Marvel’s Next God War Will Make the Infinity Saga Look Pathetic (& The Avengers Aren’t Ready)

The cosmology of Marvel Comics can be hard to grasp, even for the heroes that defend it – however, a new level of complexity means the Avengers aren’t ready for the next cosmic-scale disaster coming their way. From well-known forces of nature like Galactus, to more mysterious powers like the Stranger, the Marvel multiverse is ever-expanding. However, the last couple of years have seen something of an arms race in Marvel’s cosmos, and the Avengers are no longer strong enough to keep order. All signs point to the fact that Marvel is heading for an Infinity Gauntlet-scale conflict.

Recent Marvel series have become far more interested in fleshing out the publisher’s cosmic hierarchy, and especially introducing all-powerful new ‘gods.’ The beyond-ancient Utgard-Gods have made their return in the pages of The Immortal Thor by Al Ewing and Martin Coccolo, even as new cosmic predator the Undone directly targets Carol Danvers in the pages of Captain Marvel by Alyssa Wong and Jan Bazaldua. At the same time, Venom has revealed the existence of the Ebony Kings and their vast Venomverse, and Thanos just forged a new Infinity Stone by capturing Death herself in Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari’s Thanos.

Simultaneously, Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti’s G.O.D.S. series has totally upended what fans thought they knew about the Marvel Universe by introducing The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-Of-Things – the cosmic expressions of science and magic, who have secretly been at war for eons. Meanwhile, the X-Men contend with existence-shattering AI gods known as Dominions during The Fall of X, and the Lost One stalks the ultra-powerful Beyonders following the events of Derek Landy and Greg Land’s Avengers Beyond. With such a glut of new cosmic gods introduced, it’s only a matter of time before they come into conflict.

Marvel’s New Cosmic Entities Have Redefined the Cosmos

Marvel’s Stable Cosmic Hierarchy Is Undone, as Ancient Cosmic Gods Return

Recently, Marvel’s series have been trending towards the truly cosmic. Titles written by Al Ewing (such as Immortal Thor, Defenders Beyond, and Venom) and Jonathan Hickman (G.O.D.S, Powers of X, and Ultimate Invasion) have torn down the cosmic veil, revealing the higher workings of reality. No longer are figures like the Beyonders all-powerful mysteries, but rather clearly defined cosmic overseers with a specific function, powerful enemies, and godlike opposites. Books like Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein’s Incredible Hulk have broken rules that seemed set in stone, such as revealing that there are creatures in the Marvel Universe outside the influence of the One-Above-All.

The scope and scale of Marvel is being drastically redefined, and while the majority of these entities are currently occupied tangling with one singular hero or group of heroes, their myopic and petty status quo cannot last forever. Should these entities realize that they pose more of a threat to each other than any Earth hero ever could – even heroes as powerful as Thor or Captain Marvel – there will follow a war for reality the likes of which the Marvel Universe has never seen. These sorts of conflicts take place on a level that smaller scale players like the Avengers and X-Men can hardly comprehend, with the fundamental building blocks of reality coming under threat.

The Scope of the Marvel Universe Has Fundamentally Changed

The Avengers Haven’t Evolved to Cope with New Cosmic Threats

Once upon a time, Marvel’s cosmology was complex but clearly defined – the One-Above-All on high, the Living Tribunal keeping order, the Universal Abstracts safeguarding reality, and the gods ruling over their specific domains. Now, each level of this hierarchy has a new interloper, and there are far more caveats and previously unknown exceptions.

It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a Marvel fans, and yet with so many cosmic entities flexing their influence, the obvious outcome is a cosmic conflagration, both due to the in-world logic of so many cosmic beings vying for control and the real-world necessity for Marvel to clarify the pecking order. Unfortunately, while this Infinity Gauntlet-level chaos grows nearer and nearer, the Avengers are operating at their former level of scope and power, and that’s simply not enough to safeguard the Marvel Universe as fans now know it.