Appearing in "Mortiferous Artifice"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Avengers West Coast
- Fantastic Four
- New Warriors
- Alpha Flight
- Hulk (Bruce Banner)
- Quasar (Wendell Vaughn)
- She-Hulk
- ⏴ Thor (Eric Masterson) ⏵
- Agatha Harkness
- Doctor Druid
- Thanos
- Galactus
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
- Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd)
- Nova (Frankie Raye)
- Daredevil (Matt Murdock)
- Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
- Darkhawk
Antagonists:
- Magus (Universal Church of Truth)
- Thanos' Doppelganger
- Hellspawn
- Moon Shade
- Multiple Man doppelganger
- Beast doppelganger
- Darkhawk doppelganger
- Namorita doppelganger
- Puck doppelganger
- Firestar doppelganger
- Quicksilver doppelganger
- Wolfsbane doppelganger
- U. S. Agent doppelganger
- Gambit doppelganger
- Dark Speedball
- Iron Man doppelganger (Only in flashback)
- Wolverine doppelganger (Only in flashback)
- Mister Fantastic doppelganger (Only in flashback)
Other Characters:
- Kang the Conqueror
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom)
- Eternity
- Living Tribunal
- Uatu
- Reed Richards (Referenced)
Locations:
- Magus' stronghold
- New York City
Items:
- Photon Sword
- Daredevil's Billy Club
- Quantum Bands
- Mjolnir
- Soul Gem
- Space Gem
- Mind Gem
- Power Gem
- Time Gem
- Infinity Gauntlet
- Guardian's Battle-Suit
- Cyclops' Visor
- Cloak of Levitation
- Ultimate Nullifier
- Captain America's Shield
- Captain America's Uniform
- Eye of Agamotto
- Cosmic Containment Units
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Mortiferous Artifice"
The heroes at Four Freedoms Plaza battle an army of doppelgangers. Meanwhile, the expeditionary force battles Thanos and the Infinity Watch.
Galactus' ship and crew reassemble after previously exploding.
Thanos' Doppelganger detects a scanner anomaly again, but the Magus orders him to ignore it. The anomaly is actually the ship of Doctor Doom and Kang. It arrives at the Magus' fortress, and the two villains enter. They override the security on a ceiling module, and discover five Cosmic Containment Units.
Galactus arrives at the relay transmitter site and interrupts the battle against the Infinity Watch. He freezes everyone with a stasis field, and brings them aboard his ship. At the Silver Surfer's urging, Galactus transmits an ion beam to Four Freedoms Plaza and destroys all the attacking doppelgangers. In order to quickly share information on the current situation, he subjects everyone to a cerebral scan. The heroes are surprised to learn that Thanos is on their side this time.
Thor is sent back to their home dimension to obtain updated data through his hammer. He observes that there are now two Earths and two moons in space. Additionally, the heroes at Four Freedoms Plaza are frozen in a trance.
Warlock and Thanos convene the members of the Infinity Watch, and they all agree to reassemble the Infinity Gauntlet. However, they discover that the Living Tribunal's prior verdict renders the Gems powerless when they are together. Galactus arranges to meet with the Living Tribunal and appeal the decision. He takes Gamora with him as a respresentative. Right after they depart, the Magus and Thanos' doppelganger teleport in and quickly abduct Warlock and the Infinity Gauntlet.
Thanos informs the heroes of the data Thor collected. He explains that the Magus is creating a duplicate reality and merging it with the original. Captain America tries to quickly plan strategy and response. Thanos finds the Ultimate Nullifier, then challenges Quasar to wield it.
Notes
- Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #45 takes place between the destruction of Galactus' ship in Infinity War #3 and its reconstitution in this story.
- Alpha Flight #111, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #5, Wonder Man (Vol. 2) #14, and part of Fantastic Four #369 take place during this story.
- Quasar #39 takes place between this story and Infinity War #5.