Recaps

Russell killed Thanos and stopped the Black Order’s attack on Earth, then dealt with the consequences of the battle while advancing his power and investigating the mysterious Gwen living in Little Gwen’s body. The arc ended with Stone Sister Gwen’s memories restored and Russell warning that Nightmare may have manipulated Peter’s deal.

• Russell and Loki reached Xandar, where Russell killed Ronan, spared the Kree who surrendered, and gained the Guardians’ help in finding Thanos.
• Russell fought Thanos aboard Sanctuary I, destroyed his fleet, and pursued him through a portal to Earth, where the Avengers joined the battle against the Black Order.
• Russell drove Thanos to Mars and kept him from escaping until Thanos could no longer fight, then took the Mind Stone and the Tesseract and learned that Nick Fury had died in the attack on S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Russell arranged compensation for the rune-marked survivors and let S.H.I.E.L.D. guard the alien wreckage, while Coulson revived Fury with GH-325 and told Carol Danvers that Russell had killed Thanos.
• Gravik sent G'iah to copy Russell’s abilities, but Russell exposed her and explained that the gap between their Life Levels made copying him impossible.
• Russell used stored Crimson Energy and energy from Master Ancient One’s warehouse to raise his Divine Physique to 1122, then postponed succeeding her as Sorcerer Supreme.
• Russell followed Little Gwen to a blond Gwen’s soul phantom at Trinity Church, identified her as Stone Sister Gwen, and learned that Nightmare had placed her soul in Little Gwen’s body to tempt Amazing Spider-Man into making a deal.
• Russell restored Stone Sister Gwen’s memories, and she asked about Peter’s deal as Russell warned that Nightmare might have exploited it rather than truly resurrecting her.

Russell helped Amazing Gwen return to life while uncovering and defeating Nightmare Strange in the Nightmare Dimension. He made Queen of Dreams its new lord, established an energy trade, and returned to Earth-404 after Amazing Gwen was resurrected.

• Russell recruited G'iah as an Apostle to search other dimensions and help find a new home for the Skrulls.
• Russell brought Amazing Gwen to her universe, reunited her soul with Helen, and collected the living cells needed to clone her body.
• Russell's group found Amazing Spider-Man and learned that he had been seeking a way to resurrect Gwen without sacrificing anyone.
• Russell led the group into the Nightmare Dimension, where he defeated Nightmare Strange and destroyed the giant serpent empowering the dimension.
• Russell offered Queen of Dreams control of the Dream Dimension under conditions that forbade invasions of the real world, then began trading Luminescent White Energy with its demons.
• Russell returned with the Spider-Men to Earth-120703, gave Peni Parker an Apostle Suit, and sent the Spider-Squad back to their universes.
• Four days later, Amazing Gwen was resurrected, and Russell's group returned to Earth-404.

The Serpent and his Apostles spread fear across Earth and attacked Asgard, forcing the heroes into a desperate battle. Russell erased the Serpent and set out to confront Mephisto, but found that Mephisto had escaped with Blazing Hell into the Hyperswirl.

• Russell studied the Darkhold as Chthon sensed him, while Nick Fury organized a secret operation against Hydra and Hope reported finding Agatha to Mephisto.
• Mephisto recruited Agatha to open a gap in the world's defensive magic array, and Agatha arranged for Kaecilius to summon Cul Borson, the Serpent.
• The Serpent’s hammers fell to Earth, and his Apostles attacked Talokan, Wakanda, and Manhattan as the Avengers and Gwen’s Street Hero Squad fought back.
• Russell negotiated energy payments from a Watcher for witnessing major events, while the heroes battled the Serpent’s Apostles and the Serpent invaded Asgard.
• Thor, Loki, Tony, Wanda, and their allies weakened the Serpent, but Mephisto restored his strength and the Serpent destroyed Mjolnir.
• Russell erased the Serpent’s consciousness and swallowed him, then told the Watcher he would move against Mephisto.
• Thor reported Mjolnir’s destruction to Odin, who reminded him that the hammer had never been the source of his power.
• Russell found Mephisto’s Hell sealed and pursued him through the Hyperswirl, but the Information Ocean had swallowed Mephisto’s trail.

Russell pursued Mephisto and clashed with Chthon, while Thor awakened the Power of Thor and Loki defeated him in their challenge. The Phantom Spirit Band’s performance reignited debate over superhero oversight, and Russell remained outside the Superhero Registration Act as the story left heroes weighing how to continue helping people.

• Coulson told Russell that S.H.I.E.L.D. would soon be disbanded, and Russell explained that the Serpent’s Hammers had lost their power after he killed Cul Borson.
• At Asgard’s celebration, stories spread that Loki had helped defeat the Serpent, and Russell later brought Thor and Loki to a Dimensional Fragment for their challenge.
• Loki defeated Thor with a meteor attack, and Russell trained Thor to awaken the Power of Thor.
• Tony proposed using a global AI and the Stark Iron Legion to detect threats, while the Avengers debated blame for the Manhattan attack.
• Russell drew energy from Chthon through the Darkhold, trapped Chthon in his palm, and crushed his energy body after refusing to harm Wanda for extra payment.
• Russell fought Chthon in the Flicker Realm, absorbed his energy, and mined the realm’s elemental matter before returning to Kamar-Taj.
• Gwen and the Phantom Spirit Band rehearsed and performed, while T’Challa proposed the Superhero Registration Act and Coulson asked Russell for his position.
• Russell declined to support or oppose the act, advised heroes to give up their superhero identities, and gave Matt Murdock Captain George Stacy’s phone number.