Avengers (vol. 2) #12
Heroes Reunited Part 2: Shadow’s End!
This story continues from Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #12…
Following the death of the other Thor, the true thunder god holds a Viking funeral for his fallen comrade.[1] After giving last rites, Thor leaves the Viking ship so it can be blasted by the gun batteries of the SHIELD helicarrier. As Thor is thanking Nick Fury for helping with the funeral, an alarm begins going off. They are receiving a mayday from Clay Quartermain, a SHIELD agent who was out in space test driving a new warp capable ship. He is sending a mayday because he was attacked by an entity called Galactus.[2] Before he can explain what Galactus is, the transmission cuts out. Moments later, Clay’s damaged ship rips through the atmosphere and smashes through the helicarrier before exploding on impact with the planet’s surface.
That’s when Doctor Doom suddenly teleports into the helicarrier. He tells the Avengers and Fury that he has come back in time from the recent future where Earth’s heroes failed to stop Galactus from devouring the planet.[3] He tries to convince them that the only way to stop Galactus is to use America’s arsenal of ICBMs to fight back against the invader before it is too late. Unfortunately, nobody trust Doom and realizing that he’s not getting anywhere the Latverian monarch teleports away to find some other way to save the Earth. Doom soon arrives at the Latveria Embassy in New York. Watching the news he sees that the devices that will convert Earth into energy are already arriving. Seeing no other choice, Doom hacks into the United States missile defense system and primes the ICBMs for launch.
Back aboard the Helicarrier, Nick Fury brief the Avengers on the plan moving forward. They have tracked the vector of the world converters and determined that they will be landing in the Antarctic, Moscow, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. He will be splitting the team up in groups to tackle each one. Nick has also called in some help from Earth’s other heroes and recruited the Fantastic Four and the Hulk to the cause. As the team prepares to leave on their mission, Ant-Man has a heartfelt moment with the Wasp before she heads off on her mission. Hank then asks Fury to bring him to his lab ASAP so he can do his part. Hank is accompanied by the Scarlet Witch,[4] who is surprised to see that Pym has constructed a new body for the Vision. Ant-Man was able to take the Vision’s memory chip before his original body was destroyed and quickly restores the android so he can help them in the fight against Galactus.[5]
Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four have arrived in Moscow where they are too late to stop the planetary converter from being installed. They end up clashing with the Silver Surfer who is protecting the device. The Surfer fights back reluctantly since the heroes had previously saved his life.[6] Observing this battle from his base, Doctor Doom assumes that his old enemies are going to lose and launches some of his missiles. Miraculously, the Fantastic Four win when Reed Richards uses a siphoning device on the Surfer and channels the power into the Human Torch, giving him enough of a power boost to destroy the converter. Although they won, Reed becomes aware of the incoming missiles and tells Sue to erect a force field. Tragically, the Invisible Woman is too exhausted after their fight and the Fantastic Four brace themselves for their impending doom. After the missiles strike, the Silver Surfer emerges from the smoking crater unscathed. Seeing the heroes sacrifice their lives, he questions why they would continue to fight in the face of impossible odds.
Soon, the Hulk arrives in the Antarctic where he is joined by the Vision, Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch. The android is able to convince the simple minded Hulk that they are allies and the head off together to find the conversion machine that landed in the region.
While high above Los Angeles, SHIELD tries to stop Plasma from planting her device. Scores of agents are killed in the process and the helicarrier is severely damaged. Wounded in the fight, Nick Fury orders everyone to abandon ship. However, Countessa Valentina de la Fontaine refuse to leave Nick’s side and they are together when the SHIELD helicarrier crashes into the mountains and explodes. This entire conflict is witnessed by the Silver Surfer who continues to contemplate the human’s continued resistance.
The Surfer then heads to Antarctica and witnesses Vision’s team find Firelord planting the planet converter. In the ensuing battle the Hulk takes the brunt of Firelord’s attacks until the Vision is able to relinquish the Herald’s cosmic staff. After the Hulk knocks Firelord out, while the Vision uses the cosmic staff to destroy the converter. Gravely injured, the Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner who tells the Avengers that they can’t beat Galactus this way and asks to be brought back to Avengers Mansion.
Lastly, in Hong Kong, Captain America leads Hawkeye and Iron Man against Terrax. When Hawkeye tries shooting an enchanted arrow at the Herald, it is reflected back at him and Clint is instantly incinerated. The Wasp is the next to fall when she dives into the path of a cosmic blast meant for Thor. The thunder god response by throwing Mjolnir at Terrax, striking him with enough force to send him flying into the device and destroying it. The Silver Surfer has also observed this and decides to follow the Avengers back to New York for the final confrontation with Galactus.
Back at the Latverian embassy, Doctor Doom tries to launch more missiles from Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Unfortunately, the ICBM’s malfunction and detonate on the spot, ruining Doom’s plans.
By this time, Galactus has arrived in New York City, and the surviving Avengers are ready for him. However, a battle is beneath the world devourer who dispatches his last Herald, Air-Walker, to deal with them. Blasting the heroes with his cosmic power, Air-Walker informs Captain America and the others that their efforts are futile as the planetary converters they tried to destroy have already been replaced and the world will be consumed by his master.
The injured Avengers regroup at the mansion with Doctor Doom and listen to Bruce Banner’s plan. He figures that if they can’t stop Galactus from consuming their world they can at least prevent him from threatening other worlds by killing him off. To do so, Banner comes up with a means for them to breach the gamma core and rip the tear in time and space within wide open. It will destroy the entire planet, but it should also take down Galactus as well. After completing his explanation, Banner then dies. Seeing this as absolute lunacy, Doom decides to risk another time jump in order to try and stop this disaster a third time.
Meanwhile, the Avengers head to the gamma core but Thor is beginning to succumb to his injuries. They are soon joined by the Silver Surfer who has decided to fight for the cause of humanity. He uses his Power Cosmic to heal Thor. With the thunder god back on his feet they combine the power of Mjolnir, Iron Man’s repulsors, and the Surfer’s Power Cosmic to breach the barrier. Their gambit pays off and the breach not only wipes out the planet Earth and Galactus, but the entire solar system. The only thing that survives this holocaust is Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, which now floats aimlessly in the empty void of space.
… This story continues in Iron Man (vol. 2) #12.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Galactus, Silver Surfer, Firelord, Plasma, Terrax, Air-Walker, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Valentina de la Fontaine), Doctor Doom, Hulk
Continuity Notes
This world pocket dimension was created by Franklin Richards following the events of Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1 in order to save the lives of the Fantastic Four and Avengers who sacrificed themselves to stop Onslaught. This world is populated by constructs that were created by Franklin. The only original characters here are Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, the Fantastic Four, and Doctor Doom. The evil Thor is a construct while the one fighting with the Avengers is the real deal. See Avengers (vol. 2) #1 and 9. The Thor construct sacrificed his life to stop Loki last issue.
Galactus has been a looming threat since Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #1 but hasn’t been making his way to the planet through the entire run of Heroes Reborn. In advance of his arrival, he has sent his Heralds the Silver Surer, Terrax, Air-Walker, Firelord, and Plasma in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #11.
Doctor Doom saw the Fantastic Four and Avengers fail to stop Galactus in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #12. It’s interesting to note that every time Doom goes back in time, events play out in a completely different fashion, there is no past version of Doctor Doom, and — at least as far as the Marvel Handbooks are concerned — no divergent realities are created by each time jump. Like with many things during the Heroes Reborn era, this is a massive plot hole that is never explained. See below for more details.
Here, the Scarlet Witch comments on the Enchantress’ claim that Wanda was her daughter, saying that it was all bullshit. The Enchantress first made this claim back in Avengers (vol. 2) #1.
The Vision has been out of commission since being heavily damaged in Avengers (vol. 2) #3. While incapacitated, Vision’s memories were used by Loki for his own mad schemes. However, when Loki was cut off from this information he made the Vision’s body explode, as seen in issue #9.
During the Surfer’s first visit to Earth in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #1, he was struck by a missile and crash landed on Earth. He then became a prisoner of Doctor Doom until the Fantastic Four rescued him as seen in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #4-6.
Heroes Reunited Reading Order
Avengers (vol. 2) #12 <— You Are Here
Time Travel in the Heroes Reborn Pocket Dimension
It’s later established in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4 that the events of Heroes Reborn don’t take place in an alternate reality, but in a pocket dimension created by Franklin Richards.
The issue of time travel in this pocket dimension has resulted in some poorly explained circumstances that have never been fully explained. For example, in Iron Man (vol. 2) #11, when Doctor Doom first uses the Time Platform he and Iron Man don’t get transported into the past on Counter-Earth (technically there isn’t any, it’s all fabricated) they end up in the past on Earth-616 seeing their past lives prior to the Onslaught incident.
In the Heroes Reunited story arc, Doctor Doom goes back in time a day each time the heroes fail to stop Galactus from consuming the Earth. Each trip back in time events play out differently with Galactus and his Heralds planting the massive planetary converters in different locations and fighting different groups of heroes. For example, in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #12 the Inhumans assist in trying to stop Galactus, but are not present in any of the other subsequent stories, while in Iron Man (vol. 2) #12, the Hulkbusters are involved. In Captain America (vol. 2) #12, Bucky is involved in the conflict when she was absent in the previous three parts.
As I’ve stated above, Marvel has not provided any kind of explanation. Handbook entries that recount these events usually gloss over them heavily. Further, a review of the index of alternate realities omits any possible divergent realities which is usually the norm when time travel is employed in the Marvel Multiverse.
My theory is that the way time travel works in Franklin’s pocket dimension is governed by the boy’s understanding of time travel and his imagination. At the time of this story Franklin is about 8 years old (per the Sliding Timescale) so his ability to understand how time travel works in the Marvel Universe would likely be very limited.
As such, given the ambigious nature of Counter-Earth, I presume that it operates on a linear timeline and that time traveling doesn’t actually work within the confines of that dimension. This is why when Doom and Iron Man tried to go back further than a year in time, they ended up in the past of Earth-616. This is because entire history on Counter-Earth — other than what the Avengers and Fantastic Four are experiencing in the moment — is entirely fabricated. “Time Travel” then doesn’t actually send the character back in time. Instead, Franklin merely resets the “plot” rolling back details and altering people’s memories and perceptions to make it seem like the time traveler went back in time and events just play out in a different way.
