Avengers: Infinity War Prelude

Avengers: Infinity War Prelude is a comic mini-series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.

Part 1
When a terrorist puts the Avengers at odds, CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE WINTER SOLDIER go rogue to find him - but IRON MAN isn't far behind. Will the Avengers survive the fallout? Then, find out where Captain America, the Falcon and the Black Widow are headed next - because the world needs heroes, whether it wants them or not. And get a sneak peek at Tony Stark's brand-new armor! Get ready for MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR in part 1 of this special prelude!

Part 2
THE THREAT FROM ABOVE! As a Master of the Mystic Arts, DOCTOR STEPHEN STRANGE has witnessed many unusual things...but none so powerful and potentially Universe-threatening as the existence of the INFINITY STONES! Don't miss a detail of the galaxy-spanning story featuring IRON MAN, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, VISION, SCARLET WITCH and more, and make yourself an Infinity Stone expert before this summer's blockbuster film!

Part 1
Immediately following the Battle at the HYDRA Siberian Facility, Captain America and Bucky Barnes run into T'Challa, who apologizes to Barnes for believing him to be,his father's killer before offering to find a way to erase his mental programming. While en route to Wakanda, Rogers frees his teammates from the Raft, apologizing for being a bit late.

Sometime later, Captain America's team goes their separate ways: Clint Barton officially retires to be with his family, Scott Lang reunites with his daughter, and Wanda Maximoff starts living with Vision in Europe. Rogers and Barnes, meanwhile, stay in Wakanda, with the latter agreeing to go into cryostasis and remain under the supervision of the country's "most gifted scientist", T'Challa's sister Shuri.

Months later, Shuri informs T'Challa that she is going to reboot Barnes's entire brain in order to erase the mental programming. As T'Challa remarks on how the update will please Rogers, the superhero is working with Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson to take down a group smuggling Chitauri weapons into the United States. Romanoff suggests informing Tony Stark about their mission only for Rogers to state that "he has enough on his plate".

At the New Avengers Facility, Stark works on his Mark XLVIII armor and considers calling Rogers, but decides that he needs to prepare for "the end of all things" on his own.

Part 2
At the Sanctum Sanctorum, Doctor Strange is meditating when Wong interrupts him with news of a foreboding cosmic imbalance. Wong recounts the Battle at the Hong Kong Sanctum, and Mordo's warning of a coming reckoning following Doctor Strange's misuse of the Eye of Agamotto. Wong informs Doctor Strange that the Eye is one of the six Infinity Stones, and proceeds to relay the known history of each of them.

Wong begins by recounting Johann Schmidt's seizure of the Tesseract (the Space Stone) in Tønsberg, Norway in 1942, and HYDRA's subsequent rise to power during WWII. Wong describes the stone as HYDRA's "secret weapon," and remarks that, luckily, the allies had their own secret weapon in Captain America. He tells Strange about Captain America's victory over Red Skull, how he sacrificed himself by crashing into the Arctic shelf, and how Howard Stark later recovered the Tesseract from the ocean.

Wong proceeds to tell the story of the Battle of New York and Loki's use of the Mind Stone and the Tesseract to bring the Chitauri army down upon the city, remarking on the good fortune of the Avengers being there to thwart Loki's plans.

After recalling Thor's decision to take Loki back to Asgard along with the Tesseract, Wong tells Strange about Malekith's attempt to use the Reality Stone to plunge the Nine Realms into darkness, and Thor's victory over him. Wong assumes correctly that Thor then took the Reality Stone for protection, but is unaware that the stone was given to the Collector for safekeeping.

Strange remarks that Asgardians often seem to bring trouble where the Infinity Stones are concerned. Wong agrees and tells him of the Attack on the HYDRA Research Base and how Baron von Strucker had used Loki's scepter (containing the Mind Stone) to give superhuman abilities to Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. He explains Ultron's creation and rise to power, as well as the Vision's creation. He tells Strange that the Mind Stone remains in the Vision's keeping.

Wong knows less about the Power Stone, assuming wrongly that it remains hidden on Morag. He is unaware of Peter Quill's theft of the stone, the Guardians of the Galaxy's victory over Ronan on Xandar, and the stone's ultimate bequeathment to the Nova Corps on Xandar to keep it safe. However, Wong knows the destructive capabilities of the stone and reminds Strange that it is only their duty to protect Earth from such forces, lamenting that other planets may not be so lucky.

Just then, Wong notices the arrival of Thor and Loki in New York. Doctor Strange opens two portals, sending Loki into a presumably indefinite abyss and bringing Thor to the Sanctum Sanctorum. Strange agrees to lead Thor and Loki to Odin under the condition that they leave Earth once they have located him.

A short time later, Doctor Strange returns to Wong to hear of the final Infinity Stone. Unfortunately, Wong knows only that it is called the Soul Stone. He warns of the possibility of someone collecting all six Stones, and declares that such an act would necessitate "the greatest battle this universe has ever seen." His words ring true as Thanos wields the empty Infinity Gauntlet a galaxy away, grinning.

Characters

 * Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
 * Helmut Zemo
 * T'Challa/Black Panther
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon
 * Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
 * Clint Barton/Hawkeye
 * Scott-Lang/Ant-Man
 * Laura Barton
 * Cooper Barton
 * Lila Barton
 * Nathaniel Barton
 * Cassie Lang
 * Vision
 * Shuri
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange
 * Wong
 * Thor
 * Loki
 * Howard Stark (footage and flashback)
 * Maria Stark (footage)
 * T'Chaka (mentioned)
 * Arnim Zola (screen)
 * Ancient One (flashback)
 * Kaecilius (flashback)
 * Karl Mordo (flashback)
 * Red Skull (flashback)
 * Church Keeper (flashback)
 * Erik Selvig (flashback)
 * Malekith (flashback)
 * Collector (flashbacks)
 * Sif (flashback)
 * Volstagg (flashback)
 * Wolfgang von Strucker (flashback)
 * Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (flashbacks)
 * J.A.R.V.I.S. (flashback)
 * Ultron (mentioned and flashbacks)
 * Peter Quill/Star-Lord (flashbacks)
 * Ronan the Accuser (flashbacks)
 * Gamora (flashback)
 * Drax the Destroyer (flashback)
 * Rocket Raccoon (flashback)
 * Thanos (flashback)
 * Irani Rael (flashback)
 * Odin (mentioned)

Locations

 * Siberia, Russia
 * HYDRA Siberian Facility
 * Raft
 * Wakanda
 * Wakanda Medical Center
 * Clint Barton's Homestead
 * San Francisco
 * Maggie Lang's House
 * New Avengers Facility, New York
 * Syria
 * New York City, New York
 * New York Sanctum
 * Avengers Tower (flashback)
 * Lebanon (mentioned)
 * Novi Grad, Sokovia (mentioned and flashback)
 * Vienna, Austria (mentioned)
 * Kathmandu, Nepal
 * Kamar-Taj (flashback)
 * Hong Kong, China (flashback)
 * Norway, Tønsberg (flashback)
 * Stuttgart, Germany (flashback)
 * London, England (flashback)
 * Knowhere
 * Exitar
 * Collector's Museum (flashback)
 * Morag (flashback)
 * Xandar (flashback)

Species

 * Androids
 * Humans
 * Asgardians
 * Celestials (flashback)
 * Chitauri (flashback)
 * Dark Elves (flashback)
 * Flora colossus (flashback)
 * Frost Giants (flashback)
 * Kree (flashback)
 * Xandarians (flashback)
 * Zehoberei (flashback)

Creatures

 * Leviathan (flashback)

Items

 * Captain America's Uniform
 * Chitauri Missiles
 * Iron Spider-Man Suit
 * Cloak of Levitation
 * Staff of the Living Tribunal
 * Captain America's Shield
 * Iron Man Armor: Mark VII
 * Iron Man Armor: Mark XLV
 * Mjølnir
 * Hawkeye's Quiver and Bow
 * Cosmi-Rod
 * Infinity Stones
 * Eye of Agamotto
 * Tesseract
 * Space Stone (mentioned)
 * Aether
 * Scepter
 * Mind Stone
 * Orb
 * Power Stone
 * Soul Stone (mentioned)
 * Infinity Gauntlet

Vehicles

 * Black Panther's Jet
 * Quinjet
 * Valkyrie
 * Ark

Organizations

 * Avengers
 * Guardians of the Galaxy
 * Masters of the Mystic Arts
 * Golden Tribe
 * Wakandan Design Group
 * ISIS
 * Zealots
 * United Nations (mentioned)
 * HYDRA (mentioned, flashback)
 * KGB (mentioned)