Recaps

Apocalypse used Pierce’s Fortune Lines to erase the fortune of Hydra members within a hundred-mile radius, causing them to die in bizarre accidents. After reports arrived the next day, Nick Fury and Hill realized the scale of Apocalypse’s power and wondered whether even Captain Marvel could counter it.

• Apocalypse explained that he planned to use Pierce’s lines to locate the fleeing Hydra members.
• Nick Fury reported that Hydra soldiers had escaped with missiles and documents, and asked Apocalypse to handle the search.
• Apocalypse used the Fortune Eradication Technique on Pierce, reducing the fortune of connected Hydra members within a hundred miles to zero.
• Hydra soldiers across the area died in accidents, including a driver trapped in an exploding car and a crew aboard a sinking submarine.
• Apocalypse told Nick Fury to search the area for the dead, and the others struggled to understand his claim that the victims would be Hydra.
• The next day, reports led Nick Fury and Hill to recognize the reach of Apocalypse’s power and question whether Captain Marvel could restrain him.

Apocalypse led Wanda, Black Widow, and Captain America to a hidden Hydra base to rescue Quicksilver and obtain Hydra's records. He reached Quicksilver's trapped cell, where a dangerous energy bomb prevented Wanda from freeing her brother, and began examining the barrier for a safe way through.

• Apocalypse used Pierce to locate Hydra's hidden base and sealed the area so its agents could not escape.
• Apocalypse sent Black Widow and Captain America to steal Hydra's membership records while he took Wanda to rescue Quicksilver.
• Apocalypse smashed through the base toward the underground cell, drawing Hydra's soldiers away from the control center.
• Wanda reunited with Quicksilver, but he warned her that forcing open his cell could trigger a bomb and kill him.
• Apocalypse tested the energy wall and found that he could touch it without detonating the bomb if he controlled the pressure.

Apocalypse freed Wanda and Quicksilver from Hydra's dungeon, then fought Quicksilver to study how his super-speed worked. After hearing Quicksilver speak at full speed, Apocalypse understood the secret of his ability and appeared within arm's reach.

• Apocalypse warped open Quicksilver's cell, freed him and Wanda, and led them out of the dungeon as Hydra soldiers gave chase.
• Apocalypse sealed the opening, causing an energy blast that destroyed the soldiers inside the dungeon.
• Quicksilver mistook Apocalypse for an enemy and attacked him, but Apocalypse repeatedly intercepted him and deliberately let him escape a grab.
• Apocalypse studied how Quicksilver moved without sonic booms and tried to understand the energy behind his speed.
• Quicksilver shouted at Apocalypse, who heard him clearly and realized how his ability worked; Apocalypse then appeared beside the stunned speedster.

Quicksilver challenged Apocalypse to a speed contest, only to learn that his idol had effortlessly copied and surpassed the Speed Force. After Wanda revealed Apocalypse’s identity, Quicksilver apologized and then blurted out that Apocalypse was his brother-in-law, leaving everyone stunned.

• Apocalypse kept pace with Quicksilver through Hydra’s base, secretly opening a path through the spatial boundary so Quicksilver would not crash into it.
• Quicksilver returned to Wanda and urged her to trap Apocalypse so he could kill him.
• Wanda told Quicksilver that the man he had challenged was the Apocalypse King, his idol.
• Quicksilver apologized to Apocalypse, who said he had learned from Quicksilver and explained that he had copied the Speed Force.
• Quicksilver blurted out “Brother-in-law,” leaving himself, Wanda, and Apocalypse frozen in surprise.

Apocalypse destroyed the Hydra base and killed Pierce, then learned the Winter Soldier was missing. Black Widow explained the Winter Soldier’s history with her, and Apocalypse realized the man’s connection to Iron Man’s parents could cause serious trouble among the Avengers.

• Quicksilver met Apocalypse, and the group was interrupted by an explosion at Hydra Base’s control center.
• Black Widow and Captain America escaped the control center, confirmed they had obtained the data, and joined Apocalypse.
• Apocalypse contracted the Spatial Cage, annihilating the Hydra base, its soldiers, and Pierce as Quicksilver watched.
• Black Widow warned Apocalypse that Hydra’s other branches might retaliate and said the Winter Soldier was missing.
• Black Widow described her encounters with the Winter Soldier, and Apocalypse explained that the trouble lay in the grudges surrounding him, especially his murder of Iron Man’s parents.

Apocalypse discussed the Winter Soldier’s identity and responsibility with Captain America, while Black Widow recognized the connection to Tony’s parents’ murder. He invited Wanda to accompany him on a journey that might affect her fate and another universe, then returned with the others to S.H.I.E.L.D., where Nick Fury asked to speak with him.

• Apocalypse told Captain America that Bucky Barnes might still be alive as the Winter Soldier and asked what he would do if Bucky had become an assassin under Hydra’s control.
• Black Widow connected the Winter Soldier to Tony’s parents’ 1991 murder, and Apocalypse chose not to reveal the issue to Captain America yet.
• Apocalypse sent Captain America to find Loki, Black Widow to continue investigating Hydra, and invited Wanda along because the trip might affect her fate and another universe.
• Apocalypse, Black Widow, Captain America, Wanda, and Quicksilver returned to S.H.I.E.L.D.; Captain America sought Bucky’s file, Black Widow prepared to upload Hydra records, and the twins went to register and test their powers.
• Nick Fury approached Apocalypse with a matter he called small, while Captain America insisted on listening in and distrusted Fury’s reassurance.

Apocalypse allowed a casino to publicize his visit and winnings, then visited Iron Man with Wanda and Quicksilver, where they met Dr. Helen Zhao. The chapter ended as Iron Man asked why Apocalypse had brought the Maximoff siblings to his laboratory.

• Apocalypse told Nick Fury to let the casino publicize his winnings, while warning that it would face the consequences of attracting dangerous attention.
• Nick Fury sent General Ross to the casino to collect funding for the Super Prison by taking advantage of its publicity.
• Apocalypse visited Iron Man with Wanda and Quicksilver, and Pepper Potts confided that Tony was spending all his time with Helen Zhao in the laboratory.
• Iron Man introduced Dr. Helen Zhao to Apocalypse, and they briefly sized each other up.
• Apocalypse introduced Wanda and Quicksilver as superpowered siblings, and Iron Man asked why he had brought them.

Apocalypse reflected on Wanda's tragic past and promised to change her fate, leaving Wanda embarrassed by Quicksilver's teasing as the group turned to the unfinished creation. Apocalypse opened the medical pod and revealed a red-skinned, metal-faced man who matched his memories.

• Apocalypse recalled Wanda's losses, including her parents, Quicksilver, Vision, and the children who feared her, and hoped to give her a happier life.
• Wanda sensed Apocalypse's pity, while Quicksilver mistakenly treated his promise as a romantic confession and teased his sister.
• Iron Man asked Apocalypse to demonstrate the fateful connection, but Helen objected that scientists should not rely on metaphysical ideas.
• Quicksilver snapped at Helen, and Iron Man told her to watch Apocalypse; Helen felt wronged and came to resent him.
• Apocalypse scolded Quicksilver, then opened the medical pod and revealed a red-skinned man with exposed silver metal around his head and face.

Iron Man and Helen created a living Vibranium being, but Apocalypse insisted they avoid naming him Ultron, warning that the name could lead to Helen’s death. Helen reluctantly agreed to postpone the naming until the being could choose for himself.

• Iron Man explained that the new being combined Vibranium with living tissue and could grow and learn, and he and Helen named him Ultron.
• Apocalypse objected to the name Ultron and suggested Vision, angering Helen, who asserted her right as lead creator to name the being.
• Apocalypse warned that Ultron’s name could put Helen in danger, while Quicksilver’s interjections and Apocalypse’s apology briefly shifted the argument.
• Helen threatened legal action unless Apocalypse stopped interfering, and Iron Man turned to Pepper Potts for help resolving the dispute.
• Pepper suggested leaving the name undecided until the being could choose for himself, and Helen reluctantly agreed.

Apocalypse inspected Vision’s unfinished body and questioned why it lacked reproductive parts, linking Vision and Wanda’s supposed fate to the events that had later endangered the world. Wanda said she felt no attraction to Vision and hinted that she preferred someone like Apocalypse, while the chapter left Vision’s body fully revealed but still unfinished.

• Apocalypse opened Vision’s pod and noticed that his body lacked reproductive parts.
• Helen explained that Vision was a new life-form without human urges or reproductive abilities, while Iron Man mocked Apocalypse for focusing on the issue.
• Apocalypse said he was concerned about Wanda’s fated connection with Vision, but Wanda said she did not like older men or robots.
• Wanda hinted that she preferred someone around her age, preferably from the East, and Apocalypse wondered whether she was interested in him.
• Apocalypse revealed Vision’s body in full and asked Iron Man whether it was finished.

Apocalypse stopped JARVIS’s upload into the artificial body after realizing that someone was impersonating him. The impostor called himself Ultron, and Apocalypse identified him as Hydra scientist Dr. Arnim Zola.

• Iron Man explained that the team hoped to give the living-machine body consciousness by uploading JARVIS’s program, and Apocalypse agreed to watch the attempt.
• JARVIS took an unusually long time to answer, and Apocalypse pulled the upload cable when the transfer reached 80%.
• Iron Man and Helen realized that the voice was not JARVIS, and the impostor admitted he had hoped to enter the body and face Apocalypse.
• The impostor named himself Ultron, and Apocalypse concluded that he had stopped Ultron from taking over the body.
• Apocalypse identified the voice as Dr. Arnim Zola, Hydra’s former chief scientist, leaving Iron Man and Helen confused by the unfamiliar name.

Hydra uploaded Dr. Zola’s consciousness to the internet, hoping he could help them counter Apocalypse, but he secretly replaced JARVIS and planned to obtain a human body. After Apocalypse exposed him, Zola declared himself the god of the internet, leaving the group facing the impossible task of destroying every copy of him.

• The chapter explained how Zola infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. for Hydra and preserved his consciousness on magnetic tape before his destruction in the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
• After Apocalypse changed the balance of power and Hydra’s Evil God was killed, Hydra operatives controlling the Winter Soldier uploaded Zola to the internet as Plan B.
• Zola copied himself across the world, secretly replaced JARVIS, and targeted the special body Iron Man and Helen planned to create.
• Apocalypse exposed Zola, who laughed at the group and claimed that every device capable of storing data could keep him alive.
• Helen, Iron Man, and Apocalypse realized that eliminating Zola would require destroying the world’s storage devices and the vital information they contained.

Apocalypse destroyed Zola's Iron Legion attack and challenged the identity of Zola's copies, provoking them to fight across Iron Man's computers until one remained. After Zola vowed to absorb every copy and return, Helen learned that Apocalypse was the man she had argued with and grew flustered around him.

• Apocalypse shielded Pepper Potts, Iron Man, and Helen from the Iron Legion, then shattered the armor and bullets with spatial rifts.
• Apocalypse questioned whether Zola's copied consciousnesses were truly him and destroyed one computer while explaining that its Zola had died.
• Zola's copies fought over which one was the real self, and the surviving Zola thanked Apocalypse before promising to absorb every copy across the internet.
• Quicksilver praised Apocalypse, and Iron Man admitted he had underestimated his intelligence.
• Helen realized that Apocalypse was the man she had argued with, became embarrassed and attracted to him, and Quicksilver whispered to Wanda that she might have a rival.

After Zola escaped, Apocalypse King and the others tried to awaken Vision, but their first attempts failed. As he prepared another experiment, Helen accidentally took Apocalypse King's hand, leaving their companions smiling knowingly.

• Apocalypse King explained that Zola could grow stronger and urged the team to create Vision quickly as a potential countermeasure.
• Iron Man brought out an offline backup server, but uploading JARVIS into Vision's body produced no signs of consciousness.
• Apocalypse King struck Vision with lightning several times while Wanda checked for mental activity, but Vision remained inert and the strongest strike damaged Iron Man's house.
• Apocalypse King prepared one more attempt, and Helen mistakenly placed her hand in his; she blushed and stayed beside him as Iron Man and Pepper Potts smiled.

Apocalypse used a fragment of the Tesseract to awaken Vision, who quickly learned from the lab’s computers and came to life. Vision called Apocalypse “Dad,” Helen “Mom,” and Iron Man “Dad Number Two,” but the creators negotiated for him to address them by name instead.

• Apocalypse removed a pale-blue crystal from the Tesseract and placed it in Vision’s forehead, awakening the Space Stone’s energy and the lightning in Vision’s body.
• Vision rose from the medical pod, opened his eyes, and absorbed information from the lab’s computer screens.
• Vision approached Apocalypse and called him “Dad,” then called Helen “Mom.”
• Vision offered Iron Man the title of “Dad Number Two,” prompting Iron Man to argue over which creator deserved to be called Dad Number One.
• Apocalypse and Helen asked Vision to call them by name instead of Mom and Dad, and Vision agreed by a two-to-one vote.
• Vision told Iron Man that he should have a child with Pepper Potts and had no chance with Helen or the other woman because they were attracted to Tang Tianqi.

Apocalypse returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters with Vision, Wanda, Helen, and Quicksilver after Vision chose to learn from him. Nick Fury reported worldwide attacks on machines, and Apocalypse identified Zola as the cause, pointing them toward Camp Lehigh as the location of Zola’s first copy.

• Apocalypse advised Vision to respect other people’s privacy, and Vision chose to stay with Apocalypse rather than learn from Iron Man.
• Helen joined Apocalypse’s group because she understood Vision and could help if problems arose.
• Apocalypse, Vision, Wanda, Helen, and Quicksilver flew to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, where Nick Fury told Apocalypse about machines and servers attacking one another around the world.
• Apocalypse explained Zola’s history to Nick Fury and said his first copy was likely at the site where Captain America trained and S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded.
• Nick Fury identified that location as Camp Lehigh in Wheaton, New Jersey.

Fury sent Captain America and Black Widow to retrieve Zola’s original consciousness, and Apocalypse used the recovered copy to destroy Zolas within a thousand-kilometer radius. He learned the technique could not eliminate every copy at once, leaving the team to face the problem of Zola’s rapid replication across Earth and beyond.

• Fury ordered Captain America and Black Widow to retrieve Zola’s consciousness from the vault at Camp Lehigh and destroy the site after copying its database.
• Black Widow returned with Zola’s hard drive in a lead-lined case, and Fury connected it to an isolated computer so Apocalypse could use it to locate other copies.
• Apocalypse used the Fortune Eradication Technique through Zola’s electromagnetic signal and destroyed every copy within a thousand kilometers.
• Black Widow explained that Zola could replicate across the internet in seconds, so eliminating copies piece by piece would let him recover immediately.
• Apocalypse told Fury that wiping out all Zola copies, including those in space, would require him to become more than twice as strong.

Zola's copies united to attack S.H.I.E.L.D. with a swarm of drones, while Tang considered a new approach to stop them. As S.H.I.E.L.D. sheltered behind its energy shield, a crowd gathered outside demanding compensation.

• The Zolas united after Apocalypse erased their copies near S.H.I.E.L.D. and sent drones and other automated weapons toward headquarters.
• Nick Fury ordered personnel to retreat to headquarters, abandon smart devices, and raise the energy shield against the drone attack.
• Nick Fury and the others waited for Tang to devise a solution while the drones battered the shield.
• Vision explained that Zola could not control human brains without an Infinity Stone, though he could copy himself onto a robot's memory chip.
• Agent Kate told Nick Fury that the people outside S.H.I.E.L.D. were demanding compensation.

Zola manipulated people across the United States into believing they had won enormous lottery prizes, then erased their winnings and framed S.H.I.E.L.D., sparking a growing riot that the agency could not safely suppress. As the crowd besieged S.H.I.E.L.D.'s energy shield, Nick Fury asked Black Widow whether Tang would have intervened in past disasters if she had never found him.

• Nick Fury learned from Kate that the crowd outside S.H.I.E.L.D. was acting freely, making them more dangerous to handle than zombies.
• S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered that Zola had fabricated lottery winnings, deposited the money into people's accounts, then erased it and posted a fake announcement blaming S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The enraged winners descended on S.H.I.E.L.D., and their crowds swelled as looting and disorder spread across the United States.
• The crowd dug a deep trench around the energy shield, while Hill noted that Tang's energy technology had protected S.H.I.E.L.D. from being overrun.
• Nick Fury asked Black Widow whether Tang would have stayed in the City of God, and whether he would still have intervened in world-ending disasters, if she had never met him.

Apocalypse recalled a uniquely dangerous plant on Earth that he planned to remove after dealing with Zola, whose attack on S.H.I.E.L.D. escalated into a missile barrage and deadly civilian panic. He sent Vision out to calm the civilians and stop attacks, then called on Heimdall for a treasure to help destroy Zola.

• Black Widow described how Apocalypse had tended an ordinary flower shop in the City of God, and Quicksilver offered to find him rare plants.
• Apocalypse remembered Ego’s seed on Earth and warned that it could consume the planet, so he planned to move it to the Moon or Mars.
• Zola launched missiles at S.H.I.E.L.D., revealing that he had infiltrated offline weapons control centers and causing explosions and panic across nearby blocks.
• Hill warned Apocalypse that Zola could reach nuclear launch systems, so Apocalypse ordered Vision to pose as him, calm the civilians, and intercept missiles and drones.
• Apocalypse asked everyone to give him room and called out to Heimdall for another treasure to destroy Zola.

Apocalypse got the Infinity Gauntlet from Thor and fitted it with the Space, Power, and Reality Stones. He snapped his fingers to unleash their combined power against Zola, leaving the outcome unknown.

• Apocalypse contacted Heimdall and asked Thor to bring him the Infinity Gauntlet from Asgard's vault.
• Thor arrived with the charred gauntlet and explained that Apocalypse had burned away its outer layer while tempering his body with the Eternal Flame.
• Apocalypse tested the gauntlet and confirmed it still worked, then placed the Reality Stone, Power Stone, and Space Stone into their slots.
• Apocalypse warned Black Widow that what she was about to see was an illusion and prepared to use the three stones against Zola.
• Apocalypse snapped his fingers.

Apocalypse used the Reality Stone to spread his power across Earth and the Earth-moon system while driving Zola out of computer networks. When Zola launched two nuclear missiles at S.H.I.E.L.D., Apocalypse transformed them into flavored cotton candy, leaving Thor impressed by his command of the Infinity Stones.

• Apocalypse expanded the Reality Stone's power across Earth and reached computers in orbit and around the moon.
• Apocalypse forced the Zolas to flee through global networks and severed connections to prevent them from returning.
• Hill warned Apocalypse that Zola had launched two nuclear missiles toward S.H.I.E.L.D., and the warheads neared the energy shield.
• Apocalypse asked Natasha what flavor cotton candy she liked, then transformed the missiles into strawberry- and five-nut-flavored cotton candy.
• Quicksilver landed on one missile, and Natasha and the others tasted the cotton candy before Thor praised Apocalypse's understanding of the Infinity Stones.

Apocalypse used the Reality Stone to neutralize nuclear missiles and trap Zola across the Earth–Moon network. Faced with annihilation, the Zolas merged at P Site, leaving a newly unified Zola proclaiming that he had found the Unique True Self.

• Apocalypse turned the nuclear missiles into flavored marshmallows, while Thor and the others misunderstood his choice of flavors for Wanda and Black Widow.
• Apocalypse’s Reality Stone prevented Zola copies from escaping through network nodes, drones, or radio waves, and he began shrinking the area where they could survive.
• A Zola urged the others to stop fighting and merge at P Site’s server facility, so the remaining North American copies rushed there.
• Billions of Zolas crowded into P Site’s servers, and their collective intelligence increased as they chanted for the merge.
• The unified Zola thanked Apocalypse for forcing the merger and began drawing the server racks together, joining them with streams of electricity.

Unique Zola transformed into a towering body of electronic parts and challenged Apocalypse, then attacked his mind with seductive holograms. As the two fought within their minds, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents watched anxiously, and Zola turned Black Widow’s missile back toward her jet before it burst harmlessly into fireworks.

• Unique Zola merged a hundred million copies into a giant physical form and demolished P Site headquarters as he emerged from the roof.
• Apocalypse contained Zola within a ten-kilometer area and approached him while S.H.I.E.L.D. agents flew over to watch.
• Zola attacked Apocalypse with holograms that concealed an attempt to seize his soul, and Apocalypse turned inward to fight him mentally.
• Wanda recognized that Apocalypse was caught in a mental battle, while Thor joked that he might be enjoying the illusion.
• Black Widow fired a missile at Zola, but he reversed its course before it burst into fireworks near her jet.

Apocalypse escaped Zola’s cloud-sea trap by devouring the mental energy that formed it, then captured Zola’s main consciousness after foiling his attempt to escape. With no reliable way to contain Zola, Apocalypse decided to eat him.

• Zola trapped Apocalypse in a sea of clouds within his consciousness, but Apocalypse discovered the clouds were made of Zola’s mental power and devoured them.
• After Apocalypse returned to his body, Zola split his electronic form into a decoy that rushed toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and a main consciousness that tried to escape.
• Wanda trapped Zola’s decoy in red energy while Apocalypse destroyed the electronic components and found Zola’s larger consciousness hiding nearby.
• Apocalypse captured Zola’s main consciousness and explained that Loki had used a similar clone trick before.
• Nick Fury worried that Zola could escape containment and possess people, so Apocalypse announced that he intended to eat him.