—Isaac Newton[source]The Elixir of Life is immortality...or something akin to that...something I like to call "long enough." This--what I have mixed up for you here--this...conconcoption is different...it is more...diluted. We have different names for it here according to levels of potency: the Forever Compound. The Second Substance...the Infinity Formula.
The Infinity Formula is an inferior, diluted variant of the Elixir of Life. It was developed by Sir Isaac Newton of the Brotherhood of the Shield as part of his "Secret Alchemy."[1]
History
The Brotherhood of the Shield developed various alchemical serums of different potency, each a lesser and diluted form of the Elixir of Life. Among these were the Infinity Formula, the Second Substance, and the Forever Compound. These were used by Sir Isaac Newton, the leader of the Brotherhood of the Shield, to reward or punish with different levels of immortality or mortality.[1]
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Sir Isaac Newton
For example, the Forever Compound retains the life-prolonging properties of its parent elixir but it does not prevent the mind or body from decaying. From 1652 to 1956, Newton administered it to the French seer Nostradamus, which kept him alive and his prophetic gifts intact for centuries, but his mind and body withered away. The real Elixir of Life was positioned in front of him to pressure the seer into giving Newton his desired prophecy.[1]
During World War II, American soldier Nick Fury was gravely injured in France. He was saved in part due to Professor Berthold Sternberg's Infinity Formula. Fury had to be inoculated by the serum every year or he would age dramatically. Since Fury's first inoculation, the Colonel had to pay a blackmail price to Sternberg every year to acquire the serum. The Infinity Formula substantially slowed his aging process, and Fury was thrust with a double edged sword: although his life was saved, the consequences of the Infinity Formula would haunt him throughout his life as he would see many friends age and die, as well as become the target of various villains seeking his secret. Dr. Sternberg himself was not immune to taking advantage of Fury's delicate situation, basically holding Fury's life for ransom starting in 1946, every year through 1976 by charging Fury a high fee for more of the serum.
However, Steel Harris killed the Professor and took possession of the serum. He decided to blackmail Fury even further by making demands to become immersed in SHIELD and other National Security briefings. Nick found Harris in Las Vegas and battled him and his minions. Even though the Colonel defeats Harris and his thugs, the future indeed looked bleak for Fury as he began to incredibly age (from not receiving an inoculation of the Infinity Formula). However, the timely intervention of Val de Fontaine saved the day. Fontaine had previously liberated the serum from its captors and inoculated Fury just in time to save his life.[2]
During the War of the Serpent, Bucky Barnes was near-fatally injured by Skadi. Fury opted to bequeath the final dose of the Infinity Formula in his possession to save his life.[3] Shortly afterward, Fury's secret son Marcus Johnson became targeted by the would-be world conqueror Orion. Since he had been conceived after Fury was first administered the Infinity Formula, it had become part of his DNA and his body produced it on its own. Fury intercepted Orion's attempts to capture his son but ultimately failed and was kidnapped. Orion forced a blood transfusion from Fury to temporarily rejuvenate himself as a stopgap measure until they captured his son, but Johnson ultimately killed Orion and saved his father.[4] With the lingering traces of the Infinity Formula in his blood eventually breaking down, Fury rapidly aged.[5]
Alternate Realities[]
What The--?! (Earth-9047)[]
Nick Furious retained his youth by using this secret chemical. He gave his friend Some-Dumb Dougan a copy of the formula so that Dougan could retain his youth too; otherwise Dougan would have insisted on being near Furious during the latter's retirement to see if he could be still young as a side effect.[6] An A.I.M. agent impersonated a redheaded female tourist in order to intrude on a guided visit to SHEESH and inconspicuously tried to question Furious about the catalyzer of the formula, but Furious refused to answer.[7]See Also
- 12 appearance(s) of Infinity Formula
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Infinity Formula
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Infinity Formula
- 25 mention(s) of Infinity Formula
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Infinity Formula
- 8 image(s) of Infinity Formula