The Incursions: A Definitive Guide to the Multiverse Collisions That Led to Marvel's Secret Wars (2015)

July 03, 2026 — ny_wk

Picture this: You’re standing on your porch, looking up at the night sky. But wait. Is that another Earth? Right there? And it’s getting closer? That chilling, stomach-dropping premise is the core of the Marvel Incursions explained, an apocalyptic saga that redefined the Marvel Multiverse and culminated in Jonathan Hickman’s epic Secret Wars (2015). For years, Hickman’s run on Avengers and New Avengers built a relentless, terrifying countdown, detailing how the multiverse was collapsing, one universe at a time, and the impossible choices Earth’s heroes were forced to make.

This wasn't just another villain-of-the-week threat; this was an existential crisis, a slow-motion car crash involving entire realities. It pitted intellect against morality, friendship against desperation, and ultimately led to the very fabric of existence being unwritten. As a long-time Marvel fan, let me tell you, there's nothing quite like the dread and philosophical weight of the Incursions.

What ARE the Marvel Incursions? The Mechanics of Multiversal Annihilation

Okay, let's get down to brass tacks. What exactly were these "Incursions" that had everyone from Reed Richards to Thanos losing sleep? In Hickman’s brilliant, terrifying vision, an Incursion was a phenomenon where two universes, at some point in their existence, found their respective Earths occupying the exact same space in the multiverse at the exact same moment. Think of it like two balloons trying to inflate into the same physical space – something has to give. And what gave, in this scenario, was *everything*.

The rules were brutally simple and utterly devastating:

• The Point of Collision: Earth. For reasons not fully understood by even the smartest minds in the cosmos, every Incursion event centered around the twin Earths of the colliding universes. If you wanted to stop the Incursion, you had to deal with the Earths.
• Mutual Annihilation. If nothing was done, if no action was taken within an eight-hour window, both universes involved in the Incursion would be completely destroyed. Not just the Earths, but *everything*. Every star, every planet, every sentient being, every last atom of both realities would simply cease to exist, erased from the multiverse as if they never were. Imagine that scale of destruction.
• The Domino Effect. And here’s the kicker: the Incursions weren't isolated incidents. They were a symptom of a much larger, more terrifying problem. The entire multiverse was dying. Each universe that fell pulled others closer to their inevitable doom. It was a cosmic countdown to absolute oblivion, and Earth-616, our familiar Marvel Universe, was right in the crosshairs.

When the first Incursion happened on the pages of *New Avengers* #1 (2013), it wasn't a huge explosion or a dramatic battle. It was chillingly quiet, an ominous presence felt by Black Panther, followed by the appearance of a terrifying, enigmatic figure known as the Black Swan. She arrived to warn Black Panther of what was coming, bringing with her a dreadful truth: Earth-616's time was running out, and the solutions were far worse than any problem they had ever faced.

The concept of the Marvel Incursions fundamentally altered the stakes of superhero comics. No longer were heroes just saving a city or a planet; they were literally responsible for the continued existence of entire realities. Talk about pressure!

The Architects of Desperation: The Illuminati’s Impossible Burden

Who do you call when the literal fabric of reality is unraveling? Not the Avengers. Not the Fantastic Four (at least, not initially as a team). No, this was a secret known only to the brightest, and perhaps most morally flexible, minds in the Marvel Universe: the Illuminati. Forged years prior to secretly influence world events, this clandestine group was about to face its ultimate test.

Their roster was a veritable "who's who" of power and intellect, though not all stuck around:

• Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic): The smartest man on Earth-616, burdened by the weight of infinite possibilities and the desperate need to find a solution. He was the intellectual leader, the one who tried to engineer a way out.
• T'Challa (Black Panther): King of Wakanda, brilliant strategist, and the first to truly grasp the scale of the threat. He re-formed the Illuminati, understanding that this secret was too terrible for the world to know.
• Tony Stark (Iron Man): The futurist, the engineer, whose vast resources and unparalleled technology would be crucial in their efforts.
• Doctor Stephen Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, with access to mystical knowledge and cosmic awareness that transcended mere science. He felt the dying multiverse keenly, a constant psychic ache.
• Namor the Sub-Mariner: The arrogant, uncompromising King of Atlantis, whose willingness to take extreme action would prove both vital and catastrophic.
• Bruce Banner (The Hulk/Beast): As Bruce Banner, his intellect rivaled Reed’s. He joined later, bringing his scientific genius to the table.
• Blackagar Boltagon (Black Bolt): King of the Inhumans, whose devastating voice and regal bearing added immense power to the group, though he rarely spoke.
• Captain America (Steve Rogers): The moral compass of the Marvel Universe. He was brought in briefly, but his unshakeable ethics clashed directly with the terrible choice the Incursions demanded.

The horrifying truth presented to them by the Black Swan, and soon corroborated by Reed's own calculations, was this: to save *two* universes from total annihilation during an Incursion, they had to destroy *one* of the Earths involved. If they didn't, both universes would be erased. It was an impossible, unspeakable choice, a cosmic trolley problem where the stakes were infinite. This is where the Marvel Incursions explained its true horror: the heroes had to become mass murderers to prevent an even greater mass murder.

Captain America, true to form, absolutely refused. He couldn't sanction the destruction of an innocent world. He tried to rally the other Avengers, to find another way, but the Illuminati knew there was no time, no other option that presented itself. In a moment of sheer, cold necessity, Doctor Strange magically erased Captain America’s memory of the Incursions, removing him from their secret burden. This act alone speaks volumes about the desperation and moral sacrifices being made.

So, the Illuminati took on the mantle of cosmic executioners. They developed devices, anti-matter bombs, designed to obliterate an entire planet. With each Incursion, they faced the agonizing decision of which Earth to destroy, knowing full well that they were committing genocide on an unprecedented scale to prevent an even larger one. The toll on their souls was immense. Doctor Strange even resorted to dark magic, making deals with forbidden entities, his soul becoming increasingly stained as he sought power to fight the inevitable.

The Galaxy of Villains and Unlikely Saviors: The Cabal's Brutal Efficiency

The Illuminati, for all their intellectual prowess and moral wrestling, were too slow. Too hesitant. Their internal conflicts, their struggles with the burden of genocide, meant they sometimes failed to act quickly enough. And when they failed, entire universes died. Namor, ever the pragmatist and a monarch used to making harsh decisions, grew tired of their hand-wringing. He knew the job had to be done, no matter the cost, no matter how dirty the hands got.

So, Namor did what Namor does: he assembled his own team. But unlike the Illuminati, this group wasn't bound by ethics or heroic ideals. This was the Cabal, a collection of some of the most ruthless and powerful individuals in the multiverse, brought together specifically to destroy Earths without hesitation.

The Cabal's terrifying roster included:

• Thanos: The Mad Titan himself, who saw the destruction of worlds as a means to an end, or perhaps even a twisted form of cosmic beauty. His power and utter lack of empathy made him an ideal operative.
• Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive: Two of Thanos's most loyal and lethal generals from the Black Order, expert killers, and destroyers.
• Terrax: A former Herald of Galactus, possessing immense cosmic power and a history of planet-smashing.
• Maximus the Mad: Black Bolt's insane brother, a brilliant but deranged technopath and strategist.
• The Black Swan: The mysterious, powerful survivor of countless Incursions, whose knowledge of the events was unparalleled. She became a de facto leader, guiding the Cabal with grim foresight.

This group, under Namor's cold leadership, acted with chilling efficiency. While the Illuminati debated, the Cabal destroyed. They built their own Incursion device – an anti-matter injector capable of triggering annihilation. They didn't mourn, they didn't hesitate, they simply eliminated the infringing Earth. This brutal approach made them highly effective, saving many universes at the cost of unimaginable atrocities. But it also put them on a collision course with the Illuminati, who couldn't stomach the Cabal's methods, even if they were necessary.

The dynamic between the Illuminati and the Cabal was one of the most compelling aspects of the Marvel Incursions explained storyline. It forced readers to confront uncomfortable questions: Is it better for good people to do terrible things slowly and hesitantly, or for bad people to do terrible things quickly and decisively, if the outcome is the same – the survival of the greater whole? It was a moral quagmire, expertly navigated by Hickman.

The Countdown to Oblivion: Key Events and the Escalation of Dread

Hickman's run on *Avengers* and *New Avengers* wasn't just about the mechanics of the Incursions; it was about the slow, agonizing descent into despair, the unraveling of everything we thought we knew. The storyline carefully built up the dread, showing the heroes' futile attempts to stop the process, culminating in a series of devastating revelations.

Here are some of the key events that brought us to the brink:

• The First Kill (New Avengers #3): The Illuminati face their first Incursion. After Captain America's memory wipe, they are forced to destroy an alternate Earth, an act that stains their souls forever. This moment cemented the horrifying reality of their mission.
• The Great Society (Avengers #21-23): We meet Earth-42900001, home to the Great Society, a universe's equivalent of the Justice League. They too were aware of the Incursions and had been taking steps, but their methods were more about creating an "ark" than destroying Earths. When their Earth-42900001 collided with Earth-616, it was an epic clash of ideologies and power. The Illuminati were forced to make the ultimate decision against this heroic team, showcasing the terrible cost of their mission.
• The Rise of the Cabal (New Avengers #15-23): As the Illuminati hesitated more, Namor broke away and assembled his ruthless team. Their brutal efficiency, especially during the collision of Earth-13333 and Earth-616, highlighted the different approaches to the same apocalyptic problem. This created a new layer of conflict, with the Illuminati trying to stop the Cabal's monstrous actions, even as they themselves committed similar atrocities.
• The Doom of Doctor Doom (Avengers #24.NOW and New Avengers #24): Doom, ever the megalomaniac, wasn’t content to merely survive. He sought to understand the *cause* of the Incursions. His journey took him to the furthest reaches of the multiverse, where he encountered Rabum Alal, a mysterious figure who was destroying universes to stop the Incursions. Doom would eventually discover the terrifying truth about the **Beyonders**.
• The Beyonders and the Ivory Kings: This was the biggest, most shocking reveal. The Incursions weren't a natural cosmic phenomenon. They were a *side effect* of a scientific experiment. The Beyonders, an impossibly powerful, alien race from outside the multiverse, were the true architects of this slow apocalypse. They were observing the destruction, killing universes simply out of scientific curiosity, trying to understand how to destroy a multiverse to create a new one. Their cosmic intervention was so vast, so utterly indifferent, that it made every hero's struggle feel utterly insignificant. The Beyonders were basically giant kids poking ants with a stick, and the ants were entire realities.
• Rabum Alal and the Mapmakers: Doom learned that the Beyonders were sending "Mapmakers"—cybernetic probes—to chart and then destroy universes. Rabum Alal, who turned out to be the mysterious hero of another universe, was himself destroying universes in a desperate, ultimately futile attempt to slow the Beyonders down, to force them to focus their attention on individual universes rather than the entire multiverse at once. It was an act of cosmic sacrifice and defiance that laid the groundwork for Doom's final plan.
• The Multiversal War (New Avengers #29-33): As the number of surviving universes dwindled, the scale of destruction escalated. Heroes from across the few remaining realities, including the Squadron Supreme and the Ultimate Universe’s heroes, joined the fray. The conflict became a multi-universal free-for-all, with desperate survivors battling for the last scraps of existence.

Each arc, each revelation, tightened the noose. The Illuminati became ghosts of their former selves, haunted by their choices. Doctor Strange made a Faustian bargain, gaining immense power but losing his soul. Iron Man became colder, more calculating. Reed Richards, the man who always found a way, stared into the abyss of failure. The Marvel Incursions explained how even gods and cosmic entities were powerless against the inevitable.

The End of Everything: Secret Wars #0 and #1

All roads led to this. The final Incursion. After years of fighting, of agonizing choices, of impossible burdens, the ultimate moment of truth arrived. The main Marvel Universe, Earth-616, was on a collision course with the Ultimate Universe, Earth-1610 (home of Miles Morales and the Ultimate Avengers). This was it. The very last two universes remaining in the entire Marvel Multiverse.

Secret Wars #0 (a Free Comic Book Day special, and then #1 of the main series) opens with this cataclysmic event. There was no more time for debate, no more choices to be made. This was the final stand, a desperate, valiant, and utterly futile battle to save a world that was already doomed. Heroes from both universes gathered, initially battling each other out of confusion and fear, then uniting against the inevitable.

The visuals from this issue are permanently seared into my brain: the heroes of Earth-616, led by Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Ultimates, facing the encroaching destruction. The sheer scale of the chaos, the collapsing cities, the impossible odds. It was a beautiful, heartbreaking farewell.

But amidst the universal annihilation, there was a glimmer of something else. For years, the Illuminati had been working on a "lifeboat" – a device designed to preserve a handful of individuals from the final destruction, a slim hope for humanity's survival. Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and a select few managed to escape on this lifeboat. Simultaneously, a separate "raft" carrying Miles Morales, the Ultimate Reed Richards (the Maker), and other survivors from the Ultimate Universe also survived, albeit accidentally.

And then, there was Doom. Doctor Doom, who had dared to stand against the Beyonders, to understand their power, to usurp it. While the heroes were fighting their last, doomed battle, Doom had made his move. He confronted the Beyonders, used his vast intellect, magic, and the cosmic power of the Molecule Man (an omega-level mutant whose abilities were key to the Beyonders' experiment) to absorb their power. He killed them, seizing their omnipotence for himself.

With the last two universes collapsing, Doom, now wielding god-like power, didn’t just save a few. He gathered the shattered remnants of countless realities, piecing them together into a single, patchwork planet: Battleworld. And on Battleworld, he reigned supreme, not as a tyrant (though he was still Doom), but as God Emperor Doom, the savior who ended the Incursions and recreated existence in his own image. The very concept of Marvel Incursions explained its ultimate resolution through this audacious act.

The *Secret Wars* event that followed was a magnificent, sprawling narrative about what happens when one man plays God, and how the survivors of the various universes, including those on the lifeboats, dealt with this new, terrifying reality. It was a sign of Hickman's long-form storytelling, paying off years of intricate plotting and character development.

The Legacy of the Incursions: Reshaping the Marvel Universe

The Marvel Incursions and the resulting *Secret Wars* weren't just a big event; they were a hard reset button for the entire Marvel Universe. The impact was profound and long-lasting:

• A Reborn Universe: While the primary Earth-616 largely returned, it was a subtly altered universe. Elements from the Ultimate Universe, most notably Miles Morales, were integrated into the mainstream. The idea of a multiverse itself was reforged, allowing for new possibilities and cleaner continuity.
• Character Redefinition: The experiences of the Illuminati, particularly Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, and Black Panther, changed them fundamentally. Reed and Sue Storm, along with their children and the Molecule Man, started a journey to rebuild the multiverse itself, leaving Earth for a time. Black Panther became even more hardened, a king ready for anything.
• Moral Ambiguity: The Incursions forced heroes (and readers) to confront the most extreme ethical dilemmas. It questioned the very definition of heroism and villainy when the choice was between the destruction of one world or two. The lines blurred, and many characters carried the scars of their terrible choices.
• Hickman's Masterpiece: The entire saga cemented Jonathan Hickman as one of the most visionary writers in modern comics. His ability to craft such a massive, interconnected narrative, full of intricate lore and emotional weight, is truly remarkable. He took a cosmic threat and grounded it in the very human drama of characters making impossible decisions.

For me, the Marvel Incursions explained the true fragility of existence in a way no other comic storyline had before. It made the stakes feel genuinely universal (or multiversal!). It was a narrative that demanded your attention, challenged your assumptions, and ultimately delivered an ending that was both devastating and exhilarating. If you haven't read it, or only dabbled, I highly recommend diving into Hickman's *Avengers* and *New Avengers* run, followed by *Secret Wars*. It's a journey that will stick with you long after the final page.

Key Takeaways

• The Marvel Incursions were phenomena where two Earths from different universes collided, threatening to annihilate both realities if one Earth wasn't destroyed.
• The Illuminati (Reed Richards, Black Panther, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Namor, etc.) secretly bore the burden of destroying Earths to save the multiverse, making impossible moral choices.
• Namor, frustrated by the Illuminati's hesitation, formed the ruthless Cabal (Thanos, Black Swan, etc.) to perform the necessary, brutal acts of destruction.
• The Incursions were revealed to be caused by the Beyonders, an impossibly powerful alien race experimenting with multiverse destruction, making the heroes' struggles feel tragically small.
• The saga culminated in Secret Wars (2015), where the last two universes (Earth-616 and Earth-1610) collided, only for Doctor Doom to seize the Beyonders' power and create Battleworld from the remnants of dying realities.

Frequently Asked Questions

What caused the Marvel Incursions?

The Marvel Incursions were not a natural cosmic event but rather a side effect of a vast scientific experiment conducted by the Beyonders. These incredibly powerful, extra-multiversal beings were observing the destruction of universes as a means to understand multiversal creation and destruction, with the Incursions being a symptom of their activities.

Which comic series cover the Incursions leading to Secret Wars?

The primary storyline covering the Marvel Incursions and the lead-up to Secret Wars (2015) is Jonathan Hickman's run on Avengers (volumes 5-6) and New Avengers (volumes 3-4), starting in 2013. The culmination is the Secret Wars (2015) mini-series itself.

What was the ultimate fate of Earth-616 and Earth-1610 during the Incursions?

Earth-616 (the main Marvel Universe) and Earth-1610 (the Ultimate Universe) were the very last two universes remaining and collided in the final Incursion. While most of their inhabitants perished, a select few from both universes survived on "lifeboats" or rafts. Ultimately, Doctor Doom, having usurped the Beyonders' power, fused the remnants of these and countless other realities into a single planet called Battleworld, before the multiverse was later reformed.

What a ride, right? The Marvel Incursions are a story for the ages, a true epic that showcases the brilliance of comic book storytelling. If this deep dive into multiversal madness got your cosmic juices flowing, be sure to hit that follow button and join us at @comicsagatv for more definitive guides, comic lore deep dives, and passionate discussions about all things superhero!

Related reading

• The Unseen Aftershocks: How Marvel's Original Secret Wars (1984) Permanently Rewrote Key Character Fates
• The Infinite Tapestry: A Multiverse Primer
• The Genesis of a Secret Society: Why They Formed and What They Feared