Chapter Summaries

At Kamar-Taj, Strange watched Banner while the defenders prepared to draw Kang’s attack and buy roughly seventy-two hours. In Banner’s inner world, Banner and Hulk confronted their fears and reconciled, leaving Hulk willing to fight alongside Banner against Kang.

• Strange watched the sleeping Banner at Kamar-Taj as the defenders prepared to expose their sanctuary to Kang and his Cosmic Cube.
• Banner argued with Hulk, insisting that the world needed Hulk, while Hulk said nobody liked him and that he wanted to disappear.
• After Hulk pelted Banner with boulders, Banner approached him and apologized for being afraid of him.
• Banner recalled their abusive childhood and explained that he had feared Hulk came from the cruelty of their father; Hulk comforted him and said Banner would never become like that.
• Banner told Hulk that children saw him as a hero and that the world needed his strength to fight Kang.
• Hulk admitted that he needed Banner, and Banner said he needed Hulk to smash their enemies.

Peter Parker unveiled the New Fantastic Four to draw Kang’s attention, but Kang prioritized Strange and left the new team for S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate. Magneto accepted Kang’s demand for twenty thousand mutants, then left hoping other powers would move against Kang first.

• Peter Parker introduced Spider-Man, Wolverine Logan, Ghost Rider Johnny, and Hulk as the New Fantastic Four at the Baxter Building.
• J. Jonah Jameson asked who the team members were, while Kang wondered about the identities of Spider-Man and Ghost Rider.
• Kang told Magneto that twenty thousand mutants was his minimum and refused to grant mutants special privileges.
• Kang learned that Strange had appeared and assigned S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate the New Fantastic Four while he focused on the Sorcerer Supreme.
• Magneto left Kang’s flagship, resolved that the mutants should not charge first, and hoped Charles had a plan to resist Kang.

Peter, Franklin, and the New Fantastic Four searched for clues to where Kang had sent the Fantastic Four and X-Men, then considered striking Kang in the 31st Century. The group identified Wade as a possible candidate for the mission, but learned he was still an ordinary man in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

• Peter and Franklin reasoned that Kang must have sent the Fantastic Four to a time and place where they could not escape or build a way home.
• Hulk suggested Kang could use an army that kept the Fantastic Four too occupied to return, and Peter guessed the X-Men had been sent to Ancient Egypt under Apocalypse's control.
• Peter proposed leaving a message in ancient rocks or fossils, but Franklin and Johnny questioned how such a message could survive and reach them.
• Logan suggested attacking Kang in the 31st Century, and Franklin listed the qualities needed for someone to carry out the mission.
• Peter and Logan considered Wade for the task, but Logan said Wade was being held by S.H.I.E.L.D. and did not want his life to change.

Peter hesitated to involve Gwen in the resistance against Kang, but after Gwen revealed how afraid she was of losing him, he asked Ghost Rider to restore her memories. Gwen remembered that Peter was Spider-Man and agreed to help him on one condition.

• Peter searched for a way to contact Deadpool and free him without S.H.I.E.L.D. discovering the resistance.
• Gwen visited Peter, praised his speech, and asked why he had formed the New Fantastic Four.
• Peter asked whether Gwen wanted to become a superhero, and she admitted she feared that he would die while helping people.
• Peter kissed Gwen, then summoned Ghost Rider to restore her memories.
• Gwen remembered Peter was Spider-Man, realized he needed her help, and agreed after asking him to kiss her.

Gwen trained to infiltrate Raft Prison without triggering its self-destruct system, then secretly delivered Deadpool’s teleportation belt. The chapter ended with Deadpool finding the belt and preparing to save the world.

• Peter explained Raft Prison’s layout and self-destruct protocol while Black Cat trained Gwen to plan an infiltration route.
• Cindy joined an S.H.I.E.L.D. mission to Raft Prison, where Gwen secretly followed her and took her access card.
• Cindy confided to Gwen that she wondered whether her relationship with Peter had grown from their connection or from the spider that brought them together.
• Gwen followed the planned route without triggering alarms, then hid Deadpool’s teleportation belt in his cell during recreation time.
• Wade Wilson found the belt and note, put on his outfit, and declared that Deadpool would save the world.

Cyclops and the other mutants learned that Ramatu was Kang and that his power could stop time, while Deadpool revealed Kang could not alter their past reality. Illyana said she could use magic to let one person move during stopped time, and Apocalypse vowed to crush the Pharaoh.

• The White Queen and Cyclops discussed En Sabah Nur's strength and questioned whether he could be persuaded to oppose Ramatu.
• Deadpool appeared, recognized Cyclops, and explained that Kang's Cosmic Cube could alter past history but not past reality.
• Cyclops and the others realized Kang had brought them to Ancient Egypt because they could reach the moment before he changed reality.
• Apocalypse warned the mutants that Ramatu could control time and freeze them permanently.
• Illyana explained that Kamar-Taj magic could let one person move while time was stopped, and Apocalypse vowed to crush Ramatu.

Nick Fury assigned Jessica Drew to investigate whether Peter Parker was secretly researching illegal time travel technology at the Baxter Building. Fury suspected Kang had altered reality and revealed that Kang was Nathaniel Richards, Reed Richards's descendant, who had exiled the Fantastic Four rather than kill them to avoid a temporal paradox.

• Nick Fury told Jessica Drew to investigate whether the Baxter Building was secretly developing time travel equipment, after receiving an anonymous tip from Kang.
• Fury revealed that Kang had exiled the Fantastic Four for illegally testing a time travel device, and suspected Peter Parker was trying to bring them back.
• Fury ordered Jessica to report any evidence to him in person and warned her to examine her memories carefully.
• After Jessica left, Fury recalled how S.H.I.E.L.D. was gathering allies against Kang and that he believed Kang had altered reality.
• Fury identified Kang as Nathaniel Richards, Mister Fantastic's descendant, who could not kill Reed Richards without risking a temporal paradox.

Peter coordinated the search for the missing Fantastic Four while several factions prepared to oppose Kang and seize or create a Cosmic Cube. Hydra concluded that someone with the power to open a rift to the Over-Realm might create another Cube, and Zemo ordered them to find that person.

• At the Baxter Building, Peter saw that Jessica Drew had obtained an internship certificate and reviewed Deadpool's report that Apocalypse was fighting Kang in Ancient Egypt.
• Peter, Franklin, and Deadpool continued narrowing down when Kang had sent the Fantastic Four so Deadpool could search for them.
• Mr. Sinister found the genes of Time Vortex and ForgetMeNot and planned to use them to act within Kang's time control and steal the Cosmic Cube.
• Doom traveled to King Arthur's era to enlist Morgan le Fay's help in obtaining magic that could resist reality alteration.
• Arnim Zola gave Zemo an empty Cosmic Cube shell, and Zemo reasoned that someone with a superpower capable of opening a rift to the Over-Realm could create a Cube.
• Zemo ordered Hydra to find that person, even if they had to search the past, so Hydra could create one or more Cosmic Cubes.

As Kamar-Taj resisted Kang, Peter prepared for a confrontation in the 31st Century and pinned his hopes on recruiting Kovac, a possibly incomplete Cosmic Cube. Facing the possibility that he might die, Peter messaged Cindy and Gwen, leaving their meeting and the battle ahead unresolved.

• Peter discussed the Cosmic Cube’s limits with the New Fantastic Four and proposed taking a day off before facing Kang in the 31st Century.
• Peter recalled that Deadpool’s time-travel equipment had escaped Kang’s notice, allowing Gwen to steal it and send it back.
• Peter deduced that Kovac was an incomplete Cosmic Cube that had traveled to the past, and believed he could win Kovac over once it developed a will.
• Peter worried that he might not survive the coming battle and hesitated over his feelings for Cindy and Gwen.
• Peter decided to message Cindy and Gwen, saying he had something to discuss with them.

Peter explained the three-part plan to defeat Kang, including stealing the Time Stone, and assigned Gwen and Cindy their roles. He left the future of his relationships with them unresolved as they prepared for the dangerous mission.

• Gwen and Cindy decided to secretly follow Peter, while Peter watched them conspire through the Baxter Building’s surveillance feed.
• Peter explained that the X-Men would help Apocalypse overthrow Kang in Ancient Egypt, the Fantastic Four and Deadpool would raid Kang’s 31st-century headquarters, and the New Fantastic Four would steal the Time Stone.
• Peter warned Gwen to act with Felicia, Kitty, and Nightcrawler under the professor’s guidance, and told her not to attempt to steal the Cosmic Cube.
• Peter told Cindy to carry out her usual task of finding him, though he did not know where he might have to go.
• Peter promised Gwen and Cindy they could resume dating after the plan, then ended the conversation by saying he hoped they would all make it back.

Deadpool found the Fantastic Four in the Triassic era and helped Reed Richards adapt his teleportation belt to repair their time-travel device. As Reed prepared to return them to the 21st Century, Kang ordered a full-scale assault on Kamar-Taj.

• The Fantastic Four survived the Triassic era while Reed tried to repair their time-travel device and the team avoided altering history.
• Deadpool arrived after 211 days of searching and told Reed that Kang had turned the Avengers into his lackeys.
• Reed learned that Spider-Man had formed the New Fantastic Four and that Kang possessed the Cosmic Cube in 2013.
• Deadpool explained that his teleportation belt could not carry the Fantastic Four, so Reed dismantled it and adapted it to repair their vehicle’s time-travel device.
• When Kang sent a portal to stop them, Deadpool drew his blades to buy Reed time.
• After learning that Deadpool had found the Fantastic Four, Kang ordered maximum alert and launched a full-scale assault on Kamar-Taj.

Kang used the Cosmic Cube to defeat Mr. Sinister’s attempt to seize it, then revealed his plan to spread its power through time and create a Kang Dynasty across history. After erasing Mr. Sinister and destroying India, Kang turned to Strange and asked who would be next.

• Kang showed Mr. Sinister that Kamar-Taj’s barrier was about to fall, then accelerated Mr. Sinister’s thoughts to expose his plan to steal the Cosmic Cube.
• Strange split an apparent Kang in two with his axe, while the true Kang revealed that he had implanted the Cosmic Cube in his armor as an intertemporal relay.
• Conqueror Kangs appeared throughout history and reshaped reality from Earth’s beginning onward to establish their dynasty.
• Kang erased Mr. Sinister and his army, reduced India to dust, and asked Strange, “Who is next?”

Tony and the Avengers unleashed the Ultron Era army to distract Kang while they sought help, but Kang defeated wave after wave of mechanical Avengers. After the threat only delayed him briefly, Doom and Baron Zemo arrived to challenge him for the Cosmic Cube.

• Tony opened a space-time tunnel and unleashed a future army of cybernetic Avengers modeled after Ultron, while Carol went to retrieve Strange.
• The Ultron leader attacked Kang, but Kang discovered the soldiers used miniature time engines to evade the Cosmic Cube and destroyed them with the Time Stone.
• More Ultron Avengers poured through the still-open tunnel, and Tony and Hank realized Ultron had created an ongoing army rather than simply converting the Avengers.
• Kang summoned another version of himself, the Scarlet Centurion, who attacked the Ultron army in the future.
• After dealing with the Ultron threat, Kang faced Doom and Baron Zemo, who demanded the Cosmic Cube.

Doctor Doom and Baron Zemo used magic and a counterfeit Cosmic Cube to resist Kang, but Kang defeated Zemo and forced Doom to reveal his plan. Doom brought Thor back from the past, and Thor struck Kang down as the battle continued.

• Doctor Doom and Baron Zemo confronted Kang, using magic and a counterfeit Cosmic Cube to withstand his attacks.
• Doom and Zemo attacked Kang together, but Kang used the Time Stone to age Zemo into a skeleton and took the counterfeit Cube’s power.
• Kang shattered Doom’s shield and knocked him to his knees, but Doom revealed that he had brought enemies from Kang’s past across time.
• Thor descended in a storm of lightning and struck Kang, who fell from the clouds and crashed to the ground.
• Doom told Kang that he could now reveal who was next.

Peter and the New Fantastic Four prepared to protect the heroes from Kang’s reality changes by sharing Ghost Rider’s Hellfire, while Banner analyzed a Cosmic Cube shell as another possible defense. Captain America arrived to help buy time for the scientists to study the cube.

• Peter watched Doom and Thor fight Kang and realized Kang’s extensive use of the Cosmic Cube was rapidly awakening it into Kovac.
• Gwen returned with a glass cube that had fallen from the sky, and Banner found that it could protect one person but could not yet shield a whole team.
• Peter proposed using Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider Hellfire to protect the heroes’ memories from Kang’s reality alterations, and Johnny agreed to help.
• At Avengers Tower, Tony and the assembled heroes hesitated over the dangerous plan, while Fury argued that refusing the devil’s deal would let Kang wipe them out.
• Captain America arrived through a portal and urged the heroes not to fear sacrifice, then asked Tony how long the scientists needed to study the cube.

Doom and Thor joined Captain America and the heroes in fighting Kang, but Kang escaped their attacks and threatened New York with his repaired flagship. As Ultron’s robots emerged from a spacetime tunnel into 2015, the Scarlet Centurion arrived aboard the ship, leaving Kang facing a transformed version of himself.

• Doom and Thor attacked Kang together, but Kang blasted them away and threatened to erase Norse history and mythology.
• Captain America led a group of heroes against Kang, while Ghost Rider tried to judge Kang’s soul but the Cosmic Cube protected him.
• Kang vanished as his flagship charged its cannon at New York, and Thor stopped the green beam with lightning before striking the ship.
• Kang used the Time Stone to repair the flagship, then sent scarab-like robots down to attack the heroes.
• An operator warned Kang that a spacetime tunnel had reopened to 2015, and the Ultron-transformed Scarlet Centurion descended aboard the flagship.

The heroes fought Kang across different eras while the Fantastic Four uncovered the history behind Kang’s rise and discovered his secret army of cloned superhumans. Reed and Sue were left wondering why Kang had never deployed the clones.

• In Ancient Egypt, Kang drew on the Cosmic Cube to battle Apocalypse while Illyana, Cyclops, and the White Queen watched for a chance to help.
• The Fantastic Four learned that Kang had rebuilt the 31st Century by salvaging technology from the ruins of humanity’s former interstellar civilization.
• Reed explained that a multiversal collision crisis threatened to erase the 31st Century within a few years.
• Reed hacked Kang’s systems and found a warehouse full of cloned heroes and villains created to form Kang’s personal army.
• Sue asked Reed why they had never encountered any of Kang’s clones.

Peter and the scientists devised a way to use Cerebro to awaken the Cosmic Cube and reach Kovac while the heroes fought Kang. Kang destroyed the invading forces and attacked the heroes, but Doom and Magneto turned the battle against him as his flagship exploded over New York.

• Mar-Vell explained that Cosmic Cubes could be awakened through contact with enough minds, and Peter proposed connecting Cerebro to the Cube.
• Ant-Man agreed to adapt Ultron's algorithms to let Cerebro communicate with the Cosmic Cube, while Tony led the others to buy them time.
• Kang wiped out the Ultron-era army, shut down the time tunnel, and discovered that Spider-Man's contact with the Cosmic Cube had helped trigger the rebellion.
• Kang attacked the heroes, but Doctor Strange blocked his flagship's cannon and a Doom robot exploded while trying to seize the Cosmic Cube.
• Doom confronted Kang as Magneto arrived and twisted Kang's flagship until it exploded over New York.

Magneto, the X-Men, and other allies joined the battle against Kang, while Charles Xavier helped bring the living Cosmic Cube Kovac into being. As Kovac restored the damage Kang had caused and heroes from across time gathered, Captain America led them into a united attack on Kang.

• Magneto arrived with Genosha's mutants, and Black Panther explained that Vibranium nanobots on Magneto's armor protected him from the Cosmic Cube's energy.
• Nightcrawler brought the restored Charles Xavier to the battlefield, where Xavier used the empty Cosmic Cube shell and linked minds to bring Kovac into being.
• Kovac restored New York and the Indian subcontinent, while Tony and Peter attacked Kang but failed to reach the Cosmic Cube in his chest.
• The X-Men returned from Ancient Egypt, and Cyclops attacked Kang before greeting the restored Professor Xavier.
• Reed arrived with heroes cloned by Kang in the 31st Century and explained that they had chosen to fight against him.
• Captain America raised his shield and called the gathered Avengers and allies to assemble against Kang.

As the heroes battled Kang’s forces in Manhattan, Peter followed Kang to Times Park and discovered that he was summoning reinforcements and preparing a colossal weapon. Kang emerged with the Anti-Celestial Armor, powered by the Cosmic Cube, leaving the assembled heroes to face his new threat.

• Captain organized the heroes to contain the battle and target the Cosmic Cube in Kang’s chest while other fighters dealt with the scarab robots.
• Peter pursued Kang toward Times Park, dodged his attacks, and asked the others what Kang might be seeking there.
• Hawkeye spotted dinosaurs in Times Park and warned Peter and Captain that Kang was heading there for reinforcements.
• Peter realized Kang had prepared a time-transport device, and variants from different eras began returning through spacetime tunnels.
• Kang emerged with a gigantic half-mechanical giant, the Anti-Celestial Armor, and powered it with the Cosmic Cube.