Secret Wars (2015 comic book)

Premise

The series was introduced with two issues in May 2015, then ran monthly until December. The series began with a nine issue mini series (plus a Free Comic Book Day issue #0) and came out of the current Avengers and New Avengers "Time Runs Out" storyline. The basic premise involves the collision of the Marvel 616 Universe with the Ultimate Marvel 1610 Universe which destroys both. Pieces of the two universes are mysteriously saved and combined with other post collision universes creating the "Battleworld."

Tie-In Branding

Numerous tie-in miniseries and ongoing titles fleshed out the event with many of them revisiting previous Marvel events such as Civil War, Age of Apocalypse, Days of Future Past (renamed, in this 2015 event, to Years of Future Past) and Armor Wars. All of the tie-ins were aligned into one of three subtitles during the event consisting of Last Days, Battleworld, and Warzones.

Marvel's executive editor Tom Brevoort revealed that "Last Days" would show several characters from Captain America and Ms. Marvel to Loki and Magneto in their final adventures before the Marvel Universe comes to an end in Secret Wars, "Warzones" would focus on the individual domains, and "Battleworld" would be concerned with the infrastructure of the Battleworld as a whole.

Issue One

As Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Molecule Man confront the Beyonders in a last-ditch attempt to save the Multiverse, the final Incursion of Earth-1610 and Earth-616 begins. Heroes from each universe confront one another. Mister Fantastic and Maker (the Mister Fantastic of Earth-1610) make plans to survive the cataclysm with a small group of colleagues; Mister Fantastic selects heroes and important scientists, while Maker intends to save himself and the Cabal. Maker sends a doomsday weapon and the Children of Tomorrow to Earth-616. Black Bolt, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Beast are killed and Stark Tower is destroyed. Meanwhile, Kingpin hosts a viewing party of the incursion for villains. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Punisher who kills all the villains.

Manifold begins teleporting heroes to the lifeboat. Cyclops merges with the Phoenix Force and destroys the Children of Tomorrow before being teleported onto the ship. Mister Fantastic and Black Panther pilot the ship to the center of the Incursion. A hull breach occurs, separating the part of the ship carrying Invisible Woman, Thing and most of the young Future Foundation. They are destroyed by the Incursion before Mister Fantastic can rescue them. The world fades to white as the two Earths collide. Doctor Doom's mask appears out of the white void, before the white turns to black. The lifeboat comes to rest on a mysterious planet.

Issue Two

A new Thor is shown joining the Thor Corps, a police force composed of different versions of Thor. The young Thor from the Battleworld domain of Higher Avalon tells the story of how God Emperor Doom created the Earth and the universe. The Thor of Higher Avalon and Old Thor travel to Bar Sinister to bring its baron Mister Sinister to Castle Doom, where Doom holds court from his throne on the World Tree. Sinister is charged with secretly aligning with Baron Hyperion of Utopolis in opposition to Higher Avalon. Sinister chooses to face his accuser Brian Braddock in battle and defeats him. Before he can deal the killing blow, Doom intervenes. To save his brother, Baron James Braddock confesses to crimes against Doom. Doom banishes James to the Shield, a massive wall that protects Doom's realm from outside horrors. The Thor Corps escort Baron James to the Shield where he jumps into the Deadlands and dies fighting zombies.

In the Kingdom of Utopolis, Minister Alex Power is brought to an object uncovered by an "earthquake": the life raft from Earth-1610. Valeria tells Sheriff Strange that the object is much older than the believed age of the Earth. Strange tasks the Thor of Higher Avalon and Old Thor to enforce a quarantine around the discovery site. One of the Moloid diggers on site inadvertently opens the craft, and Old Thor is killed by weapons thrown from within. The young Thor flees to tell Strange what has happened. As he leaves, the Cabal and Maker emerge from the lifeboat. Thanos is told by a Moloid that they are in Battleworld.

Issue Three

Strange informs Doom of recent events in the domains of Battleworld. Before a statue of the Molecule Man, they reminisce how Doom had battled the Beyonders and managed to salvage various fragments of the Earths that were being destroyed. Strange is summoned to Utopolis by the Thor Corps to examine the Cabal's life raft. A group of Thors are sent to apprehend the Cabal. Once all the Thors, aside from the Thor of Higher Avalon, have left Strange tells the hidden Miles Morales that he may come out of hiding. Miles reveals he sneaked on to the ship just before the Incursion destroyed his planet.

On the Isle of Agamotto, Strange explains Battleworld to Miles, then reveals he has found the other life raft. The young Thor opens the vessel and the survivors of Earth-616 exit stasis. Strange realizes the heroes are from his timeline when he sees his fellow Illuminati Black Panther and Mister Fantastic. Strange reveals they have been in stasis for eight years and that Doom saved them all when he created Battleworld. In Utopolis, the Cabal and Maker are discovered by the Thor Corps.

Issue Four

In Utopolis, the Thor Corps battle Thanos, the Cabal and the Maker. On the Isle of Agamotto, Strange explains to the life rafters that the Beyonders were the ones behind the universes crashing together and that he and Doctor Doom were able to kill them and take their power. A boar version of Thor teleports to Castle Doom to report his findings. Strange arrives at the battle with the raft survivors. Doom also teleports to the battle and unleashes his power against the Cabal and the surviving members of the life raft. Cyclops, powered by the Phoenix Force, confronts Doom and temporarily gains the upper hand. Doom recovers, snaps Cyclops' neck, and orders the invaders to surrender. Strange teleports the surviving members to safety. Enraged, Doom kills Strange with a blast of energy.

Issue Five

After Sheriff Strange's funeral, Doom enters a realm located below Molecule Man's statue and talks to the real Molecule Man, who lives there. It is explained that the Beyonders were the originators of reality but eventually became harbingers of destruction. The Molecule Man was unique across the multiverse: a being whose presence in each reality represented a sliver of a single inter-dimensional entity. The Beyonders would initiate the end of a particular reality by detonating that reality's Molecule Man. Doom, Strange and the 616 Molecule Man had gathered Molecule Men from across the multiverse and combined them into a bomb, which they directed towards the unsuspecting Beyonders. The detonation killed the Beyonders and allowed the 616 Molecule Man to absorb their power and channel it to Doom, who in turn created Battleworld.

Valeria's Justice Division of the Future Foundation prepares to hunt down the 616 heroes. Thor appears in Doomgard where the Thor Corps are located, Black Panther and Namor appear in Egyptia, Captain Marvel in Bar Sinister, and Black Swan in Doomstadt. At the end of the issue, Thanos appears at the base of the Shield.

Issue Six

Three weeks later, Battleworld is in disarray, with several kingdoms in open rebellion. Someone called "the Prophet" has formed an army against Doom, and has toppled the upper and lower kingdoms of Egyptia. Victor orders his most loyal Barons to deal with the threat of the Prophet. Of the other Cabal members, only Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive have been captured while Black Swan offers help to Doom. The Foundation find the source of Doom's power and inform Valeria, who has become suspicious of her father.

Mister Fantastic and Maker team up to find the source of Doom's power, and send the Spider-Men, Peter and Miles, to infiltrate Castle Doom. The Spider-Men meet Valeria, who chooses not to go with them. Valeria demands to know who killed Strange, and Peter confirms Valeria's suspicions that no one from the raft was responsible. After entering a trapdoor under Molecule Man's statue, the Spider-Men are confronted by the real Molecule Man. Meanwhile, Namor and Black Panther arrive at the Isle of Agamotto. Using the Key of Agamotto given to them by Strange, they are given access to powerful items Strange had collected over the years, including the Siege Courageous and an Infinity Gauntlet that works only in Doomstadt.

Thanos, who had been captured by the Hel-Rangers, talks to the sentient structure that forms the Shield (a giant alternate version of Ben Grimm), and convinces him to reject Doom and rise, causing the Shield to fall down.

Issue Seven

The Prophet, who is revealed to be Maximus, marches his troops to Castle Doom. Baron Sinister takes the chance to turn against his fellow Baroness Goblin Queen, but is subsequently struck down by the former Baron Apocalypse. The Thor Corps joins the battle against Doom, as Jane Foster has managed to convince her fellow Thors to fight against their god. Former Baron Maestro joins the battle with his army of Worldbreakers. The two Reed Richards use the fight ensuing on the steps of Castle Doom as cover to infiltrate the building and steal "the most valuable thing that's left from the Multiverse" from Doom. Black Panther and Namor travel to the Deadlands for reinforcements and Black Panther uses his title as the King of the Dead to convince the zombies to join the forces opposing Doom.

Issue Eight

Chaos continues on the outskirts of Castle Doom. The two Reed Richards and Star-Lord fly to Castle Doom, but a Hulk causes their ship to crash. Maestro calls Doom out to face him but is met instead by the giant Ben Grimm, who is destroying everything in his path. Susan, Valeria and one of the Black Swans save Doom. Grimm continues his rampage until Franklin and Galactus arrive. Franklin reveals Doom is his father. Ben realizes Franklin is the son of Susan and allows the Franklin controlled Galactus to destroy him, rather than fight the boy. Susan bursts into tears, until Valeria asks Susan to come with her.

In Castle Doom, Star-Lord is attacked by Black Swan while he is repairing his ship. Star-Lord manages to prick his Groot 'toothpick' into the World-Tree, causing the toothpick to merge with the tree to form a giant Groot. Susan and Valeria head to the statues of Molecule Man and Sheriff Strange, but stop when they see the two Reeds.

Doom arrives on the battlefield and gives Thanos a chance to be a Baron. Thanos refuses the offer as he believes he is already a god. Doom rips out Thanos' skeleton. The battle continues until Captain Marvel spots the zombies coming from the remains of the Shield. Black Panther (with the Infinity Gauntlet) and Namor arrive and tell Doom his reign is over.

Issue Nine

Doom and Black Panther battle, with Doom wielding the power of the Beyonders and Black Panther wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. Susan does not recognize Mister Fantastic, and accuses him of being one of the "murderers" of Sheriff Strange. Mister Fantastic reveals that Doom killed the Sheriff. Mister Fantastic and Maker meet with Molecule Man, after which the Maker betrays Mister Fantastic by trapping him in a temporal bubble that devolves him into an ape. Molecule Man intervenes, rescuing Mister Fantastic while splitting Maker into multiple slices. Back on the battlefield, Doom realizes Black Panther's fight is a distraction, and teleports to Molecule Man's statue to confront Mister Fantastic.

Doom tries to use his powers to destroy his rival, but finds that Molecule Man has taken away most of his abilities so that the confrontation is fair. Mister Fantastic and Doom face off, with Doom mocking Mister Fantastic for not finding a way to save the Multiverse. Mister Fantastic counters by calling Doom out for his insecurity, as the first thing Doom did when he obtained the Beyonders' powers was to steal Mister Fantastic's life and family. Doom confesses that Mister Fantastic would have done a better job with the power. Hearing this, Molecule Man transfers the Beyonders' power to Mister Fantastic, which destroys Battleworld. In the wake of the destruction, Black Panther uses the Reality Gem to recreate, and teleport himself to, Wakanda. There, he finds three Wakandan prodigies whom he tasks with granting wisdom to the stars.

Miles Morales awakens on the restored Earth now known as Marvel's Earth Prime, along with his friends and his mother (who was brought back to life by Molecule Man as a thank you for giving him a hamburger). Still shaken by the recent events, Miles goes on patrol with Peter as Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Valeria, Franklin, the members of Future Foundation, and Molecule Man work to restore the Multiverse one reality at a time. In Latveria, Doctor Doom removes his mask, reveals his face is no longer disfigured, and laughs with joy.

Battleworld

Following numerous incursions across the multiverse, the remains of various realities have been fused together to create a new Battleworld. Each domain is the incursion point from that reality's destruction, as this is all that remains from each one. All of these realities are known as domains and have the ability to interact with each other, except for three: the Deadlands, Perfection and New Xandar. These domains are separated from the rest by a giant wall called the Shield because they contain threats that, if set loose, would destroy all the others: zombies, Ultron drones, creatures that make up the Annihilation Wave, and an alternate reality version of Thanos trying to reconstruct the Infinity Gauntlet.

Each domain has an appointed leader called a Baron who runs their domain with permission from God Emperor Doom, the Lord and Messiah of Battleworld. To ensure all domains remain separate from each other, the Thor Corps have been formed (containing all alternate versions of Thor) and they act as a police force for Battleworld under the leadership of Sheriff Strange. Those who transgress the borders are sent to the Shield to work there whilst those who spectacularly break this rule are sent into exile over the Shield into one of the three dangerous domains.

Battleworld is one of the three celestial bodies in its universe. The second celestial body and Battleworld's source of light is revealed to be the Human Torch himself who acts as the "sun" after being lifted into the sky during the early days of Battleworld's creation and where he still remains trapped as punishment for acting against Doom. The sun orbits Battleworld instead of the other way around. The third celestial body is Knowhere, which orbits Battleworld as its "moon". Apart from these celestial bodies, there were no other stars, until Singularity, a mysterious young girl who actually represents a pocket universe that gained sentience during the multiversal collapse, appeared to give her life to save the citizens of Arcadia from a horde of Zombies, which returned the stars to its universe.

The reality where Battleworld was fashioned as since been dubbed as Earth-15513.

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