Battle for the Multiverse

"He discovered that there were universes stacked on top of his own..." The subject of this article comes from an alternate universe connecting to the main timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This universe is designated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki as "Barren Wasteland" and "Age of Ultron".

The Battle for the Multiverse was a critical confrontation between the Guardians of the Multiverse and Ultron to stop his omnicidal crusade against life throughout the Multiverse.

Background[]

Following the desolation of Earth and the murder of Thanos, Ultron had obtained all six Infinity Stones and became a cosmic being, obtaining near-omnipotent powers. Becoming aware of other worlds beyond Earth, Ultron used the Stones' power to create an army of Ultron Sentries and a spherical starship to bring peace to his universe, which according to his program, involved the extermination of all sapient life. In his omnicidal crusade, Ultron completely destroyed countless worlds and civilizations, including Asgard, Sovereign, Sakaar, Ego, and Xandar, and neither the Guardians of the Galaxy, nor Captain Marvel were able to stop him.

With almost all life in his universe eliminated, Ultron was initially left without purpose with his objective seemingly completed. However, through the power of the Infinity Stones, he became aware of The Watcher and the existence of alternate universes existing outside his own. Renewing his crusade, Ultron sought a way to reach these alternate realities and eventually found a way to break through the fabric of spacetime and enter the Nexus of All Realities, where he attacked the Watcher.

In a battle throughout the Multiverse, Ultron managed to defeat the Watcher and prepared to execute him. However, Uatu managed to escape and hide from him at the last moment. Undeterred, Ultron assumed control of the Nexus of All Realities, granting him the power to travel across the Multiverse, and set about bringing peace to every known reality.

Hiding within the Mirror Dimension, the Watcher made a decision to break his oath and interfere to save the Multiverse from its doom and approached Doctor Strange, asking him for help.^[1] Together with Strange, the Watcher traveled throughout the Multiverse, approaching Captain Carter, Star-Lord, Erik Killmonger, Gamora, and Thor, recruiting them all into a team dubbed the Guardians of the Multiverse to stop Ultron. As the team strategized on how to defeat the synthezoid, Gamora suggested to use the Infinity Crusher, a device from her universe used to destroy the Infinity Stones, to use on Ultron's set to render him powerless.^[2]

Battle[]

With the plan to defeat Ultron set, The Watcher transported the Guardians of the Multiverse to a deserted planet in a universe without intelligent life. As the team prepared to engage Ultron, Doctor Strange cast a forbidden protection spell on them. The team then celebrated a toast, where after Thor unintentionally lured Ultron to their location earlier than expected.

With the plan now set in motion, Erik Killmonger and Gamora left through another portal, while the remaining Guardians stayed behind to face the rogue AI. When Ultron arrived, Thor immediately went on the offensive and summoned a lightning blast to strike Ultron. The attack, however, had no effect on him, and Ultron simply deflected it. Ultron then used the Infinity Stones to destroy the ground under the Guardians, causing the mountain they were on to collapse upon them. Believing the Guardians were dead, Ultron prepared to leave, only to be shocked by the Guardians emergence from the rubble unscathed, having been protected by Strange's spell.

The Guardians then engaged in battle with Ultron again, this time with Thor launching Mjølnir at him and Strange using a spell to multiply it dozens of times, the resulting attack seeing Ultron bombarded with a swarm of hammers. Captain Carter then hit Ultron with her shield which was reinforced by Strange's magic, giving Star-Lord an opportunity to leap onto him and steal the Soul Stone from his chest. Ultron proceeded to throw Star-Lord off, but not before Strange sealed Ultron within a sphere of dozens of Mjølnirs that was struck by Thor's lightning.

Ultron once again repulsed the attack only for it to be followed by Strange assaulting him with a fire blast from three giant Dragon heads. The synthezoid, undeterred, prepared to destroy the planet and the Guardians with the Infinity Stones, only to discover that his Soul Stone was stolen. As the Guardians made their escape through the Watcher's portal, Strange summoned a massive horde of zombies led by Wanda Maximoff to hinder Ultron for a while. After annihilating the zombie horde that buried him, Ultron was confronted by Maximoff who attacked him with a blast of chaos magic. Momentarily stunned by Maximoff's attack, it was, however, not enough against the AI, who subsequently crushed the planet they were situated on.

The Guardians regrouped on Ultron's Earth and as they prepared to destroy the Soul Stone, it was unexpectedly stolen by Black Widow who mistook them as enemies. Carter convinced Black Widow that they were allies, however, Ultron caught up with them and attempted to return the Stone to his possession. Thor hit Ultron with Mjølnir, severing his arm and dropping both the Stone and Black Widow, the latter being saved by Strange who also protected her with the protection spell, while Killmonger grabbed the Stone. Ultron attacked Killmonger and unleashed a massive energy blast to kill the Guardians, but Strange managed to absorb the energy, giving Star-Lord a chance to attack Ultron.

Ultron and the Guardians quickly entered into a brawl over the Soul Stone, with the Guardians continued attacks preventing him from retrieving it. Ultron eventually resorted to using the Time Stone, drastically slowing down time for all the Guardians caught within the temporal sphere and allowing Ultron to finally retrieve the stone. Strange, however, stopped him from reintegrating the stone into his armor, revealing his own Time Stone that made him immune to his stone's effects before proceeding to unleash the power of the Champion of HYDRA to bring Ultron down. Strange then used a series of powerful spells to restrain Ultron with the other Guardians assistance. Meanwhile, Gamora activated the Infinity Crusher and deployed it upon Ultron to destroy the Infinity Stones. After successfully acquiring all six stones from him, a massive explosion occurred that seemingly destroyed the rogue AI.

The Infinity Crusher, however, failed to destroy the stones as Ultron revealed himself, once again brandishing all six stones. Ultron proceeded to reveal to the Guardians that since the nature of Ultron's Stones was different from the ones in Gamora's universe, they could not be destroyed the same way. With all six Stones back in his possessions, Ultron targeted Strange with an energy blast from all six stones in order to dissolve his protection spells that would leave the Guardians defenseless and easier to kill.

With all the Guardians incapacitated from holding off Ultron's attack, as a last resort, Romanoff and Carter coordinated a final assault on Ultron by scaling the destroyed skyscrapers around him. As Carter attacked from behind by pulling back his helmet, Romanoff used Hawkeye's bow to shoot Ultron with an arrow containing Arnim Zola’s consciousness on it into his eye. Accessing Ultron's network, Zola used his analog algorithm to dismantle Ultron's code, destroying him once and for all.

With Ultron finally defeated, the Guardians began celebrating their victory. Unbeknownst to them, Killmonger betrayed the Guardians and used a Sentry Drone's head he reprogrammed to claim Ultron's Infinity Armor and the Infinity Stones for himself. Killmonger proceeded to offer the Guardians a chance to join him, stating to them that together they could use the Stones to bring their wishes to reality in their respective universes. The other Guardians, however, refused and made their stand to engage Killmonger. As Killmonger prepared to unleash the power of the Stones, he was confronted by Zola, who had assumed full control over Ultron's synthezoid body and declared his own intentions to reclaim the Stones and take all the power for himself.

As the two of them entered into a deadlocked struggle over the Stones, Strange realized that they were never meant to defeat Ultron, but instead separate the Infinity Stones from his body. With this knowledge, Strange encapsulated both Killmonger and Zola in a pocket dimension frozen in time, ultimately carrying out the Watcher's true plan. The Watcher then told Strange that he must make the sacrifice to stand watch over the pocket dimension, observing Zola and Killmonger in their reality bubble for all eternity, and ensuring that they would never escape, a task which Strange accepted.^[2]

Aftermath[]

With Ultron at last defeated and his threat to the Multiverse eliminated, The Watcher returned the Guardians of the Multiverse to their home universes: Gamora and Thor reunited with Tony Stark and Jane Foster from their universes; Star-Lord allowed Peter Quill to join the Ravagers; Captain Carter returned to the Lemurian Star where she defeated Georges Batroc and with her universe's Romanoff help, discovered the HYDRA Stomper Armor: Mark II with an unknown occupant.

However, Black Widow had no home to return to, and declared she would not go back to her universe since it was decimated by Ultron. Acknowledging he cannot change what has been done to her universe, the Watcher instead offered to transport her to a universe whose Black Widow had been lost. Witnessing S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, consisting of Captain America and Captain Marvel, fighting against Loki and the Einherjar army aboard the helicarrier, Black Widow joined the fight, saving Nick Fury from an attack by Loki.^[2]

Appearances[]

In chronological order:

• What If...?
  • Season One
    • What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?
      • Season Two
        • What If... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? (concurrent events)
        • What If... Captain Carter Fought the HYDRA Stomper? (concurrent events)

References[]