Chapter Summaries

Tony Stark asked Jarvis to find promising researchers and learned about Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, and Ben Grimm, whose spaceflight proposal Stark Tower had rejected. After Jarvis invited them to Stark Tower, Reed detected the Avengers’ message and fought Jarvis through their systems, leaving Tony eager to meet him the next day.

• Martian Manhunter admitted that the Avengers still could not find any Skrull, while Venom dragged Peter Parker away and Tony Stark told Morbius to keep working.
• Tony Stark asked Jarvis to search university records for promising talent, and Jarvis identified Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, and Ben Grimm as researchers proposing a spaceflight project.
• Tony decided to invite all three researchers to Stark Tower as assistants, and Jarvis sent Reed a message asking them to come the next day.
• Reed Richards and Ben Grimm discussed the invitation and their lack of funding, while Reed discovered that the message came from the Avengers and destroyed his modified phone after clashing with Jarvis.
• Tony watched the recording of Reed’s exchange with Jarvis and looked forward to meeting him, unaware that Reed had already realized the message was genuine.

Tony Stark invited Reed Richards to join the Avengers after learning about his intelligence and his encounter with Jarvis, while Doom and Ben Grimm were offered further assessment at Stark Group. Doom rejected the idea of abandoning their startup plan, leaving Reed caught between the Avengers opportunity and his companions.

• Doom reviewed Reed Richards's updated Space Program materials and prepared to present them to Stark Group.
• Doom brought Reed Richards and Ben Grimm to Tony Stark's office, where Tony ignored Doom's proposal and praised Reed's abilities.
• Tony revealed that Reed's interaction with Jarvis had caught his attention and invited Reed to join the Avengers for new research, including extraterrestrial life.
• Reed hesitated over leaving Doom and Ben behind, and Tony said the two would be assessed at Stark Group.
• Doom objected that they had come seeking investment to start a business, not to work for someone else, and challenged Reed for considering the offer.

At Stark Industries, Doom manipulated Reed Richards into refusing Tony Stark’s Avengers invitation by framing it as abandoning their Space Program and their friends. Reed chose to finish the project, and Doom left to pursue investor leads while Reed and Ben Grimm returned to their work.

• Doom resented Reed’s chance to join the Avengers and accused him of deserting the Space Program, while Ben Grimm defended Reed and urged him to accept the opportunity.
• Doom reminded Reed and Ben of their work and sacrifices on the Space Program, and Reed decided they should see it through rather than abandon it.
• Tony Stark warned Reed that the chance to join the Avengers might not come again, but Reed still chose to complete the Space Program first.
• Tony Stark dismissed Reed, Doom, and Ben from Stark Industries, and Ben regretted that Reed had turned down the offer.
• Doom told Reed that he had investor leads and promised to continue the Space Program, then left in a taxi while Reed and Ben headed back.

After Venom recovered from his weaknesses, he challenged Johnny Storm to settle an old grudge, but Johnny revealed that he had learned to fly and used his aerial advantage to defeat Venom. Peter Parker then discovered that Venom might be able to use Thunder Force in this state, leaving Venom with a possible way to counter Johnny.

• Doom cut off the taxi driver’s remarks about brotherhood and privately resented Reed Richards for choosing the Space Program over joining him.
• Tony Stark ordered Jarvis to monitor Reed Richards’s group and their project, then returned to Avengers Base.
• Venom, now immune to flames and noise, took control of Peter Parker and went to confront Johnny Storm, while sparing Robet from his revenge plans.
• Venom demanded that Johnny fight him, but Johnny learned Venom no longer feared his flames and reluctantly transformed to defend himself.
• Johnny revealed his new ability to fly, dodged Venom’s webbing and leaps, and knocked him into the ground with Explosive Flames.
• Peter noticed that Venom might be able to use Thunder Force in his current state and told him about the discovery.

Venom regained his resistance to fire and noise and used Thunder Force to overpower Johnny Storm in close combat, but Johnny revealed powerful new flame abilities and blasted Venom twice. After Johnny exhausted his energy and surrendered, Venom hesitated over what to do with him, and Peter Parker told him to settle for beating him up.

• Venom began using Thunder Force, dodged Johnny Storm’s attacks, and used lightning-powered bursts to strike him in midair.
• Johnny Storm transformed his body into flames, absorbed the force of Venom’s punch, and blasted Venom with an explosive fireball that exposed Peter Parker.
• Venom charged again, but Johnny Storm’s second fireball sent him flying before Johnny’s flames and energy ran out.
• Johnny Storm surrendered when Venom approached, but his shameless explanation enraged Venom and left him unsure whether to attack or eat him.
• Peter Parker urged Venom to beat Johnny Storm up and leave it at that.

Venom beat Johnny Storm and later left Peter Parker to patrol New York, while Doom’s failed investment pitch to Harry Osborn deepened his resentment toward the Avengers. Peter spotted Bruce Banner on the street, giving Venom a chance to seek the fight he wanted.

• Venom beat Johnny Storm, carried him back to Avengers Base, and left after Tony Stark arranged treatment for him.
• Peter Parker resumed patrolling New York with Venom resting inside him.
• Harry Osborn rejected Doom’s Space Program investment pitch, and Doom blamed the Avengers for his setbacks.
• Doom continued seeking investors while growing more determined to make the Space Program succeed and more hostile toward the Avengers.
• Venom backed down when Peter suggested they challenge Robet, but became excited when Peter spotted Bruce Banner walking nearby.

Peter Parker found Bruce Banner while seeking a rematch with Hulk, but learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been coercing Bruce and drawing his blood. Bruce pleaded with Peter to take him away, leaving Peter facing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had surrounded them.

• Nick Fury let Bruce Banner leave S.H.I.E.L.D. under surveillance, hoping a change of environment would bring Hulk back.
• Peter Parker approached Bruce, and Coulson ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to surround them.
• Coulson claimed S.H.I.E.L.D. had the right to keep Bruce, while Peter said he had come to find him.
• Bruce grabbed Peter and pleaded to be rescued, revealing that S.H.I.E.L.D. had forced him to undergo experiments and blood draws.
• Bruce showed Peter the needle marks on his arm, and Peter became angry at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s treatment of him.

Peter Parker rescued Bruce Banner from S.H.I.E.L.D. and brought him to the Avengers, where Tony Stark tried to recruit him as a scientist. Martian Manhunter confirmed that Bruce was not a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy and that Hulk’s consciousness still remained inside him.

• An agent fired at Bruce Banner, and Peter Parker caught the bullet before trapping Coulson and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in webs.
• Bruce Banner asked Peter Parker to take him somewhere safe, and Jarvis detected tracking devices in Banner’s shoes, clothes, and belt.
• Peter Parker carried Bruce Banner to the Avengers, where Tony Stark and Martian Manhunter welcomed him.
• Bruce Banner recoiled at seeing Martian Manhunter and questioned Tony Stark’s assumption that he would join the Avengers.
• Tony Stark said he wanted Bruce Banner as a researcher, and Jarvis led him away to change clothes.
• Martian Manhunter told Tony Stark that Bruce Banner was not an undercover agent and that Hulk’s consciousness still existed inside him.

Peter Parker and Tony Stark learned that Hulk still existed within Bruce Banner and discussed separating their souls, but Martian Manhunter could not reach Hulk. Robet arrived at Avengers Base, drew Hulk out, and discovered he could make him stop fleeing; the group then began trying to communicate with Hulk.

• Martian Manhunter revealed that Hulk's consciousness remained hidden inside Bruce Banner, and Peter Parker suggested separating their souls so Banner and Hulk could live independently.
• Tony Stark explained that separating the two souls would require unfamiliar technological and supernatural methods, while Bruce Banner asked Martian Manhunter to bring Hulk out so they could communicate.
• Martian Manhunter tried to reach Hulk but found that Hulk had cut off contact and concealed his power, so Tony Stark called Robet for help.
• Robet arrived at Avengers Base, and Bruce Banner transformed into Hulk, who tried to flee until Robet ordered him to stop.
• Martian Manhunter said Hulk was only a few years old, and Robet questioned whether the group had sought Hulk's consent before planning to separate him from Banner.
• Robet asked Hulk whether he could talk, and Hulk stammered that he could.

Robet separated Hulk’s consciousness from Bruce Banner’s body, allowing Banner to control the Hulk form and transform at will. Hulk was left outside the body, while the group realized the separation might have solved Banner’s problem but left Hulk without a body of his own.

• Robet asked Hulk whether he wanted to share a body with Banner, take it over, or separate from him, and Hulk said he disliked Banner but could not survive if Banner died.
• Tony Stark explained that separating them would require restoring Banner’s mutated genes and creating a body compatible with Hulk, and warned that the new body might have different abilities or produce another consciousness.
• Hulk objected to having blood drawn, fearing it would create another ugly creature like Abomination, while Martian Manhunter suggested Hulk could help control the mutated blood during experiments.
• Robet used his power to draw Hulk and Bruce Banner’s souls out of Hulk’s body, then returned Banner to it while keeping Hulk’s soul restrained.
• Bruce Banner discovered he could control the Hulk body, transform back to normal, and change forms freely, while Hulk watched helplessly from outside the body.

Bruce Banner accepted responsibility for helping Hulk gain a body of his own, while Tony Stark and the others began researching a way to recreate Hulk. Meanwhile, Reed Richards’s Space Program ended in disaster, leaving Reed, Doom, and Ben Grimm calling for Superman as their spacecraft began to fall apart.

• Bruce Banner thanked Robet and the others, explaining that he could control his transformations and would help Hulk live independently.
• Tony Stark proposed studying Banner’s body to clone Hulk’s form, and Banner agreed to give up his powers if necessary.
• Robet protected Hulk’s soul with ki and brought Peter Parker into the laboratory to help Tony Stark’s team.
• Doom secured investment for the Space Program, but Reed Richards made a calculation error that caused the spacecraft to break down before reaching space.
• Doom attacked Reed Richards, but Ben Grimm stopped him and called for Superman; Reed Richards and Doom soon joined his cries for help.

Clark rescued Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Doom from their exploding spaceship and brought them to an Avengers hospital. Doom left to pursue extraordinary power and abandon his partners, and when Reed Richards woke, investors’ representatives arrived demanding repayment for the failed Space Program.

• Clark rescued Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Doom from the spaceship explosion and took them to an Avengers hospital.
• Ben Grimm and Doom woke up and argued over who was responsible for the failed Space Program and its financial losses.
• Doom left the hospital, deciding to escape the investors and seek an extraordinary path, while leaving Reed Richards and Ben Grimm to handle the debt.
• Reed Richards woke later, and several figures entered the ward asking whether Doom had run away and how Reed planned to repay the debt.

After the failed Space Program left Reed Richards and Ben Grimm owing investor James a huge debt, James tried to take them from the hospital so Reed could devise a way to repay him. Happy arrived, offered to have Stark Industries cover the losses, and ordered Reed and Ben to stay, leaving James stunned by the unexpected intervention.

• James demanded that Reed Richards and Ben Grimm repay the losses from the failed Space Program, and Ben proposed using Reed’s future plans to earn the money.
• Reed admitted he had no repayment plan yet, so James ordered his bodyguards to take Reed and Ben with him.
• A nurse stopped James from removing the patients before discharge, and armed operatives forced James and his bodyguards to back down.
• After Reed and Ben passed their examinations and were discharged, a group led by Happy blocked their way and told James he would pay the debt through Stark Industries.
• James recognized Happy as Iron Man’s bodyguard, while Happy reacted unhappily to the label.

Happy secured Reed Richards and Ben Grimm’s release from James by telling them Stark Industries had paid their debt and that Tony Stark would contact them. At Avengers Base, Tony Stark’s attempts to clone Hulk still failed because Hulk’s soul weakened inside the copies, but Robet suggested using a Skrull’s remains after noticing Spider-Man and Venom’s auras had become more harmonious.

• Happy told Reed Richards and Ben Grimm that Stark Industries had settled their debt and that Tony Stark would contact them when he was available.
• James tried to renew his business ties with Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, then invited them to stay at his family’s hotel when they asked to rest.
• Tony Stark and the others continued cloning Hulk, but the increasingly accurate Hulk Bodies still could not harmonize with Hulk’s soul.
• Robet destroyed another failed Hulk Body, and Hulk explained that he grew weaker whenever he entered the copies.
• Robet suggested testing the Skrull’s remains after noting that Spider-Man and Venom’s auras had become more harmonious, and Tony Stark and Martian Manhunter ordered the remains brought in.

Robet's experiment gave Hulk a powerful new body, and the group tested it by having Hulk fight Bruce Banner. Hulk's anger made him grow stronger while Banner showed no sign of the same ability, leaving Hulk victorious in the training field.

• After many failed attempts, Robet placed Hulk's soul into a newly created body that felt comfortable and showed no apparent weakness.
• Robet slapped Hulk to provoke him and confirmed that anger still increased his power in the new body.
• Robet brought Hulk and Bruce Banner to the training field for a fight, and Tony Stark struggled to tell them apart.
• Martian Manhunter tried to provoke Banner, but Banner's anger did not increase his size or strength.
• Hulk grew larger and stronger during the fight, knocked out one of Banner's teeth, and pinned him beneath himself.

Banner surrendered to Hulk after losing their fight, but escaped when Hulk argued over whose form Banner had used to give up. Peter Parker then challenged Hulk, and their rematch began with Peter gaining the upper hand as Hulk’s rage continued to build.

• Banner admitted defeat, but argued that the transformed body was his own after Hulk demanded he surrender in Banner’s ordinary form.
• Banner distracted Hulk by bringing up his fear of Robet, then flipped Hulk off him and escaped the Training Room.
• The Avengers watched and mocked the fight before Tony Stark arranged for Jarvis to bring Reed Richards and Ben Grimm to the base.
• Peter Parker challenged Hulk, and Robet used Telekinesis to shield the Training Room as they began fighting.
• Peter dodged Hulk’s attacks with Spider-Sense and countered him, while Venom taunted Hulk into growing angrier and entering a berserk state.

Peter Parker and Venom fought Hulk in the Training Room as Hulk's strength rapidly grew, until Hulk's dirty tactics provoked Venom into taking control and biting him. Robet stopped their escalating fight and left Hulk and Venom chastened, though Hulk still did not understand why Robet was angry.

• Hulk's strength caught up to Peter Parker's, but Peter Parker used his superior fighting skill to keep him from gaining the advantage.
• Venom strengthened Peter Parker and himself, while the Avengers watched and discussed Hulk's abilities.
• Hulk eventually surpassed Peter Parker in strength, grabbed him during a counterattack, and bit his thigh after they fell into ground combat.
• Venom took control of Peter Parker's body and bit Hulk, prompting Hulk and Venom to tear into each other as if trying to kill one another.
• Robet separated Hulk and Venom with his power, intimidated them into stopping, and left Venom to retreat into Peter Parker while Hulk stood confused.

Robet reprimanded Peter Parker and Venom after they lost control during their spar with Hulk, but Hulk gave birth to a new Symbiote named Carnage, who seized his body. Carnage attacked Venom and then Robet, who restrained him and began considering whether Symbiotes could be trained or produced as an army.

• Robet blamed Peter Parker for failing to control Venom and warned that Hulk and Venom needed to avoid harming their teammates.
• A new Symbiote awakened inside Hulk, took control of his body, and named himself Carnage.
• Carnage focused on Robet's powerful life aura, then rushed at Venom and declared that he would eat him.
• Robet knocked Venom and Carnage aside before Carnage attacked him, then used an invisible force to immobilize Carnage in a ball.
• Venom explained that Carnage was an independent, violent Symbiote, but Robet considered training him and producing more Symbiotes for the Avengers.

Robet tested Carnage’s strength and discovered that his aura could burn the Symbiote despite its resistance to fire. He then isolated Carnage in the Training Room and beat him until Carnage finally surrendered.

• Robet realized Symbiotes could expose Skrull impersonators by sharing memories and consciousness, while Hulk angrily tried and failed to strike Carnage through the Telekinetic Barrier.
• Robet released Carnage for a direct fight, but Carnage tried to possess Hulk and then Robet; Robet punched through Carnage and blocked his attempt to enter his body.
• Robet blasted Carnage with an aura flame, and Venom explained that newer Symbiotes had shed their weaknesses to fire and noise.
• Robet sent Venom and Hulk out of the Training Room and continued battering Carnage, while Venom told the Avengers that Carnage was his son and had superior genes from Venom, Peter Parker, and Hulk.
• Carnage finally shouted that he surrendered, and Robet stopped his assault.

Robet saw through Carnage’s attempt to recover and continued attacking him, while Reed Richards and Ben Grimm left James’s hotel in Iron Man suits. Jarvis erased James’s commemorative photos to stop him exploiting Tony Stark’s reputation, leaving James’s plans in ruins.

• Martian Manhunter told Robet that Carnage had not surrendered, and Robet sent the recovering Carnage flying again.
• James waited at his hotel, hoping to use Reed Richards and Ben Grimm to get close to Tony Stark, but Jarvis sent two empty Iron Man suits to collect them.
• James took photos with Reed Richards’s suit, hoping to use them for publicity, while Reed and Ben departed with Ben in the other suit.
• Jarvis secretly deleted every photo from James’s subordinates’ phones, frustrating James’s plan to imply a connection with Tony Stark.
• Ben explained to Reed that James had wanted to pass off a photo with Reed as one with Iron Man, and Jarvis decided to cut off James’s hopes of approaching Tony Stark or Stark Industries.