Appearing in 1st story
Featured Characters:
- Steve Rogers (Main story and as Captain America in recap) (Origin revealed)
- Alpha Flight
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
- The Underground
- Red Room
- Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) (Main story and recap)
- Sharon Carter (Main story and as "Goddess by the Lake" in recap)
Supporting Characters:
- Kobik
- Sebastian Shaw
- Emma Frost
- Beast (Hank McCoy)
- Avengers Unity Division
- Defenders
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Magister Karnak
- Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
- Hyperion (Marcus Milton)
- Starbrand (Kevin Connor)
- Avengers
- U.S.Avengers
- Captain Britain (Brian Braddock)
- Euroforce
- Ascendants
- Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr)
- X-Men
- ⏴ Moon Girl (Lunella Lafayette) ⏵
- Devil Dinosaur
- Wolverine (Laura Kinney)
- Nova (Sam Alexander)
Antagonists:
- Hydra (Main story and recap)
- Hydra Command
- Dreadnoughts
- Avengers
- Vision (Freed from Arnim Zola's A.I. virus) (Leaves)
- Superior Octopus (Otto Octavius)
- Odinson (Leaves)
- Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) (Possessed by Chthon)
- Black Ant (Eric O'Grady) (Leaves)
- Taskmaster (Tony Masters) (Leaves)
- Numerous unnamed agents
Other Characters:
- Elisa Sinclair (Mentioned)
- U.S. Military (Mentioned)
- Army of Evil (Earth-616)
- Donald Callahan (Earth-616)
- Edward Lavell (Earth-616)
- Paul Duval (Earth-616)
- Masters of Evil (Mentioned)
- Wrecking Crew (Mentioned)
- Graviton (Franklin Hall) (Mentioned)
- Blood Brothers (Mentioned)
- Other members (Mentioned)
- Tony Stark (Mentioned)
- U.S. Army (Only in recap)
- Crossbones (Brock Rumlow) (Only in recap)
- Sarah Rogers (Only in recap)
- Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) (Only in recap)
- Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) (Only in recap)
- Dr. Erik Selvig (Only in recap)
- Natalia Romanova (Earth-616)
- Lord (Yahweh) (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Cosmic Cube
- Humans (Main story and recap)
- Mutants
- Robots
- Cosmic Beings
- Inhumans
- Human-Inhuman Hybrids
- Human-Spartax Hybrids
- Human-Kree Hybrids
- Alien Eternals
- Human-Otherworlder Hybrids
- Synthezoids
- Asgardians
- Elder Gods (Behind the scenes)
- LMDs
- Human-Vampire Hybrids
- Mutant Devil-Beasts
- Gods (Mentioned)
- Zen-Whoberis
- Halfworlders
Locations:
- Vanishing Point
- Pleasant Hill (Ruins)
- Ashomia
- Prime Marvel Universe (Main story and recap)
- Earth (Main story and recap)
- Hydra Nation (Main story and as the United States of America in recap)
- Potomac River
- Washington, D.C. (Main story and recap)
- National Mall (Main story and recap)
- Washington Monument
- Capitol Building (Main story and recap)
- Jefferson Memorial
- White House
- National Mall (Main story and recap)
- New Tian, California (Mentioned)
- The Mount, Nevada (Mentioned)
- Connecticut (Only in recap)
- Pleasant Hill (Only in recap)
- Stukey Bowl (Only in recap)
- Pleasant Hill (Only in recap)
- New York (Only in recap)
- New York City (Only in recap)
- Brooklyn (Only in recap)
- New York City (Only in recap)
- Wakanda (Mentioned)
- Germany (Only in recap)
- Berlin (Only in recap)
- Schmidt Estate (Only in recap)
- Berlin (Only in recap)
- Bagalia (Only in recap)
- Bagalia City (Only in recap)
- Hydra Nation (Main story and as the United States of America in recap)
- Earth (Main story and recap)
- Hell (Invoked)
Items:
- Panther Habit
- Hydra Flight Packs
- Doctor Strange's Cloak
- Star-Lord Armor
- Element Gun
- Ms. Marvel's Suit
- Wasps' Suits and Bio-Synthetic Wings
- Captain Marvel's Suit
- Captains America's Shields (Main story and recap)
- Sam Wilson's Shield (Main story and recap)
- John Walker's Shield
- Steve Rogers' Shield (Only in recap)
- Captains America's Uniforms (Main story and recap)
- Sam Wilson's Uniform and Wings (Main story and recap)
- Steve Rogers' Uniform (Only in recap)
- Hawkeye's Suit, Bow, and Trick Arrows
- Star Brand (Behind the scenes)
- Spider-Men's Suits
- Peter Parker's Traditional Red and Blue Suit
- Miles Morales' Suit
- Web-Shooters
- Hulk Plug-In (Behind the scenes)
- Iron Patriot Armor Model 4
- Enigma Armor
- Captain Britain's Uniform
- Superior Octopus' Suit and Tentacles
- Arnim Zola's A.I. virus
- Jarnbjorn
- Black Uru arm prosthesis
- Arnim Zola's Robotic Body
- Magneto's Helmet
- Civil Warrior Armor (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- X-Uniform
- Daredevil's Suit and Billy Club
- Kraken Armor
- U.S. Agent's Uniform
- Black Ant's Helmet and Suit
- Sternbots (Behind the scenes) (Unnamed)
- Ironheart Armor Model 2
- Moon Girl's Suit
- Inversion-Gravity Boots (Behind the scenes)
- Planetary Defense Shield (Mentioned)
- Black Widow's Gauntlets (Only in recap)
- Mjolnir (Only in recap)
- Iron Man Armor Model 4
- Wolverine's Suit
- Soulsword
- Giant-Man's Suit
- Nova Helmet
- Arc Shield (First appearance) (Unnamed)
Vehicles:
- Hydra Helicarriers (Destruction)
- Orphan One (Cameo)
- Experimental drone bomber (Mentioned)
Synopsis for 1st story
Kobik breaks down in tears in front of Steve Rogers, expressing regret for her attempts to appease everybody having caused so much damage. Steve remains confused, as he somehow remembers the kid, and asks her if she's lost like he is. Kobik answers that she's not, and walks Steve out of the forest, showing him the ruins of Pleasant Hill. She then turns to him, and, as her eyes begin to glow, tells him to remember.
Above the White House, aboard a Hydra Helicarrier, Supreme Leader Steve Rogers is approached by Baron Zemo, who brings him the Black Panther as a prisoner. After vowing to take revenge on Zemo, T'Challa is taken away by guards. Zemo subsequently leaves when Steve orders him awaken "the army that sleeps." Rogers is then alerted of the arrival of three new guests, Emma Frost, Beast and Shaw from New Tian. When a subordinate informs Rogers the High Council has advised to move their base ship out of range due to an ongoing battle nearby, Rogers shuts down the suggestion, ensuring he is where he wants to be.
Right outside, by the Washington Monument, an all-out fight is taking place between Hydra and the superheroes. Alpha Flight, the Avengers Unity Division, the Defenders, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Underground and many more, all led by Sam Wilson, have joined forces to defeat Hydra once and for all. Heavy hitters Hyperion and Star Brand join the brawl, as well as Spider-Man, the U.S.Avengers, and Euroforce. Unfortunately, so do Hydra's own Avengers and the High Council itself on Hydra's side.
Aboard the Hydra Helicarrier, Frost attempts to convince Rogers to keep Hydra's deal with New Tian, to the extent she has already surrendered the Cosmic Cube fragment whose secret presence in New Tian had irked Rogers. When Rogers refuses, essentially declaring war, Frost reminds him she had promised no mutant would kneel to Hydra, a sentiment she expresses Magneto shares. Flying outside the Helicarrier, the Master of Magnetism attacks the vessel with giant shards of metal. While Frost, Beast and Shaw are occupied fighting Rogers' guards, Zola convinces the Supreme Leader to flee, notifying Rogers that all but one of the fragments is enough to weaponize what they have of the Cosmic Cube.
Back to the fight outside, even as the X-Men join the efforts against Hydra, many of the heroes find themselves overpowered by Hydra's Avengers and the High Council. Witnessing his former friends in peril, Odinson declares he has seen enough and summons a thunder to strike down the forces of Hydra.
Having heard the consequence of Odinson's change of heart from aboard one of the Helicarriers, Taskmaster convinces Black Ant to switch to the winning side for convenience. They turn to the cell holding the Champions prisoners, and decide to let them free as long as they put in a good word for them. The young heroes agree, though Spider-Man immediately webs up both of them before leaving.
When the Champions join the fight, Viv's presence gives the Vision a moment of freewill, which she uses to purge Zola's A.I. virus from his body, spreading it to the Dreadnoughts surrounding them, shutting down the robots. Doctor Strange confronts Chthon and summons a portal that brings back Thor from the alien dimension. Thor knocks out the villain before reverting to her fragile human form of Jane Foster. Strange prepares to cast out Chthon from Scarlet Witch's body while Sam Wilson flies away with Dr. Foster in order to retrieve Mjolnir.
Back aboard the Hydra Helicarrier, Baron Zemo prepares to awaken the members of the Army of Evil, who had been in stasis ever since Hydra's take-over, all while Black Panther is still being escorted prisoner. The two soldiers are suddenly knocked out by the Winter Soldier, who jumps down from the ceiling on Zemo. Baron Zemo subdues Bucky, but T'Challa strangles him from behind using the chains that shackle his hand, and then knocks him out.
Inside Doctor Faustus' office, the hypnotist has managed to take control of Sharon Carter, whom he orders to serve him tea. Carter soon reveals she's not actually under Faustus' control, with his tea being poisoned with a non-lethal toxin. After knocking out Faustus with a punch, Sharon explains that ever since he had taken control of her to assassinate Steve Rogers, she constantly listened to recordings of his voice to build up an immunity to it. With Faustus unconscious, Sharon focuses her attention on using the passwords she knew from Steve to shut down the remaining Hydra warships. Meanwhile, Black Panther attempts to sneak up on Rogers and Zola, but finds the latter being outfitted with an armor derived from Stark tech that allows him to harness the power of what they have of the Cosmic Cube.
Back to the ruins of Pleasant Hill, Steve walks down the streets of the town with Kobik, recalling the life he had forgotten, up until the moment Kobik saved him from his death at the hands of Crossbones, and realizing that all of the people he encountered in the forest were people he knew. When Steve mentions he still has no idea where he is, Kobik directs him to a glowing fountain in the middle of the park, where Steve sees scenes of the things his Hydra-loyalist self has done. Discouraged, Steve realizes all this time he's been inside Kobik's mind, and that he himself is a memory of the Steve Rogers he once was. When Steve asks Kobik to make him real again, she runs away declaring she can't and that it's too late. The ground below Steve's feet begins to rumble.
In Washington, the remaining Hydra Helicarriers shut down and crash into the ground. As they continue stomping their enemies, the heroes enjoy themselves, being finally united after so long. However, Black Panther runs towards the heroes, warning them to run. A sudden blasts knocks down the fighters, and the armored Captain America appears in the steps of the Capitol Building.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- Deadpool is absent from the battle in this issue. As shown in Deadpool (Vol. 6) #35, he had remained trapped under the rubble of a parking building at least since before the time of the events from Secret Empire #8.