Chapter Summaries

He-El traveled by convoy from Afghanistan toward New Mexico, explaining to Nick Fury that he had arranged overwhelming protection for the journey. He revealed that he came from a parallel universe and was an alien, a superpowered person, and an Earthling who had fought to protect Earth; when Fury asked what He-El sought in New Mexico, He-El answered, “God.”

• Nick Fury questioned why He-El was driving to New Mexico instead of flying, and He-El said he considered air travel unsafe.
• He-El explained that he had paid local warlords for passage and backed the convoy with thousands of mercenaries and military aircraft.
• Nick Fury challenged He-El over taking up his time, and He-El argued that Fury had reason to keep watch on him.
• He-El told Nick Fury that he came from another universe and had fought to protect Earth as an alien, a superpowered person, and an Earthling.
• Nick Fury asked whether He-El’s trip concerned something his agency had discovered, and He-El confirmed it before saying he was going to find God.

Nick Fury and He-El reached the SHIELD research camp around the mysterious hammer in New Mexico as a storm gathered. Fury learned the hammer could not be lifted, while He-El stayed above the crater and identified it as Thor’s Mjolnir.

• Nick Fury arrived in New Mexico with He-El after an eighty-hour journey and surveyed the camp surrounding the hammer.
• Maria Hill told Nick Fury that the object interfered with signals and could not be moved, though tests had found no immediate danger to people.
• He-El spotted someone slipping into the base and stayed at the crater’s edge as his mercenaries built him a tent against the approaching storm.
• Nick Fury returned from the camp to He-El and asked what the object was.
• He-El told Nick Fury that it was Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir.

Nick Fury and He-El watched a powerful intruder fight his way through the agents toward Mjolnir. The intruder failed to lift the hammer and ended the night kneeling in the mud, devastated.

• Nick Fury questioned what Mjolnir was and feared it might be an alien device meant to target Earth.
• He-El explained that lifting Mjolnir would grant its wielder Thor’s power.
• A powerful man broke through the base’s defenses and headed toward Mjolnir as thunder and rain struck.
• He-El stopped Nick Fury from ordering an attack, and Fury told the agents to stand down and observe.
• The intruder touched Mjolnir and strained to lift it, but the hammer did not move.
• The intruder fell to his knees in the mud, looking utterly dejected.

Nick Fury questioned Thor about why he could not lift Mjolnir, while Thor reflected on the failures that had cost him the hammer’s recognition. When He-El declined to test himself, Mjolnir suddenly flew into his hand, leaving everyone shocked as unseen eyes seemed to turn toward him.

• Nick Fury and He-El found Thor kneeling in the mud, unable to lift Mjolnir and overcome with despair.
• Thor explained that only the worthy could lift the hammer and recalled Odin banishing him after his reckless attack on Jotunheim.
• Nick Fury had agents try to lift Mjolnir, then tested it himself, but none of them could move it.
• Nick Fury invited He-El to try, but He-El declined, saying he had little interest in the hammer.
• A bolt of lightning struck, and Mjolnir flew into He-El’s outstretched hand as Thor, Nick Fury, and the agents stared in shock.

He-El unexpectedly gained Mjolnir’s recognition, leaving Thor devastated and Nick Fury wary of his motives. He-El returned the hammer to its original spot, saying it should not be his.

• Thor watched Mjolnir fly into He-El’s hand after Thor had failed to lift it.
• Nick Fury recalled He-El’s recent actions and decided that the man holding Mjolnir should be watched carefully.
• The agents aimed their weapons at He-El as he approached Thor with Mjolnir.
• Thor began congratulating He-El on becoming Mjolnir’s new master.
• He-El placed Mjolnir back where it had been and said it should not be his.

He-El rejected Mjolnir and explained to Nick Fury that he had no need to become a god, though he stayed near the hammer because hostile divine gazes threatened him. As Nick Fury prepared for danger, Loki appeared before the despondent Thor.

• Agents pulled Thor away from Mjolnir, and Thor muttered that the hammer had chosen correctly.
• He-El explained that he had refused Mjolnir because he would not become an employee of Asgard, and he suspected Odin was watching him.
• Nick Fury tested Mjolnir, failed to lift it, and asked why He-El had stayed behind.
• He-El told Nick Fury that hostile divine gazes had focused on him and that Mjolnir could lend him power, so Nick Fury prepared for danger.
• Loki appeared before Thor as Thor sat listlessly in a white room.

Thor grieved over his exile and inability to lift Mjolnir when Loki visited and falsely told him that Odin was dead and Asgard had rejected him. Loki left Thor believing he had lost his family and home, then headed toward Mjolnir.

• Thor sat despondently in SHIELD custody after He-El had lifted Mjolnir from its place.
• Loki visited Thor, who asked whether trouble had come to Asgard and offered to explain himself to Odin.
• Loki told Thor that Odin had died, blaming his exile and the threat of war for his father's passing.
• Thor begged to return home, but Loki claimed the peace agreement and Frigga barred him from Asgard.
• Thor accepted the blame and thanked Loki, who left while concealing his satisfaction and walked toward Mjolnir.

Loki, newly claiming the title of King of the Gods, failed to lift Mjolnir and blamed He-El, the mortal who had wielded it. He attacked He-El with magic, but a bolt of lightning shattered the spell and drew He-El’s attention.

• Loki reflected on his rivalry with Thor and his desire to prove himself worthy of becoming King of the Gods.
• Loki saw He-El resting beside Mjolnir and dismissed the possibility that the human could challenge his claim to power.
• Loki tried and failed to lift Mjolnir, even after pulling with both hands.
• Loki changed into his Asgardian attire and fired a magical beam at He-El, accusing him of desecrating the gods.
• A bolt of lightning struck Loki’s scepter and destroyed the beam, setting off alarms as He-El opened his eyes.

Nick Fury and He-El tried to expose and attack the invisible Loki, who answered with a shockwave and survived the agents’ unstable energy weapons. Loki emerged from the flames beneath an energy shield and called them vermin.

• Nick Fury ordered Hawkeye to establish a perimeter around Mjolnir after the lightning briefly revealed Loki’s outline.
• Nick Fury ordered the agents to use electromagnetic detection while He-El challenged Loki to come out of hiding.
• Loki released a shockwave that knocked the agents down and forced He-El to brace against its impact.
• Nick Fury ordered the agents to fire their unstable energy weapons at Loki’s position, and some weapons exploded in their handlers’ hands.
• Loki stepped out from the energy flames protected by a shield and called the assembled agents and He-El “vermin.”

Loki revealed himself to Nick Fury, killed an agent, and offered to spare the others if He-El killed him. He-El identified Loki and answered with a lightning strike, leaving their confrontation about to begin.

• Nick Fury questioned Loki and ordered the agents to retreat while preparing stronger weapons.
• Loki seized an agent with an invisible hand and crushed him to death, warning that no one could escape him.
• Loki called himself the King of the Gods and offered to let everyone live if He-El killed him.
• Nick Fury suspected Loki was the evil god, and Loki’s reaction confirmed it.
• He-El faced Loki, told him to stay in the mortal world and dream of being King of the Gods, and summoned a bolt of lightning.

He-El used Mjolnir to strike Loki with precisely controlled lightning while Nick Fury evacuated the base and prepared defenses. Loki then transformed He-El into a horned, black-furred beast, leaving He-El unable to break the spell.

• He-El summoned a storm and struck Loki with lightning, disrupting his barrier and illusions.
• Nick Fury ordered the base evacuated, called for Quinjets and missiles, and arranged for Puente Antiguo residents to leave.
• He-El mocked Loki about Asgard and Odin, enraging him.
• Loki cast a spell that shrank and transformed He-El into a horned, black-furred beast.
• He-El tried to use Break Magic, but only bleating came out.

He-El used Mjolnir and lightning to trap Loki in an electromagnetic ring as Loki tried to flee. Heimdall’s Rainbow Bridge rescued Loki, but He-El launched him into Mjolnir just before he vanished.

• He-El resisted Loki’s transformation spell and escaped Loki’s swamp by using lightning to crystallize the ground.
• Loki abandoned magic and flew at He-El, but He-El sent Mjolnir circling around him to form an electromagnetic ring.
• He-El explained that the ring could accelerate Mjolnir like a railgun, while Loki’s energy beams failed to break through it.
• Loki tried to escape skyward, but He-El called down lightning that joined the ring and trapped him.
• Loki called for Heimdall, and the Rainbow Bridge descended to take him back to Asgard.
• He-El activated the electromagnetic ring and launched Loki into Mjolnir as the Rainbow Bridge carried him away.

Loki returned to Himinbjorg injured after He-El defeated him with Mjolnir, and Heimdall criticized him for attacking a mortal. Seething with humiliation and hatred, Loki rode back toward the palace while Thor’s companions asked Heimdall to send them to Midgard.

• Loki arrived at Himinbjorg through the Rainbow Bridge, badly hurt after He-El struck him with Mjolnir.
• Heimdall lifted Loki and rebuked him for attacking a mortal, while Loki angrily insisted Heimdall had no right to criticize him.
• Loki recalled how easily He-El had overwhelmed his magic and fled before Mjolnir could kill him.
• Loki limped to his white horse and rode toward the palace, vowing inwardly to hate the mortal who had shattered his royal dignity.
• Thor’s four companions asked Heimdall to let them go to Midgard to see Thor.

After He-El drove Loki away with the Rainbow Bridge, Nick Fury returned to the ruined base and discussed what to do about Thor and Asgard. He-El planned to go to New York to make weapons, while Nick Fury agreed to release Thor and see He-El there.

• Nick Fury turned his convoy back toward the base after the storm cleared, while agents kept Thor unconscious with a stun gun.
• Nick Fury found He-El alive among the ruins and learned that the Rainbow Bridge had taken Loki away.
• He-El urged Nick Fury to release Thor so Thor could stop Loki, and Nick Fury agreed to let Thor live in a small town as a human.
• Nick Fury asked where He-El planned to go, and He-El said he was going to New York to make his own weapons.

He-El traveled back to New York while building a tightly controlled artificial intelligence and preparing to arm himself with technology. He arrived to a massive public welcome and learned that the president had come to greet him, leaving him wondering why his donations and projects had prompted such an extraordinary reception.

• He-El left New Mexico without Nick Fury and continued his journey to New York as Fury returned ahead to contact Tony Stark and prepare the Avengers.
• He-El worked on a safe, controllable artificial intelligence, combining code from around the world with his own changes and hired programmers’ submissions.
• He-El’s convoy entered New York to cheers from crowds, including disabled people who hoped for help from the Medical Rebirth Project.
• News crews reported on He-El’s arrival and the medical initiative and jobs promised by his Super Technology Group.
• He-El stopped typing when he heard that the president had come to welcome him and wondered why his spending and projects had earned such a reception.

He-El arrived to a public welcome and addressed the Medical Rebirth Project and new clean energy initiative, promising affordable limb restoration and charitable work for those unable to pay. His commitments won enthusiastic public support and eased the concerns of powerful groups, leaving him free to move forward with backing from across Earth.

• Natasha Romanoff briefed He-El on the Super Technology Group’s plans, the Medical Rebirth Project’s partners, and pending cooperation documents as she escorted him through the crowd.
• He-El met General Ross and invited the general’s bioscientists to join the Medical Rebirth Project, while Ross hoped He-El might help with his Super Soldier Project.
• The president welcomed He-El, praised his contributions in a speech, and invited him to address the crowd.
• He-El explained that limb restoration would cost about an ordinary worker’s monthly salary and that people unable to pay could repay the cost by helping others through a charitable aid organization.
• The crowd responded with cheers and tears, and the interest groups around He-El felt reassured as his plans gained broad public support.

He-El secured the cooperation of New York’s powerful figures by offering them immortality and other benefits, then left the banquet and delegated the new conglomerate’s affairs. On the drive away, Arno reported that a five-man mercenary squad had been ambushed in Manhattan and the goods they bought for seven billion dollars had been stolen.

• He-El gathered medical leaders, politicians, and financial figures at a banquet and reassured them about their cooperation.
• He-El left the banquet and told Natasha to arrange representatives to manage the cooperative conglomerate.
• Natasha said she had prepared a team of more than a hundred representatives for He-El.
• Arno reported that his team had spent seven billion dollars on goods but had been ambushed in Manhattan, losing the shipment.

After a gang stole He-El’s seven-billion-dollar shipment in Manhattan, he learned that Kingpin was behind the city’s underworld and chose not to retaliate directly. He expected Kingpin to return the goods as he watched Iron Man land on Stark Tower.

• Arno reported that the shipment had been stolen, though none of the escort team had been seriously injured, and suspected someone had leaked their movements.
• He-El told Natasha to investigate Manhattan’s gangs, and she identified Wilson Grant Fisk, known as Kingpin, as the city’s underworld emperor.
• Arno offered to attack Kingpin, but He-El said he would handle the matter through civilized means and told Arno to wait for the goods to be returned.
• Natasha pointed out Stark Tower as Iron Man flew through the night and landed on its helipad.

Tony Stark reflected on how He-El had changed his path as news celebrated He-El and compared him favorably to Iron Man. After Obadiah Stane escaped with the Iron Monger, Tony had failed to find him and had turned his attention elsewhere.

• Tony Stark watched reports praising He-El, who had returned from the western highway and spoken with the president.
• Tony Stark recalled surviving the desert, shutting down Stark Industries’ weapons division, building the Iron Man armor, and becoming famous after destroying weapons and protecting civilians.
• Tony Stark investigated Stark Industries’ weapons sales, discovered Obadiah Stane’s emails with terrorists, and arrested him before he could obtain the miniature Ark reactor.
• Obadiah Stane used his wealth and connections to arrange a prison break, returned to Stark Industries, took the energy-deficient Iron Monger, and fled to a third-world country.
• Tony Stark searched for Obadiah Stane in war-torn nations using satellites but failed to find him and stopped paying much attention to him.

Tony Stark, convinced that neither he nor He-El could cure his palladium poisoning, gave in to despair and threw himself into an unruly final birthday party. After Rhodey left in Tony’s prototype armor, Tony flew to Super Technology Group, drawn by the building’s lights.

• Tony watched news about He-El’s Medical Rebirth Project, concluded it could not cure his palladium poisoning, and prepared to attend his final birthday party.
• Tony turned the party into a drunken spectacle, kept it going in his Iron Man armor, and accidentally blasted the entrance glass.
• Pepper Potts tried to end the party, but Tony seized her microphone and announced another round before the guests cheered him on.
• Rhodey arrived, saw Tony’s reckless behavior, put on the silver-white prototype armor, cleared out the guests, and fought Tony.
• Rhodey left in the prototype armor, and Tony flew through New York before noticing lights in He-El’s Super Technology Group building and heading toward it.