Guardians of the Multiverse

For other uses, see Guardians of the Multiverse (disambiguation)

"The Guardians of the Multiverse. Heroes plucked from across different realities to protect the fate of all of them."

The Guardians of the Multiverse are a group made up of individuals from across the Multiverse who were recruited by Watcher to stop Ultron from succeeding on his multiversal conquest. During the final battle with Ultron, the group was betrayed by one of its members, Erik Killmonger, who tried to use the Infinity Stones to fulfill his schemes. However, he was stopped when Strange Supreme trapped him and Arnim Zola in a pocket dimension. The Watcher returned each member to their respective universes, except for Black Widow, who was taken to an alternate universe to end Loki's reign over Earth.

History[]

Assembling the Guardians[]

"You aren't just our best hope to save one universe."
"You are my last hope to save all of them. You are the Guardians of the Multiverse."

―Strange Supreme and Watcher^[src]

This section needs a rewrite

Watcher and the Guardians of the Multiverse — Watcher talking to the assembled Guardians

After being defeated by Ultron, Watcher took refuge in Strange Supreme's universe and asked for his help in stopping Ultron from taking over the Observational Plane.^[1] With his help, the Watcher began searching for exceptional individuals across the Multiverse and chose Captain Carter, Star-Lord, Gamora, Killmonger, and Thor, whose universe was invaded by Ultron. The Watcher transported them to Strange's recreation of the pub from Carter's universe as everyone made their acquaintances. Suddenly, the Watcher appeared in front of the group and told them that they had been chosen to save the multiverse from Ultron and proclaimed them the "Guardians of the Multiverse." Thor, believing the Watcher to be with Loki, tried to leave the bar against Strange's warning as it was revealed that they were not on solid ground.

Guardians of the Multiverse - Drink — The Guardians giving a toast before the fight

Upon agreeing to help him, Uatu told the Guardians that Ultron had been attacking universes with the power of the Infinity Stones, which had made Ultron a cosmic being. Strange and Uatu came up with a plan to separate Ultron from the Stones as the Guardians doubted their plan. As they finalized their plan to retrieve the Soul Stone from Ultron and use Gamora's Infinity Crusher, they traveled to a desolate universe without any intelligent life as a staging ground before their fight. The Guardians got to know more information about each other as they made a toast to the battle to come. Throwing his cup, Thor shot lightning bolts into the sky using Mjølnir, which attracted Ultron.^[2]

Battle for the Multiverse[]

Fighting Ultron[]

PartyThorLightningStrike,png — Thor tries to attack Ultron

From above, Ultron opened a portal as Strange Supreme cast protection spells on the rest of the Guardians. Watcher opened a portal behind the Guardians which Killmonger and Gamora went inside, leaving the others to get the Soul Stone and to hold back Ultron. Thor tried to electrocute Ultron, but Ultron was not affected by Thor's attack and used the Infinity Stones to break the ground beneath the remaining Guardians. Assuming the Guardians died, Ultron hovered away, but stopped when Strange destroyed the rubble. Soon, the fight between the Guardians and Ultron began as the Guardians attacked Ultron with Captain Carter and Star-Lord managing to grab the Soul Stone. Uatu opened a portal behind the group as Strange opened a portal above Ultron, unleashing hordes of zombies upon him as the Guardians left the universe.

Traveling through the portal, the Guardians ended up in Ultron's universe and were confronted by Black Widow. The Guardians were about to attack her until Carter persuaded Romanoff to help them. Black Widow stood down as Ultron returned and tried to take back the Soul Stone. Thor stopped Ultron before he could get the Stone as the fight continued with Ultron releasing a cosmic blast using the Stones which Strange absorbed. Continuing the fight, the Guardians fought back Ultron as he used the Time Stone to take back the Soul Stone. Strange stopped him and used his Time Stone to revert Ultron's time field and unleashed the powers of the mystical beings, beating down Ultron. The Guardians were able to trap Ultron as Gamora activated the Infinity Crusher, unleashing an explosion that seemingly destroyed the Stones and killed Ultron.

Guardians of the Multiverse — The Guardians facing Ultron

Though the Guardians believed they won, Ultron was alive and told them that the Infinity Crusher did not work because the Crusher only worked on the Stones from Gamora's universe. Finally regaining the Soul Stone, Ultron realized that Strange was the strongest among them and unleashed another cosmic blast with the full power of the Stones, breaking down Strange's protection spells. As Romanoff was blasted away, she got up and noticed the arrow that contained Arnim Zola's A.I. and told Carter about her plan to shoot the arrow into Ultron. Romanoff and Carter enacted their plan as Strange tried to hold back Ultron. Romanoff shot the arrow at Ultron, who was pulled back by Carter. The arrow landed in Ultron's eye as Zola awakened and took over Ultron's body, eradicating him.

109 keb5120 comp v003.1073 — Killmonger wields the Infinity Stones

As Ultron's body fell to the ground, the Guardians, again, presumed that the battle was over not knowing that Killmonger was planning on betraying them. As Killmonger gained the Infinity Stones, he told the rest of the Guardians that they could use them to fix their universes. The Guardians refused and Killmonger began to attack them with the Stones until Zola awakened in Ultron's body. Zola claimed that the Stones were his and began to fight Killmonger to gain control over the Stones, almost resulting in the universe's destruction. Strange then realized that they were never meant to win, only to separate the Stones from Ultron's body. With this in mind, Strange created a Mirror Dimension around Zola and Killmonger with the help of Uatu, trapping them in an everlasting duel within a pocket dimension.^[2]

Aftermath[]

Strange with The Watcher — Strange Supreme with Watcher

"She and the Guardians of the Multiverse saved all of existence. I returned the heroes to their own worlds, the exact moments they left."

―Watcher^[src]

With the battle over, the Guardians returned to the pub as Strange Supreme went back to his universe to keep watch of Arnim Zola and Erik Killmonger. Strange finally understood Watcher's plan and agreed to watch over the pocket dimension bubble.

Thanking the remaining Guardians, Uatu told them that they'd return to their universes the exact moment before they left and each of the Guardians walked through the pub's doorway. Peggy Carter, hesitant to return to her universe, asked Uatu if she could be with Steve Rogers again, but he told her that her universe needed her. Carter rethought and decided to return to her universe.

As Black Widow was the remaining Guardian, she told Uatu that she would not return to her universe since she was the only survivor. She tried to plead with Uatu, asking him to fix her universe. Uatu, knowing that Romanoff would not return to her universe, revealed that they weren't in the pub Strange created and were actually in a universe where potential members of the Avengers were assassinated before they were able to form a team. During a battle between the Asgardians and S.H.I.E.L.D., Loki was about to kill Nick Fury, but Romanoff kicked him aside and took him down. Fury and Romanoff became acquainted as Uatu returned to the Observational Plane to watch over the Multiverse once more.^[2]

Regrouping[]

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Supreme Strange sought to resurrect his universe, initially planning to feed powerful beings from other universes that he had taken prisoner to the Forge. After a confrontation with Captain Carter and Kahhori, Strange ultimately sacrificed himself to the Forge. Strange's plan worked and he successfully created another universe, but one where he would never be born. Before being returned to her universe, Carter asked the Watcher to show her more of the Multiverse.^[3] Carter later reunited the Guardians of the Multiverse and invited other multiversal heroes such as Byrdie the Duck, Kahhori, and Storm to join the group.^[4]

Carter in What If Game — Peggy Carter recruits a new Guardian of the Multiverse

The Watcher was aware of and respected this mission, helping with recruitment. An individual codenamed the Hero of the Multiverse was recruited by the Infinity Witch posing as the Watcher, but they stopped the Infinity Witch from gathering the Infinity Stones. The Watcher presented the Hero with choice to destroy the stones or use them to create new universes, splitting the Hero's timeline. The Watcher visited the version who destroyed the Infinity Stones and commended their actions, introducing them to Carter. Carter commented on their status as a new Guardian of the Multiverse and threw her shield to them, complimenting their efforts and recruiting them to protect the mission. The Hero of the Multiverse joined the team,^[5] but eventually left it.

The Guardians of the Multiverse, now solely consisting of Carter, Byrdie, Kahhori, and Storm, traveled to a universe where the Nova Corps were about to be attacked by an interdimensional creature and killed it. Afterwards, three shards from the Observational Plane fell on Xandar, making them realize that the Watcher was in trouble. Returning to their ship, they started coming up with a plan to go the Fifth Dimension to find out what had happened to him.^[4]

Members[]

Current Members[]

Byrdie[]

This section requires expansion

Name: Byrdie the Duck
Species: Human/Duckworldian Hybrid
Status: Alive
Description: Byrdie the Duck is the daughter of Howard and Darcy the Duck born with a multitude of powers, including flight and energy projection. She is also a technological expert.

Kahhori[]

Name: Kahhori
Species: Human
Status: Alive
Description: Kahhori is a young Mohawk warrior who, in a universe where the Tesseract fell from Asgard to Earth after Ragnarök, was hit by a Conquistadores' bullet and fell into the Tesseract-imbued waters of the Forbidden Lake. Awakening in the Sky World, surrounded by her ancestors who disappeared into the lake over the decades, Kahhori acquired supernatural abilities and gave the Sky World inhabitants the courage to return to the real world to save their people from the Spanish Empire. She was then kidnapped by Supreme Strange and teamed up with Captain Carter to defeat him, managing to send all the people he kidnapped back to their universes.

Storm[]

This section requires expansion

Name: Ororo Munroe
Species: Mutant
Status: Alive
Description: Ororo Munroe is a mutant deemed worthy of Mjølnir, which expanded her weather-controlling powers with access to Asgardian magic.

Former Members[]

Star-Lord[]

Name: T'Challa
Species: Human
Status: Alive
Description: T'Challa was abducted by the Ravagers after a heated argument with his father. He grew up to be the Ravagers' leader, turning this band of criminals and misfits into intergalactic heroes that saved Drax's homeplanet from being destroyed by the Kree and convinced Thanos to abandon his plans to wipe out half of all life in the universe. He then defeated the Collector and freed the galaxy from his reign. Watcher selected T'Challa when he saved Peter Quill from Ego's plot to conquer the universe.

Gamora[]

Name: Gamora Zen Whoberi Ben Titan
Species: Zehoberei
Status: Alive
Description: Gamora met Iron Man on Sakaar and decided to work with him to kill Thanos. Afterward, she wore the armor and wielded the sword of her deceased adoptive father. Gamora encountered Watcher after she burned the Infinity Gauntlet with Stark and Eitri.

Erik Killmonger[]

Name: N'Jadaka / Erik Stevens
Species: Human
Status: Alive
Description: Killmonger discovered the Ten Rings plot to kidnap Tony Stark and saved him from the Jericho missile that would have injured him. Stark appointed Killmonger as the new Chief Operating Officer of Stark Industries and Killmonger used his new position to murder T'Challa, James Rhodes, Klaue, and his employer Stark, eventually usurping T'Challa as the Black Panther and the King of Wakanda. Watcher emerged in the halls of the Royal Palace of Wakanda to recruit Killmonger. However, Killmonger betrayed the rest of the Guardians of the Multiverse and attempted to take the Infinity Stones for himself, only for Strange Supreme to trap him in a pocket dimension along with Arnim Zola for eternity. He was later freed by Captain Carter during the Battle at the Sanctum Infinitum, where Kahhori stripped him of his Infinity Stones before eventually returning him to his universe.

Thor[]

Name: Thor Odinson
Species: Asgardian
Status: Alive
Description: Thor was raised as an only child without Loki and became an arrogant yet fun-loving Asgardian who threw the biggest intergalactic party ever on his Earth. Like his main universe counterpart, Thor started a romantic relationship with astrophysicist Jane Foster. All seemed well until Ultron invaded his reality and he fought Ultron Sentries' in Las Vegas. Watcher grabbed Thor mid-fight and told him about the Multiverse.

Black Widow[]

Name: Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanoff
Species: Human
Status: Alive
Description: Ultron killed the Avengers and went on an intergalactic conquest to extinguish all forms of life in the universe, with Romanoff being left as the last living being after Hawkeye sacrificed himself to destroy the Ultron Sentries. When she came across the Guardians of the Multiverse, they gave her the opportunity to destroy Ultron for good. When Romanoff didn't want to return to her post-apocalyptic universe, Watcher sent her to a universe that had lost their Black Widow where Loki was ruling over Earth and she joined the fight by knocking Loki to the ground.

Hero of the Multiverse[]

Name: Hero of the Multiverse
Species: Human
Status: Alive
Description: The Hero of the Multiverse was an individual recruited by who they believed to be the Watcher, asking for help collecting the Infinity Stones to protect them from a coming threat. However, "the Watcher" revealed "himself" to truly be a version of Wanda Maximoff, hoping to use the Infinity Stones to resurrect her version of Vision, potentially harming the Multiverse in the process. Alongside a group of variants they had met, the Hero of the Multiverse defeated Maximoff and chose to destroy the Infinity Stones when presented with the choice to do so by the real Watcher. The Watcher was so impressed by these actions that he had Captain Carter recruit them to the Guardians. However, they eventually left the team.

Deceased Members[]

Strange Supreme[]

Name: Stephen Vincent Strange
Species: Human
Status: Deceased
Description: Stephen Strange saw his co-worker and girlfriend Christine Palmer die in a car accident. As a result, Strange became obsessed with learning the secrets of reversing time to prevent her death, even when he knew that it was impossible to do so. He eventually achieved his dream of bringing back Palmer, but his universe was destroyed in the process. When Ultron became a threat to the Multiverse, the Watcher turned to Strange for help. Later, he sacrifices himself to save Captain Carter and Kahhori and to restore his universe including a new Christine Palmer.

Captain Carter[]

Name: Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter
Species: Human
Status: Deceased
Description: Project Rebirth was cut short by Heinz Kruger's bombing of the Strategic Scientific Reserve's Brooklyn Facility. As a result, Carter received the Super Soldier Serum instead of the intended subject Steve Rogers. Following the experiment, she was gifted a new costume and shield patterned with the British Union Jack, becoming the super-soldier known as Captain Carter. During World War II, Captain Carter successfully captured HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola. She was sucked into a portal during an attack on HYDRA's base of operations and met Nick Fury and Hawkeye in the present. Captain Carter eventually became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and worked alongside Black Widow. One day, while leading a raid on Georges Batroc's personal ship the Lemurian Star, she was chosen by the Watcher to protect the Multiverse from Ultron.

Appearances[]

In chronological order:

In narrative order:

Trivia[]

In What If... The Watcher Disappeared?, the Incarnate referred to the Guardians of the Multiverse as "Exiles", which is a group in the comics made up of individuals from across the Multiverse.

References[]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Guardians of the Multiverse.

[WI108-1] What If...?: 1.08: What If... Ultron Won?

[WI109-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 What If...?: 1.09: What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?

[WI209-3] What If...?: 2.09: What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?

[WI307-4] 4.0 ^4.1 What If...?: 3.07: What If... The Watcher Disappeared?

[WIAIS-5] What If...? – An Immersive Story

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