The Child is Father To…?

Ms. Marvel has undergone a mysterious accelerated pregnancy and has gone into labor. As Don Blake helps deliver the child, the other Avengers pace outside. While the Avengers try to have good cheer about the coming baby, they can’t help but wonder who the father is and if the baby will be human.

Inside the med lab, Don Blake is assisted by Jocasta, the Avengers’ robotic ally. The process is surprisingly quick and painless. However, Carol Danvers finds this a horrific experience and wants this nightmare to be over. She gives birth to what appears to be a healthy baby boy. As the Avengers gush over the newborn baby, Blake scans the child and determines that it appears perfectly normal. Unfortunately, Carol doesn’t have the enthusiasm of her teammates and when the Wasp asks her if she wants to see the baby, Danvers refuses, pointing out that she was used, as she didn’t have any intention of having a child.

Later, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision discuss the newborn in the Avengers’ garden. Wanda admits to her husband that the arrival of the baby has reinforced her decision that now is not the right time to start a family of their own, a viewpoint that the Vision shares.[1] The conversation is observed from the window by Jocasta, who admits to the Wasp that she finds it hard understanding human emotions. Janet admits to her that even humans have little understanding of their emotions as well.[2] Elsewhere in the mansion, Hawkeye and the Beast are passing time by playing pool. After the Beast uses a calculator to win the game, Hawkeye decides to check in and see how the baby is doing. They are shocked to learn that the baby has rapidly aged two years since he was born. As Don Blake examines the baby, they are surprised when it suddenly begins to talk.

As the Avengers try to make sense of this, the outside world is undergoing some bizarre changes as well. A man gets off the subway on Wall Street and when he goes up to the street he is shocked to discover that New York’s bustling financial district has been replaced with a small town out of the early 20th Century.

Back at the Mansion, Wonder Man checks in on Carol and is surprised to see her in her Ms. Marvel costume so soon after giving birth. She tells him that she wants nothing to do with the thing she gave birth. Simon understands that her sudden pregnancy has her frightened and tries to convince her that the best way to get past what happened is to face it head on instead of shying away from it.

Downstairs, the Beast enters the medical lab with a bunch of sports equipment for the new baby and is suprirsed to see that he has aged even more since earlier. Now physically five years old, the Avengers discover that the boy is intelligent beyond his years when he starts asking for equipment to start building something. Captain America takes this opportunity to try and figure out who this child’s father is and how he came to be. He is confused when the boy, who now calls himself Marcus, states that he is his own father. Iron Man suggests they let the boy tinker with what he has asked for, figuring it might help them understand who he is.

While in Queens, a woman goes out to get her mail. When she turns to go back to her home she is horrified to see it has been replaced with a pre-historic swamp full of dinosaurs. The sight of this impossible image causes her to faint.

Meanwhile, Marcus is now physically twelve and is working away on some kind of device. He is observed by Don Blake who finds the boy’s aptitude to be astonishing. Upstairs, Hawkeye expresses his concern about Marcus, thinking he might be evil. However, Captain America vetoes the idea of putting the kid in a cage until they figure out what his true intentions are. That’s when Iron Man comes rushing in and tells them about reports of time going crazy in the city. They find these reports outlandish and dismiss them as prank calls. While in the lab, Jocasta tries to connect with the Vision, who is going over Marcus’ bio-readings. They are quickly joined by the Scarlet Witch and when the Vision begins focusing on her, Jocasta feels left out and leaves the room without the couple noticing.

By this time, the Wasp has managed to convince Ms. Marvel to go and take a look at her son. Carol agrees with some reservation and accompanies Jan down to the lab. There they are shocked to discover that Marcus is now a full grown man. When he identifies her as his mother, Carol is surprised that he can know this. Marcus says he will explain everything once he has finished his machine and the temporal flux is sorted out. That’s when the Avengers Mansion is attacked by alien space ships, World War fighter planes, and a tyrannosaurus rex. While Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and the Beast rush outside to fend off this attack, the Vision phases through the wall to join them. The Scarlet Witch tries to follow after her husband but her path is blocked by the sudden appearance of a medieval knight. When the knight charges at her, Wanda uses her hex powers to subdue him.[3]

As Iron Man and the Vision deal with the dinosaurs and planes outside, Cap and the others have to fend off an invading army of Native Americans. With the time fluctuations growing stronger, Marcus insists that he finish his machine in order to stop the chaos. As the other Avengers join the battle, Ms. Marvel ushers Don Blake into a reinforced store room for his own safety. This gives Blake the privacy he needs to change into the mighty Thor and join the battle. Inside, Jarvis finds himself accosted by the legendary D’Artagnan but is saved by Yellowjacket and the Wasp.[4] While downstairs, the Scarlet Witch defeats the knight with a helpful assist from Jocasta.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye is convinced that Marcus and his machine are responsible for the temporal anomalies and rushes down to the lab to confront him. He arrives just as Marcus uses his powers to knock out Ms. Marvel when she refuses to leave his side. Seeing this as a confirmation of his suspicions, Hawkeye uses an explosive arrow to destroy the machine. Marcus is horrified because the device would have stopped the chaos and allowed him to live in the timestream. He is about to attack Hawkeye when Iron Man and Thor arrive and begin demanding answers. It’s only when Ms. Marvel joins their side that Marcus relents and finally explains himself.

He tells them that he is the son of the time master known as Immortus. Some time ago, Immortus grew lonely living in the timeless domain in Limbo and sought out the ideal mate. He plucked a woman from the timestream who was fated to die during the sinking of the Titanic. He then romanced this woman and they soon had a child, Marcus. In order for his son to grow into a suitable heir, Immortus raised the boy in a pocket of time that would allow the boy to age to adult hood. Eventually, due to the nature of Limbo, Marcus’ mother was returned to her proper place in time.[5] Not long after this, Immortus himself vanished, his existence seemingly wiped out after the destruction his past self, Kang the Conqueror.[6]

Trapped in Limbo and unable to leave the timeless realm, Marcus came up with a complex scheme that would allow him to be born into the timeline and escape his eternal prison. To this end, he sought an ideal mate and found it in Ms. Marvel. He plucked the heroine from time and used his father’s machines to pluck historical figures from out of time to woo Carol.[7] He freely admits that he used his father’s inventions to condition Carol into falling in love with him so they could have sex. It is through this manipulation that Marcus was able to implant his essence into Carol and return her the exact moment he took her from. However, an unforeseen side effect was that Marcus would rapidly age in the time stream, prompting him to build the device to stop it and the time warps his presence was causing. He had intended to use his knowledge to help create a utopian society.

Now, with his device destroyed and no time to build a new one, Marcus has two options: goad the Avengers into killing him or returning to his prison in Limbo. Surprisingly, Carol shocks them all by saying she will go with Marcus back to Limbo so he won’t live all eternity alone. She has been touched by his story and now that she remembers everything she realizes that she does love him. Not questioning any of this, the Avengers give Carol their blessing and Thor uses Mjolnir to transport the couple back to Limbo. As soon as Marcus is gone, the time warp abruptly ends and Hawkeye hopes that wherever Ms. Marvel is, she’s living happily ever after.[8]

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Beast, Ms. Marvel, Jocasta), Marcus Immortus, Edwin Jarvis, Immortus (flashback)

Continuity Notes

1. Wanda has been contemplating starting a family since Avengers #188 when she learned her brother Quicksilver and his wife Crystal were expecting their first child.

2. It is mentioned here that Jocasta’s personality is patterned after the Wasp’s. When Ultron created her, he intends to transfer Janet’s life force into a robotic form. Although he failed, Jocasta gained a life of her own based on Janet’s personality. See Avengers #162.

3. The narration here states that Wanda’s abilities are mutant powers. However, it is later revealed in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4 reveals that she was experimented upon by the High Evolutionary who covered up his work by having her register as a mutant whenever someone tested her DNA. Scarlet Witch (vol. 2) #1-15 reveals confirms that Wanda is actually a witch and her powers are magical in nature.

4. D’Artargnan is identified in Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers #3.

5. This is not entirely accurate at all. As detailed in Avengers Forever #8, those who spend a prolonged period of time in Limbo are transformed into Space Phantoms. Presumably, Immortus returned Marcus’ mother to her proper place in history to spare her that fate. I guess death is better than being a Space Phantom.

6. Kang seemingly died in Avengers #143, causing Immortus to be erased from existence. However, Kang survived as his mind was transferred to a cloned body in his future timeline, per Fantastic Four Annual #25, Avengers Annual #21, and Avengers Forever #9. Immortus later revealed he faked his death to serve his own ends when he popped back up again in Thor #281-282. Presumably, he kept his survival a secret from Marcus.

7. It’s revealed here that Marcus kidnapped Ms. Marvel for a brief moment as she flew to New Jersey to meet with the Scarlet Witch in Avengers #197.

8. Yeah about that, it’s later revealed in Avengers Annual #10 that Carol was still under the influence of Marcus. When Marcus later dies and she returns to Earth, she is not happy that the Avengers weren’t the least bit troubled that Marcus gaslighted and raped her and let her leave with him without any resistance.

Topical References

• In order to figure out his shot, the Beast is depicted using a Texas Instrument TI-59 calculator. These were top of the line when this comic was published in 1980 however their appearance here should be considered topical since that model is now obsolete. The reference to Texas Instrument should also be considered topical as it is a real world business.