Chapter Summaries

Odin revealed the World Tree’s power and expanded into his Celestial Father form as he fought Jean Grey’s Phoenix. His immense spear struck through the Phoenix’s golden flames, leaving Jean’s fate uncertain.

• Odin marked Bucky’s Adamantium arm with a Rune that made it unbearably heavy, then kicked him into the Sea of Asgard before turning to fight Jean Grey.
• The barrier over Valaskjalf fell, and the Realm Eternal army clashed with the Sirius Legion as Thor, Storm, and the other fighters battled across the palace.
• Magik killed the wounded Fandral while fighting alongside Colossus against Heimdall, and Cyclops and Havok pursued Loki into the palace.
• Jean demanded that Odin explain James’s power, but Odin revealed that the Phoenix was destined to pursue its power across countless universes.
• Odin’s nine strikes illuminated the Nine Realms and revealed Yggdrasil, whose power enlarged him into a Celestial Father.
• Odin absorbed the Realm Eternal’s clouds and lightning, then thrust his enormous Eternal Spear through the Phoenix’s golden flames.

The Howlett Family and Sirius Legion ended their battle with Odin, who died after warning Thor and Loki about the gods’ delusions and the sea. On Earth, a mysterious armored woman emerged from a rift and said she wished she could watch her father die.

• Odin transported the combatants apart, freed Jean, Bucky, Alex, and Thor, and called on Emma Howlett to stop the fighting.
• Jean insisted she had not lost, while Emma declared that Earth was no longer the gods’ territory and led the human forces away.
• After the human ships disappeared, Odin weakened and died in Frigga’s arms as Loki begged him to explain who Loki was.
• On a deserted island in northern Norway, a black void opened above a flock, and a woman in green armor emerged as the sheep rotted into bones.
• The woman sniffed the blood on the bones, then lamented that she could not watch her father die.

James Howlett fought his way to fame as Wolverine on Sakaar, where the Grandmaster offered to explain how he could leave and identify the flame consuming him in exchange for a fight. Back on Earth, Emma and Jean parted ways at James's empty throne, with Jean deciding she could no longer stay without him.

• James won a bloody arena match on Sakaar, where the crowd celebrated him as Wolverine and he noticed his powers had been stripped away while his physical strength grew.
• James asked his attendant about records of the universe and was summoned to meet the Grandmaster.
• The Grandmaster recognized James as an unusual warrior and offered to help him leave Sakaar and explain the nameless flame if James entertained him with a fight.
• At the Howlett Family's underground Wolf Nest, Jean told Emma she had done all she could and could not find a reason to stay without James.
• Emma embraced Jean and recalled their earlier conversation about Jean's love for James and her fear of the Phoenix's growing desires.

After losing his powers, Alex Summers urged his brother Scott to embrace the warrior’s future while Jean Grey departed Earth aboard an ancient Skrull starship with a new crew. As Emma and Erik discussed the consequences of James Howlett’s disappearance, Jean took the Skrull emperor’s throne aboard the ship.

• Alex Summers recovered from his frost injuries but learned that his body could no longer withstand his powers, and he told Scott that he still hoped to fight beside Mr. Howlett again.
• Jean Grey prepared to leave Earth, and Psylocke, young Academy warriors, scientists, Viper, Nightcrawler, Archangel, and Magik joined her while Laura stayed behind to protect the Howlett home.
• Scott hurried aboard at the last moment, and the Skrull starship lifted off from Wolf Nest Base as Laura watched it disappear into the snowy sky.
• Emma and Erik discussed James Howlett’s disappearance and the possibility of letting the world reveal who would seek power, while Hank reported that Dr. Bolivar Trask had died in Sweden.
• Jean Grey changed into her blue-purple armor and ascended to the ancient brass throne aboard the departing starship.

James Howlett endured a months-long struggle with Asgard’s nameless flame while the Grandmaster prepared his championship trial and welcomed Taneleer Tivan to Sakaar. James entered the arena to face more than a hundred gladiators, and Tivan recognized the Eternal Flame within him as an extraordinary treasure.

• The Grandmaster searched Sakaar’s gladiator roster for a worthy opponent for Wolverine and chose a dark-skinned female warrior to join the challenge.
• James repeatedly burned to ash and regenerated while fighting the nameless Asgardian flame, then reflected on Odin, the World Tree, and the power of the Runes.
• The Grandmaster sent an attendant to tell James about his upcoming championship ceremony and banquet, and three days later Taneleer Tivan arrived on Sakaar.
• The Grandmaster and Tivan exchanged insults before welcoming spectators to James’s trial by combat against more than a hundred gladiators, including Korg, Miek, and the dark-skinned warrior.
• James entered the arena in yellow-and-black armor as the crowd cheered, and Tivan recognized the Eternal Flame inside him as an unprecedented treasure.

James fought through Sakaar’s gladiators, spared a Valkyrie, and learned from her that Odin had taken the Eternal Flame from Surtur. He told her Odin was dead, leaving her shocked and furious.

• James fought the Sakaaran gladiators, using his Bone Blades to cut down most of them while showing interest in the tough female warrior.
• The Grandmaster and Taneleer Tivan agreed that Tivan would lend him the Reality, Space, and Mind stones once he acquired them and collect powerful gladiators for him until then.
• James disarmed and spared the Valkyrie after hearing her invoke Odin, then questioned her about the Eternal Flame.
• The Valkyrie recalled how Odin defeated Surtur in Muspelheim and took a flame from his brain.
• James told the Valkyrie that Odin was dead, and she reacted with shock and fury.

James learned that Odin had sealed away Hela, the Goddess of Death, and arranged to leave Sakaar aboard Taneleer Tivan’s ship. Hela returned to Midgard and confronted the Ancient One, declaring herself Asgard’s rightful queen.

• Valkyrie told James that Odin had used the Valkyrie Legion as expendable pawns to weaken Hela before sealing her away, and warned that Hela would return after Odin’s death.
• James met Taneleer Tivan in the Grandmaster’s viewing box and accepted the offer to leave Sakaar aboard Tivan’s ship.
• The Grandmaster and Tivan discussed their bargain and predicted that Logan would not live much longer after leaving Sakaar.
• Hela emerged from her prison in Tonsberg, compelled a fisherman to ferry her across the water, and headed toward shore.
• The Ancient One confronted Hela, who mocked Odin’s peace with Earth and announced that she was the rightful heir to Asgard’s throne.

Hela Odinsdottir fought the Ancient One until Emma Howlett arrived and persuaded her that Asgard had become hostile to her, offering to help her return. Elsewhere, Taneleer Tivan told James that the Grandmaster had sent him as another attempt to kill Tivan.

• Hela described how Odin had stripped her power, imprisoned her, and erased her existence as her deathly aura withered the shore of Tonsberg.
• The Ancient One trapped Hela and herself in the Mirror Dimension, where they battled until Hela broke through the Sorcerer Supreme's defenses.
• Emma Howlett joined the fight, and the Ancient One explained that Hela was too powerful to kill and would need to be sealed again.
• Emma questioned Hela about her plans, learned she intended to reclaim Asgard's throne, and offered to help her return despite being Asgard's enemy.
• Emma argued that Hela had no choice but to accept help because the Aesir in Asgard were now her enemies.
• Taneleer Tivan told James that the Grandmaster had been trying to kill him for millions of years and had sent James as another attempt.

James met the Collector, who hired him to find an Infinity Stone in exchange for help removing the Eternal Flame from his body. Meanwhile, Hela returned to Asgard, and Emma prepared for the possibility that Hela would turn against Earth.

• James explored Knowhere with Taneleer Tivan and learned that the Collector had gathered former Sakaaran champions as specimens.
• Tivan explained that the Eternal Flame was draining James’s life and offered to help remove it if James found one Infinity Stone for him.
• James accepted the commission after Tivan shared what he knew about the Eternal Flame, then asked where to find the stone.
• The Ancient One and Emma opened a portal to Asgard, and Hela crossed through it to reclaim her realm.
• Emma warned that Hela might attack Earth after regaining control of Asgard and declared that she would be ready.

After Odin's death, Thor refused the throne and offered it to Loki, but Frigga revealed Loki's Frost Giant origins and Heimdall exposed the existence of Odin's firstborn, Hela. Hela returned to Asgard, claimed the throne, and took Mjolnir from Thor.

• Thor declared himself unfit to rule and offered Asgard's throne to Loki if Loki avenged Odin and restored the realm.
• Frigga revealed that Loki was a Frost Giant foundling and that Odin had intended one brother to rule Asgard while the other inherited Jotunheim.
• Heimdall interrupted the dispute and revealed a concealed mural depicting Hela, Odin's eldest daughter, whom Odin had sealed away.
• Hela arrived at the Golden Palace and told Heimdall and the others that she would claim Asgard and restore its glory.
• Hela sat on Odin's throne, declared herself ruler, and pulled Mjolnir from Thor's hand.

Hela defeated Thor and the Asgardian warriors, sent Thor and Loki away with Heimdall’s help, and searched Odin’s vault for the Eternal Flame. Far away aboard the Collector’s Shell Ship, James pondered the meaning of eternity.

• Hela nearly crushed Mjolnir, demanded that Asgard submit to her, and fought Thor, Sif, Heimdall, and the warriors who opposed her.
• Loki used the Casket of Ancient Winters to freeze Hela, but she broke free; Heimdall then sent Thor and Loki away through the Bifrost.
• Hela took the Bifrost sword and slaughtered Asgardian warriors until Heimdall pleaded with her to stop.
• Hela dragged Heimdall into Odin’s treasury, dismissed its treasures, and demanded to know where the Eternal Flame was.
• Aboard the Collector’s Shell Ship, James watched his reflection and wondered whether anything in the universe was truly eternal.

James and Beta Ray Bill traveled to Korbin to find the Legend Speaker, who might know the location of an Infinity Stone, and Bill reunited with his family. As James waited on the planet, Thanos's forces attacked the Collector's ship and prioritized finding the Stone over killing half of Korbin's inhabitants.

• James and Beta Ray Bill arrived on Korbin, where Bill explained his views on fate and the Korbinites' duties.
• Bill reunited with his siblings and mother, then told James that the Legend Speaker had last been heard of near Saluka Mountain City two years earlier.
• James explored the underground city and suspected that advanced civilizations had kept the Korbinites technologically underdeveloped to exploit them as laborers.
• James considered keeping the Infinity Stone and Eternal Flame for himself, then watched a red-and-gold ring-shaped ship descend and destroy the Collector's Shell Ship.
• A hooded commander told his forces to focus on finding the Stone, and Cull Obsidian accepted postponing the planned killing of half the planet's population.

James and Beta Ray Bill fought the Black Order as its forces invaded Korbin, and James killed Supergiant after she mentioned Thanos. Corvus Glaive engaged James, while Thanos arrived aboard the Sanctuary II.

• James and Beta Ray Bill battled the Black Order’s fighters and soldiers as Korbin’s inhabitants joined the defense.
• Supergiant used her psychic power to make Korbinites kill themselves, then approached James and tried to control his mind.
• James stabbed Supergiant to learn more about Thanos, then killed her by driving his claws through her brain.
• Corvus Glaive attacked James and fought him with his golden glaive, forcing James to parry and counter at close range.
• The Sanctuary II descended over Korbin as Thanos arrived.

James Howlett fought Thanos for the first time after the Mad Titan arrived on Korbin and took command of his forces. Thanos beheaded James, but James’s headless body caught and held his head, leaving the outcome of their duel unresolved.

• The Sanctuary II arrived over Korbin, and Cull Obsidian battered Beta Ray Bill while James Howlett fought Corvus Glaive.
• James killed Corvus Glaive, but Corvus recovered unharmed and resumed his attack as Thanos arrived with Ebony Maw and the surviving Black Order.
• Thanos ignored Corvus’s excuses, took Stormbreaker from Cull Obsidian, and ordered Ebony Maw to gather the Korbinites and search for Legend Speaker.
• James charged Thanos and traded martial techniques with him, but his claws could barely penetrate Thanos’s skin.
• Thanos severed James’s neck with his double-edged sword, but James’s headless body caught its own head before it hit the ground.

James Howlett fought Thanos, accepted a job to train his daughters in exchange for a larger ship, and warned Beta Ray Bill to evacuate the Korbinites. Meanwhile, Loki imprisoned Thor on Jotunheim and weighed whether to use him to gain favor with Laufey or ally with Hela.

• James tested his Bone Blade against Thanos, and Thanos praised his toughness before asking why he had attacked.
• James explained that Thanos's forces had destroyed his employer Taneleer Tivan's ship while he searched for a stone, and Thanos offered him a job training Gamora and Nebula.
• Thanos promised James payment and extended life after recognizing that James had only three days left, and James agreed on the condition that he receive a bigger ship.
• Ebony Maw warned James that Gamora and Nebula killed their instructors with the skills they had taught them.
• James helped the injured Beta Ray Bill up and urged him to take the Korbinites away, then boarded the Sanctuary II determined to prevent Thanos's future Snap.
• Loki kept Thor frozen on Jotunheim and asked whether he should offer him to Laufey or hand him over to Hela in exchange for an alliance.

James witnessed the Black Order’s massacre of Korbin’s population and intervened to spare a group of children, while Thanos’s forces searched for Infinity Stones. The chapter left James assigned as Gamora and Nebula’s new instructor as Thanos continued speaking to an unseen presence.

• James donned Black Order armor as Thanos arrived on Korbin and learned that the Legend Speaker had fled.
• The Black Order carried out its culling, slaughtering half of Korbin’s population while James felt mounting grief.
• James stopped soldiers from killing a group of Korbinite children, declaring that they had been randomly chosen to survive.
• Nebula reported that the Power Stone was likely on Morag, and Gamora admitted she had found no trace of the Soul Stone.
• Thanos ordered Ebony Maw to conquer the Chitauri and introduced James as the new instructor for Gamora and Nebula.
• After the others left, James saw Thanos standing with his hands spread as if speaking to someone unseen.

James trained Gamora and Nebula aboard the Sanctuary II, testing their combat instincts and asking what drove them to fight. On Earth, Tony Stark’s breakthrough with Ark energy had made him Stark Industries’ new leader, and the chapter ended as a striking dark-haired woman entered a bar and captured his attention.

• James watched Gamora defeat Nebula and challenged both sisters to attack him with all their strength.
• Gamora and Nebula attacked James, who dodged their strikes and claimed he had died repeatedly to learn their movements before asking what they fought for.
• After defeating them, James told Gamora and Nebula to return to his training after the Chitauri homeworld conquest began.
• James reflected on Thanos’s adopted daughters as he watched them leave the battle hall.
• Tony Stark’s Ark Isotope and completed Project Ark disrupted Howlett Group’s energy monopoly and drew public attention to him as Stark Industries’ new head.
• A Washington Post reporter interviewed Tony at a New York bar, but he lost his train of thought when a dark-haired woman entered.

Laura recognized Tony Stark and forcibly took him to meet her mother, while a mysterious old man arrived in Wakanda with information and blueprints that he offered to T'Chaka. The old man pressed T'Chaka to consider joining forces against the Howlett Family, and T'Chaka examined his plans.

• Tony Stark visited Laura and Ororo's bar, where Ororo revealed that Stark's Project Ark was poaching the Howlett family's business.
• Laura recognized Tony Stark, dented the counter with her hand, and announced that she was taking him to meet her mother.
• Laura carried Tony out of the bar and boarded Ororo's aircraft, while security guards subdued Happy.
• A mysterious old man arrived in Wakanda and told T'Chaka that the Howlett Family had taken Wakanda's Sacred Mountain.
• The old man offered Wakanda blueprints and urged T'Chaka to consider his proposal, and T'Chaka studied the plans.

Laura brought Tony Stark to Wolf Nest and revealed that James’s old notebook named Tony, Iron Man, and Thanos, prompting Emma to reject probing his memories. Meanwhile, James continued training Gamora and Nebula and fought Thanos in Sanctuary II.

• Laura and Storm brought Tony Stark to Wolf Nest, where he discovered the hidden city and met Emma.
• Laura told Emma and Storm that James’s notebook contained the names Iron Man, Tony Stark, and Thanos, and she suspected Tony was connected to James’s disappearance.
• Emma refused to invade Tony’s memories, reasoning that James might value or trust him, and Storm reassured Laura about James.
• At Sanctuary II, James watched Gamora and Nebula spar while discussing their training and Nebula’s modifications with Thanos.
• Thanos challenged James to fight, and James used his skill to throw him before they resumed trading blows.

James challenged Thanos’s plan to erase half of all life, but Thanos dismissed his warning and continued pursuing the Infinity Stones. Three years later, James joined Gamora and Nebula on a mission to Morta, where his second heartbeat quickened upon arrival.

• James sparred with Thanos, who offered him life-sustaining energy and discussed the Eternal Flame and the Infinity Stones.
• Thanos explained that he intended to use the Infinity Stones to eliminate half of all life, and James warned that his plan would lead to extinction and chaos.
• James sensed an ominous presence in Thanos and suspected that the Titan had been beguiled, but Thanos reaffirmed his belief in his destiny and offered James a place among the Black Order Generals.
• Three years later, Thanos sent the Black Order to Morta to capture the Legend Speaker, and Gamora and Nebula asked James to join the hunt.
• James, Gamora, and Nebula descended onto Morta, where James’s second heartbeat began speeding up as soon as he touched the ground.