History
The White Room is a peculiar afterlife seemingly reserved for deceased Protectors of the Universe. Unlike the heavens and hells associated with various gods and demons, the White Room is not a mystic realm. Although it is said to exist beyond the reality of Earth-616, it's exact location has never been confirmed. However, the fact that the Cosmic Being Eon once stated that the White Room was a part of him[1] implies that it existed within the Eonverse, the pocket dimension that was adjacent to Earth's universe.[2]
The White Room exists as a rectangular room that is perhaps 15 feet wide and appears to be infinitely long. The walls of this chamber are white curtains which extend from the white floor to the (unseen) ceiling. Along the center of this room is a rectangular white table with rows of identical white chairs lining both sides, with each chair on one side of the table being aligned directly opposite a chair on the other side. Between every second pair of chairs there are table decorations is the form of small green plants set upon small orange square platforms. Aside from the plants and their platforms, everything in the room is completely colorless, being either white or black.
All of the chairs are occupied by beings who resemble past Protectors of the Universe. All of them are clothed in hooded white robes and sit motionless in their chairs with their arms resting on the table in front of them with their palms face down. These beings can think and speak and hear but they cannot move any parts of their bodies below their necks. As a result, their motion is limited to turning their heads from side to side and upwards or downwards. The bodies of these beings are similarly colorless, with beings who had black (or dark) skins in life having skin that is black while all other beings have skin that is chalk white. Those beings who had dark markings on their faces in life have black markings on their faces.
Since they can communicate with each other, these beings have discussed their situation thoroughly and have developed their own theories as to the nature of the White Room. The consensus is that it is an afterlife where the spirits of all Protectors of the Universe go after they have completed their service in reality. However, while some occupants believe that it is a heaven that is their reward for their days of valor, others believe that it is a perdition, a place of eternal punishment where they are unable to do anything but sit motionless and contemplate their sins. A third theory is that it is a purgatory where a final battle will one day be fought that will determine if they are ultimately blessed or cursed.[3]
Although they may not be aware of it themselves, the occupants of the White Room are actually copies of the deceased Protectors. Their spirits are the residues of the life essences that each of the various Protectors left in the Quantum Bands while they wore them. Once each Protector died, those residues were transmitted/transferred to the White Room where they animated duplicates of their original bodies that are composed of matter from Eon's body.[1]
Despite the fact that he is dead and his spirit dwells in Infinity's bosom, Eon has demonstrated the ability to manifest within the White Room through the table decorations.[4] It is not clear if Eon was able to do this before his death.
After being Nullified by the Ultimate Nullifier and being sent to the Dimension of Manifestations where he was killed by Kid Reaper, Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) appeared in the White Room, seated across from the Stygian Starbender (Glakander) and to the left of Andwella. Not being spiritually inclined, Vaughn doubted that he was in an actual afterlife and believed that he was having a crazy hallucination within the Dimension of Manifestations. His discussion with the other occupants came to an abrupt end when the Blue Marvel, an agent of Thanos, appeared in the White Room and blasted Vaughn into quantum glop. However, to the surprise of everyone, Quasar was able to resurrect himself in his original body that was both colorful and mobile. After defeating the renegade Blue Marvel, bringing him back to the White Room and placing him in the chair in which he had been seated, Quasar revealed that it had been the fact that, unbeknownst to him, his body still contained the tiniest trace of the Starbrand that had enabled him to re-form his body. Quasar spoke briefly to Eon, who revealed to him the nature of the occupants of the White Room, and then used his Starbrand power to leave the White Room and return to the real universe.[1]
Alternate Realities[]
Earth-691[]
In 3019 A.D., Starhawk was killed by the Abrogate while he was wearing the Quantum-Bands. As a result, he ended up in that reality's White Room where he encountered the Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) who had similarly been killed by the Abrogate during the War of the Worlds in the early 21st century. The fact that he possessed the power of the Hawk God meant that Starhawk appeared in a non-colorless form that was capable of movement. After a brief conversation with Vaughn, who he had just learned was his biological father, Starhawk was able to open a portal to reality that sealed itself soon after he passed through it.[5]
Another occupant of this White Room was Eon, who had been confined there with her beloved Protectors ever since her son Era had secretly killed her and assumed her identity and cosmic station over a millennium earlier.[6]Residents
- Protectors of the Universe
- Stygian Starbender (Glakandar) (First resident)
- Trantra (First non-humanoid resident)
- Andwella
- Ree
- Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) (Only the Earth-691 Quasar)
- Blue Marvel (Only in the Earth-616 White Room)
Notes
- All Earth dimensions in which Eon ever existed presumably have their own White Rooms. To date, only the versions associated with Earth-616 and Earth-691 have been seen.
- Although Captain Mar-Vell was one of the Protectors of the Universe appointed by Eon, the fact that he never wore the Quantum-Bands suggests that a duplicate of him probably does not reside in the White Room.
- Non-Protectors who have worn the Quantum-Bands may also have ended up in the White Room but have not been seen there yet. In the Prime Marvel Universe, beings who are known to have worn the bands without being appointed by Eon include:
- The Crusader, an Eternal from Uranus who, believing that he was the original Marvel Boy (Robert Grayson), accidentally killed himself when he overloaded the wrist-bands during an insane rampage;[7]
- William Wesley, a test pilot working for S.H.I.E.L.D. who died when his body was similarly vaporized after he lost control of the energy from the bands while testing them;[8]
- Negative Zone tyrant Annihilus, who claimed the bands and wore them after killing Quasar;[9]
- Phyla-Vell, who was able to take the bands from Annihilus after they rejected him.[10]
- The fact that Glakandar was able to remember once having met Quasar, something that had actually happened to the bioduplicate of him that Thanos had created to kill Quasar,[11] indicates that those bioduplicates were somehow linked to their counterparts in the White Room. This could mean that the Marvel Boy/Blue Marvel created by Thanos may have also had a White Room counterpart and that it was this being who had occupied the chair beside Andwella before Quasar arrived.
- Only a few beings have ever visited the White Room and been able to leave. Two of them, Wendell Vaughn from Earth-616 and Starhawk from Earth-691, travelled there because they were wearing the Quantum-Bands when they died but those deaths were not permanent because they were each imbued with vastly powerful energies that prevented them from fully dying. The Blue Marvel and Quasar (after his resurrection) were able to travel to the White Room without dying by using the Blue Marvel's Thanos-created replica Quantum-Bands to quantum-jump there.[4]
See Also
- 3 appearance(s) of White Room (Protectors of the Universe)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of White Room (Protectors of the Universe)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of White Room (Protectors of the Universe)
- 1 image(s) of White Room (Protectors of the Universe)