Table of Contents

Incursion

Part 1: The Dossier: An At-a-Glance Summary

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 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 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 The Kang Dynasty and 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

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.

Tools of Survival

The Illuminati and other groups developed specific technologies to deal with the incursion threat.

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:

Observed Effects and Future Implications

So far, no incursion has been shown on-screen in the MCU. We have only heard of their effects.

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)