| Immortus | |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Avengers #10 (November 1964) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Nathaniel Richards |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations |
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| Notable aliases |
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Immortus (/ɪˈmɔːrtəs/;Nathaniel Richards) is a fictional character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He is the future self ofPharaoh Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion,Kang the Conqueror, andIron Lad / Kid Immortus, and a descendant of thescientist of the same name.
Immortus made his feature film debut in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), portrayed byJonathan Majors.
Immortus first appeared inThe Avengers #10 (November 1964), and was created byStan Lee andJack Kirby.[1] InThe Celestial Madonna Saga, Immortus wasretroactively established to be the future self of the time-travellingPharaoh Rama-Tut andKang the Conqueror, having turned towards a more peaceful outlook on existence.[2]
At some point in his personal timeline, Rama-Tut (formerly known asKang) became weary of battle due to frustration and the loss of his son Marcus and consortRavonna in several timelines. He was approached by the alien Time-Keepers—time travelers from the end of the universe, the last living creatures in existence—to become their agent, preserving timelines rather than conquering them in exchange for immortality. He accepted and reinvented himself again as Immortus, the lord of the other-dimensional realm ofLimbo.[3]
In his first encounter with the Avengers, Immortus attempts to destroy them by recruiting mythological and historical figures (such asPaul Bunyan,Attila the Hun, andGoliath) as combatants. TheMasters of Evil attack the Avengers afterCaptain America had been taken to theTower of London in 1760, whereRick Jones is imprisoned. After Rick is rescued, he and Captain America return to the present and the Masters of Evil are defeated.[4] Immortus was partially responsible for the creation of theVision, allegedly creating a temporal copy of theoriginal Human Torch that the androidUltron used to create the Vision.
Immortus allies with Kang the Conqueror in one of Kang's schemes against the Avengers and Rama-Tut.[5] He is betrayed by Kang and imprisoned alongside Rama-Tut while Kang uses Immortus's advanced technology to create the firstLegion of the Unliving, made up of dead heroes and villains who are rescued just before they would have died.[6] Immortus is freed by the Avengers and revealed to be the future persona of Rama-Tut and Kang. He offers to aid Vision in learning his past. The Legion of the Unliving are defeated and sent back to their own times, and Kang flees.[7]
Immortus officiates the weddings of Vision toScarlet Witch, andMantis toSwordsman.[8] He assists the Avengers in battling Kang on two separate occasions.[9][10] Immortus later reveals that he had caused Kang to find his fortress in Limbo, faked his death by leaving what Kang thought were his remains in his fortress, caused a disturbance in the timestream, and manipulated him into destroying the Kang divergent doubles to stop their effect on the timestream, as they were creating more timelines and duplicates. The Avengers are brought to Limbo by Kang to help him defeat another version. When Kang tries to seize a device Immortus held that contained the memories of the dead alternate Kangs, he is driven insane. Immortus is questioned by the Avengers on the morality of his actions, but refuses to answer and sends the Avengers back to their own time.[11]
Immortus develops a long-term plot to manipulate the Avengers, which involves him erasing several timelines from existence.[12] He is rendered catatonic for a time by the Time-Keepers as punishment for his attempt to overthrow them.[13] After recovering, Immortus manipulates beliefs regarding the relationship between the Human Torch and Vision. Scarlet Witch is a 'nexus being' whose children who could threaten the cosmic entities; Immortus disrupting her relationship with the Vision limits the possibility of her having children.[14]
Immortus is responsible for manipulatingIron Man to turn against the Avengers by driving him insane,[14] which results in Iron Man's death until he is resurrected byFranklin Richards.[15]
Immortus comes into conflict with his younger self, who is unable to see the reasoning behind Immortus's and Rama-Tut's actions. Kang's conflict with Immortus is dubbed the "Destiny War", with Kang aiding a group of temporally displaced Avengers from multiple time periods in competing against Immortus's schemes. Kang is determined to defy his and Rama-Tut's destiny to become Immortus and become the servant of the Time Keepers.
Immortus fakes his death several times before turning on the Time-Keepers to assist the Avengers, only to be killed as punishment.[16] He is resurrected minutes later as temporal energy from the Time-Keepers' attempts to turn Kang directly into Immortus causes a backlash that causes Rama-Tut, Kang, and Immortus to become separate beings.[17]
When Kang's actions cause the timestream to become critically unbalanced, Immortus allies with theNext Avengers and future versions of Iron Man and theHulk in an attempt to undo the damage. Disguising himself as a younger version of Kang, Immortus travels to the 21st century and convinces the Avengers to come to the future so that they can understand what had happened. Once the Avengers restore the timeline, Immortus turns on his allies and kills Iron Man and Hulk before the Avengers apparently kill him.[18]
Immortus has no superpowers, but he does possess agenius-level intellect and amassed an extensive knowledge of chronophysics. It is known that he was tutored by the Time-Keepers themselves, due to him being virtually immortal.[19]
In 2022,Screen Rant included Immortus in their "10 Most Powerful Hercules Villains In Marvel Comics" list.[20]
An alternate universe version of Immortus appears inEarth X, as Pope of the Church of Immortus. The Church of Immortus's goals are to destroyReed Richards' Human Torches, allowing mankind to keep their mutations. Upon completing this goal, the Church of Immortus would leave Earth to colonize the stars. Immortus is advised by a mysterious man known as Mr. Church, who isMephisto attempting to lead mankind into its own demise.[volume & issue needed]
Immortus is mutated into Kang after being exposed to Terrigen Mists and destroys his time machine in a rage, cursing Mephisto for making him Kang again. In his final appearance in the series, he has come to grips with being Kang and vows to help Reed Richards undo the damage caused by the Church of Immortus.[volume & issue needed]
Immortus makes a cameo appearance in theX-Men: The Animated Series episode "Beyond Good and Evil Pt. 4: End and Beginning", voiced byStephen Ouimette.[21] In the previous parts of the episode, he assumes the identity of time-stream "custodial engineer"Bender.
Characters inspired by Immortus appear in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed byJonathan Majors.
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