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A lot of people in the CD Forum think New Avengers would devalue poop if New Avengers were printed with poop. I personally am not a fan of the book, but I had an insight on the mystery 8th member, Ronin. I chose to post it here because I'm hoping, HOPING, that an intelligent discussion can take place and not turn into a "We Hate Bendis" thread. There's enough of that going on as it is.

Currently, several ideas have been floating around on his identity. Most think it's Daredevil, but recent solicits claim otherwise. Others have said it may be Shang-Chi or Iron Fist. One interesting Idea I read was that Ronin was a member of the team in disguise, and that his identity will change every story arc. I'm going with Iron Fist, but not the original. (Sorry, Danny)

My idea is that Ronin is Junzo Muto, a teenage ninja and villian from New Warriors vol. 2 and the Iron Fist/Wolverine mini-series. He was being groomed to be the new leader of the Hand and had been set on a series of tests to prove his worth. He captured the Steel Serpent, a rival of Iron Fist, and stole his Iron Fist technique. He then dispatched ninjas to capture Iron Fist as well. They suceeded, even with the New warriors invovled. The Warriors tracked him to Seattle, and managed to free Iron Fist, but not before he stole Danny's chi abilites. Muto began calling himself Iron Fist. He tried to make the Hand a world power by trying to take over K'un L'un and then fusing the city with Tokyo. He scheme was unraveled when Danny's uncle stabbed him in the heart and caused K'un L'un to disappear. Wolverine tried to kill Junzo, but he escaped. He hasn't been seen since.

Why do I think Junzo is Ronin? I have four reasons.
1) It's right up Bendis' alley. Junzo is a ninja with chi and magical abilities. Junzo is a minor character who happens to be pretty freakin' bad-a** for his age. No one in the Marvel Universe has ever beaten him in a fight. Bendis also has a history of pulling characters out of limbo and dusting them off. Jessica Drew, Mattie Franklin, and the White Tiger are examples of this.
2) Junzo has connections to the New Avengers. Junzo has fought Luke Cage, Iron Man, Captain America and Wolverine. Also, with the things going on with the Hand in the Wolverine solo book, it's entirely possible Junzo is on the run from the Hand. Chimera would probably want Junzo dead so he couldn't challenge him for leadership. Since the Avengers have taken former villians in before, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't try to rehabilitate Junzo.
3) Junzo has some chance of being a better person. When confronted with the fact that the Hand wizard Hiromatsu killed his parents, he turned on said wizard and killed him for revenge, instead of killing Danny Rand. Junzo has more than likely been manipulated by the Hand for most of his life. If Junzo found this out, he'd go on the warpath. He would probably be willing to go to Wolverine and ask for his help with his vengeance, considering Wolverine's reputation for hating the Hand.
4) This is the thing that gave me the idea: his Iron Fist costume looks almost exactly like Ronin's. All you'd have to do to it would be to add the shin guards and the mask. Check out New Warriors Vol. 2 #8, page 24. I'd post up a scan, but I don't have a scanner.

So, what do you think? Am I on to something, or not?

Well if he's not on good terms with the hand, it would explain his name.

It's Matt's ex-girlfriend, Echo.

Holy understatement, Batman. I have all of Maya's appearances before she became Ronin and she never had any direct dealings with The Hand whatsoever.