Recaps

Beast emerged from underground in a Divine Dragon body and flew toward K'un-Lun, while Tony pursued him and tried to stop the destruction. Beast trapped Luke and others in a Dimensional Space, then sent a massive wave across Japan as Tony struggled to defend the coast.

• Captain America's group survived the underground collapse beneath a pink protective dome, and Beast burst from the pit in the form of a black dragon.
• Daredevil reunited with his girlfriend, while Captain America learned that Luke had left and Tony arrived with the Armor Squad.
• Iron Fist said he had gained his power by killing a smaller Divine Dragon in K'un-Lun.
• Tony pursued Beast and scorched him with black flame, but Beast regenerated and trapped Luke and others in a Dimensional Space.
• Beast summoned storms and waterspouts, then headed underwater toward Japan as Tony followed him.
• Tony's magic circle stopped Beast's wave from hitting a coastal city, but the wave swept across Japan, flooding farmland and battering mountains.

Beast attacked China's border to obtain dragon corpses, but Captain Yang, Tony, and China's superpowered forces fought to stop him. Galacta arrived in time to help destroy Beast and absorb his remains, then explained that she had been visiting Aunt May to learn cooking.

• Tony led Beast to China's border, where ten Helicarriers fired on the enormous wave and Captain Yang confronted him with China's forces.
• Beast attacked the warships with storms and seawater, but Captain Yang and the superpowered fighters wounded him and held him in place.
• Galacta struck Beast with a purple meteor, and the warships' main guns fired while she restrained him.
• Galacta used a black rose to contain Beast's fragments and devoured his severed tail, absorbing Beast completely.
• Tony carried the unconscious Captain Yang to the Zhiyuan for treatment, and Galacta told Tony and the ship's captain she had been learning to cook at Aunt May's.

Tony and Galacta visited the recovering Captain Yang and were eager to try his medicinal chicken soup. Meanwhile, Doctor Zola broke into Stark Tower, stole the AllSpark, transformed back into a human, and escaped as Hydra soldiers fled behind him.

• Captain Deng invited Tony and Galacta to a banquet, and Tony agreed to attend and bring family.
• Captain Deng took Tony and Galacta to see Captain Yang, who was recovering with ginseng and silkie chicken soup.
• Tony and Galacta asked to try the medicinal cuisine, and Captain Deng brought them to the mothership's kitchen.
• Doctor Zola led Hydra members into Stark Tower while Iron Man and Luke were away, hacked its security, and found the laboratory where the AllSpark was kept.
• JARVIS and Ultron locked down Stark Tower, but Zola's group broke into the laboratory and seized the AllSpark.
• The AllSpark restored Zola's human appearance; he concealed it inside his body, opened the secured doors, and escaped through a window while the Hydra soldiers headed for the elevator.

Tony returned to New York after Hydra agents stole the AllSpark from his laboratory and attacked Stark Tower, while the Scarlet Witch struggled with whether to seek revenge after seeing him. Tony tracked down and captured Hydra agents as Zola began investigating how he had returned so quickly; meanwhile, Luke asked the Ancient One to manage the Trading Station, but she refused and left.

• Tony left the Zhiyuan, traveled through the Hong Kong Sanctum, and returned to New York after JARVIS reported Hydra activity.
• The Scarlet Witch saw Tony in Kamar-Taj’s portal hall, and her distress prompted Quicksilver to ask what had happened; she showed him the memory of Tony’s appearance.
• The Scarlet Witch weighed revenge against preserving her and Quicksilver’s peaceful life, and Quicksilver promised to support her choice.
• Tony used JARVIS and Ultron’s vehicle locations to ambush Hydra’s convoy, defeat its agents, and take several of them away while arranging compensation for the damaged street.
• Zola watched Tony’s fight, investigated city cameras, and suspected Tony had a secret way to travel between distant places.
• Luke asked the Ancient One to take over the Trading Station, but she refused and left for Kamar-Taj.

Luke responded to Zola’s theft of the AllSpark and helped Tony investigate, while Galacta began scanning New York for Zola. At Kamar-Taj, Luke learned that the Scarlet Witch had been distracted since seeing Tony the previous day.

• Luke learned that Zola had stolen the AllSpark from Stark Tower and asked other countries to help Tony track its radio waves.
• JARVIS frightened the captured Hydra agents with staged torture, prompting them to reveal their New York bases, which Luke’s Shadow Legion then wiped out.
• Luke contacted Galacta on the Zhiyuan, and she returned to New York to scan for Zola while bringing food to Tony.
• Luke visited Kamar-Taj, where Stephen showed him his magical cloak and said the Scarlet Witch had been making mistakes since the previous day.
• Luke connected the Scarlet Witch’s distraction to seeing someone she believed was her enemy and decided it was time to explain the truth to them.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver learned that Tony Stark had not sold the weapons that destroyed their family, and Luke suspected Hydra had exploited the war in Sokovia to abduct people for experiments. The siblings confirmed that a mysterious man had taken orphans away, giving them a possible new target for revenge.

• Scarlet Witch lost control of her powers after remembering the missile attack, but Quicksilver comforted her and the siblings shared a peaceful dinner.
• Luke visited the siblings and revealed that Obadiah, not Tony Stark, had secretly sold weapons and caused Tony's kidnapping before Tony killed him.
• Scarlet Witch struggled with the revelation that Tony might have been their benefactor, and Luke suppressed her surging energy.
• Luke suspected Baron Strucker's nearby Hydra base had used the Sokovia war to obtain test subjects for biological experiments.
• Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch told Luke that a mysterious man had offered orphans adoptive homes and taken many of them away.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch investigated Hydra’s suspected role in Sokovia’s unrest and infiltrated Baron Strucker’s base. After finding proof that Hydra had taken orphans for experiments, they tried to escape as Strucker ordered the base sealed to capture them.

• Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch traveled to a town near Sokovia, where they discovered a Hydra agent following them.
• Scarlet Witch read the agent’s memories and learned that Hydra monitored the surrounding cities and maintained a nearby base.
• The siblings used the agent’s car and Scarlet Witch’s powers to enter the base, evade surveillance, and reach its records room.
• Scarlet Witch found a list confirming that orphans had been taken to the base and used as experimental subjects whenever wars provided new captives.
• Quicksilver carried Scarlet Witch out of the records room as alarms sounded, while Baron Strucker identified them on surveillance footage and ordered the defensive barrier activated.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch escaped Hydra’s shield, while Baron Strucker ordered war and a search for them. In New York, Tony rested while JARVIS searched for the AllSpark, and Zola traced the New York Sanctum’s connections through Stephen and Pangborn, ordering agents to approach Pangborn.

• Quicksilver charged through Baron Strucker’s shield with Scarlet Witch’s energy, but she passed out after they escaped.
• Baron Strucker ordered communications cut and a search launched, pushing Sokovia’s government forces and rebels toward war.
• Pepper gave Luke and Tony invitations to a banquet in China, while Tony agreed to rest and left JARVIS to scan for the AllSpark.
• Zola investigated the Sanctums and tracked their connection to Stephen, then identified Pangborn as someone linked to Kamar-Taj.
• Zola sent Pangborn’s information to his subordinates and ordered them to approach him.

China held a globally livestreamed banquet where Zheng Xian revealed S.P.E.A.R.’s thousand-year history and showed footage of its victory over Beast. Luke supported China’s decision to prepare openly for alien and multidimensional threats, while refusing to intervene in Earth’s internal affairs.

• Tony, Luke, and Galacta arrived at the heavily publicized banquet and were taken to a vast underground venue beneath a factory.
• Zheng Xian explained that S.P.E.A.R. had been founded a thousand years earlier to confront extraterrestrial threats and had secretly built up its strength.
• Zheng Xian showed the livestream audience footage of S.P.E.A.R.’s battle against Beast, prompting diplomatic delegations to protest.
• Zheng Xian urged China to tell its citizens the truth and strengthen itself against threats, and Luke applauded and publicly supported him.
• Zheng Xian promised China would not use its strength to commit wrongdoing on Earth, while Luke said he would only oppose invading aliens and Dimensional Demon Gods.
• Small countries began considering cooperation with China, while major powers remained wary and guarded their own capabilities.

At the victory banquet, Zheng Xian announced China’s God-Making Project: a cultivation program intended for everyone, supported by resources from hidden realms and dragon-based Iron Fist inheritances. Luke offered to help China obtain resources and open portals into space, while Zheng Xian prepared to negotiate with other nations; the chapter ended with Galactus warning Luke that the sun was in danger.

• Zheng Xian resumed the banquet and announced that the Dragon Soaring Project’s next phase, the God-Making Project, was ready to begin.
• Zheng Xian explained that China planned to develop a cultivation method for everyone and use hidden realms, cloned dragons, and the Iron Fist inheritance to support it.
• Zheng Xian said China would introduce cultivation first in schools and the military, then asked Luke for advice on the country’s development.
• Luke offered to speak with the Trading Station and create portals into prosperous regions of space so China could obtain resources.
• Foreign representatives surrounded Zheng Xian to request the cultivation method, while Tony and Pepper went to seek it and Luke sent letters to other nations.
• Galactus sent Luke a message warning that the sun was in danger and telling him to come quickly.

Luke helped Galactus extract a Celestial embryo from the sun and confronted the Celestials who came to stop them, learning Earth also contained an embryo. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Witch woke in Sokovia, where Quicksilver told her they were trapped amid a war.

• Luke and Galactus found a developing Celestial embryo inside the sun, and Galactus asked Luke to hold off the Celestials while he extracted it.
• Luke sent Galacta back to Earth, transformed into his Dimensional Demon God Form, and blocked several arriving Celestials from reaching the sun.
• A Celestial explained that their team had judged humanity useful for nurturing embryos placed throughout the Solar System, including one on Earth.
• Luke refused to let the Celestials harm the sun or Earth, and he prepared to fight them with his Giant Scythe.
• In Sokovia, the Scarlet Witch woke at home, and Quicksilver explained that Hydra's war had left them trapped in the city.

Wanda and Pietro tried to expose Hydra and draw its forces away from civilians, but their attempt to contact the outside world at the command post ended in a trap. Baron Strucker captured them and became interested in Wanda’s powers, while Pietro suddenly seized him as a hostage.

• Wanda and Pietro left their apartment to draw Hydra troops away from the residential district, defeating soldiers who entered the neighborhood.
• The siblings lured the troops toward the outskirts, escaped their encirclement, and reached Hydra’s command post to find a way to contact the outside world.
• A clerk at the command post broke free of Wanda’s control and attacked her as a needle in the phone electrocuted Pietro.
• Baron Strucker arrived with over a hundred Hydra members, captured Wanda and Pietro, and revealed psychic patches that protected his soldiers from Wanda’s control.
• Wanda silenced Strucker’s adjutant when he tried to order civilians seized, and Pietro abruptly pulled the needle from his palm and took Strucker hostage.

Wanda and Pietro captured Baron Strucker and contacted Stark Industries for help, but Strucker used Mrs. Missy and her children to force a hostage exchange. After Wanda and Pietro rescued them, Strucker escaped and ordered Hydra to begin the Great Purge in the city.

• Pietro seized Baron Strucker while Wanda transformed a clerk’s pistol and shielded the siblings with chaos energy.
• Wanda reached JARVIS through Stark Industries, and Tony ordered the Ultron Legion to deploy to Sokovia.
• Zheng Xian offered to send a Helicarrier, and Tony flew to Sokovia through a passage.
• Baron Strucker brought Mrs. Missy and her children forward as hostages and threatened them with a bomb, forcing Wanda and Pietro to agree to an exchange.
• Pietro rescued Mrs. Missy and her children as the hostages were released, while Wanda blocked the Hydra soldiers’ energy weapons.
• Baron Strucker fled toward the base and ordered Hydra troops to begin the Great Purge, as explosions sounded across the city.

Wanda and Pietro fought to protect Sokovia’s residents as the Ultron Legion arrived and rapidly wiped out the thugs. After learning that Hydra’s forces were hiding in a castle to the east, Tony ordered Ultron to pursue them.

• Pietro escaped the Hydra encirclement, returned wearing diving goggles, and helped Wanda disable tanks and defeat the soldiers threatening them.
• Wanda and Pietro reached the city and saw government troops and rebels executing residents, so Wanda turned the thugs against each other while Pietro hunted them down.
• Ultron dismantled Sokovia’s signal jammers and sent more than ten thousand robots to clear the city, coordinating with JARVIS to eliminate the thugs in about ten minutes.
• Tony arrived and realized the massacre had been a diversion intended to let Hydra escape.
• Wanda and Pietro told Tony that Hydra was in a castle to the east, and he ordered Ultron to leave robots behind to protect residents and launch an assault.

Tony reassured Wanda and Pietro before joining the Ultron Legion’s assault on Hydra, which crushed the defenders and captured Baron Strucker. After the fighting, Sokovia’s survivors were evacuated, while Wanda and Pietro sat amid the ruins, uncertain about what came next.

• Tony comforted Wanda by blaming Hydra for the deaths in Sokovia, and Pietro helped reassure her after Tony left.
• Ultron led the robots through Hydra’s tunnels, crushing the defenders and pursuing the fleeing survivors.
• Baron Strucker escaped in a car, but the robots destroyed his convoy, captured him, and overturned his vehicle.
• The Ultron Legion announced that it had subdued the rioters, and China’s Helicarrier arrived to help Sokovia’s people rebuild.
• Survivors were moved to camps outside the blood-soaked city, and Wanda and Pietro sat together wondering whether their actions had changed the outcome.

Tony reassured Wanda and Pietro that they were not responsible for Sokovia’s deaths and invited them to join a team fighting Hydra. Pietro accepted, and Tony began advising him on ways to improve his speed.

• Mrs. Missy comforted Wanda and Pietro as they worried that their choices had caused Sokovia’s deaths.
• Tony explained that Hydra had planned further kidnappings and experiments, and that the siblings’ actions had helped expose its crimes.
• At a military base in Afghanistan, Yinsen planned an attack with rebel leaders and watched their training.
• Tony invited Wanda and Pietro to join a team that would fight Hydra, and Pietro agreed on their behalf.
• Tony suggested that Pietro could run faster with an optimized posture and a custom suit designed to reduce air resistance.

Tony recruited Pietro and Wanda into a new superhero team called the Defenders, giving them the code names Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Meanwhile, Luke fought off Celestials near the sun until they realized they had mistakenly endangered Earth, and Galactus returned their embryo to them before leaving the matter to Luke.

• Tony named Pietro Quicksilver and Wanda Scarlet Witch, promised them combat suits, and called their new team the Defenders.
• Luke used his dark-powered Giant Scythe to fight off a Celestial squad near the sun, prompting the Celestials to summon reinforcements.
• A larger Celestial squad arrived, and its leader asked Luke why he was obstructing their operation.
• Luke explained that the Celestial Embryo inside the sun would destroy the star and endanger Earth, and the Celestials realized they had overlooked humanity in their assessment.
• The Celestial leader agreed to reassess humanity and remove the embryo if humanity met their standards, while Galactus arrived carrying it.
• Galactus reassured Luke that the Celestials followed their principles, handed the embryo back to them, and left Luke to handle their procedures.

After Galactus left, Luke accompanied the Celestials as they reassessed humanity and found that humans had strong potential. The squad leader advised Luke to combine humanity’s self-development and technological progress, leaving Luke to consider a path that could raise both humanity’s ceiling and its floor.

• The Celestials explained to Luke that Galactus served as a cosmic force of balance and was far above them in cosmic standing.
• The Celestial squad leader began reassessing humanity, and the group cloaked itself to minimize its impact on Earth.
• The Celestials studied Earth and concluded that humanity had advanced rapidly and possessed strong research, ideological, and social capabilities.
• The squad leader identified collective self-development in China as a growing branch of humanity rather than a collection of isolated individuals.
• The Celestial advised Luke to combine self-development with technology so humanity could raise both its highest potential and the capabilities of the species as a whole.

Luke oversaw the Celestials’ removal of the embryos and accepted their resource compensation, then flew to Sokovia and helped respond to Hydra’s massacre. After joining Tony’s new Defenders alliance with Galacta, Luke helped shape its structure and discussed how to support and protect its members.

• The Celestials retrieved the embryos, replenished the sun, and placed resources in Earth’s core to restore depleted supplies.
• Uncle Galactus told Luke that a crisis had erupted in Sokovia, and Luke arrived to find the city devastated by battle and mass casualties.
• Luke learned that Hydra had carried out a Great Purge, then used his Shadow Army and a portal to help build a camp and bring in supplies.
• Tony proposed forming the Defenders to prevent future disasters, and Luke and Galacta agreed to join while deciding not to appoint a leader yet.
• Tony outlined plans to attract and support superheroes through funding and protection, and Luke confirmed that JARVIS should safeguard their personal information.

Luke briefed the world’s prime ministers about his encounter with the Celestials, explaining that humanity had passed their assessment and that Earth’s embryo had been removed. He announced that the Celestials had provided resources as compensation, while warning that humanity would face future evaluations.

• Luke convened an online meeting with the world’s prime ministers and said he had communicated with a powerful alien race near the sun.
• Luke identified the race as the Celestials, explaining that they monitored civilizations on behalf of Eternity and could destroy planets.
• Luke revealed that the Celestials had evaluated humanity a thousand years earlier, nearly exterminated it, and placed embryos inside Earth and the sun.
• Luke told the prime ministers that humanity had passed a new assessment, the Celestials had removed Earth’s embryo, and only two embryos had survived in the Solar System.
• Luke announced that the Celestials had given Earth resources as compensation and warned that they would destroy civilizations that stopped advancing.
• China’s prime minister welcomed the resources because China could accelerate its cultivation plan and move sooner toward exploring outer space.

Luke urged the world’s leaders to designate Hydra a terrorist organization and introduced the Defenders, a public-service group founded by Tony Stark with Luke’s participation. The leaders generally agreed to support the group, but Luke angrily rejected South Korea’s attempt to hire it for the benefit of the country’s conglomerates.

• Luke explained the Celestials’ recommended path for human development, prompting countries to consider cooperating with China’s advanced cultivation system.
• Luke called on the prime ministers to condemn Hydra as a terrorist organization, and China’s prime minister and other major powers agreed.
• Luke presented the Defenders’ rules and promised that the organization would avoid politics, protect civilians, and compensate people for battle damage.
• South Korea’s prime minister proposed paid cooperation with the Defenders, and Luke refused after learning the country’s conglomerates had pushed the request.
• Luke invited willing countries to register their support with Tony, while the prime ministers prepared to expand scientific research using Earth’s increased resources.

T'Chaka and T'Challa argued over whether Wakanda should open its borders, while Shuri calmed the elders' fears about the Celestials. Meanwhile, Doctor Zola captured Pangborn to learn about Kamar-Taj, then left planning to infiltrate it and strengthen his body.

• Shuri reasoned that the Celestials had already detected Wakanda's vibranium but had chosen not to take it, easing the elders' fears.
• T'Challa urged Wakanda to take the initiative and engage with the outside world, but the elders threatened T'Chaka for considering exposing Wakanda.
• Shuri defused the dispute, and T'Chaka reflected that Wakanda needed change even though the elders would resist it.
• Doctor Zola impersonated a paralyzed man to enter Pangborn's apartment and demanded information about where Pangborn had spent two years.
• Doctor Zola overpowered Pangborn, stole his Sling Ring, and forced him to reveal details about Kamar-Taj before killing him.
• Doctor Zola left disguised as Pangborn, planning to send Hydra agents to infiltrate Kamar-Taj and find metal to strengthen his body.

Luke visited the Trading Station, where Thor arrived with lavish gifts after hearing about Luke’s victory over the Celestials. Thor admitted that his drunken exaggeration had spread a false report that Luke had defeated an elite Celestial squad, leaving Luke furious and worried that a departing merchant fleet would carry the rumor across the galaxy.

• Luke woke to find Galacta making congee, and the two shared breakfast before he headed to the Trading Station.
• Thor presented Luke with Asgardian gifts in a grand display, then moved them outside at Luke’s request.
• Trading Station representatives learned that Luke had driven back several Celestials and left in alarm, while Luke received their reactions through a Ninja Soldier.
• Thor explained that he had drunkenly exaggerated Luke’s battle, and Luke told him to correct the story among the Asgardians.
• Thor revealed that a merchant fleet had already left Asgard, prompting Luke to hurl himself from the building as Ninja Soldiers buried him.

Luke investigated why Banner’s soul had grown unusually weak while Hulk’s had strengthened, and Galactus discovered that dark energy had displaced Banner’s normal soul energy. The dark energy came from the body Luke had prepared for Banner during the Battle of New York, leaving Luke responsible for the problem.

• Luke arrived at Stark Tower and learned from Galactus that Banner and Hulk had separate souls, with Banner’s soul unusually fragile and Hulk’s slightly stronger than an ordinary person’s.
• Banner’s records showed that his increased sleep began after he started communicating with Hulk, but Luke noticed Banner had used a drug to induce deep sleep and helped trace the issue further back.
• Banner recalled that his soul had left his body during the Battle of New York and entered a dark-energy body Luke had prepared for him.
• Galactus took a fragment of Banner’s soul for a closer examination, and Banner fell asleep afterward.
• Galactus found that dark energy had fused with Banner’s soul and replaced its normal energy, which Hulk had absorbed, and told Luke that he was responsible.

Luke and Galactus discovered that dark energy was weakening Banner's soul and offered him two ways to survive. Banner chose to let the dark energy transform him, while Luke prepared to travel to the world marked "Danger" and confront Dark Ruler Gatanothor.

• Galactus explained that Banner's soul was weakening because of dark energy and described two possible ways to save him.
• Banner chose the second method, accepting complete corruption by dark energy in exchange for recovery and power.
• Luke placed Banner's soul in a dark crystal, and Hulk promised to protect it while Galactus offered to teach him experiments.
• Luke returned home, packed for a honeymoon trip, and chose the dangerous world marked in the Ancient One's coordinate book.