| Elders of the Universe | |
|---|---|
 The Elders of the Universe surroundSilver Surfer andMantis on the cover ofSilver Surfer vol. 3 #4 (Oct. 1987). Art byMarshall Rogers. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Collector: The Avengers #28 (May 1966) Elders of the Universe: The Avengers #174 (Aug. 1978) |
| Created by | Collector: Stan Lee (writer) Don Heck (artist) Elders of the Universe: Jim Shooter,Bill Mantlo (writers) David Wenzel (artist) |
| Characteristics | |
| Notable members | List of members |
TheElders of the Universe are a group ofsupervillains appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. TheCollector was the first Elder to appear, and featured inThe Avengers #28 (May 1966),[1] but the idea that he was a member of a group known as the Elders was not introduced untilThe Avengers #174 (Aug. 1978).
The Elders of the Universe are thelast survivors of otherwiseextinct races. Each discovered that they had potentially infinite lifespans, dependent on maintaining the will to continue living. They are thus known for their personal obsessions (such as collecting, contests of strategy or strength, and various fields of study), each of which is pursued fanatically. While the characters are not truly cosmic entities, all have achieved some cosmic level of power and knowledge related to their particular pursuit. The first encounter with the heroes of Earth occurs when theCollector came to Earth seeking to expand his collection.[2] Later, theGrandmaster created the supervillain team theSquadron Sinister as pawns to battle the champions of the time-travelingKang the Conqueror, the superhero team theAvengers.[3]
Although thwarted, the Grandmaster and his fellow Elders take an interest in Earth, and the Collector has two separate encounters with the Avengers, the second ending with his murder by the entityKorvac.[4] The Grandmaster also tricks the entityDeath into playing a contest—again involving many of Earth's heroes—that he deliberately loses to resurrect the Collector.[5] The Grandmaster usurps control of Death's realm, and after a battle between the Avengers and the Grandmaster's champions—theLegion of the Unliving—is tricked by the Avengers. An angered Death then prevents the Elders from ever entering her realm, which effectively makes them immortal and is the Grandmaster's true goal.[6]
The Elder known as theChampion of the Universe has a brief encounter with many of Earth's strongest heroes and challenged them to a boxing match. While he did have them use his personal gym to prepare, the Champion of the Universe had to disqualifyNamor when he refused to stoop to training andDoc Samson, whom the Champion declared to not be a worthy opponent. The day of the boxing match came around as the Champion of the Universe faces off against his opponents. After disqualifyingThor,Hulk, andWonder Man for different reasons and defeating by knockoutColossus andSasquatch in hand-to-hand combat, he facesBen Grimm of theFantastic Four. Eventually realizing that Grimm would never submit under any circumstances, the Champion concedes the match and offers Grimm his respect.[7]
A group of eleven Elders later join forces and meet onEgo the Living Planet (who is also regarded as an Elder) in an effort to kill the cosmic entityGalactus, which would cause the conceptsEternity andDeath to become unbalanced and end the universe. The Elders believe since they are now immortal they would be the only beings to survive and would be supreme beings in the new universe. The plan, however, is thwarted by Galactus' Heralds theSilver Surfer andNova. Galactus captures and consumes five of the Elders (Champion, Collector, Gardener, Grandmaster and Runner), but three other Elders (Astronomer, Possessor and Trader) are sucked into a black hole and pass through it into a mystical universe. Two Elders, the Contemplator and the Obliterator, avoid the wrath of Galactus and his hunger. Both meet with each other being seemingly the last known surviving Elders and plot their revenge against the universe.[8]
Despite this setback, the eight Elders continue their plot against Galactus. While the five Elders within Galactus inflict a fatal case of "cosmic indigestion" upon him, the three Elders in the mystical realm conspire with the cosmic entity theIn-Betweener to restore him in exchange for him returning them to their home reality and his promise to kill Galactus. Using the Silver Surfer,Mister Fantastic, and theInvisible Woman (whom Galactus had sent in search of the Infinity Gems), the In-Betweener is restored, and he brings the Elders back to their own reality. Once there, the In-Betweener attempts to kill Galactus, but discovers that he cannot do so. When he announces his intention to hurl Galactus into the black hole instead, the three Elders, who wanted to rescue their brother Elders from within Galactus, threaten him with the other five Infinity Gems to stop him. The In-Betweener responds by summoning Death and forcing her to negate them despite her vow. As a result, the Astronomer, the Trader and the Possessor and his Runestaff are apparently disintegrated. The ship carrying Galactus is then thrown into the black hole and passes through to the mystical realm where the In-Betweener's creators, Master Order andLord Chaos, force the five Elders within Galactus to exit his body, restoring the world-devourer. During the subsequent battle between Galactus and the In-Betweener, the quintet are eventually persuaded to help Galactus defeat his foe.[9] Moments later, the five Elders use their Infinity Gems to instantaneously travel very far away from Galactus and his vengeance.[10]
Another Elder, the Contemplator, allies with the space pirateReptyl against the Silver Surfer, but is betrayed and apparently killed.[11] The Contemplator is revealed to have survived—as a disembodied head—and goes on to attempt to rule theKree Empire, but is seemingly destroyed by the peace-loving alienCotati.[12]
The five Elders that were previously consumed by Galactus (Champion, Collector, Gardener, Grandmaster, and Runner) are targeted by the TitanThanos because they possess theInfinity Gems. Thanos humiliates each in turn (the Gardener is murdered) and captures the Gems.[13] The Elder the Runner has an encounter with the heroQuasar during which the time being Eon describes the Runner as one of "the thousand or so Elders I'm aware of."[14] Quasar also later confronts the Obliterator, the Possessor, and previously unknown Elders the Explorer, the Judicator and the Caregiver. It is also revealed that the Contemplator killed by Reptyl was aSkrull and not the true Contemplator.[15]
The Grandmaster reappears and creates a new version of the Squadron Sinister. Courtesy of a phenomenon known as the Wellspring of Power—an interdimensional source of superhuman abilities—the Grandmaster increases the Squadron Sinister's powers and they battle the superhero team the New Thunderbolts. The Grandmaster is defeated byHelmut Zemo, and the Squadron Sinister scatter and escape.[16][17] Champion has an encounter with the heroineShe-Hulk and aids her foeTitania by giving her the Power Gem, currently in his possession.[18]
The Astronomer, Champion, Grandmaster, Judicator, and Runner traveled to the planet Godthab Omega, and witnessed the arrival of theAnnihilation Wave.[19]
AfterBattleworld is destroyed in "Secret Wars", the Elders examine the planet's remains, and find them to be teeming with Power Primordial in the form of an "Iso-Sphere". Their inability to come to a mutually beneficial agreement regarding ownership of the Iso-Sphere prompts the Elders into holding a winner-takes-all Contest of Champions which all but the Grandmaster and Collector are eventually eliminated from.[20]
During the "No Surrender" arc, it was revealed that one Elder of the Universe originally went by the name of Grandmaster before being defeated by En Dwi Gast and banished from theEarth-616 reality. Because of the Multiverse being rebuilt, this Elder of the Universe returned. He took the name ofChallenger and assembled a version of theBlack Order to go up against Grandmaster and hisLethal Legion.[21]
The "Empyre" storyline introduced an Elder of the Universe called the Profiteer.[22]
Each Elder of the Universe possesses a fraction of thePower Primordial, remnants of the primordial energies of theBig Bang that still permeate the universe.[23] The Power Primordial can be used to produce a wide range of effects, including augmentation of physical attributes (strength, durability, speed), molecular restructuring, creation of force fields, teleportation and numerous other abilities. Some Elders have incorporated this power into their singular obsessions and developed its potential in themselves (i.e. Champion, Runner) while others have to varying degrees mixed that power with tools or resources their obsessions afforded them (i.e. Contemplator, Grandmaster, Obliterator) or even largely ignored it as irrelevant or detrimental to their pursuits (i.e. Gardener, Collector).
Each Elder has developed skills related to their particular field of interest over a lifespan measured in billions of years. In their particular fields of endeavor (i.e. Grandmaster in strategy, Caregiver in medicine), they have essentially unrivaled superhuman levels of talent and expertise.
Several Elders of the Universe appear in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe.
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