====== Incursion ====== ===== Part 1: The Dossier: An At-a-Glance Summary ===== * **Core Identity:** **An incursion is a catastrophic multiversal event where two parallel universes collide, with their respective Earths as the focal points, resulting in the annihilation of one or both universes unless one Earth is destroyed first.** * **Key Takeaways:** * **Role in the Universe:** Incursions are presented as the ultimate cosmic disaster, a terminal illness afflicting the entire Marvel Multiverse. They served as the central, driving conflict of the epic [[Secret Wars (2015)|2015 Secret Wars saga]], forcing heroes into impossible moral compromises to ensure survival. * **Primary Impact:** The phenomenon of incursions led directly to the temporary death and rebirth of the entire Marvel Multiverse. This cataclysmic chain reaction dismantled the old cosmic order, destroyed countless realities, and culminated in the creation of [[Battleworld]] by a god-powered [[Doctor Doom]]. * **Key Incarnations:** In the comics ([[Earth-616]]), incursions were a deliberate, externally caused plague engineered by the god-like [[The Beyonders|Beyonders]] to end reality. In the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]] (MCU), they are presented as a natural, but devastating, consequence of individuals irresponsibly meddling with the fabric of the multiverse, such as through dreamwalking or extended cross-dimensional travel. ===== Part 2: Origin and Evolution ===== ==== Publication History and Creation ==== The concept of the incursion was conceived and meticulously architected by writer [[Jonathan Hickman]] as the central engine for his long-form narrative across the //Avengers// and //New Avengers// titles, beginning in 2013. Its first mention and visual depiction occurred in **//New Avengers// (Vol. 3) #1**, published in January 2013, with art by Steve Epting. Hickman's approach was novel for a mainstream superhero comic. He introduced a cosmic, existential threat that could not be punched into submission. The incursions were a slow-burning, unstoppable cosmic horror story that systematically dismantled the Marvel Universe's core heroic ideals. The central question shifted from "How do we win?" to "What are we willing to sacrifice to survive?". This created a rich vein of character-driven drama, particularly for the [[Illuminati]], who were forced to make increasingly monstrous decisions in secret. The entire storyline, spanning over two years and culminating in the blockbuster //Secret Wars// event, is widely regarded as one of the most ambitious and cohesive epics in modern comics, fundamentally redefining the structure and scale of the Marvel Multiverse. ==== In-Universe Origin Story ==== The origin and mechanics of incursions differ profoundly between the comic book source material and their cinematic adaptation. === Earth-616 (Prime Comic Universe) === The origin of the incursions in the Prime Comic Universe is a complex tapestry of cosmic machinations and tragedy. The ultimate cause was a race of beings from outside the multiverse known as the **Ivory Kings**, or as they were more commonly known, the [[The Beyonders|Beyonders]]. For reasons of their own, they decided to conduct an experiment: the simultaneous death of all reality. They set this plan in motion by killing the abstract cosmic entity, the [[Living Tribunal]], in every single reality at once. The catalyst that began the chain reaction was the premature death of the [[Molecule Man|Owen Reece]] of a single universe. Across the multiverse, Molecule Men were designed by the Beyonders to be living bombs, each one a singularity that, upon their death, would detonate their entire native universe. The Beyonders' plan was to have them all die at once. However, an unknown event caused one Molecule Man to die early, triggering a "domino effect" of universal destruction that rippled across the multiverse. This premature collapse created the incursions. A universe would "die," and the two universes adjacent to it in the multiversal structure would be pulled into its empty space, causing their Earths to collide. Each Earth served as a "contraction point." For eight hours, the two Earths would occupy the same space, visible in each other's skies. At the end of that period, if neither Earth was destroyed, both universes would be annihilated. However, if one Earth was destroyed before the eight hours were up, the "incursion" would be stopped, and the universe of the surviving Earth would be saved, albeit temporarily, until the next incursion inevitably occurred with another adjacent reality. This horrific truth was first discovered by the Black Panther, who witnessed an incursion in Wakanda and brought the information to the [[Illuminati]]. This group of the world's smartest and most influential heroes—[[Iron Man]], [[Mister Fantastic]], [[Doctor Strange]], [[Black Bolt]], [[Namor]], and [[Beast]]—was forced to confront the impossible choice: commit genocide on a planetary scale to save their own universe, or allow everything they've ever known to perish. === Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) === The concept of an incursion was formally introduced into the MCU in the film **//[[Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]]// (2022)**. The MCU's version is portrayed as a less pre-ordained and more consequential phenomenon. According to the [[Reed Richards]] of Earth-838, an incursion is a collision of two universes that occurs when the boundary between them is eroded. He explains that this can be caused by the reckless actions of an individual, specifically through prolonged or significant multiversal travel. He states, "Your presence in this universe is causing an incursion." This implies that a being from one universe leaving a significant "footprint" in another can trigger this catastrophic event. The Illuminati of Earth-838 reveal that their own Doctor Strange caused an incursion by using the [[Darkhold]] to "dreamwalk"—projecting his consciousness into the body of one of his variants in another reality—in his search for a way to defeat [[Thanos]]. This incursion resulted in the complete annihilation of an entire universe, and to stop him from causing more damage, his own teammates were forced to execute him. The MCU's definition establishes incursions as a natural law of the multiverse, a form of cosmic immune response to unnatural meddling. The main universe's Doctor Strange (designated Earth-616 by the MCU, formerly Earth-199999) is warned that his own use of the Darkhold has triggered an incursion. This is confirmed in the film's mid-credits scene when he is confronted by [[Clea]], a powerful sorceress from the Dark Dimension, who recruits him to help fix the incursion he caused. This sets up incursions as a major future threat for the MCU, likely leading into the events of //[[Avengers: The Kang Dynasty]]// and //[[Avengers: Secret Wars]]//. ===== Part 3: In-Depth Analysis: The Mechanics of a Multiversal Cataclysm ===== === Earth-616 (Prime Comic Universe) === The mechanics of an incursion in the comic continuity are specific and terrifyingly procedural. They follow a predictable, unstoppable pattern. ==== The Phases of an Incursion ==== * **Phase 1: The Trigger:** The collapse of an adjacent universe in the multiversal superstructure pulls the two neighboring realities towards each other. * **Phase 2: The Bleed-Through:** In the hours leading up to the main event, strange phenomena occur. People might experience visions of their alternate-reality counterparts, or flora and fauna from the other universe might manifest. * **Phase 3: The Arrival:** Approximately eight hours before the final impact, the alternate Earth appears in the sky of the prime Earth, and vice-versa. It starts as a small red point and grows larger as the two planets are drawn together. * **Phase 4: The Contraction Point:** The two Earths are the "contraction points" of their respective universes. They are the only places where the inhabitants of one universe can physically interact with the other. During the eight-hour window, the rest of each universe is out of phase, but the Earths are tragically solid. * **Phase 5: The Choice:** To save a universe, its "rival" Earth must be completely destroyed. If this is achieved, the incursion ends, and the surviving universe is "pushed back" into its proper place in the multiverse, temporarily safe. * **Phase 6: The Annihilation:** If no action is taken within the eight-hour window, the two Earths collide. This collision does not just destroy the planets; it causes a chain reaction that obliterates both parent universes in their entirety. Nothing survives. ==== The Architects and Antagonists ==== The incursions were not a natural disaster; they were an act of war by forces beyond comprehension, with various factions reacting to the crisis in different ways. * **The Ivory Kings (The Beyonders):** The true antagonists. A mysterious, impossibly powerful race from outside of time and space. They viewed the Marvel Multiverse as a flawed experiment and engineered the incursions to wipe the slate clean. They are depicted as operating on a scale that makes entities like [[Galactus]] seem insignificant. * **The Black Swans:** Disciples of a figure known as "Rabum Alal." The Black Swans were women from various destroyed Earths who traveled from incursion to incursion, offering a choice to the inhabitants: serve their master and worship entropy, or be destroyed. They possessed immense knowledge about the incursions and acted as heralds of the end. * **The Mapmakers:** Robotic beings who served the Beyonders. Their purpose was to chart the decay of the multiverse, moving from Earth to Earth and siphoning its energy, leaving behind a dead husk before it was destroyed in an incursion. They were a sign that a world was already lost. * **The Black Priests:** A cosmic order of sorcerers who used the power of words to alter reality. They believed they could stop the incursions by finding the source and traveled the multiverse destroying Earths that they deemed "unworthy," believing this was a necessary sacrifice. * **Rabum Alal ("The Great Destroyer"):** The mysterious entity worshipped by the Black Swans, who was revealed to be a future, time-traveling [[Doctor Doom]]. Having discovered the Beyonders' plot, Doom traveled back in time and began a counter-crusade. He destroyed countless Earths not out of malice, but to create a "pathway" through the multiverse, eliminating potential futures and variables to confront the Beyonders directly at a time and place of his choosing. His actions were genocidal, but his ultimate goal was to save what little of reality he could. ==== Tools of Survival ==== The Illuminati and other groups developed specific technologies to deal with the incursion threat. * **The Bridge:** A device created by Reed Richards that allowed the Illuminati to view parallel Earths during an incursion, giving them intelligence on what they were facing. * **Antimatter Injectors:** The Illuminati's weapon of last resort. These devices, when detonated on a planet, would trigger a chain reaction that resulted in its complete obliteration, leaving no trace. This was their primary tool for destroying other Earths. * **Sol's Hammer:** A massive Dyson sphere constructed around the Sun by Tony Stark and Reed Richards. It was designed to be a planetary-scale defensive weapon, capable of destroying an incoming Earth from a distance. However, it was sabotaged before it could be effectively used against an incursion. * **The Life Raft:** Designed by a council of the multiverse's brightest minds (including the Reed Richards of Earth-1610), the Life Raft was a small fleet of ships designed to survive the end of everything. They were capable of traversing the "blank space" between realities after the final incursion, preserving a handful of individuals to potentially restart life. === Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) === The MCU's interpretation is currently far less detailed, but the core elements point towards a different set of rules. ==== The Trigger Mechanism ==== The primary trigger appears to be a violation of multiversal law. Two main causes have been suggested: * **The Traveler's Footprint:** Reed Richards of Earth-838 suggests that a multiversal traveler's mere presence, if prolonged or significant enough, can disrupt the fabric of a host universe, causing it to "lurch" towards the traveler's home reality. * **Cosmic Power Abuse:** The use of profoundly powerful and corrupting artifacts, like the Darkhold, to manipulate the multiverse (e.g., dreamwalking) seems to be a guaranteed method of triggering an incursion. This implies that the multiverse has a natural defense mechanism against such cosmic tampering. ==== Observed Effects and Future Implications ==== So far, no incursion has been shown on-screen in the MCU. We have only heard of their effects. * **Earth-838's Strange:** Caused an incursion that destroyed another universe. The exact mechanics—whether it was a slow collision or a sudden erasure—are unknown. * **Our Strange's Future:** The mid-credits scene of //Multiverse of Madness// shows the sky tearing open to reveal the Dark Dimension, suggesting that the "incursion" he caused is a collision between his reality and Clea's. This could be a visual representation of the two universes beginning to merge or overlap. The MCU appears to be positioning incursions not as a singular, universe-ending plague, but as a recurring threat that can be triggered by multiple actors, from [[Doctor Strange]] to [[America Chavez]] to variants of [[Kang the Conqueror]]. This sets the stage for a multiversal war where different factions could be intentionally causing incursions to eliminate rival timelines, a core concept that may drive //Avengers: Secret Wars//. ===== Part 4: Key Players & Factions ===== ==== The Illuminati (Earth-616) ==== Faced with the incursion crisis, Black Panther re-formed the secret society of the Illuminati. Their mission was simple and terrible: to save their world at any cost. This mission forced them to compromise every moral and ethical line they had ever drawn. They built world-killing weapons, fought alternate-reality heroes, and wiped the memory of their friend, [[Captain America]], when he could not stomach their genocidal plans. The weight of their actions eventually shattered the group, pitting member against member, most notably in the conflict between [[Black Panther]] and [[Namor]]. Their story is a tragedy, a cautionary tale of how good men can be forced to do monstrous things for the greater good. ==== The Cabal (Earth-616) ==== When the Illuminati faltered, unable to pull the trigger on destroying an Earth full of innocent people, Namor took a different path. Believing that only those with the will to do what is necessary could save the world, he formed the Cabal. This group consisted of [[Thanos]] and his Black Order, Maximus the Mad, Terrax the Tamer, and Black Swan. The Cabal took a perverse joy in their work, not just destroying other Earths but torturing and slaughtering their inhabitants in brutal displays of power. They were the dark reflection of the Illuminati, embracing the evil that the heroes were only willing to contemplate. ==== The Beyonders (The Ivory Kings) ==== The ultimate puppet masters of the incursion saga. In Jonathan Hickman's retcon of their origins, they were no longer flawed human-Inhuman hybrids from another dimension (as in the original //Secret Wars//), but something far more alien and absolute. They existed outside the Multiverse and sought its end. Their power was so immense that they were able to kill the Living Tribunal and all of the Celestials across reality. Their defeat required an elaborate, multi-millennia plan orchestrated by Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange, culminating in Doom stealing their power to become a god. ==== Doctor Doom (Rabum Alal) ==== Perhaps the most complex player in the entire saga. Upon learning of the Beyonders' plan, Doom, along with the Molecule Man and a time-displaced Doctor Strange, embarked on a quest to stop them. He founded a religion (as Rabum Alal)