Recaps

Superman watched the villains in Moscow turn toward negotiation, while Captain America continued his journey to rescue Bucky. Rogers reached a guarded collective farm in Minsk and prepared to break in by force.

• Luke reflected that Hydra and other villainous groups had begun seeking a truce because their usual tactics could not defeat Superman.
• Luke watched Rogers leave Moscow and followed after him, thinking about Rogers' devotion to Bucky and Margie.
• Rogers traveled for ten hours by sedan, motorcycle, and train before reaching Minsk.
• Rogers followed the Brotherhood's intelligence to an abandoned collective farm guarded by patrols, watchtowers, and machine guns.
• Rogers realized his twenty-four mutations made him powerful enough to attack the compound and set out to rescue Bucky.

Luke watched as Rogers stormed Hydra’s Minsk base in search of Bucky, then saw the reunion collapse when Bucky failed to recognize him and declared himself the Winter Soldier. The chapter ended with Bucky blasting Rogers into a crater.

• Luke observed Rogers charge into the Hydra base and defeat its guards while searching for Bucky.
• Rogers broke into a building in the northeast corner and found Bucky dressing in a black combat uniform and mask.
• Bucky asked who Bucky was and rejected Rogers’s attempt to remind him of his identity.
• Rogers grew angry after noticing a woman on the bed and recalling Luke’s warning about Bucky’s abuse by Hydra.
• Bucky identified himself as the Winter Soldier and blasted Rogers into a crater with an energy attack.

Captain America tried to bring Bucky back to himself, but the brainwashed Winter Soldier nearly killed him before Luke intervened. Luke defeated Bucky and forced him to recall his name, leaving Rogers stunned.

• Rogers fought Bucky and urged him to remember their Brooklyn childhood, but Bucky tricked him and grabbed him by the throat.
• Luke arrived, knocked Bucky away, and rescued Rogers from his grip.
• Rogers told Luke that Bucky no longer remembered his past, and Luke said he could make him remember.
• Luke repeatedly smashed Bucky into the ground and asked his name until Bucky answered that he was James Buchanan Barnes.
• Luke told the dazed Rogers that Bucky had remembered who he was.

Baron Strucker weighed whether to meet Superman, while First Baron Zemo urged him to seek Superman’s support and rebuild Hydra. After Superman took the Winter Soldier and stripped Hydra of its last bargaining chip, Strucker agreed to meet him at Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov’s tomb.

• Baron Strucker asked First Baron Zemo what Superman wanted, and Zemo advised him to accept the proposed meeting and use S.H.I.E.L.D.’s support against rival Hydra factions.
• Baron Strucker rejected Zemo’s proposal because he feared Hydra would have to surrender its interests in an unequal partnership with Superman.
• Baron Strucker received word that Superman had taken the Winter Soldier, leaving his faction without its last hope of recreating the Aryan Superman or leverage with Leviathan.
• Baron Strucker told First Baron Zemo to arrange the meeting for the next day before Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov’s tomb.
• First Baron Zemo left Savior Tower and reflected that Superman’s influence would shape the new era, alongside a new Hydra.

Luke met Leviathan and Hydra leaders beneath the Mentor’s mausoleum in Red Square, offered Taras a job at S.H.I.E.L.D., and demanded compensation from Baron Strucker for Bucky’s mistreatment. Strucker and First Baron Zemo agreed to let Hydra start over under Luke’s guidance, and their “Long live Hydra!” was drowned out by the Soviet anthem.

• Taras arrived with guards and told Strucker that Leviathan had no intention of opposing Superman.
• Luke offered Taras a position training intelligence professionals at S.H.I.E.L.D., but let him leave to consider it.
• Strucker explained Hydra’s role in Bucky’s capture and agreed to discuss compensation with Captain America.
• First Baron Zemo claimed Hydra had once sought peace and asked Luke to give the organization another chance.
• Strucker backed Zemo, and Luke agreed to let Hydra begin again as the Soviet anthem drowned out their slogan.

Luke finalized Hydra’s merger into S.H.I.E.L.D. and left Moscow, while Captain America and the Winter Soldier prepared to return with him. Luke suggested that Rogers’s marriage might help awaken Bucky’s memories, leaving Steve conflicted about the idea.

• Baron Strucker accepted Superman’s authority, while First Baron Zemo embraced Hydra’s merger into S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Luke left Moscow after securing the merger and reflected on his plans to obtain a Kryptonian Spaceship and travel beyond Earth.
• The talks ended, and Luke, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Taras, and three female agents departed from Irkutsk Airport.
• Rogers told Luke that Bucky still refused to acknowledge their friendship and past.
• Luke suggested that Steve marry his girlfriend and make Bucky his best man to stimulate Bucky’s buried memories, leaving Rogers conflicted.

Luke took Howard to Las Vegas to develop a gambling city and prepare a bachelor party for Steve Rogers, explaining his plans to build legitimate influence through casinos. Meanwhile, an old man arrived in the desert, drawn by the greed and desires he sensed there.

• Luke and Howard flew to Nevada while discussing why Las Vegas was suited to casinos and how Luke intended to expand his influence.
• Luke explained that he was guiding Alessandro and his men toward legitimate business rather than relying on violent underworld work.
• Luke and Howard discussed the political power of gangs and labor unions, including Jimmy Hoffa and the Kennedy family.
• Luke told Howard that Steve would spend his bachelor night in Las Vegas after deciding to marry.
• An old man appeared in the Las Vegas desert, sensed its insatiable greed, and vanished toward the city.

Luke and Howard arrived in Las Vegas to discuss Stark Industries investing in the city’s growth as a gambling and entertainment destination. They checked into a lavish hotel, where Howard anticipated a lively night.

• Howard admired Las Vegas and joked that Steve Rogers would not know how to enjoy its decadent lifestyle.
• Luke explained that the Mafia protected guests and maintained order in the casino district, and Howard compared the arrangement to Hell’s Kitchen.
• Luke proposed that Stark Industries invest in Las Vegas and told Howard he wanted the city to attract wealthy visitors and Hollywood stars, not just gamblers.
• Howard praised Luke’s foresight and mentioned his talented new chief financial officer, prompting Luke to wonder whether it was Obadiah Stane.
• Luke and Howard arrived at the hotel, where greeters escorted them inside along a carpet laid from the entrance to their limousine.

Bored with his luxurious stay in Las Vegas, Howard visited the newly opened Hell Hotel, where guests exchanged souls for gambling chips. He signed a soul-mortgage contract and received chips, leaving his fate in the hotel’s hands.

• Howard complained that Luke had abandoned their vacation to visit military bases and returned to work.
• Howard asked a hotel attendant for nearby attractions and learned about the newly opened Hell Hotel.
• Howard paid another guest to give up his place in line and entered the hotel after guards stamped his arm.
• The Hell Hotel attendant explained that guests exchanged souls for chips and could mortgage their souls to obtain more.
• Howard signed a mortgage contract with no specified term, and the attendant gave him stacks of chips.

Luke discovered that Howard Stark had vanished inside Mephisto’s Hell Hotel in Las Vegas and went to confront the old devil. While Mephisto celebrated collecting souls through gambling contracts, a mysterious young man began defeating his casino champion, Hashim.

• Luke toured Area 51, then flew back to Las Vegas and learned from Alessandro that Howard Stark had disappeared inside Hell Hotel.
• Luke recognized Mephisto’s involvement, dismissed Alessandro, and spotted the smoke-belching hotel tower drawing people inside.
• Mephisto celebrated that Hell Hotel’s guests had willingly signed contracts exchanging their souls for chips.
• Casino manager Mondes warned Mephisto that a human gambler was beating Hashim at Texas Hold’em.
• Mephisto watched the young gambler sweep another pile of chips from Hashim and taunt him about his bad luck.

Luke entered Hell Hotel, used a thousand-year collateral contract to obtain chips, and won thirty-two Texas Hold'em games in a row. After Hashim accused him of cheating and lost everything, Hashim offered to gamble his own soul.

• Luke saw that Hell Hotel's guards and succubus greeter were demons, and discovered that its chips represented human souls.
• Luke signed a thousand-year collateral contract under the name of the Sorcerer Supreme and received a tray of chips.
• Luke joined a Texas Hold'em table, where Hashim recognized him as an easy target.
• Hashim, a former card champion and Hell Hotel casino manager, watched Luke win thirty-two games in a row, including one with a royal flush.
• Luke ended the game after winning the equivalent of five people's souls and gave a chip to the succubus.
• Hashim accused Luke of cheating, then offered to wager his own soul.

Luke overwhelmed Hell Hotel’s casino by winning every game and forcing Mephisto to challenge him to an all-in hand of Twenty-One. Luke revealed a winning twenty-one, leaving Mephisto furious and demanding to know who he was.

• Luke crushed the casino’s players at Texas Hold’em and Twenty-One, winning seventeen consecutive hands with exactly twenty-one.
• Luke told the succubus to announce that he would cover the guests’ expenses and scattered chips to draw a crowd.
• Mephisto watched Luke’s winning streak, then entered the casino and challenged him to an all-in hand.
• Mephisto wagered a cart of soul chips and revealed a total of nineteen, believing Luke could not beat him.
• Luke revealed his cards and announced that he had Twenty-One, prompting Mephisto to demand to know who he was.

Luke beat Mephisto at Twenty-One and discovered that soul chips could repair the Netherworld. When Mephisto attacked, Luke revealed Vishanti’s power, and the devil recognized him as the Sorcerer Supreme.

• Mephisto questioned Luke’s identity after Luke won their gambling round, but Luke called himself an ordinary person.
• Luke accepted Mephisto’s challenge to another round and made a soul chip disappear into the Netherworld, discovering that souls could repair dimensional worlds.
• Mephisto became enraged when Luke took the chips and threatened to make him beg for forgiveness.
• Mephisto gathered the trapped souls into his crystal ball as Luke rose and revealed his strength with an incantation.
• Mephisto sensed the power of Vishanti and recognized Luke as the Sorcerer Supreme.

Luke invoked the Vishanti's power and forced Mephisto to back down after the devil threatened him. Luke then demanded information about his friend Howard Stark, whom Mephisto recognized as a man who had harassed his casino dealers.

• Mephisto recalled how Agamotto and Ancient One had repeatedly defeated him, leaving him wary of Sorcerer Supremes.
• Luke received the Vishanti's blessing, and Mephisto mistook him for the Sorcerer Supreme of his universe.
• Mephisto abandoned his demonic form and apologized after Luke turned the power against him.
• Luke said his friend had entered Mephisto's Hell Hotel and never returned, and Mephisto asked for the friend's name.
• Luke named Howard Stark, and Mephisto recognized him as the man who had harassed his casino dealers.

Luke rescued Howard Stark’s soul from Mephisto’s Hell Hotel, then accused the devil of operating without a license and evading taxes. Mephisto was left stunned by Luke’s demand that he obey human law.

• Luke asked Mephisto to forgive Howard’s rude behavior, and Mephisto agreed to return Howard’s soul.
• Mephisto led Luke to the Hell Hotel vault, where Luke saw that its gold bricks were actually captured souls.
• Mephisto found Howard’s soul, and Luke crushed the gold brick to release him.
• Luke compressed Howard’s soul into a chip and told Mephisto he would not leave yet.
• Luke questioned whether Mephisto had a business license or paid taxes, then declared that he had to suspend operations and face penalties.

Luke used his authority as Sorcerer Supreme, a Lieutenant General at The Pentagon, and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s first director to force Mephisto to address the Hell Hotel’s licensing and tax violations. He proposed turning Hell’s business into a global joint-stock company, leaving Mephisto stunned by the prospect of Hell Holdings.

• Mephisto argued that human laws could not govern Hell and that Luke had no authority to interfere with the Hell Hotel.
• Luke revealed his positions at The Pentagon and S.H.I.E.L.D. and demanded that Mephisto suspend operations, pay fines, and settle his taxes.
• Mephisto reluctantly accepted Luke’s enforcement after Luke threatened him with a special prison for devils and other dangerous beings.
• Luke proposed that Mephisto bring other great devils into a joint-stock company and expand the hotel business worldwide.
• Luke predicted the company could go public in three years, rank among the world’s top ten in five, and surpass Heaven in ten, leaving Mephisto dumbfounded.

Luke convinced Mephisto that Hell needed a united business alliance to compete with Heaven and offered Hell Chain Hotel as the means to build Mephisto’s strength and help him become Satan. The chapter left Mephisto reluctantly considering a partnership that required him to pay Luke for Kamar-Taj’s protection.

• Luke dismissed Mephisto’s concerns about offending Heaven and burned him with the light of his Sorcerer Supreme certification.
• Luke argued that Hell’s divided leadership and competition from other afterlife realms weakened its share of souls compared with Heaven.
• Luke proposed that Mephisto unite Hell’s demon kings through Hell Chain Hotel, assigning Beelzebub fast food and Asmodeus online pornography to attract targeted souls.
• Mephisto grew excited by Luke’s plan to expand the hotel, increase Hell’s strength, and make claiming the title of Satan easier.
• Luke revealed that he meant to join Mephisto as a business partner and said Kamar-Taj’s approval and protection would require Mephisto to pay him.
• Mephisto objected that he would be begging for food on his knees, but Luke argued that gaining a Sorcerer Supreme as an ally was worth the cost.

Luke persuaded Mephisto to turn the Hell Hotel into a legitimate business and build a Hell Group to harvest souls and pursue the title of Satan. Mephisto agreed to recruit other archdevils, while Luke prepared to leave for Kamar-Taj and tell Ancient One about their partnership.

• Luke cautioned Mephisto to focus on carrying out their plan before dreaming of taking the title of Satan.
• Luke urged Mephisto to demonstrate soul harvesting with the casino's soul chips and warned him that Asmodeus could become a rival.
• Mephisto worried that the other archdevils might refuse to come to the human world, and Luke offered to persuade them in his own way.
• Luke advised Mephisto to operate the Hell Hotel legally, obtain permits, and build its reputation; Mephisto accepted and vowed to establish the Hell Group.
• Luke left to put Howard's soul back in his body and report his partnership with Mephisto to Ancient One at Kamar-Taj.

Luke returned Howard to his body after their encounter with Mephisto, then went to Kamar-Taj and spoke with the Ancient One. He rejected the responsibilities and privileges of becoming this universe’s Sorcerer Supreme, leaving the Ancient One to retain the role for now.

• Howard thanked Luke for rescuing him, blamed him for his bad luck, and promised to focus on science while still hoping to enjoy himself.
• Luke refused Howard’s request to pursue the hotel’s dealers, warned him about Hell’s succubi, and left through a portal to Kamar-Taj.
• Luke met the Ancient One, asked where she had been, and learned that she considered him a poor fit for Vishanti’s standards and expected Stephen Strange to inherit the title.
• The Ancient One explained the authority and resources that came with being Sorcerer Supreme and offered Luke the Eye of Agamotto.
• Luke declined the Eye and the obligations of the office, preferring to leave the Ancient One in charge.

Luke refused Ancient One’s offer of the Eye of Agamotto and explained his plan to cooperate with Mephisto over the trade in human souls. Ancient One rejected Kamar-Taj’s participation but agreed that the Three Sanctuaries would monitor Mephisto, leaving Luke to bear the consequences of his Hell alliance.

• Luke refused to accept the Eye of Agamotto, saying he wanted a peaceful life and would not take on more responsibility as Sorcerer Supreme.
• Ancient One challenged Luke to consider what he would do when his power required him to protect the world or universe, but Luke put off answering.
• Luke proposed that Kamar-Taj cooperate with Mephisto to regulate the movement of souls between Earth, Heaven, and Hell.
• Ancient One rejected cooperation with Hell, saying Kamar-Taj favored Heaven’s principles and would not build its interests on innocent suffering.
• Luke proposed that the Three Sanctuaries regulate Mephisto’s actions and that stored souls could help repay spellcasting costs.
• Ancient One refused to join the Hell alliance but agreed that the Three Sanctuaries would monitor Mephisto, and Luke accepted responsibility for the plan’s consequences.

Luke learned that Vishanti had likely chosen him as a backup Sorcerer Supreme and returned to Las Vegas to negotiate Hell Group’s establishment with Mephisto. Two weeks later, he made Howard the group’s spokesperson, leaving Howard to insist that he would protect Superman’s reputation.

• Ancient One told Luke that Vishanti may have selected him as a backup while Stephen Strange was still unready, and warned him to care for the important thing from beyond that he carried.
• Luke returned to the Hell Hotel and told Mephisto that Hell would need to improve its public image and accept Kamar-Taj’s conditions to establish Hell Group.
• Mephisto agreed to sacrifice some profit and promised to behave as a legitimate businessman in the human world.
• Two weeks later, Luke told Howard that he had used Howard Stark’s name to make him Hell Group’s spokesperson.
• Luke suggested that Howard’s position could help him with the succubi, and Howard accepted the role and vowed to protect Superman’s reputation.

Howard took Steve and Bucky to Las Vegas for Steve’s bachelor party while Luke teased Howard about becoming a Hell Hotel director. Meanwhile, Apocalypse sensed a Phoenix and declared that he had found it.

• Luke explained to Howard that his new status as a Hell Group director would attract succubi, while silently worrying about the danger they posed.
• Steve reunited with Luke and Howard and described his nerves about marrying Margie after his proposal and wedding preparations.
• Howard began driving Steve, Luke, and Bucky toward Las Vegas for Steve’s bachelor party, planning a spa visit as their first stop.
• Apocalypse questioned Caliban and Erik Lehnsherr about their feelings, then sensed a Phoenix across time and space.

Apocalypse tracked down the Phoenix Force in California, hoping to claim its power and prove Mutants superior to humans. He restrained the Phoenix briefly, but it broke free and fled through space, and Apocalypse pursued it.

• Apocalypse's ancient defeat by the Phoenix Force was revealed, along with his search for its scattered power after awakening.
• Apocalypse followed the Phoenix fragments from Eastern Europe and Asia to California, where he found the Phoenix reunited.
• The Phoenix's arrival stirred the emotions of Little Erik and the other Mutants.
• Apocalypse restrained the Phoenix with telekinesis, but its flames burned him and destroyed his protective barrier.
• Apocalypse withdrew his power to protect the Mutants, and the Phoenix escaped through space.
• Apocalypse told the Mutants to stay put and entered a spatial passage to pursue the Phoenix.

Luke and his friends saw a Phoenix Force approaching Las Vegas, and Luke ordered an evacuation before flying out to stop it. As the Phoenix devastated the landscape, Apocalypse appeared and demanded that it submit to him, only to be met with an energy blast.

• Howard reluctantly joined Luke and Steve in the hot spring and complained about Steve's plans to marry.
• Luke and Steve teased Howard about his bachelor lifestyle and the women he brought to Stark Mansion.
• A massive fire phoenix appeared over Las Vegas, and Luke identified it as the Phoenix Force.
• Luke ordered Steve to arrange a city evacuation and told Howard to help, then flew toward the Phoenix.
• Apocalypse emerged from a spatial passage, demanded that the Phoenix kneel, and was struck by its energy sphere.

Apocalypse fought the weakened Phoenix Force, believing he could overpower it and make it his weapon. As he attacked the Phoenix and damaged Las Vegas, Luke arrived to stop him, and Apocalypse launched a final punch at the Phoenix.

• Apocalypse taunted the Phoenix and offered himself as a host, but it insulted his appearance and enraged him.
• Apocalypse trapped the Phoenix in a lightning cage and attacked it with energy blasts and psychic assaults.
• Apocalypse endured the Phoenix's flames behind layers of shields and struck it, sending fire raining down on Las Vegas.
• Luke arrived and demanded that Apocalypse pay for the damage and come with him to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Apocalypse dismissed Luke's threat and threw a final punch at the Phoenix.