape or will Blue Bolt's abrasive attitude – and lack of morals – tarnish the team's legacy forever?"

I've got a feeling this'll be much more heavy handed than the advertising makes it sound like. But even more troubling is the inclusion of Ultron in the cast of this new volume. It may be a robot, but given that Ultron was developed as a sentient entity, and one that was later depicted murdering people (in Avengers' Ultron Unlimited storyline from 1999, for example), that's why this sounds like it'll be just another tasteless exercise in absurd lenience on villains. While the heroes, one can wonder, won't be excused so easily if they're written doing bad things, regardless of whether it's under influence of evildoers. Let's not forget what Brian Bendis did with Scarlet Witch, something that regrettably became the basis of WandaVision on TV.

The original Avengers West Coast had some fun storylines in the near decade it ran. But these new takes on the most significant spinoff of the flagship Avengers title are nothing more than an exercise in futility.