Recaps

Russell returned improved Pym Particles to Tony, Banner, Steve, and Scott after secretly anchoring their souls to the Avengers timelines, leaving them bound to his reach. Back in their universe, the four suffered unsettling effects, while Hill secured the Helicarrier communications and guarded the toad occupying Fury’s chair.

• Tony scanned Russell’s replicated Pym Particles and discovered they surpassed Hank Pym’s originals, while Banner, Steve, and Scott questioned Russell’s motives.
• Russell secretly planted eternal space-time anchors in the four travelers, linking their souls and timelines to him as Ancient One watched without intervening.
• Russell vanished, and after Ancient One released them, the four returned to their Main Universe with the Pym Particles and lingering dread.
• Tony’s instruments retained alien rules, Hulk remained suppressed, Steve experienced overlapping timelines, and Scott found that the Quantum Realm could no longer hide him from Russell.
• Russell sensed that the anchors had stabilized from a Manhattan hotel suite.
• Hill restricted communications aboard the Helicarrier and ordered everyone to keep away from the toad sitting on Fury’s chair.

Hill told Tony that Fury remained incapacitated and that the transformed Toads might never recover, while Tony prepared to use the dangerous Celestial Armor. After Nebula brought Thanos's past army to Earth, the Avengers hid their four recovered Infinity Stones with Banner as the invasion began.

• Hill told Tony she had temporarily taken command of S.H.I.E.L.D., asked whether he could use the Celestial Armor, and warned that the Toad transformation might be permanent.
• Tony said he could activate the armor but might not survive using it, and Hill asked him to prepare while sharing a message for Fury.
• The Avengers returned from their missions with the Infinity Stones, but Hawkeye mourned Natasha, who had died on Vormir to obtain the Soul Stone.
• Nebula secretly activated the time machine, bringing Thanos's Sanctuary II from the past to Earth, while Russell sensed events unfolding in the MCU universe.
• Thanos's forces destroyed the Avengers Compound, and Tony confirmed that the four recovered Infinity Stones and the Nano Gauntlet remained intact.
• The Avengers rejected Thor's plan to wield the stones and gave them to Banner to conceal and study as their last resort against Thanos.

Tony, Captain America, and Thor confronted Thanos, but Mjolnir unexpectedly chose Tony and let him turn the battle around. Meanwhile, Russell borrowed the Time Stone from Ancient One and stole the Tesseract from Hydra’s laboratory, while Thanos began to suspect someone was interfering with Tony.

• Thanos defeated Tony, Captain America, and Thor, then nearly killed Thor with Stormbreaker.
• Mjolnir flew past Captain America to Tony, who wielded its power and attacked Thanos with the hammer, the Vibranium Shield, and his Arc Reactor.
• Russell visited Ancient One and borrowed the Time Stone, then opened a Portal into Hydra’s laboratory and took the Tesseract.
• Pierce discovered the Tesseract was gone, leaving Hydra’s experimental super-soldier without its planned energy source.
• Tony continued pressuring Thanos in battle, and Thanos recognized that Tony’s combat instincts and body seemed unnaturally altered.

Russell arrived on the battlefield, effortlessly froze Thanos, and sent Cull Obsidian flying, leaving the Avengers and the Black Order terrified of his power. After releasing Thanos, Russell handed him the Space Stone and the Time Stone, and Thanos believed he could still claim all six stones.

• Thanos struck Tony, but Tony's wound healed almost instantly, and Tony warned that Russell would soon appear.
• Russell emerged through temporal energy from Tony's Arc Reactor holding the Space Stone and Time Stone, then froze Thanos with a breath.
• Russell sent Cull Obsidian flying with a repulsive blast and reassured the Avengers that he had come to deal with Thanos.
• Russell reshaped scrap metal into a flower and placed it on Thanos's ice sculpture, while the Avengers and Black Order watched in fear.
• Russell snapped away the ice and freed Thanos, then tossed him the Space Stone and Time Stone.
• Thanos rejoiced at receiving the two stones and prepared to seize the four held by the Avengers.

Thanos failed to use two Infinity Stones from another universe, and Russell gave the Avengers the stones native to their universe. Banner snapped everyone back, Thor destroyed Thanos and his army with a second snap, but Russell remained on the battlefield as the heroes’ unresolved threat.

• Thanos tried to use Russell’s Time Stone and Space Stone, but they were powerless outside their universe, so Russell replaced them with stones that worked in the MCU Universe.
• Russell sent the working stones to Tony, and Banner joined all six Infinity Stones in the Nano Gauntlet and snapped everyone who had vanished five years earlier back into existence.
• Tony tried to take the gauntlet to sacrifice himself, but Pepper stopped him and Thor seized it and made the second snap, reducing Thanos and his forces to ash.
• Thor collapsed from the Stones’ backlash, and the heroes turned toward Russell, who still stood at the center of the battlefield.

Russell survived Thor's repeated Infinity Stone attacks and took the gauntlet, then invited the heroes to fight him while he analyzed their abilities. As the heroes' attacks failed, Tony realized Russell was using every exchange to study their powers.

• Thor snapped with all six Infinity Stones a second time, but Russell remained unharmed and Thor collapsed from the backlash.
• Russell retrieved the Infinity Gauntlet and told the heroes he wanted to study it, then offered to spare their universe if anyone could make him step back or impress him with an attack.
• Wanda attacked Russell with Chaos Power, which he quietly neutralized while analyzing its structure.
• Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man tried to approach or attack Russell, but he evaded or stopped them without effort.
• Tony recognized that Russell was studying the heroes' powers during their attacks, and Russell urged them all to attack him together.

The TVA confronted Tony Stark for disrupting the Sacred Timeline, but Tony attacked after learning his companions had also been captured. Meanwhile, Uatu observed the battle from beyond the MCU Universe’s dimensional barrier and became fascinated by Russell’s unexpected arrival and the TVA’s early intervention.

• Seven TVA Time Keepers emerged from a rift and announced that Tony Stark was under arrest for violating the Sacred Timeline.
• Tony argued that Russell had disrupted time more severely, but the Time Keepers continued to surround him.
• Doctor Strange’s time spell had no effect on the Time Keepers, who warned him not to interfere.
• The leader claimed Tony’s companions had already been captured, prompting Tony to break free and blast one Time Keeper out of the sky.
• Uatu watched the battle from outside the MCU Universe and began recording Russell after recognizing that his arrival had drawn out the TVA ahead of schedule.

Uatu observed Russell overpowering the Avengers’ opponents and wondered about the outsider’s origins and power. After Russell freed the leader of the Time Keepers enough to speak, the leader explained the Infinity Stones’ limits and revealed why the TVA had come for Tony, while Strange learned that the TVA treated Infinity Stones as worthless junk.

• Uatu watched Russell’s strength astonish the Avengers and considered whether Russell might become a valuable subject to record.
• Tony questioned whether Strange had staged the events, then threatened the Time Keepers when they remained frozen.
• Russell revealed that he had immobilized the Time Keepers and urged Tony to build a suit capable of standing up to him.
• Russell restored the Time Keepers’ leader’s ability to speak, and the leader explained that Infinity Stones worked fully only in their home universes.
• The leader said the TVA had evidence that Tony violated the Sacred Timeline, and Russell challenged him to explain the TVA’s casual use of Infinity Stones.
• The leader revealed that Infinity Stones were common objects inside the TVA, shattering Strange’s belief that they were priceless treasures.

Russell created six Infinity Stones and a microscopic life-form to challenge the heroes’ demand that he use his power responsibly. The life-form’s civilization raced through ninety-nine generations in 697 seconds, then collapsed in a catastrophic Biochemical Fusion experiment just as it neared transcendence.

• Russell revealed that he could create Infinity Stones, leaving the heroes and TVA Time Keepers stunned.
• Tony urged Russell to use his immense power to protect civilizations, and Spider-Man echoed that great power came with great responsibility.
• Russell created a microscopic life-form with a maximum lifespan of nine seconds and began an experiment in a cultivation chamber.
• The life-forms inherited knowledge across generations, developing chemistry, machines, electricity, liquid computers, nanotechnology, and biochemical enhancement.
• In 697 seconds, the species reached its ninety-ninth generation and prepared to transcend its microscopic limits.
• The Biochemical Fusion experiment went out of control, causing the civilization’s genes and enhancement systems to collapse and destroying it at its peak.

After witnessing a microscopic civilization rise and destroy itself, Russell explained why he let it follow its own path, prompting the heroes to reconsider their responsibility toward civilizations. Russell then appeared to sense Uatu observing them, leaving the Watcher shaken but insisting it was coincidence.

• The microscopic civilization vanished from the nutrient vat, and Russell called its brief rise and fall a remarkable achievement completed without outside interference.
• Tony, Spider-Man, and Strange reflected on the civilization and the possibility that their own world was also being observed or tested.
• Russell described intelligence as a force that drove civilizations toward both self-breakthrough and self-destruction, and said he had refrained from intervening so the civilization could develop on its own.
• The heroes accepted Russell's explanation, while Strange and Spider-Man reconsidered what it meant to protect a civilization.
• Russell suggested that higher-dimensional gods might be watching their universe, and Uatu realized Russell was looking in his direction.
• Uatu dismissed the apparent recognition as coincidence and reassured himself that beings within a single universe could not perceive Watchers.

Russell announced a long-term trial that would seed mutants across Earth with new forms of energy, while Uatu recorded the event and observed another universe where Ultron had defeated Thanos and claimed the Infinity Stones. Ultron discovered Uatu in the Higher Dimension and attacked him, beginning a fight that ended with Uatu charging to destroy it.

• Russell told Tony and the others that he would seed Earth with changes that could alter mutant genes and observe how civilization responded.
• Uatu recorded Russell's plan for the Watcher Race and browsed views of parallel universes.
• Uatu spotted an Ultron wearing several Infinity Stones after it killed Thanos and took his gauntlet.
• Ultron noticed Uatu, opened a fissure into the Higher Dimension, and grabbed him by the neck.
• Uatu punched Ultron out of the fissure and warned that the Infinity Stones had no jurisdiction in the Higher Dimension.
• Ultron vowed to conquer countless universes, and Uatu charged at it to destroy the threat.

Uatu and Infinity Ultron battled in the Higher Dimension, and stray energy from their clashes destroyed or altered countless What If...? universes. Russell left Tony after warning him that his universe’s fate depended on its people, then returned to the Sanctum Sanctorum and spoke with Ancient One about the Time Cutter and the beings he had encountered.

• Uatu and Infinity Ultron traded blows, and fragments from their fight devastated the Zombie Avengers, Captain Carter, T'Challa Star-Lord, Dark Doctor Strange, and Party Thor universes.
• Uatu told Ultron that their battle was killing billions across the What If...? timelines, but Ultron said their survival did not matter to his plan.
• Russell noticed ripples in the universe’s barrier, examined the Time Cutter, and told Tony that destruction or rebirth was in his hands.
• Russell vanished from the Timeline and returned the Time Stone to Ancient One at the Sanctum Sanctorum.
• Russell told Ancient One that the Infinity Stones had been useless in the other place and that the Time Cutter had served him better; she asked whether he had already met them.

Russell discussed the planned attack on the Dark Dimension with Ancient One and revealed that he wanted to claim it for an experiment to grow stronger. She agreed to help on the condition that he succeed her as Sorcerer Supreme, offering to negotiate with Mephisto and even kill him if necessary.

• Mordo reported that he had driven Kaecilius away from Kamar-Taj and questioned the danger of attacking the Dark Dimension.
• Russell and Ancient One discussed the risks of the assault and the centuries of peace Earth might gain if they killed Dormammu.
• Russell asked Mordo to leave, then warned Ancient One that Mordo could fall into darkness if the principles he valued were shattered.
• Russell told Ancient One that he wanted the Dark Dimension for an experiment that would make him stronger, not to rule it.
• Ancient One agreed to help Russell seize the Dark Dimension if he stayed on Earth and succeeded her as Sorcerer Supreme, promising to negotiate with Mephisto or kill him.

Russell founded a Divine Kingdom from believers’ Faith Power, shaped its barren land, and built Valhalla to receive the souls of the faithful. After rescuing dying believers and the Mutant Erik Lehnsherr, he left Erik’s soul floating before the palace.

• Russell rejected the title of Earth's guardian, while Ancient One and Mordo prepared to use Limbo as a staging ground for war against the Dark Dimension.
• Russell split the spiritual void with an axe of will and created a five-kilometer Divine Kingdom from Faith Power.
• Russell guided a dying African elder's Soul Stone into the Divine Kingdom, then brought in more than a hundred other dying believers as the miracle spread among Om Messiah's followers.
• Russell transformed the barren world with water and vegetation, then built a cloud palace named Valhalla as a place for loyal warriors to enter after death.
• Russell sought a powerful soul to serve as a guide for the Divine Kingdom and found the dying Mutant Erik Lehnsherr, whose Soul Stone arrived before Valhalla.

Russell resurrected Erik Lehnsherr as Valhalla’s first Battle Angel, and Erik’s return sparked widespread worship of Om Messiah. As the miracle spread, Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen learned of the rival god and rejected his claim.

• Russell welcomed Erik Lehnsherr into Valhalla, reforged his soul, and made him an immortal Battle Angel bound to the Divine Kingdom.
• Russell sent Erik back to his body, where he revived before his teammates and the gathered civilians.
• Erik declared that Om Messiah had resurrected him and described Valhalla, prompting the crowd to praise Om Messiah as the one true God.
• Russell watched the miracle’s footage spread and decided he needed to create his own Four Horsemen.
• In Egypt, Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen watched the reports of Erik’s resurrection, and Plague Knight and War Knight dismissed Om Messiah as a rival to their lord.

Apocalypse awakened in Egypt and traveled with the Four Horsemen to New York to meet Om Messiah, whose followers’ faith powered a golden Light Tower. Russell appeared before Apocalypse and the worshipping crowd, setting the stage for their encounter.

• The Four Horsemen called for Apocalypse to awaken, and he emerged from his sarcophagus as earthquakes shook Egypt.
• Apocalypse studied images of Om Messiah, recognized an unfamiliar ancient power in him, and decided to meet him in North America with the Four Horsemen.
• Ancient One sensed Apocalypse’s return, while Russell detected his approach as he upgraded Felicity, Laura, and Rogue.
• Apocalypse and the Four Horsemen arrived in New York and examined the golden Light Tower as Mutants gathered to worship it.
• Russell descended from the Light Tower, and the crowd bowed and cheered as Apocalypse watched.

Russell met the awakened Apocalypse, who proposed a contest to compare their methods of enhancing Mutants. Russell assembled four candidates for his team, and Apocalypse concluded that Russell had honestly avoided using his strongest allies.

• Apocalypse met Russell outside the Empire State Building and proposed they talk at the Four Seasons Hotel.
• Apocalypse explained that he wanted to compare his ability to enhance Mutants with Russell's power to transform and elevate them.
• Russell called Professor X, Magneto, and Phoenix out of the hotel, then clarified that they were too powerful to be his contestants.
• Russell brought in Kingpin and called Felicity, X-23, and Rogue to stand against Apocalypse's Four Horsemen.
• Apocalypse saw Russell's chosen team and thought that Russell had refused to exploit his advantage.

Russell won a contest with Apocalypse by rewriting the genes of Felicity, Laura, Rogue, and Kingpin, raising them above the Four Horsemen. His demonstration left Professor X hoping Russell could resurrect his dead students and led Magneto to imagine a powerful future for Mutants.

• Apocalypse enhanced the Four Horsemen to the peak of Level Four and challenged Russell to demonstrate his own power.
• Russell rewrote Felicity, Laura, Rogue, and Kingpin’s genes, improving their abilities and stabilizing them at the peak of Level Four.
• Kingpin demonstrated his new strength by reducing a stone pillar to powder, and Apocalypse acknowledged Russell’s victory.
• Professor X realized Russell might be able to bring Scott Summers and Hank McCoy back to life, but held back from asking him.
• Magneto considered how Russell could use genetic engineering to create powerful Mutants and advance their people beyond Earth.

Apocalypse revealed Okkara’s ancient history and explained that he needed Russell’s help against Oblivion, the lord of Amenth. He described how Oblivion’s invasion shattered the Mutants’ first civilization, leaving Russell to hear the threat behind Apocalypse’s plea.

• Magneto considered how Russell’s power could transform Mutant history, while Jean Grey sensed that he rewrote Felicity’s genes through golden threads of energy.
• Russell ended the contest and offered to take the fight into outer space, but Apocalypse said he needed Russell’s help.
• Apocalypse recounted that Okkara had once been a thriving Mutant civilization in the Pacific Ocean about five thousand years earlier.
• Apocalypse said a rift opened above Okkara, allowing Oblivion’s armies from Amenth to invade and threaten to assimilate Earth.

Apocalypse revealed how he split Okkara to seal Amenth away, and explained that he needed Russell to strengthen the Mutants for a future war against Oblivion. Russell asked to see Krakoa, and Apocalypse opened a portal to the hidden island.

• Apocalypse recounted how he used the Twilight Sword to divide Okkara, leaving Arakko and his wife Glory to hold back Oblivion's army while Krakoa remained hidden on Earth.
• Apocalypse told Magneto and Professor X that Krakoa sheltered ten thousand Mutants, many of them powerful, and existed inside a Spatial Fold.
• Apocalypse asked Russell to create Level Five Mutants for a war against Amenth, while Magneto cautioned that an assault needed more preparation.
• Apocalypse explained that he had chosen Krakoa's inhabitants but needed Russell because they were soldiers, not the force capable of changing the war.
• Russell asked to visit Krakoa, so Apocalypse opened a portal and led the group through it.

Russell, Professor X, and Magneto entered Apocalypse’s Rune Array and arrived in Krakoa, where Professor X discovered his supposedly dead adoptive father and mentor, Brian Xavier, was alive. Brian explained how he had come to Krakoa and welcomed Charles among its Mutant community, where he was introduced to a crowd of students.

• Russell stepped through the Rune Array into Krakoa, a world filled with powerful Mutants.
• Professor X sensed thousands of Mutant minds and recognized Brian Xavier reading beneath a tree.
• Charles hurried to Brian and learned that Brian had faked his death after agreeing to teach psychic Mutants in Krakoa.
• Brian explained that his ability amplified nearby psychic powers and that Charles had awakened it when he was fifteen.
• Charles told Brian he had tried to become the kind of teacher Brian was, and Brian introduced him to the gathered crowd.
• Achilles challenged Charles to a psychic match, but an old man in a Greek robe mocked Achilles’s ability to lift his shield.

Professor X learned that Krakoa sheltered famous historical figures who were Mutants, while Russell met Zhang Heng, Liu Bang, and Ying Zheng and learned the island held a living history of Mutant civilization. Apocalypse then summoned Krakoa’s thousands of inhabitants to the central square, leaving them gathered to hear his announcement.

• Brian showed Professor X that Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Faraday, and Darwin were Mutants whose abilities had shaped human history under Apocalypse’s guidance.
• Russell recognized Zhang Heng and spoke with him about the fall of the Han Dynasty, then met Liu Bang and Ying Zheng in a courtyard of historical Chinese Mutants.
• Apocalypse confirmed to Russell that Krakoa housed outstanding Mutants from across thousands of years, and Russell said he would join the campaign against Hell and create a powerful army.
• Apocalypse appeared at the central square and used a mental announcement to summon Krakoa’s inhabitants before the Temple of the Sun God.
• More than ten thousand Mutants from different eras gathered in the square to hear Apocalypse speak.

Russell demonstrated his power to Krakoa’s assembled Mutants as Apocalypse announced preparations to rescue Arakko and wage war on Amenth. When the crowd questioned their lack of intelligence about the enemy, Russell summoned Mephisto and offered him a Hell of his own.

• Apocalypse introduced Russell as the key to creating a powerful mutant army and explained the goal of rescuing Arakko from Amenth.
• Socrates, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon questioned Russell’s abilities and strength, so Russell spread golden genetic power through the gathered Mutants.
• Apocalypse declared Krakoa at war, and Aristotle pointed out that they lacked current information about Amenth’s forces and conditions.
• Russell proposed asking Mephisto for intelligence on Hell and summoned him with an ancient horn.
• Mephisto arrived and said he had been negotiating a soul contract, and Russell offered him a Hell of his own.

Russell told Mephisto he intended to take Amenth and promised he could produce Level Five Mutants in batches. He created a time-dilated workshop in deep space and began growing enhanced mutants from stored genetic samples.

• Russell explained that Apocalypse needed to cross Amenth to bring his wife and the First Four Horsemen back from Arakko, and offered the dimension to Mephisto.
• Mephisto warned Russell that Amenth belonged to Oblivion and its demons vastly outnumbered Russell's forces, but offered intelligence and a flank attack if Russell proved he could produce Level Five Mutants.
• Russell promised to show Mephisto the finished product in half an hour and vanished from the platform.
• Russell built a three-kilometer Time Workshop in deep space, where nearly two years would pass during half an hour outside.
• Russell used Magneto's genetic sample to create a Level Five mutant with magnetic control, then used Jean Grey's sample to begin producing more enhanced mutants.

Russell created more than a hundred Level Five mutant fighters in the Time Workshop and brought them to Krakoa, where Mephisto agreed to provide intelligence and flank support for the assault on Amenth. As the new mutants awakened and prepared for their first combat, Russell decided his endless army needed a boost too.

• Russell used optimized mutant templates to grow more than a hundred Level Five combatants, including a particularly powerful fighter he named Vanguard.
• Russell brought the golden spheres to Krakoa, where the gathered crowd reacted with amazement as the mutants awakened and their powers surged.
• Mephisto praised Russell’s achievement, sealed their pact, and promised intelligence that night and a surprise flank attack during the assault on Amenth.
• Russell told Socrates the mutants had independent minds and told Alexander they could enter combat immediately, with the first wave serving as their battlefield training.
• Magneto watched the new army in awe, and Russell announced that his endless army could use a boost too.