Captain America (vol. 3) #18
Man Out of Time
Earth, the year 3007[1]
Korvac has used the cosmic power he stole from the present day in order to reshape his future. He has turned the planet Earth into his idea of utopia. Every human works like a cog in a machine and they are all ruled over by Korvac. Assisting him is a chosen adjudicate, the metal skinned Primax. Everything runs like clockwork with no dissention in the ranks. Or at least that’s what it seems, as a cloaked figure mills about the rank-and-file plotting to disrupt Korvac’s rule.
Elsewhere, Korvac has used his power to punish a trio of Badoon spies that he has found. He recalls how this race of aliens once transformed him into a cyborg years ago and made them their slave.[2] He decides a fitting punishment is to use his cosmic power to erase them all from existence.
As Korvac is holding a public address Captain America and an army of resistance fighters ambush him. Korvac uses his power to annihilate Captain America. However, despite their leader’s death, the resistance fighters still want to fight and encourage the others to rise up against their oppressors. Seeing the people reject his rule, Korvac uses his power to reset time back to his imposed status quo. The only people who remember the earlier uprising are Korvac, Primax and Captain America who has been banished elsewhere in the kingdom. When Primax asks why he continues to let Captain America live, Korvac explains how he wishes to utterly defeat Captain America and make him give up fighting for freedom.[3]
However, Captain America refuses to give up. Soon enough he is once again building up a resistance movement by holding secret rallies below the city. There, before the Statue of Liberty’s torch he gives a rousing speech about freedom. Korvac interrupts this speech and begins murdering his followers. When Captain America lunges into attack, he tries to fight off Korvac. However, the cosmic being reminds Cap that the only way he can be defeated is by killing him and plays on the shame Cap feels for killing the Red Skull earlier. This causes Cap to stop fighting and Korvac warns Captain America to give up his foolish fight as those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. He then uses his power to restart time again.
This time around, there is no resistance for months and on July 4th — the day the Earth was liberated from the Badoon — the are celebrations underway.[4] When a delegation of aliens deliver gifts to Korvac to celebrate this momentous occasion, it turns out that this is merely a Trojan horse attack planned by Captain America. Rather than fighting Korvac directly, Captain America uses the opportunity to try and reason with Primax, telling him to help them rise up against their master. He even asks Primax to tell his real name. As with past incidents, Korvac rewinds time once more to stop the insurrection. Retaining his knowledge of this encounter, Primax is left questioning his master.
3052
It has been quiet for over 45 years as Korva’s “utopia” continues its regular operations uninterrupted. By this time, Korvac has become to believe Captain America has given up on his attempts to liberate this world. However, when a slave ship arrives to drop off more workers it turns out to be another surprise attack launched by Captain America. Apparently, the hero had spent the past few decades rallying allies and support from alien worlds and they are now launching an all out assault on Earth to liberate the planet from Korvac’s yoke. Just as Captain America engages Korvac in battle, the god-like cyborg once again resets time.
3023
Captain America stages another revolt. This time, cargo crews dump supplies into the void of space to protest Korvac’s dominance. Time is reset.
3017
This time, Captain America forms a resistance to attack the machines Korvac’s slaves work on day-in-and-day-out grinding the entire planet to a halt. Furious over Captain America’s unending resistance, Korvac decides that enough is enough and that it is time for Captain America to die. In the ensuing clash, Korvac strips away the glove that contains Cap’s photonic weapon. However, before he can crush the Captain in his bare hands, Primax picks up the weapon and forms a sword that he uses to stab Korvac in the back. Korvac is shocked by this betrayal, but Captain America explains that as long as people are enslaved they will strive for freedom throwing Korvac’s taunt that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it back in his face.
Korvac finally admits defeat and promises to return Captain America back to the present at the moment where Korvac inherited his power from the Red Skull. However, he warns Cap that should he be defeated there he dooms this reality to being subjugated by the Badoon. Considering this for a moment, Captain America figures that the people in this era are better off as they will be able to liberate themselves with the right motivation. As Cap and Korvac head back in time, Primax tells Captain America his real name: Jaromel. However, as the timeline return to normal, Jaromel has decided to adopt a new name. Now calling himself Captain America and armed with Steve’s photonic shield, he now leads a band of resistance fighters against the Badoon.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Korvac, Badoon
Continuity Notes
This future takes place in a divergent version of Earth-691, the timeline of the original Guardians of the Galaxy (per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005 #1). As of this writing (August, 2022), Marvel has yet to give this divergent reality a designation. The Unofficial Appendix to the Marvel Universe cites it as Earth-69901. However, this designation is not official and could be subject to change at a later date. Technically speaking, every time Korvac reset time it would have created a new divergent, but like these like the baseline variant reality have yet to be given designations.
The transformation of Michael Korvac into a cyborg was detailed in Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 and Thor Annual #6.
Korvac also explains how he stole the power of the Cosmic Cube from present day Red Skull to create this “utopia” for himself in the future. Which happened in Captain America (vol. 3) #14-17.
On the mainline Earth-691, the Earth was conquered by the Badoon until the planet was liberated by the Guardians of the Galaxy. See Marvel Super-Heroes #18, Marvel Two-in-One #5, Giant-Size Defenders #5, Defenders #26-27 and Marvel Presents #3.
Topical References
Here, Korvac states that the present day is in the year 1999. This should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication.
The Life Story of Cap’s Shield
An essay on the history of Captain America’s trademark weapon. It recounts the weapon’s creation and how Captain America recently lost it at sea. After trying to get by with replacement shields, the original was found however it shattered at the touch. Now Tony Stark is trying to find out why the supposedly indestructible weapon fell apart.
Continuity Notes
This essay states that Captain America’s shield was created by Doctor Myron MacLean who was able to fuse Vibranium and Adamantium into a nearly indestructible disc. This weapon was then given to Captain America shortly after he started his career by President Roosevelt. See Captain America #303 and 255. However, as of this writing (August, 2022) Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1-5 is in the process of telling the secret origin of Cap’s shield which could possibly throw this established origin into question.
Captain America carried this circular shield almost consistently since 1941, first seen in Captain America Comics #2. More recently, the shield was lost at sea during a fight with Hydra in Captain America (vol. 3) #2.
The shield was recovered and discovered to be brittle in Captain America (vol. 3) #13. Tony Stark has been analyzing it ever since.
In issue #21 it is revealed that when the shield was damaged by Doctor Doom — who had stolen the power of the Beyonder — Captain America was able to repair it through sheer will power, as seen in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #11-12. However, a single atom was imperfectly reassembled causing it to become brittle over time leading to its current situation. It will be restored to normal in Captain America (vol. 3) #22.
