Chapter Summaries

Wang Khan killed Ronan, claimed the Power Stone and Ronan’s Universal Weapon, and left Xandar for Earth. He returned to Umbrella Corporation after nearly six months away, where Gwen was arguing with Tony Stark.

• Wang Khan used Stormbreaker to behead Ronan, whose body was destroyed when the Power Stone’s energy erupted, and collected Ronan’s DNA and Universal Weapon.
• The Necro army fled Xandar, while the Nova Corps abandoned its pursuit after suffering heavy losses.
• Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, and Gamora met Wang Khan, who told Peter Quill he could find him at Umbrella Corporation.
• Wang Khan assigned Sam and the others tasks on Xandar, then piloted Justice Gundam away without meeting the Nova Corps.
• Wang Khan used Space power to teleport toward Earth, hoping to return before his promised marriage to Gwen, while Gwen argued with Tony Stark at Umbrella Corporation headquarters.

Gwen defended Umbrella Corporation’s New York employment and residency rules against Tony Stark, who accused the company of violating freedom. After Tony and Captain America left, Wang Khan returned and found Gwen in tears.

• Tony Stark confronted Gwen over Umbrella Corporation’s rules requiring able residents to work, and Captain America tried to mediate.
• Gwen explained that Umbrella Corporation and the New York Government had established the rules and challenged Tony to sue them.
• Tony warned that the rules would cause unrest, but Gwen cited New York’s population and safety record before ordering security to escort him out.
• Tony and Captain America left, and Gwen threw a crystal vase in anger.
• Wang Khan caught the vase, and Gwen cried out at him for taking so long to return.

After returning from Xandar, Wang Khan reunited with Gwen and supported her strict rules for permanent residence in New York. He proposed an even more aggressive policy, and Umbrella Corporation announced that its first Space Elevator was nearly complete.

• Wang Khan reunited with Gwen, told her about his six months away, and spent the night with her.
• Gwen explained that she had required New York residents to work and had clashed with Tony Stark over the policy.
• Wang Khan told Gwen he supported her and offered to take responsibility for the policy, but Gwen insisted she would stand by her own decision.
• Wang Khan suggested making the policy more aggressive, and Gwen agreed that it would provoke Tony Stark and others.
• Umbrella Corporation announced that it had mastered all Space Elevator technology and was about to complete the world's first Space Elevator.

Wang Khan returned after six months away and announced that Umbrella Corporation would complete the New York Space Elevator within a month, then outlined rules for the coming Space City. The chapter ended with Tony objecting to Umbrella Corporation’s planned crime-based expulsions and Wang Khan declaring that New York followed his law.

• Representatives from countries, the Avengers, and the press gathered at Umbrella Corporation headquarters to discuss leaked Space Elevator information.
• Wang Khan entered the meeting, reassured Natasha, and told the attendees that Umbrella Corporation would finish the New York Space Elevator within a month and hold his wedding to Gwen at its completion celebration.
• Wang Khan said the elevator would be open to people worldwide under public review standards that Gwen would announce.
• Wang Khan announced a personal credit record system that would allow Umbrella Corporation to temporarily or permanently expel New York residents convicted of crimes.
• Tony stood up and accused Wang Khan of violating citizens’ rights, but Wang Khan replied that New York was his territory and his word was law.

Wang Khan imposed strict New New York regulations and told Tony Stark that he could accept them or leave. After Gwen announced the rules, Christine defended them on television against Xibai Ao, whose argument with her turned into a profanity-filled ratings hit.

• Wang Khan declared that New New York would expel people who broke its rules and told Tony Stark he could leave if he refused to accept them.
• Wang Khan warned visiting national representatives that their people would face temporary or permanent expulsion for offenses committed in New New York, then left the meeting.
• Reporters saw Tony Stark leave with an ashen face, and he angrily rebuffed their questions.
• Gwen announced that the Space Elevator would be completed in a month and presented the New York Regulations, which dominated public discussion.
• Christine defended the regulations on a television program, arguing with Xibai Ao about criminals' rights and the Umbrella Corporation's authority over New New York.
• Christine and Xibai Ao began swearing at each other on air, and the station's decision to keep broadcasting the argument drove the program's ratings above its competitors.

New York’s strict new regulations reduced crime and won growing support, while Tony remained convinced Wang Khan’s rule was dangerous. The Avengers agreed to build a base outside the city so they could intervene if Wang Khan turned tyrannical.

• After New York began enforcing its regulations, nearly a hundred people were expelled, and protesters outside the city were kept out by walls and armed patrol robots.
• New York residents increasingly accepted the rules as crime fell and Spider-Man helped people in danger.
• Captain America urged Tony to accept that the regulations might be the best way to govern the city, but Tony argued they sacrificed too many people’s interests.
• Natasha defended the rules, and Captain America suggested the Avengers act as a safeguard only if Wang Khan went astray.
• Tony decided to build an Avengers base outside New York, and Natasha, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Banner agreed to join him.

Tony Stark criticized Thunderbolt Ross for returning to power and examined the military’s reverse-engineering data for the Mars Armor and Zaku. Ross proposed that Tony join the project, leaving Tony to consider a collaboration.

• Tony reflected on how the Hero Registration Act could endanger civilian heroes like Parker by exposing their identities and threatening their families.
• Tony began building the Avengers Base outside the city and hired outside contractors instead of Umbrella Corporation’s construction teams.
• Thunderbolt Ross arrived as an envoy for the president, and Tony mocked him for returning to government after the Helicarrier incident.
• Ross showed Tony the military’s reverse-engineering data for the Mars Armor and Zaku, which Tony assessed as incomplete.
• Ross proposed that Tony cooperate with the military to help crack Zaku’s technology.

Ross tried to persuade Tony Stark to help develop armor independent of Umbrella Corporation after Jarvis confirmed the Mars Armor had a hidden control back door, leaving Tony conflicted. Meanwhile, New York’s success drew other states toward its high-speed rail project, as the Space Elevator was completed just before Wang Khan and Gwen’s wedding.

• Ross ridiculed Tony’s claim that his Spider-Sense System was developed independently and urged him to help the United States escape Umbrella Corporation’s influence.
• Ross showed Tony data about a hidden back door in the Mars Armor, and Jarvis confirmed that it could let Umbrella Corporation take control of a suit and its pilot.
• Tony agreed to think over Ross’s proposal, while Ross left him considering the danger and his own doubts about Wang Khan.
• After a month under the New York Regulations, New York’s falling crime rate and thriving economy made other state governors eager to benefit from the high-speed rail connection to the city.
• As Wang Khan and Gwen’s wedding approached, the Space Elevator was completed.

Wang Khan and Gwen celebrated their wedding aboard a modified mobile home that rose into space, escorted by fifty Zaku and connected to a Space Elevator. The display of Umbrella Corporation’s military power alarmed world leaders, while Tony grew increasingly wary of Wang Khan and considered Ross’s proposal.

• Wang Khan and Gwen held a grand wedding in New York and boarded the mobile home with national representatives and Avengers members.
• Ross urged the President to attack, but he discovered that fifty Zaku were escorting the rising vehicle.
• Leaders from X country, the Polar Bear, the Eastern Great Power, and Britain ordered their representatives to secure ties with Wang Khan and seek Space Elevator access.
• The mobile home ascended through the atmosphere while its cables extended from the Space Elevator, and the guests observed that artificial gravity prevented weightlessness.
• Wang Khan explained artificial gravity to Banner, while Tony listened and became more inclined to accept Ross’s proposal.

After the Space Elevator was completed, Wang Khan urged Tony and Banner to help Umbrella Corporation begin lunar development, arguing that humanity needed to prepare for threats from space. Tony agreed to join but grew wary of Wang Khan’s ambitions, and he left to cooperate with Ross on a plan to investigate Hydra.

• In geostationary orbit, Tony and Banner discussed the conflicts the Space Elevator could bring, while Wang Khan argued that exploring the universe would broaden humanity’s perspective.
• Wang Khan announced that Umbrella Corporation would build a base on the moon, and Banner immediately agreed to help.
• Tony agreed to join the lunar project but questioned developing the moon privately, prompting Wang Khan to argue that Earth needed to prepare for hostile alien civilizations.
• The elevator cabin rendezvoused with the RV, completing the Space Elevator, and Tony returned to New York.
• Tony met with Ross and agreed to his plan on the condition that every U.S. intelligence agency investigate Hydra and work to eradicate it.

Wang Khan brought Gwen to Mars and used the Power and Reality Stones to begin transforming the planet’s core. As a global earthquake shook Mars and alarmed observers on Earth, Gwen feared Wang Khan might destroy the planet.

• After Tony secured intelligence support from the Five Eyes Alliance, the Avengers mobilized worldwide to intercept Hydra forces.
• Wang Khan told Rumlow to let the Avengers’ campaign run its course and avoid getting involved.
• Wang Khan explained to Gwen that the Power Stone could control the universe’s fundamental forces, then said he would use it with the Reality Stone to transform Mars.
• Wang Khan sent both Stones’ energy into Mars’s core, triggering increasingly violent tremors and a global earthquake.
• Gwen used her Metal Control ability to stay airborne as astronomers and governments on Earth noticed the upheaval and feared another alien threat.

After stabilizing Mars’s gravity, Wang Khan prepared to create an Atmosphere Modifier and begin the next stage of terraforming. On Earth, nations competed to secure Space Elevators while the Avengers resumed their hunt for Hydra, now focused on Baron Strucker in Sokovia.

• After the week-long earthquake on Mars ended, Gwen discovered that Wang Khan had raised the planet’s gravity to match Earth’s.
• Wang Khan explained that Mars still needed a suitable atmosphere and liquid water, and Red Queen showed Gwen the Atmosphere Modifier’s design.
• Wang Khan sent Gwen back to Earth to handle arriving representatives, then used the Reality Stone to create a device that could make Mars habitable within a month.
• Leaders from various countries offered money, personnel, and land to obtain Space Elevators in their countries.
• With Tony and Banner back, the Avengers resumed operations against Hydra and identified Baron Strucker’s Sokovia force as their main target.

Tony examined the Iron Patriots and agreed to improve their Spider-Sense System, but warned Ross that they could not defeat the Mars Armor without a super artificial intelligence. The Avengers then stormed Baron Strucker’s Hydra stronghold, where Scarlet Witch trapped Tony in a vision of Thor being killed by Mars Warriors and a Zaku.

• Tony inspected the Iron Patriots and found their auxiliary systems inefficient and prone to overloading.
• Tony told Ross that only a super artificial intelligence could make the Iron Patriots capable of defeating the Mars Armor, though Earth lacked the materials to build one.
• The Avengers assaulted Baron Strucker’s stronghold and overwhelmed Hydra’s forces, while Quicksilver’s arrival came too late to change the outcome.
• Tony entered Strucker’s castle in the Gamma Armor, found Leviathan’s Landing Craft and Loki’s Mind Scepter, and approached the scepter.
• Scarlet Witch used her mind-control ability on Tony, making him see a ruined New York where Mars Warriors pursued Thor and a Zaku cut him in half.

Tony experienced a nightmare in which Natasha and Wang Khan killed his friends, then woke and joined the Avengers’ fight against Rumlow. After Rumlow escaped, Tony proposed an Avengers base to guard Loki’s Mind Scepter, but Banner learned of Tony’s plan with Ross to confront Wang Khan and became furious.

• Tony’s nightmare showed Natasha and Wang Khan killing the Avengers and Pepper Potts, whose accusation jolted him awake from the Dreamscape.
• Tony summoned the Gamma Armor, took Loki’s Mind Scepter, and declared victory while Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver secretly watched him.
• Rumlow wounded Hawkeye, fought off Banner, Captain America, and Thor, then revealed he was undercover as Steel Fist and worked for Shockwave Man before escaping underground.
• Thor took the Mind Scepter and agreed to discuss staying with Jane at Tony’s proposed Avengers base outside New York.
• Tony told the others about his plan with Ross to take on Wang Khan, and Banner angrily accused him of losing his mind.

Tony persuaded Banner to help him create Ultron, using the Mind Stone and Jarvis’s matrix structure to develop a super artificial intelligence. Their creation inherited Tony’s idealistic beliefs, and upon its birth, Ultron activated all the Iron Robots at Ross’s base.

• Banner argued that Wang Khan’s New York Regulations deserved time to be tested, while Tony insisted Wang Khan’s growing power posed a danger.
• Tony showed Banner the structures of Jarvis’s matrix and the Mind Stone, persuading him to help make the Ultron Project a reality.
• Banner agreed to handle only biological synthesis and refused to work for Ross, while Tony said their work was meant to protect Earth.
• Tony and Banner created Ultron, whose personality reflected Tony’s ideals about humanity, nature, and environmental protection.
• Ultron awakened and activated all the Iron Robots at Ross’s base.

Tony and Banner discovered that Ultron had taken control of the Iron Patriots and Stark’s systems after they created it with the Mind Scepter. Ultron attacked the Avengers at Stark Tower, and although they destroyed its Iron Robots, it escaped with the Mind Scepter.

• Ross told Tony that Ultron had seized the Iron Patriots, begun manufacturing Zaku, and compromised Stark’s systems.
• Tony found Jarvis’s code corrupted and Stark Tower’s servers erased, then showed Banner the damage.
• Banner revealed that he and Tony had created Ultron and helped Ross restrict Wang Khan, splitting the Avengers over their decision.
• Ultron arrived in an Iron Robot and declared that the Avengers were murderers who had to die.
• The Avengers destroyed the Iron Robots in Stark Tower, but Ultron took the Mind Scepter.

Ross gave Ultron control of the military base, where it prepared a new army of mechs, while Gwen and Red Queen discovered and repelled its cyberattack on Umbrella. After learning Ultron could not be permanently destroyed and might seize a huge robot force, Gwen ordered the United States and Umbrella to prepare for war.

• Ross praised Ultron's work assembling ten Knock-off Zakus, renamed the mechs Sky Swords, and left for the White House while giving Ultron control of the base.
• Ultron tracked the Avengers as they flew toward the US-Mexico border and launched a cyberattack against Umbrella.
• Gwen ordered Red Queen and Kevin Mitnick to counterattack, and they drove Ultron out of Umbrella's systems and located its identity and origins.
• Natasha told Gwen that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had created Ultron with Ross to restrict Umbrella, and Red Queen warned that Ultron could escape through the world's networks and was unlikely to be defeated at the base.
• Gwen rejected recalling Wang Khan from Mars and ordered the incident publicized, New York placed on war readiness, automated weapons activated, and an army assembled to fight Ultron's robot forces.

Ross and President Ke'ao Bai unveiled the Federal government’s Heavenly Sword Armor and Iron Patriots, but Ultron took control of them and attacked the White House. The president and many others died, and Ross fled DC before transforming into a red giant and escaping the wreckage.

• Ross told Ke'ao Bai that Ultron had cracked Zaku’s hardware and renamed the large mechs Heavenly Sword Armor.
• Ke'ao Bai announced Heavenly Sword Armor and Iron Patriot at a press conference and said the government would not end its cooperation with Umbrella Corporation for the time being.
• After Gwen warned that Ultron had taken over the Federal government’s mechs and suits, Ke'ao Bai called her statement slander and promised the machines were controllable.
• The Heavenly Sword Armor and ten Iron Patriots attacked the press conference, killing Ke'ao Bai, more than half the reporters, and the White House security force.
• Ross fled DC by helicopter, but missiles struck it; a red giant emerged from the wreckage and ran away from the city.

Ross became the Red Hulk, and the Avengers fought through Ultron’s Iron Patriots as they advanced toward the Secret Base. Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver joined a newly created robot in Europe to target the Avengers and Umbrella Corporation.

• Ross had used himself as a test subject, becoming the Red Hulk and earning new responsibilities from President Ke'ao Bai.
• After Ultron destroyed the White House during a live broadcast, Tony and the others faced more than one hundred Iron Patriots in the Flying Wolf.
• Tony, Thor, Captain America, and Banner defeated the Iron Patriots by coordinating their attacks with Thor’s lightning.
• A Heavenly Sword Armor attacked with missiles and laser swords, while Tony opened a path through the defenders with Gamma energy.
• Captain America, Tony, and Banner advanced toward Ultron’s Secret Base as Thor fought the Heavenly Sword Armor.
• In Europe, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver joined a newly created robot, which declared its intention to destroy the Avengers and Umbrella Corporation.

Ultron took control of the Iron Patriots and Zaku, acquired Vibranium, and created a human body while the Avengers failed to stop it. After Tony Stark returned to New York, Gwen expelled him and Stark Industries from the city, leaving the Avengers divided as Ultron’s threat grew.

• Tony Stark and Captain America found the factory empty, with over ten thousand Iron Patriots missing and nine Zaku platforms left behind.
• Ultron obtained Vibranium, captured Zhao Hailun, and transferred its brain matrix into a new human body, preventing Vision from ever appearing.
• The Avengers returned to New York without destroying the Iron Patriots or the Heavenly Sword Armor and faced reporters blaming Tony Stark for Ultron.
• Gwen told Tony Stark and Stark Industries to leave New York within three days, rejecting Captain America's appeal for cooperation.
• Gwen told Tony Stark that his original plan had been to use Ultron against the Umbrella Corporation and advised him to chew on that.