EARTH-Korvac conquers the Universe

Type: Alternate/Divergent Earth
Core Continuum Designation: Earth-82432

Environment: Devoid
    Formerly similar to Earth-616

Usual means of access: Vibrational attunement, magic

Dominant Life Form: Vacant;
    Formerly denizens of Earth dimensions

Significant Inhabitants: Death, Dr. Strange, presumably Oblivion;
    Formerly Asgardians (including Odin (and his ravens Hugin and Munin)), Avengers (Beast, Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Moondragon, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man, other unseen);
    Captain Mar-Vell, Carina, Celestials 4th Host (including Arishem), Collector, Dormammu, Eternity, Galactus, Gardener, Grandmaster, Guardians of the Galaxy (Charlie-27, Starhawk, Yondu), High Evolutionary, In-Betweener, Izanagi, Jocasta, Korvac, Lord Chaos, Olympians (including Zeus), Master Order, Mephisto, Osiris, Phoenix (Phoenix Force), Shaper of Worlds, Silver Surfer, Stranger, Tezcatlipoca, Tomazooma, Uatu, Watchers, Yu-Huang (see comments), other gods unidentified
    unidentified Intergalactic Armada

First Appearance: What If I#32 (April, 1982)

History:
(What If I#32) - As Korvac battled against the remaining heroes--Iron Man, Starhawk, Thor, and the Vision--Carina gave him a look that assured him that she supported him 100%. Korvac then annihilated his opponents, as well as Moondragon (who had remained aloof) despite her statements of support of his goals. Realizing he had no time to rest, he and Carina joined forces to block off every single interdimensional aperture into Earth's dimension, preventing the denizens of a thousand Godly and ungodly realms entrance. He then sealed it off against time travelers, and then extradimensionally banished Dr. Strange, Phoenix, and the Silver Surfer. He investigated the Celestials, found that they were as yet beyond him, but also exceedingly unlikely to interfere with him.
    Korvac then remade Hercules, Iron Man, Starhawk, Thor, the Vision, and Wonder Man, all dedicated to serving his will, to serve as his emissaries, and dispatched them to incapacitate Uatu the Watcher, who instead fled from them. Korvac then remade Jocasta, Mar-Vell, Moondragon, and Ms. Marvel, to use their enhanced senses as his early warning squad. Uatu, recognizing Korvac's threat, attempted to convince his fellow Watchers to unite against him, but they declined. Uatu then enlisted a number of cosmic beings, including Galactus, Grandmaster and Gardener (the Collector's brethren in the Elders of the Universe), the Living Tribunal, Lord Chaos, Master Order, the Shaper of Worlds, and the Stranger. The Tribunal sent Galactus and the Gardener as the first counter-attack.
    After their failure against Uatu, Korvac's emissaries were dispatched to Counter-Earth, where they slew the High Evolutionary and brought back his helmet, which Korvac absorbed. Mar-Vell sensed the approach of Galactus and the Gardener, and Korvac sent his emissaries against them, too. When Hercules and the Vision were slain, Korvac recreated Captain America, sent him to obtain the Ultimate Nullifier and had him use it against Galactus, though Captain America, too, was consumed. Distracted by this assault, the Gardener fell prey to a distant blast from Korvac, who absorbed his power, as well.
    The Shaper and the Grandmaster approached Korvac, the latter proposing a contest of champions and being slain by Korvac who had no wish to play games, and the former pledging his alliance. The Tribunal then sent the Stranger and the In-Betweener against Korvac. The Stranger used his power to launch the moon at Earth, but Korvac countered, and the satellite shattered into rocks which formed a ring around the planet. The exhausted Stranger was then destroyed by Korvac, who absorbed his energies. The distraction seemingly worked, as the In-Betweener had managed to abduct Korvac's lover, Carina, but then the Shaper resumed his form and revealed he had impersonated Carina for Korvac, and Korvac took advantage of the In-Betweener's surprise to split him into his dual halves and slay each.
    The Living Tribunal finally agreed to act, forcing the Earth's sun to go nova, but Korvac shielded the world from the destruction. His ultimate punishment ineffective, the Tribunal decided to cut his losses, leaving that dimension behind and sealing it so that its evil could spread no further. Master Order grew to dwarf Lord Chaos, but the two were helpless to act directly, and could only witness as Death arrived and gloated over her growing dominion.
    When an intergalactic armada, composed of millions of ships arrived to oppose him, Korvac realized that while he was more powerful than any being in the universe, he was not more powerful than every being in the universe. He enhanced his power by absorbing his emissaries, the Shaper, all of humanity, the planet's biosphere, and even the Celestials fell prey to his might at that point, their power added to his. Carina offered her power to him as a gift of love, but he took it, denying the love, as he only felt anger and hatred for the unyielding universe. Korvac then summoned the Ultimate Nullfier and, despite the pleadings of Uatu, visualized the entire universe and used the weapon, nullifying himself and Eternity, leaving only Death and Oblivion.

(Quasar#6 - BTS / Quasar#30 (fb) - BTS) - The Living Laser of Earth-616, seeking to escape capture by Quasar, flew into the Watcher's alternate worlds portal, diverging into seven different beings and into other realities. One of those counterparts ended up in this reality.

(Quasar#30) - Quasar of Earth-616, sent by the Watcher to stop the Laser's divergences, arrived in this reality, neutralized the Living Laser and escaped into the next reality just seconds before Korvac nullified the universe.

(What If I#43/2 (fb) - BTS) - With Korvac's threat essentially ended, the Tribunal dissolved the barrier it had formed around that reality.

(What If I#43/2) - Dr. Strange managed to return to his reality to find it absent, devoid of matter, light, and darkness. He was soon joined by both the Silver Surfer and Phoenix. Combining their powers, they located the focal point in the oblivion around them: the Ultimate Nullifier. Dr. Strange used his amulet to reveal the fate of the universe. He then came upon the idea that using the Nullifier to nullify the nothingness around them might restore the universe. However, the last vestiges of spirit of Eternity appeared before them, pleading not to be restored to existence. The trio agreed to respect Eternity's wishes, and they then parted ways. The Surfer left to explore other realities, while Phoenix sought to find one in which she had died, that she might fill that void. Dr. Strange resided himself to the fact that he remained the protector of his universe, even if it no longer existed. Eventually, he relaxed his grip on mortality and became one with the universe--or lack thereof--around him.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Greg LaRocque.
    According to the edits, the Gru did the layouts!

    This reality diverged from the events in Avengers I#177, sort of...
    In the Korvac Quest Summer Annuals, it was revealed that, in Earth-616 at least, Korvac willed his own suicide (actually sending his spirit forward in time via his own ancestors) in order to escape the effects of the Ultimate Nullifier, which Galactus had directed towards him. Apparently, in the reality profiled here, Galactus never sent such an attack...which represents the true point of divergence. This was shown in Fantastic Four Annual#24.

A few excellent points, courtesy of Donald Campbell:

•     In WHAT IF (vol. 1)  #32, Korvac defeated the Stranger by transforming him back into “his” original form, the millions of Gigantians who had joined together to create the Stranger.  This is (sort of) consistent with the Stranger’s claim that he, like the Over-Mind, was a collective being created to fulfill the last wish of his dying race.  However, in QUASAR #16, the Stranger revealed that he had been lying when he claimed to be the last survivor of Gigantus.  In actuality, the Stranger had accidentally killed the real last survivor of Gigantus and, in penance, had agreed to undertake his sworn mission of opposing the Over-Mind whenever he appeared.  It’s interesting to note that this revelation, which was written by Mark Gruenwald, has the effect of retroactively putting a continuity error into the What If story which Gruenwald had written years before.
      --Yes...I saw that and tried to just gloss over it. It's either an "error" based on the current prevailing theory, or that reality was different and the Stranger in that reality was indeed the collective people of Gigantus. I prefer to think of the Stranger as the embodiment of enigma. His true origins are unknowable...and I think the Elf with a Gun is his avatar!

•     In QUASAR #30, Quasar arrived in this alternate Earth dimension just as Korvac was about to use the Ultimate Nullifier to destroy that universe.  He quickly collected the Living Laser who had ended up in that dimension and then sped to the moon to use the Watcher’s portal to take him to the next alternate Earth.  However, there’s a problem.  In the original What If story, Korvac did not grow to enormous size and sit on Earth until AFTER the moon was shattered as a result of the Stranger’s attempt to distract him from the kidnapping of Carina.  If the Quasar story really took place in the alternate reality first seen in the What If story, then the moon should have already been reduced to a ring of debris orbiting Earth (as it was at the end of the WI story) by the time he got there.  The fact that the moon in the Quasar story was still intact may mean that that story did NOT occur in the exact same reality as the What If story did.  Maybe the Quasar story is actually set in yet another divergent reality, one which is also destroyed by Korvac but in which the events leading up to that point took a slightly different course?  After all, as your profile pointed out, the story in Fantastic Four Annual #24 revealed that this timeline didn't quite diverge at the point that the WI story claimed it did so maybe it’s possible that other timelines could have diverged from this one during the course of the WI story.
      --Yes, or it was just an error in the Quasar story, and wherever Quasar went was only described as the moon. Maybe it was Titan, the moon of Saturn?

•      By the way, how is it that Galactus was able to use the Ultimate Nullifier in FF Annual #24 without wiping himself out of existence as well?  As I recall, the fact that the Ultimate Nullifier would destroy its wielder along with its target was the big secret about the device that was revealed in that WI story.  I don’t see Galactus as the type of person who would be willing to wipe himself out just to punish someone who had stolen from him.  Maybe Galactus is the only being who can use the Ultimate Nullifier without being destroyed by it?  Unless, of course, he wanted to be destroyed by it (as he did in FF #341
      --That's my guess. I think there are times when it has been used without destroyer the holder...maybe against Abraxas. Quasar was nullified by it, but got better.

    Korvac's stated goal: "When I become proprietor of the universe, I will abolish all suffering, all injustice, all sorrow, and all want. I will free the universe from the capricious, chaotic whims of Eternity. There is too much chaos in the universe, too much random, irrational chance. I will abolish that. My universe will be complete order--in perfect peace and unity. Every being will have everything it needs. No one will ever grow old or die. Indeed, there will no longer be change of any kind. I will create a universe of absolute perfection...and then withdraw, letting it be forever."

    As both Immortus and the Living Tribunal are allegedly unique in the Multiverse, their appearances in this (and other alternate realities) represents appearance of the mainstream characters.

    On page 7 of What If#32, Korvac and Carina block off every single interdimensional aperture into Earth's dimension, preventing the denizens of a thousand Godly and ungodly realms entrance.

• I'm told by a former intern at Marvel that the bottom right image was meant to represent Yahweh (the Judeo-Christian God), though he looks more like Jesus Christ.
• Amongst those figures is the Chinese sky-father seen, but not named in Thor I#300.
      The character pictured in the Council of Godheads in Thor#300 is not identified. He does look significantly different from Yu Haung as pictured and identified in Thor#301 (and What If II#38). However, the flashback in Thor#300 takes place over 1000 years ago. In addition, it may well be that some of the characters have different forms, such as a battle form and a form for ruling and/or diplomacy (or perhaps different forms for inside and outside their own realms). The characters in Thor#300 are identified as "Sky-Fathers All", which would make Yu Huang the appropriate character. Alternatively, he could have sent another representative in his stead.

Certainly other cosmic beings (such as a bunch of other Elders) could have been sought by Uatu, but at the time of that What If story, most of them had not yet been created by Marvel. I guess you could assume that they were BTS and also failed against Korvac. For some reason, he neglected to seek the aid of Eternity directly.

Best What If, ever!!!! Gru Forever!

"...because of one man's dream, the number of alternate universes in the multiverse shall ever be one less than infinite."

Profile by Snood.

Clarifications:

• EARTH-Korvac conquers Earth 3000 AD (Korvac, Primax, humans, badoon, patriots)
      - alternate future @ 3000 in which Korvac overthrew the Badoon using the Cosmic Cube, opposed by Captain America until went back in time to remove all vestiges of humanity from himself. Primax continued fight for freedom among humans
      --Captain America III#18
• With the exception of Immortus and the Living Tribunal, all of the characters above should be differentiated from their Earth-616 counterparts, many of whom have profiles at the Appendix.

images:
What If I#32 (cover)
    p37, panel 1

What If I#32 (April, 1982) - Mark Gruenwald (writer/layouts), Greg LaRoqcue (pencils), various (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
What If I#43 (February, 1984) - Peter B. Gillis (writer), Bob Hall (pencils/inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Quasar#6 (January, 1990) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Danny Bulanadi (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Quasar#30 (January, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Joel Zulueta, Pat Broderick & Co. (pencils), Fred Fredericks (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Last Updated: 08/01/04

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