Captain America (vol. 3) #17
Extreme Prejudice
The Red Skull has been reborn into the personification of the Cosmic Cube. Although his power can only affect things in his immediate vicinity, the approach of Galactus’ original ship will soon give the Nazi access to absolute knowledge which will unlock the full potential of his powers. The Watcher has charged Captain America with the task of stopping the Skull before it is too late. However, things have taken a turn when the Red Skull uses his power to strip Steve Rogers of the Super-Soldier Serum that makes him Captain America.[1]
Sharon Carter insists that they have to go through the Watcher’s plan to kill the Red Skull before it is too late. However, Steve refuses to resort to that, regardless of how bleak things are looking. He asks Sharon to have to back him up for the next play. Sharon agrees, but having stolen a high tech weapon from Galatcus’ ship, she intends to do what Steve will not.
Despite the fact that he has been stripped of his powers, Captain America attacks the Red Skull, who was too busy reveling in his power to see the attack coming. He easily trounces both Cap and Sharon. The Skull then realizes that it was a mistake to strip his enemy of his power and decides that he can only achieve a worthwhile victory is if Captain America is at his fighting best.
The two then engage in hand-to-hand combat, but with the power of the Cosmic Cube, the Red Skull is more than a match against Captain America. Seeing Steve getting trounced again, prompts Sharon to try and take her shot. The Skull sees this coming a mile away and uses his power to redirect the blast from the alien weapon back at her. Seeing Sharon go down fills Captain America with anger which the Watcher prods at, telling the hero that the only way to win is by killing the Skull. At that moment, the alien ship arrives in Earth orbit prompting the Red Skull to begin remotely downloading all its data. As he revels in his increasing power, Steve realizes that he has no choice. Converting his photonic shield into a bladed weapon he sneaks up behind the Red Skull and stabs him through the heart, killing him.
This causes the energies of the Cosmic Cube inside his body to begin erupting out of the Red Skull’s body. Shockingly, the “Watcher” begins absorbing the power as well as the knowledge from Galactus’ ship and drops his disguise. Revealing that he was posing both as the Watcher and Kang the Conqueror, the entity reveals that he is actually Korvac. Once more achieving ultimate power, the cyborg reveals his plan is to return to his future timeline and rule over the universe. As he disappears through a time portal, Sharon tries to stop Steve from following after him since stopping Korvac is too much for him to handle. Shoving Sharon out of the way, Captain America leaps into the portal after Korvac moments before it closes.[2][3]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Red Skull, Sharon Carter, Korvac
Continuity Notes
Lots going on off the top. So lets get into the details:
The Red Skull’s Cosmic Cube form was created when he was incinerated by an exploding Cosmic Cube circa Captain America #448. His disembodied shadow was infused with the Cube’s energy allowing him to reform his own body with the Cube inside it in Captain America (vol. 3) #14.
This ship coming to Earth is the one that Galan traveled through the Big Bang in prior to his becoming Galactus. First seen in Thor #169.
The entity posing as the Watcher is really Korvac in disguise, as we’ll discover at the end of this issue.
The Red Skull stripped Cap of his Super-Soldier Serum last issue. Steve first received the serum way back in Captain America Comics #1, obviously.
Captain America will go into the future of the 31st Century next issue. Marvel has not officially given this reality a unique designation. It is a divergent version of Korvac’s native reality of Earth-691. The Unofficial Appendix to the Marvel Universe has given this timeline a designation of Earth-69901, but this has not been given officiality as of this writing (August, 2022) and could be subject to change at a later date.
In issue #19, Captain America will return to the present day and prevent himself from killing the Red Skull, thus making the final moments of this story as happening in a divergent reality. As of this writing, Marvel has yet to assign a reality number to it.
½ Man, ½ Desk: The Life and Times of Korvac
A feature the details the history of Korvac. It details his transformation into a cyborg by the Badoon in the 31st Century. How he had been selected to fight the Defenders and Thor in the past. How he achieved god-like powers and attempted to create universal peace until he was opposed by the Avengers who misunderstood his intentions. At that time Korvac committed suicide but sent his power into the future through his genetics so that when he is born in the future he will have his power at birth. This was opposed by the Guardians of the Galaxy and other heroes across time and space. This led to his most recent resurrection and involvement with stealing the Cosmic Cube powers from the Red Skull.
Continuity Notes
Korvac’s transformation from a human slave into a cyborg working for the Badoon was chronicled in Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 and Thor Annual #6.
His battle with the Defenders took place in Giant-Size Defenders #3, while his battle with Thor took place in Thor Annual #6.
Korvac obtained his godlike powers and fought the Avengers during the Korvac Saga which was chronicled in Avengers #167-177. His soul was seen going into the afterlife in the epilogue of the Korvac Saga trade paperback.
After physically committing suicide, Korvac sent his godlike power through his family line during the Korvac Quest story arc chronicled in Fantastic Four Annual #24, Thor Annual #16, Silver Surfer Annual #4, and Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #2, Korvac’s allies “resurrected” him in a sense by creating a robotic version of Michael imprinted with all his memories. This version of Korvac was destroyed by the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ally the Phoenix.
This latest incarnation of Korvac has been manipulating the Red Skull since Captain America (vol. 3) #1. To date, how Korvac managed to cheat death has not been explained. Even his most recent profile (time of writing) in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6 doesn’t provide any insight on how he survived. He just does and does it really matter?
