In a smart reveal, Marvel just confirmed that one of the mightiestAvengersof all time has a secret power he’s been keeping under wraps until now. In fact, because of the logic behind the power,multipleAvengers must logically possess it, despite the fact none of the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes knew about it until now.
In Steve Orlando and Cory Smith’sAvengers Assemble #1,Captain America’s new rosterwait for direction at Avengers Mansion. To kill the time, the team play a game of poker, only forHerculesto reveal he can always tell when the other heroes are bluffing. When questioned, it’s revealed that Hercules' Allspeak power - which allows him to understand and be understood in every language on Earth and beyond - includes body language, meaninghe can tell when mortals are lying.
TheAllspeak is a long-established powerpossessed by all Marvel’s gods and some other supernatural beings, suggesting that heroes including Hercules, Man-Thing and Ares all have the same lie-detecting ability. But if they’re anything like Hercules, they simply never realized that the mortals in their lives didn’t know it.
While Hercules doesn’t get as much credit for his strength as other Avengers, he’s arguably the team’s strongest hero. He physically towed the island of Manhattan by himself, hasbeaten down the Hulkin a contest of strength, and outfought the Sentry despite being outnumbered by the entire Dark Avengers roster.
The fact that this is a new application of a classic power is a good sign for the chances of Hercules possessing this lie-detecting ability in the MCU, where he’s played by Brett Goldstein.
Hercules' Godly All-Speak Turns Him into a Superhuman Lie Detector
Thor Shares the Same Power, But He’s Never Admitted It
Running alongside Marvel’s mainlineAvengerstitle, the newAvengers Assembleseries brings together a more traditional team, including A-list heroes like Captain America and Hawkeye, former Avengers like Hercules and Wonder Man, and left-field choices like Power Pack graduate Lightspeed andtech genius Night Thrasher.
Steve Rogers' new team are intended as an emergency response squad, flying across the globe to tackle whatever emergencies need the attention of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. With the return of loyal butler Jarvis, Avengers Mansion, and a mix of very different heroes, it’s a return to many of the elements that defined theAvengersfranchise in the past.
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However, despite the classic elements, there’s apparently still a lot for this team to learn about each other - includingHercules' ability to discern between lies and truth using his total understanding of body language. Marvel’s Allspeak has long been used to paper over the cracks of bringing mythology into the world of superheroes - after all, why would godly beings speak any one language? Conversely, how would beings who only visited Earth millennia ago understand modern vernacular?
Hercules' mastery of body language has some cool precedent in Marvel lore, with a fan-favorite X-Men fight more than justifying its application.
The issue doesn’t dig too deep into Hercules' new power, andit’s likely that his lie detector status has its weaknesses. In the very specific, contextual case of tells in a poker game, it makes sense Hercules would be so accurate that he essentiallyalwaysknows when his fellow players are lying. However, in the more complex setting of real life, it makes sense that Hercules would sometimes miss the telltale (to him) signs of dishonesty. Of course, even if Hercules does miss these signssometimes, it’s still a revelation that his godly powers include lie detection.
Hercules' New Power Actually Has Precedent in Marvel Canon
X-Men’s Cypher Redefined What ‘Language’ Means in Marvel Lore
While the other Avengers are clearly shocked by Hercules' admission, there is precedent for translation powers applying to things other than spoken language. X-Men’s Cypher has the mutant power to understand any language, and in the past this has translated to body language and even computer code. Indeed, when he was mind-controlled by Selene,Cypher’s understanding of body languagewas so specific, he was able to predict the fight moves of all his teammates before they’d even made a move. And if a mutant translation power can apply in this way, then a godly power certainly can.
Hercules' Most Unique Power Belongs in the MCU (It’s the Difference Between Superheroes & Gods)
In Giant-Size Thor #1, Hercules unveils a brand new, never seen before ability that separa him from the pack–and totally belongs in the MCU.
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Wonder Woman Would HATE Hercules' New Power
DC’s Hero Would NEVER Accept Sharing Her Iconic Power with Hercules
One hero who wouldhateHercules' new power is DC’s Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter, with the former being a pioneer involved in the invention of the polygraph machine, aka a lie detector. Marston’s interest in discerning the truth made it into Wonder Woman lore with the inclusion of her ‘Golden Perfect,‘aka the Lasso of Truth. No matter who they are, everyone who comes into contact with the Lasso of Truth can only tell the truth (like Hercules’ All-Speak, the Lasso can also translate any language as it’s spoken.) Of course,another aspect of Wonder Woman lore is Hercules himself.
In DC lore, Hercules is the ancient enemy of the Amazons, with multiple versions of its continuity stating that Hercules’ army subjugated the Amazons and Hercules raped Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta. This caused a major misunderstanding in Kurt Busiek and George Pérez’sJLA/Avengers, where Wonder Woman met Hercules and attacked him, despite the fact that in Marvel continuity, Hercules and Hippolyta had a consensual relationship. While the Avengers and Justice League of America eventually allied in this story, Marvel’s Hercules is still never likely to become Wonder Woman’s favorite person.
Wonder Woman and Hercules sharing the incredibly specific power of lie detection/language translation is no coincidence. Their comic lore is connected to Greek myth, and indeedboth are even related to Aletheia, the goddess of truth(both are her half-siblings.)
Will Hercules' New Power Exist in the MCU?
Brett Goldstein’s Demi-God Would Benefit from Some Unique Powers
Hercules' new/apparently old power is even more significant given the MCU just introduced its own version of Marvel’s ‘God of Heroes,’ played byBrett Goldstein inThor: Love and Thunder. While that version of Hercules was introduced as an antagonist of Thor, pursuing him for his injury of Zeus during the movie, Hercules was likewise introduced as a rival of Thor in the comics, but quickly became one of his most loyal and dedicated allies, while also serving as an Avenger in good standing.
It’s particularly noteworthy that Hercules' lie detection isn’ttechnicallya new power, but rather a new application of a power fans have known about for a long time.That makes it more likely that the MCU could include the ability, giving Hercules a crucial unique superpower in movie lore. One of Hercules' biggest weaknesses as a character is that he doesn’t have any truly unique abilities - he’s incredibly strong and durable, but to the same degree as Hulk and Thor, who both have many additional powers.Avengers Assemble’s reveal that he’s also a master body language expert helps to make the character feel more unique, and the MCU might benefit from taking notes on how to makeHercules' godly nature feel special as it continues to flesh out the character.
