Chapter Summaries

Spider-Man, Jessica Jones, Hawkeye, Susan, and Gwen fought criminals and monsters as Brooklyn descended into chaos. Sloan used black Bugs to infect civilians and Coulson’s team, leaving them under his control.

• Jessica Jones helped Spider-Man fight Lizardmen and Vampires, then told him his motorcycle had been stolen and Skye had filmed him changing clothes.
• Hawkeye Barton used his improved archery to shoot prisoners while Howard, Frank, Trask, and Robots rescued civilians and Soul Pact contractors.
• Susan tried to stop two prisoners from assaulting a woman, and Gwen intervened before joining Susan to capture criminals.
• Sloan and Fire Fox’s group took over a bar, where Sloan infected the women with Bugs that devoured their brains and bred inside them.
• Coulson called Dr. Reed, Ben, and Human Torch for help, but infected captives attacked the agents and Bugs burrowed into Coulson and his team.

Sloan used his Bug-producing Ability to seize control of hundreds of people in Brooklyn, forcing the Fantastic Three and the heroes to respond. As the heroes converged on his hiding place, Susan revealed her confidence that her boyfriend would rescue her if she were in danger.

• Sloan’s Bugs controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and swarmed Dr. Reed and The Thing until the Human Torch arrived and burned the Bugs off them.
• Sloan escaped with Fire Fox and the others, then spread his Bugs through Brooklyn and built an expanding Puppet Army.
• Andrew watched the outbreak, sent footage to J. Jonah Jameson, and used the Illusion Realm and Robot to rescue civilians and harvest souls.
• Melinda reported Sloan’s Ability, prompting Nick Fury to warn the heroes while Tony headed to confront Sloan and Barton went to help Doctor Banner fight Abomination.
• Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Susan headed for Sloan’s building, where Susan said she would call her boyfriend if she needed help.

Iron Man, the Fantastic Four members, and the two Spider-Men searched Sloan’s puppet-filled skyscraper while the Military gave Nick Fury one hour to resolve the crisis. The Spider-Men found Sloan, and Gwen subdued the controlled police with her electrified web as Peter worried about his stolen motorcycle and unpaid rent.

• At the Daily Bugle, Jameson told Melinda to speculate that the Military might bomb Brooklyn, then promised her a column exposing S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Nick Fury persuaded the Military to hold off for one hour while superheroes confronted Sloan in the skyscraper.
• Tony, Dr. Reed, Human Torch, Gwen, Peter, and Susan entered the building from different locations to search for Sloan, and Susan revealed that Odin and Asgard had once intervened on Earth.
• The heroes fought through Sloan’s puppets without killing them, while Sloan sent controlled SWAT officers back into the building.
• Peter and Gwen’s Spider-Senses led them to Sloan, whose controlled officers opened fire; both Spider-Men dodged and webbed them, with Gwen’s electrified webs knocking officers unconscious.

Susan accepted Andrew’s power, used Hellfire to kill Sloan and free the puppets, then joined the others to face more monsters. Meanwhile, a second Magneto appeared in the Dock District, and a terrifying destructive aura rose over New York.

• Iron Man and the others broke into the conference room and fought Fire Fox’s group while trying to reach Sloan.
• Andrew drew the puppets into the Illusion Realm and offered them freedom in exchange for their souls; Susan accepted his power and erupted in Hellfire.
• Susan used the Eye of Judgment to burn Sloan’s soul, and her Hellfire destroyed the Bugs, freeing the puppets.
• Fire Fox and the others fled, while Susan joined Iron Man’s group to confront the other monsters.
• In the Dock District, a second Magneto appeared behind Jean and Professor Charles as a destructive aura spread across New York.

Mystique stabbed Professor Charles while disguised as Magneto, and Andrew brought Jean face-to-face with the Black Phoenix so she could merge with her and save him. Jean and Professor Charles later restrained the Black Phoenix after she disintegrated Mystique and Magneto, while the wider battle continued with Hulk returning to confront Abomination.

• Mystique wounded Professor Charles as he probed Magneto's mind and uncovered the plan to wipe out ordinary people.
• Andrew brought Jean into the Illusion Realm, explained the Black Phoenix's connection to her powers, and convinced Jean to merge with her to save Professor Charles.
• Jean transformed into the Black Phoenix and disintegrated Mystique and Magneto, while Andrew collected their souls for Rebirth Hell.
• Jean began losing control, but Professor Charles and Jean worked together to lock the Black Phoenix back in her mental cage.
• Professor Charles told the X-Men to spare the remaining Mutants, and the Brotherhood fled as Nick Fury worried about Jean's power.
• Andrew released Hulk from Hell, and Hulk arrived as Abomination was fighting Doctor Banner and Hawkeye.

Hulk defeated Abomination in Brooklyn, prompting Doctor Banner to plan a weapon of his own. Nick Fury faced the World Council after the incident and secured another chance by claiming S.H.I.E.L.D. had developed energy weapons, while asking for funding to upgrade them.

• Hulk used Trask's Lava Warhammer to kill Abomination, while Doctor Banner decided to design a weapon for himself.
• Barton and Doctor Banner dealt with the remaining prisoners as Brooklyn returned to calm.
• Pierce told Nick Fury that the World Council wanted him at a meeting, and Fury ordered Maria Hill to publicize Captain America's return to divert attention from S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Nick Fury told the council that S.H.I.E.L.D. had developed Tesseract-powered energy weapons, though he later admitted to Pierce that the technology had only been half successful.
• The council gave Nick Fury another chance and demanded that someone take responsibility for the island incident, and Fury asked them to fund a weapons upgrade.

Nick Fury arranged a New York command center and learned Garrett had survived, while Andrew welcomed Magneto and Mystique to Rebirth Hell. Andrew also returned the Loom of Fate to Fire Fox’s group so he could study it while they resumed their Mission.

• Nick Fury persuaded Pierce to approve a special command center in New York, and Pierce required its commander to agree personally to the role.
• Nick Fury learned that Garrett had survived and ordered him treated, pleased that Garrett could take the blame for the Island Prison incident.
• Magneto and Mystique arrived in Rebirth Hell, where Trask greeted them before Andrew introduced himself as the Great Demon King and sent them to look around.
• Andrew returned the Loom of Fate to Fire Fox and her fellow assassins, who planned to continue their Mission and transport it out of Manhattan.
• Magneto and Mystique returned to Andrew and remarked that Rebirth Hell seemed more like a mechanical world than Hell.

Andrew arranged for Magneto, Mystique, the Hellfire Club, and Professor Charles to establish a Mutant Utopia on the moon, while Trask was tasked with helping make it habitable. The chapter ended with Director George offering Spider-Man and Spider-Woman jobs as legal vigilantes for the New York Police Department.

• Andrew offered to resurrect Magneto and Mystique if they helped build a lunar Utopia for Mutants in exchange for the souls of Mutants who joined it.
• Magneto and Mystique agreed to establish Utopia, and Andrew appointed them, White Queen, Red Devil, and Professor Charles to a Five-Person Council under his authority.
• Andrew tasked Red Devil and White Queen with supplying the project and Trask with designing equipment for lunar survival; Trask proposed a mobile Steel City and Magneto agreed to help build it.
• Andrew reconstructed Magneto and Mystique's bodies, and Magneto chose to be eighteen years old so he could use his magnetism more effectively.
• Director George told Spider-Man and Spider-Woman that he wanted to hire them as legal vigilantes for the New York Police Department, ending their wanted status and arranging direct police contact.

Gwen agreed to cooperate with the police as a vigilante, while Peter remained hesitant, and Director George proposed using donations to cover damages. After the Orbital Disaster reshaped the political and mutant landscape, Andrew met with Kaecilius to negotiate immortality in exchange for his spells.

• Director George offered Spider-Man and Spider-Woman a way to work with the police without revealing their identities publicly, and Gwen agreed while Peter said he would consider it.
• Gwen admitted to hacking the police system, and she and Peter agreed that any surplus foundation money should go to people in need.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. blamed John Garrett for the Orbital Disaster, while Melinda and the public demanded answers about the agency's secrecy and surveillance.
• Andrew reflected on the disaster's casualties and his plans for Utopia, then anticipated Thor's arrival and considered the Inhumans on the moon.
• Kaecilius asked Andrew for immortality and a way to resurrect his family, and Andrew offered him five hundred years of life in exchange for every spell he knew.

Andrew traded Kaecilius five hundred years of life for Kamar-Taj’s spells and proposed that Kaecilius infiltrate Dormammu’s forces. After learning that the Ancient One secretly drew on the Dark Dimension through Free Magic, Kaecilius went to her and admitted he intended to accept the deal to resurrect his family and gain immortality.

• Kaecilius agreed to trade every Kamar-Taj spell he knew for five hundred years of life.
• Andrew offered Kaecilius a chance to become Dormammu’s agent and betray him, promising protection from Dark Power and a path to immortality and resurrection.
• Andrew revealed that the Ancient One used Free Magic to draw on the Dark Dimension without paying a price, and Kaecilius questioned her about it.
• The Ancient One confirmed that she absorbed the Dark Dimension’s power without paying a price.
• Kaecilius told the Ancient One that he intended to accept Andrew’s deal to plot against Dormammu and bring back his wife and children.

Kaecilius committed to a dangerous path, while Nick Fury dealt with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s troubles and investigated the hammer near Puente Antiguo. Loki deceived Thor and tried to lift the hammer, but an unseen elderly gentleman confronted him.

• Kaecilius told The Ancient One he had made up his mind, then contacted the Demon King after leaving her.
• Nick Fury considered S.H.I.E.L.D.’s problems and learned from Hill that Andrew Wang planned to leave New York.
• Coulson told Nick Fury that a blond man claiming to be the Son of Odin had tried and failed to lift the hammer.
• Nick Fury agreed with Hill’s suggestion to send Captain America to speak with Andrew Wang.
• Loki told Thor that Odin was dead and that Thor had been banished, then tried unsuccessfully to lift Thor’s Hammer.
• An elderly gentleman unseen by the agents mocked Loki and asked whether he had discovered Odin’s scheme.

Mephisto manipulated Loki into suspecting Odin had arranged Thor’s banishment as a trial and intended to use Loki as Thor’s stepping stone. He urged Loki to break Odin’s seals by using the Bifrost to free Hela or The Serpent.

• Mephisto told Loki that Thor’s banishment and the hammer’s arrival were part of Odin’s trial for Thor, with Loki cast as the villain.
• Mephisto claimed Odin was watching through Fugin, and Loki began to believe Odin was plotting against him.
• Loki imagined Odin intended him to kill Laufey before Thor returned and executed him as a righteous king.
• Mephisto revealed that Loki had an uncle, Kull, and a sister, Hela, whom Odin had sealed on Earth.
• Loki vowed not to be sealed, and Mephisto offered to give him the coordinates of Hela or The Serpent so he could break their seals with the Bifrost.

Mephisto recruited Hela and the Serpent by promising to free them in exchange for their help, while Thor was released from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Steve Rogers visited Andrew Wang to ask about Asgard, and Andrew confirmed that the man on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s phone was Thor.

• Mephisto offered Loki a chance to help bring chaos to Earth, but Loki returned to Asgard without pursuing his original plan to have Laufey assassinate Odin.
• Mephisto made contracts with Hela and the Serpent, promising to help each escape imprisonment within ten years in exchange for their assistance.
• Selvig arranged a fake identity for Thor, and Coulson released him while planning to monitor Jane and Selvig.
• Susan asked Andrew about having children, and Andrew said they could wait thousands of years and that she could remain young.
• Steve Rogers arrived at Andrew and Susan’s home to ask about Asgard, and Andrew identified Thor and Mjolnir in the information on Steve’s phone.

Andrew visited Steve and offered him a deal that could restore Peggy Carter's youth, then traveled to a hidden space in the Norwegian Sea and discovered Hela was sealed there. He learned Mephisto had promised to free Hela in exchange for a future favor, likely planning to use Loki to break her seal.

• Andrew told Steve that Angels could cure illnesses but offered him a Phoenix Mark card for a deal that could restore Peggy Carter's youth.
• Steve accepted the card, then left to report Thor's arrival to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Andrew told Susan his trip had been moved up and rode his motorcycle away to investigate two places resonating with the Space Stone.
• Andrew reached a Small Space in the Norwegian Sea and discovered Hela was sealed behind its barrier.
• Andrew threatened to alert Heimdall, prompting Hela to explain that Mephisto had promised to free her in return for one future favor.
• Andrew concluded that Mephisto intended to use Loki and the Bifrost to break Hela's seal and claim the favor.

Andrew negotiated control of Helheim from Hela and learned that Odin had also sealed The Serpent on Earth, while Steve met Thor and heard why he had been banished. After the Warriors Four set out to reunite with Thor, Loki attacked Heimdall and traveled to the Frost Giant Kingdom.

• Andrew made Hela agree to give him five percent control of Helheim in exchange for explaining Mephisto’s plan, and she told him Odin had sealed his brother The Serpent on Earth.
• Andrew explained that Mephisto had made deals with both Hela and The Serpent, leaving Loki likely to release only one of them, then placed surveillance and protective arrays around their prisons.
• Andrew visited The Serpent in the Undersea Temple, negotiated with him, and left to wait for events to unfold.
• Steve arrived in Amptown, visited Thor with beer, and heard Thor explain his banishment and describe Asgard to Jane, Selvig, and Daisy.
• The Warriors Four traveled to Earth to meet Thor, while Loki realized Odin had used him and froze Heimdall with the Casket of Ancient Winters.
• Loki used the Bifrost to travel to the Frost Giant Kingdom.

Loki arranged for Laufey and the Frost Giants to attack Thor on Earth, while Thor learned his father was alive and dismissed Loki’s betrayal as a prank. The Frost Giants invaded Amptown, where Andrew evacuated townspeople and Steve, Thor, and their allies fought back.

• Loki promised Laufey the Casket of Ancient Winters and access to Asgard in exchange for an attack on Thor, planning to use the outcome to test Mephisto’s claims.
• Thor heard from the Warriors Three that Odin was alive, but insisted Loki was only playing a prank until Coulson reported Frost Giants entering Amptown.
• The Frost Giants overwhelmed Coulson’s agents, then attacked Thor and his companions; Steve rescued Thor from a Frost Beast while Sif wounded it.
• Daisy filmed the invasion as the Frost Giants injured townspeople, and Andrew pulled civilians into the Illusion Realm and sent the Peace Knights to help.
• Howard, the Punisher, and Hulk joined Steve and Thor; Howard gave Steve a shield, while Frank’s weapons and Howard’s robots slowed the Frost Giant attack.

Loki sent the Destroyer and another Frost Giant army to Amptown, escalating the battle as Hulk, Frank, Thor, Steve, and the others fought to defend the town. Steve left with Howard to retrieve Mjolnir, while the Destroyer proved impervious to the Military’s missiles and began bringing down fighter jets.

• Hulk arrived and drove off the Frost Beast, but Loki soon summoned another Frost Giant army, forcing Nick Fury to request reinforcements and evacuate Amptown’s residents.
• Howard used his Black Battle Suit’s laser device to cut down more than two hundred Frost Giants, while Loki sent the Destroyer to Earth after Thor’s allies continued resisting.
• The Destroyer attacked Thor, but Hulk struck it with his hammer and Frank joined the fight with missiles as the Frost Giants charged the others.
• Thor admitted that he could not defeat the Destroyer without Mjolnir, so Steve had Howard take him to retrieve Thor’s Hammer.
• Military fighter jets attacked the Destroyer, which survived their missiles and shot the jets down, prompting a general to demand War Machine and more Battle Suits.

Steve wielded Mjolnir and joined Hulk and Frank in fighting the Destroyer, while Loki set plans in motion against Odin and sought to free Hela. Andrew then banished the Destroyer to Lesser Hell, leaving Odin furious and unable to sense his armor.

• Howard announced Steve as the future King of Asgard, and Steve used Thor's Hammer to attack the Destroyer alongside Hulk and Frank.
• Odin secretly strengthened the Destroyer, while Loki sent Laufey with the Casket of Ancient Winters to fight Odin and arranged a contract with Hela before preparing to release her.
• Laufey attacked Odin in Valhalla as the Destroyer's rampage injured Jane, Daisy, and Fandral in Amptown.
• Thor offered himself to the Destroyer to stop it harming others, but Andrew's duplicate enveloped the armor in Hellfire and banished it to Lesser Hell.
• Odin asked Andrew where the Destroyer had gone, and Andrew said it had been banished while Odin realized he could no longer sense it.

Andrew used Mephisto’s projection to create a Curse Monster that drove Mephisto’s projections off Earth, while Loki’s Bifrost bombardment threatened to break the seal containing Hela. Odin agreed to let Thor return in exchange for Andrew’s help, and Thor went through the portal to stop Loki.

• Odin demanded that the Ancient One make the Demon King hand over the Destroyer, but she told him to settle the matter in Hell as he fought Laufey.
• Thor reclaimed Mjolnir, transformed into his armor, and learned that Loki was using the Bifrost to bombard the seal containing Hela.
• Andrew trapped Mephisto’s projection, cursed it into a Curse Monster, and sent it to Devour Mephisto’s other projections on Earth.
• Thor warned the town that Loki’s Bifrost could destroy Earth, and Odin agreed to let Thor return after Andrew warned that the seal could break.
• Andrew opened a portal to Asgard, and Thor and Sif’s group went through to stop Loki and rescue Heimdall.

The Frost Giants' invasion ended as Thor destroyed the Bifrost, while Andrew captured its main section and secured other spoils. As Earth adapted to the alien threat, Howard told Andrew that his Artificial Intelligence research had produced a learning system he considered a new form of life.

• Thor smashed the Bifrost, but Andrew's Flame Portal intercepted and carried away its main section; Loki fell into the river after accusing Odin of plotting against him.
• Odin defeated Laufey and tried to explain that Loki's suspicions were mistaken, but Loki let go of Thor and fell, leaving Thor confused about his family.
• Steve and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents routed the Frost Giants, while Howard and the Peace Knights departed before Tony arrived.
• Andrew counted his spoils, kept Hela sealed, and placed the Bifrost on the moon for Trask to study.
• Governments increased military spending and alien research after the invasion, while Norman Osborn, Stark Industries, and S.H.I.E.L.D. benefited from new policies and funding.
• Howard told Andrew that his Artificial Intelligence could learn enough to become true intelligent life, and Andrew asked whether it might betray humanity.