Summary
With the knowledge that not onlywould Robert Downey Jr. be coming backto theMCUto play none other than Doctor Doom, but that the filmAvengers: Doomsdaywould lead into the highly anticipatedAvengers: Secret Wars, the question on everyone’s minds has been what direction or adaption of the Marvel Comics these films would bring into the MCU. One element that could appear in the films comes from the lead up to Marvel Comics 2015 crossover eventSecret Wars, titled “Time Runs Out”. That element is the extradimensional beings known as The Beyonders.
Not to be confused with The Beyonder, the villain who created the firstSecret Warsand Battleworld, the Beyonders are a nearly all-powerful race of beings that reside outside the multiverse. The end of the multiverse and the threat of annihilation led three Marvel characters to wage one final attack on the Beyonders, leading to the events ofSecret Wars. Could these powerful entitiesbecome the catalyst for the MCUin much the same way, introducing them inAvengers: Doomsday?
Who are The Beyonders?
Created by the all-powerful Celestialsafter the first Celestial War, these beings were also known as the Ivory Kings, who were charged with maintaining the multiverse from outside of it, known as the Beyond space. It would later be revealed that their opposites who worked in the dark were the Kings in Black, who worked to change the multiverse from within it, making beings like Knull and Venom the Beyonder’s rivals. For millennia, the Beyonders didn’t reveal themselves or their power to the Earth dimension, and they themselves can never breach the multiverse, only able to work through agents they choose from in the multiverse.
After using their agents to create the Savage Land on Earth to study evolution, they used other alien races to observe the multiverse, even using one race to helpbring the High Evolutionary’sCounter-Earth to their museum outside the multiverse. The High Evolutionary went to retrieve his world, and nearly lost his mind when he tried to witness the sheer volume of their collected power, making his own power miniscule in comparison. They also became responsible for the creation of several Cosmic Cubes, which they were forced to abandon when the Living Tribune and Eternity came to realize the chaos that these cubes caused. One such cube gained sentience and became the entity known as The Beyonder, taking his name from the beings who made him.
Their power grew so large that eventually they decided to cause an experiment to witness the end of the multiverse. They took out Eternity, as well as beings like Infinity and Lord-Chaos, to prevent any intereference with their experiment. They begin causing incursions, colliding one universe with another until one or neither exists.While Marvel’s Illuminati attemptsto stop this and comes into conflict with the heroes of Earth, the final battle between Earth 616 and the Beyonders comes from Doctor Strange, the Molecule Man and Doctor Doom. Doom collects Molecule Men from around the multiverse, who the Beyonders had turned into living bombs to destroy their respective universes, and instead destroys the Beyonders with a bomb mad of Molecule Men. The resulting explosion results in a new Battleworld and Secret Wars, ruled over by God Emperor Doom.
The Beyonders in the MCU
While they may not have made their official appearance yet, there are many clues to show they could be working behind the scenes.For instance, the Eternals have already introducedthe Celestials, the beings that created the Beyonders before the Marvel multiverse as we know it was born. Beings like Eternity have also been introduced, showcasing the growing cosmic entities that theMCUwill be dealing with in future films.
InDoctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, fans were not onlyintroduced to Charlize Theron’s Clea, but Clea’s warning to Strange that he was needed to help stop the rise of Incursions to the multiverse. This showcases that a prime element of the Beyonder’s plans to destroy the multiverse in the comics is already underway in theMCU, and while the origins of the Incursions have yet to be revealed, their existence could ultimately lead Strange to discover these beings, and turn to none other than Doom to stop them.
Then there is Doctor Doom, a villain who already has the gravitas and power to bring theMCUheroes to their knees. His introduction in the upcomingAvengers: Doomsdayfilm is set to make him the future big bad of theMCU, with Robert Downey Jr leading the charge as Marvel’s latest villain. His role is pivotal in the lead-up toSecret Wars, and the only way he becomes God Emperor Doom in theMCUis by taking out a powerful source of cosmic power like the Beyonders. The threat that these beings pose to the multiverse and the mystery behindhow RDJ becomes Victor Von Doomcould be the perfect storm that sees the Beyonders enter theMCUin a grand fashion.
MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a sprawling movie and television franchise that weaves together individual stories of superheroes including Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and many more. The first film in the franchise, Iron Man, was released in 2008. The MCU has garnered critical praise and financial success, earning billions at the box office and becoming a cultural phenomenon.
