Incursions

• Core Identity: An Incursion is a cataclysmic multiversal event where two parallel universes collide, with their respective Earths as the epicenter, resulting in the annihilation of one or both universes unless one Earth is destroyed first.
• Key Takeaways:
• Role in the Universe: Incursions are the ultimate existential threat to the multiverse, representing the slow, inexorable death of all reality. They are not random disasters but a systemic, cascading failure of the cosmic architecture.
• Primary Impact: The Incursion crisis led directly to the destruction of the Seventh and the birth of the Eighth Cosmos in the comics, culminating in the 2015 Secret Wars event. It forced heroes into impossible moral dilemmas, compelling them to consider universal genocide to save their own reality.
• Key Incarnations: In the Earth-616 comics, Incursions are a widespread, systemic plague caused by the actions of the beyonders. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they are depicted as a more localized consequence of an individual's significant “footprint” in another universe, such as through prolonged dreamwalking.

The concept of Incursions was conceived and masterfully executed by writer Jonathan Hickman as the central driving narrative of his tenure on Marvel's flagship titles. The phenomenon was first named and explained in New Avengers (Vol. 3) #1, published in January 2013, with art by Steve Epting. However, the seeds of this multiversal collapse were sown across both of Hickman's concurrent series, Avengers and New Avengers. Hickman's approach was one of long-form, serialized storytelling. He introduced the Incursions as a terrifying, secret crisis that only the Illuminati were aware of. For two years, this shadow war against the death of everything played out in the pages of New Avengers, focusing on the moral cost and intellectual horror of the problem. Simultaneously, Avengers dealt with more public, universe-level threats that were, in fact, symptoms or consequences of the decaying multiverse. This dual-narrative structure built a palpable sense of dread and inevitability, culminating in the “Time Runs Out” storyline, which jumped the timeline forward eight months to the final days before the collapse. The entire saga concluded in the universally acclaimed 2015 event, Secret Wars, co-created with artist Esad Ribić, which served as the definitive finale to the Incursion storyline.

The origin of the Incursions is a complex piece of cosmic history, differing significantly between the comic books and the cinematic universe.

The Incursions were not a natural phenomenon but a deliberate act of cosmic vandalism on a multiversal scale. The true architects of this destruction were the enigmatic and omnipotent beings known as the Beyonders. These beings exist outside the confines of the Multiverse itself and view all of reality as a grand experiment. Their plan was to witness the death of everything. To achieve this, they orchestrated an event that would cause a “cosmic contraction” and a chain reaction of universal destruction. The lynchpin of their plan was the Molecule Man, Owen Reece. As it was revealed, every universe in the multiverse contained a single Molecule Man, each one engineered by the Beyonders to be a living bomb with the power to destroy their native reality. The Beyonders' plan was to detonate them all simultaneously. However, they encountered an unforeseen complication. In one specific universe, its Molecule Man died prematurely. This created a void and caused that universe to die an “early heat death.” This single event broke the cosmic symmetry and triggered the multiversal chain reaction: Incursions. The premature death of this one universe caused a domino effect, pulling adjacent universes into collision courses with each other, always centered on their respective Earths. The timeline of this decay was finite. It began as a slow process, but as more universes were destroyed, the remaining ones were pushed closer together, accelerating the frequency of Incursions. The final stage saw a “cascade” where dozens of universes were destroyed daily. The entire event was, in essence, the Beyonders “blowing up” their own experiment. The only being who discovered this truth and sought to stop it was Doctor Doom, who, along with the 616 Molecule Man, journeyed across the dying multiverse to confront the Beyonders at the source of the decay.

The concept of Incursions was formally introduced to the MCU in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The MCU's version is presented as a more direct, cause-and-effect phenomenon tied to individual actions rather than a pre-ordained, systemic collapse. As explained by Reed Richards of Earth-838, an Incursion is “a collision of two universes, leading to the destruction of one or both.” He states that this can be triggered when an individual leaves too large of a “footprint” in an alternate reality. The primary example given is the Doctor Strange of Earth-838, who used the corrupting magic of the Darkhold to dreamwalk across the multiverse in an attempt to defeat Thanos. While he found a way to win, his reckless actions triggered an Incursion that destroyed another universe, for which the Illuminati of his world were forced to execute him. This implies that actions such as prolonged physical presence or powerful magical influence (like the Scarlet Witch's dreamwalking) in a universe not one's own can destabilize the barriers between realities. The visual representation shown is of two realities literally crashing into and phasing through one another. At the film's conclusion, Earth-616's Doctor Strange is confronted by Clea, a sorceress from the Dark Dimension, who informs him that his own actions have caused an Incursion and recruits him to help fix it. This sets up Incursions as a major future threat for the MCU, likely forming the foundation for the upcoming film Avengers: Secret Wars. The key difference is one of agency: in the MCU, Incursions are a consequence of meddling, whereas in the comics, they were an inevitable event that heroes were forced to react to.

The process of an Incursion was terrifyingly precise and followed a set of observable rules, which the Illuminati painstakingly documented.

• The Trigger: An Incursion begins when the Earths of two separate universes begin to drift toward the same point in space-time.
• The Duration: The entire event lasts for exactly eight hours.
• The Warning Signs: The initial phase is marked by atmospheric phenomena. The sky on the Incursion Earth turns blood red, and inhabitants can often see the “other Earth” appearing, ghost-like, in their sky. Time and space begin to warp and distort near the epicenter.
• The Incursion Point: This is the ground-zero location on each Earth where the collision will be most direct. It is the only place from which one can travel to the other Earth during the event.
• The Ultimatum: There are only three possible outcomes:

1. Do nothing, and both universes will be completely annihilated at the end of the eight-hour window.

  2.  Destroy the other Earth before the eight hours are up. This will sever the connection, causing the other universe to harmlessly phase away, saving your own universe.
  3.  Destroy your own Earth. This will save the other universe.
* **The Aftermath of Survival:** If a universe is saved by destroying the other Earth, it is not without consequence. The "winning" universe's Earth is shunted to the center of its universe, becoming the new focal point for future Incursions, effectively putting a target on its back.

The multiversal Incursion crisis spawned numerous factions, each with its own philosophy for dealing with the end of everything.

• The Illuminati: The secret council of Earth-616's greatest minds (Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Namor, and initially Black Panther and Beast). They took it upon themselves to secretly handle the Incursion threat. Their journey was one of tragic moral decline. They first attempted to push the other Earths away using the Infinity Gauntlet, only to shatter the Infinity Stones. They then resorted to building planet-killing weapons, including Antimatter Injectors, to destroy the other worlds. This act tore the group apart, with Black Panther and Namor representing the poles of moral anguish and brutal pragmatism.
• The Cabal: After the Illuminati hesitated to destroy a virtuous Earth, Namor broke from them and formed his own ruthless group to do what they would not. This Cabal consisted of Thanos, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Black Swan, Terrax the Tamer, and Maximus the Mad. They took sadistic pleasure in slaughtering the inhabitants of other Earths before destroying the planets, viewing it as a necessary and even enjoyable cull.
• The Black Priests: A mysterious order of magic-users who had also discovered the Incursion phenomenon. Their solution was to use powerful spells—“word-magic”—to destroy the Incursion Earths, believing it was the only way to preserve the integrity of the Multiverse's structure. They were essentially a more mystically-inclined version of the Illuminati, unburdened by the same moral qualms.
• The Mapmakers: Automated, adaptive robotic beings who served the Beyonders. They traveled from one dying universe to another, charting the decay and stripping Incursion worlds of all resources. They were a sign of a universe's impending doom.
• The Great Society: A team of heroes from Earth-4,290,001, led by the hero Sun-God. They were a direct parallel to the Justice League and were the first group the Illuminati faced who were their moral and physical equals. The Illuminati's tragic battle against and victory over the Great Society represented their point of no return.
• Rabum Alal (“The Great Destroyer”): A mythical figure spoken of in whispers throughout the dying multiverse, believed to be the source of the destruction. It was eventually revealed that Rabum Alal was none other than Doctor Doom, who, with the Molecule Man, was traveling backward through the multiversal wreckage, trying to find the true source of the collapse—the Beyonders—and stop them.

The Incursions culminated in the Final Incursion between Earth-616 and the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610). Despite last-ditch efforts, both universes were destroyed. However, Doctor Doom, having successfully stolen the power of the Beyonders via the Molecule Man, was able to salvage fragments of dozens of destroyed realities. He stitched these remnants together into a single planet called Battleworld, a patchwork reality where he ruled as the omnipotent God Emperor Doom. The events of Secret Wars saw the survivors of Earth-616 challenge Doom's rule. The conflict ended with Reed Richards seizing Doom's power and, with the help of his son Franklin Richards and the Molecule Man, restoring the Multiverse. This was not a simple reset; it was the creation of a new, Eighth Cosmos. The universe was subtly but significantly different, with characters like Miles Morales and his family integrated into the new prime reality. The Incursion crisis, therefore, served as a “soft reboot” of the entire Marvel comics line.

The MCU's mechanics appear simpler and more directly tied to multiversal travel.

• The Cause: An Incursion is triggered by an individual from one universe creating a significant, prolonged “footprint” in another. The Darkhold's dreamwalking ability is the only confirmed method so far.
• The Effect: It is described as a “collision of two universes.” The brief glimpse we see when Earth-838's universe begins to collapse shows buildings and landscapes from another reality phasing into existence, suggesting a violent merging of physical laws and matter.
• The Resolution: The resolution is currently unknown. The Earth-838 Illuminati “fixed” their Incursion, but the cost was the destruction of the other universe and the execution of their Doctor Strange. This suggests that, like in the comics, the destruction of one reality may be required to save another. Clea's appearance implies that there are methods to combat or repair the damage, as she recruits Strange to help her “fix” the Incursion he caused.

As the concept is new to the MCU, established factions are few.

• The Illuminati (Earth-838): This group acted as the guardians of their reality. They possessed advanced knowledge of Incursions and were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice—killing their friend and leader—to prevent further catastrophe.
• Sorcerers of the Dark Dimension: Clea's arrival, wielding Dark Dimension energy and knowledge of Incursions, suggests that she belongs to a group or has experience dedicated to policing the multiverse and dealing with these specific threats. Her connection to Dormammu's realm may provide her with unique tools and perspectives.

The aftermath in the MCU is entirely speculative but is the central setup for the remainder of the “Multiverse Saga.” Doctor Strange now has a third eye as a result of using the Darkhold, and he has been pulled into a conflict that spans dimensions. The threat of Incursions is the narrative justification for a multiversal war, likely involving Kang the Conqueror and his variants, and will almost certainly be the central crisis of Avengers: Secret Wars.

While the Incursions were a cosmic phenomenon, their story is defined by the actions of key individuals who were forced to confront the end of all things.

• Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic): As the intellectual center of the Illuminati, the burden of solving the Incursions fell heaviest on Reed. He was the one who designed the weapons and wrestled most deeply with the horrific calculus of destroying worlds to save his family. His ideological conflict with Doom and his ultimate role in rebuilding the multiverse made him the central protagonist of the entire saga.
• T'Challa (The Black Panther): T'Challa was the moral heart of the Illuminati. Having first discovered an Incursion in Wakanda, he reluctantly joined the group. He was consistently the most horrified by their actions and was the first to refuse to pull the trigger. His journey, which saw him exiled from Wakanda and his ancestral spirits turning their backs on him, was one of profound spiritual loss.
• Namor the Sub-Mariner: Namor was the group's pragmatist. When the Illuminati faltered, he was the one who unhesitatingly destroyed the first world. When they refused to continue, he formed the Cabal to do the “dirty work,” arguing that their morality was a luxury they could not afford at the end of the world.
• Dr. Victor von Doom: Doom played the long game. While the heroes focused on treating the symptoms (stopping each Incursion), Doom sought the cause. His quest led him to Rabum Alal and the Beyonders, and in a moment of supreme triumph and arrogance, he usurped their power to become a god, saving the last remnants of reality by creating Battleworld.
• Owen Reece (The Molecule Man): Initially a classic villain, Reece was retconned into being the multiversal lynchpin of the entire crisis. He was the bomb, the battery, and the key. His partnership with Doom was what allowed the Beyonders to be defeated, and his power, channeled by Reed Richards, was what allowed the multiverse to be born anew.

• Dr. Stephen Strange: As the MCU's primary explorer of the multiverse, Strange is positioned as the central figure in its Incursion narrative. He has now witnessed the consequences (on Earth-838) and has been told he has caused one himself. His journey will likely involve him learning the rules of this new, terrifying cosmic game.
• Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch): Wanda's multiversal dreamwalking in Multiverse of Madness is the most potent example of an Incursion-causing act shown on screen. Her immense power makes her a potential catalyst for future multiversal instability, even after her apparent death.
• Clea: As the character who formally introduces the active threat of an Incursion to Strange, she is his guide and entry point into the larger conflict. She represents a pre-existing body of knowledge and power dedicated to this problem, expanding the lore of the MCU's cosmic landscape.

This storyline served as the direct prelude to Secret Wars. Jumping the narrative eight months into the future, it depicted a Marvel Universe on its last legs. The Incursion crisis had become public knowledge, S.H.I.E.L.D., led by Steve Rogers, was hunting the Illuminati as global criminals, and the final Incursion cascade had begun. The story brilliantly showcased the desperation of the final days, with factions like Sunspot's A.I.M. and the Shi'ar racing for solutions. It culminated with the heroes of Earth-616 facing the heroes of the Ultimate Universe in the Final Incursion, a gut-wrenching battle for survival that they ultimately lost.

The culmination of Hickman's entire run. With all of reality destroyed, the series takes place on Battleworld, a planet ruled by the iron fist of God Emperor Doom. The world is a patchwork of alternate realities, each a “domain” policed by a Thor Corps. The story follows the survivors of the 616 life raft—including Reed Richards, Black Panther, and Spider-Man—as they discover the truth of this new reality and mount a rebellion against Doom. It's a character study of Reed Richards and Victor von Doom's eternal rivalry, elevated to a cosmic scale, with the fate of all existence hanging in the balance. It is widely considered one of the greatest Marvel Comics events ever written.

This film is the MCU's foundational text for Incursions. The concept is introduced by the Illuminati of Earth-838, who recount their experience with their own Doctor Strange. They explain how his use of the Darkhold triggered an Incursion that forced them to kill him to save their reality. This exposition establishes the rules and stakes for the MCU audience. The film ends with a direct cliffhanger, as Clea appears to recruit Stephen Strange to deal with an Incursion he has caused, directly setting the stage for future multiversal conflicts.

The concept of Incursions is more than just a plot device; it's a powerful narrative engine for exploring themes of morality, sacrifice, and the nature of heroism. By presenting a problem with no good solution, it forces characters who are typically defined by their unwavering morality into impossible grey areas. What is the value of one universe versus another? Is it heroic to commit genocide to save billions? These are the questions the Incursion saga forces both the characters and the readers to confront. In the comics, while the Eighth Cosmos is currently stable, the memory of the Incursions serves as a constant reminder of the fragility of existence. It provides a definitive “before and after” for the Marvel timeline. In the MCU, the introduction of Incursions is the key to escalating the stakes beyond a single-universe threat like Thanos. It provides the mechanism for the long-rumored Secret Wars adaptation. The MCU's version, being character-driven, allows for more personal stakes. It may not be a systemic collapse but a war sparked by the actions of individuals like Strange, Wanda, or variants of Kang. This frames the coming conflict not as a fight against a natural disaster, but as a war of responsibility and consequence, a direct result of the heroes' own choices in exploring the multiverse. The future of the MCU will be defined by the threat of reality itself colliding.

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