Q-Ships are massive spaceships used by Thanos and the Black Order. These ring-shaped vessels were stored inside the even larger Sanctuary II, and Thanos deployed them during his invasions of Zen-Whoberi, Korbin and Earth.
History
Massacre of the Zehoberei
During Thanos' invasion of Zen-Whoberi, several Q-Ships patrolled the skies of the planet.[1]
Quest for the Orb
In 2014, the Black Order invaded Korbin. Once their task was complete, Gamora and Nebula returned to their Q-Ship where they discussed Thanos finally putting his plan into motion. It was then that Thanos teleported aboard, informing his daughters that Ronan the Accuser had located the Power Stone and that he was assigning them to the Dark Aster as his wardens.[2]
Attack on Greenwich Village
- "Holy shit. We're all gonna die! There's a spaceship!"
"What's the matter with you kids, you've never seen a spaceship before?" - ―Ned Leeds and the Watcher Informant[src]
In order to claim the Eye of Agamotto from Doctor Strange, two members of the Black Order, Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw, flew to Earth in a Q-Ship, where they confronted the Master of the Mystic Arts and Iron Man. Finding himself to be unable to take the Eye from Strange, Maw beamed himself and an unconscious Strange to the Q-Ship, where Maw began torturing Strange for possession of the Eye.[1]
Attack on Vision
Concurrently, Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight used a second Q-Ship to travel to Edinburgh to claim the Mind Stone from Vision. The two managed to corner the android and Scarlet Witch in a train station before being ambushed by Steve Rogers, Black Widow and Falcon, which resulted with Glaive being gravely wounded. Knowing that the odds are against them, Midnight beamed herself and Glaive back up to their Q-Ship and fled from the area.[1]
Rescue of Doctor Strange
- "This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot."
"Can we control it? Fly us home? Stark?"
"Yeah."
"Can you get us home?"
"Yeah, I heard you. I'm thinking... I'm not so sure we should." - ―Tony Stark and Doctor Strange[src]
Iron Man and Spider-Man broke into the Q-Ship to rescue Doctor Strange from Maw. Taking inspiration from Aliens, the two managed to eject Maw into space and stayed with Strange in the ship, which was en route to Titan. Though Strange wished for the ship to be turned around, Stark convinced him that it would be best to fight Thanos on the dead planet where no innocents would be in danger and where Thanos would not be expecting them. When the ship arrived, however, the humans were unable to stop the ship, causing it to crash. As the three took stock, the scuttled ship was stormed by half of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The two groups had a brief scuffle until they realized that they were all on the same side against Thanos.[1]
Battle of Wakanda
- "Multiple bogies, over Wakanda."
"Same energy signatures as New York?" - ―Maria Hill and Nick Fury[src]
After Vision had been relocated to Wakanda, the second Q-Ship deployed several Outrider Dropships to invade the country.[1]
Battle of Earth
Five years after the Snap, the surviving Avengers planned to reverse it by stealing past versions of the Infinity Stones. Along with War Machine, Nebula travelled back to Morag on 2014 to acquire the Power Stone. When they arrived, however, Nebula's implants began syncing with those of her past self allowing the past Thanos, who had just boarded Nebula's Q-Ship to learn of what was happening. Ordering Nebula brought to the Sanctuary II, the Q-Ship docked with the larger craft where Nebula was brought to the lab.
Once the time travel was discovered, Thanos had his Nebula pose as her future self and travel to 2023 so she could summon him and his army whereupon he would claim the Infinity Stones and remake the universe. When Captain Marvel crashed into the Sanctuary II, the docked Q-Ships fell from the larger craft, chunks of them crashing onto the ground. Their remains were later disintegrated when Iron Man used the Infinity Stones to disintegrate Thanos and his forces.[2]
Trivia
- The meaning behind the name "Q-Ship", first revealed by Entertainment Weekly[3], has not yet been clarified; the ship was never referred to by that name in Avengers: Infinity War. However, the side view of the ship does visually resemble the letter "Q", suggesting that "Q-Ship" is a colloquialism for the vehicle.
