"Eighth Cosmos" is the denomination given to the eighthiteration of existence and seventhMultiverse. It is a continuation of theSeventh Cosmos,^[1] which was destroyed by theBeyonders and theincursions.^[2][3] Afterbeing salvaged byDoctor Doom asBattleworld,^[3] the Multiverse was recreated byReed Richards,Franklin Richards, and theMolecule Man (with the power of the Beyonders).^[4] It is embodied byEternity/Infinity.^[5]

Death and Rebirth of the Multiverse

The entities responsible for theSeventh Cosmos' destruction have many names, such as the Ivory Kings, but they are most commonly known as theBeyonders.^[6][3][7] Livingoutside the Multiverse, these Beyonders conducted a grand experiment to witness to simultaneous death of everything inside: a living multiversal bomb known as theMolecule Man. TheEarth-616 Molecule Man andDoctor Doom ("Rabum Alal") began interfering with this plan; however, the Beyonders had set up the Molecule Men so that their deaths would cause the Multiverse to contract, resulting inincursions wherein realities would collide. Thus, the Multiverse was still being destroyed by the Beyonders' "perfect annihilation plan."^[8][9]

Realizing that killing the Molecule Men was not going to save the Multiverse, Doom began collecting them instead.^[3] In a final last-ditch effort to save something, Doctor Doom unleashed all of the remaining Molecule Men on to the Beyonders after drawing the Beyonders out of their home. The Earth-616 Molecule Man absorbed the Beyonders' power and gave it to Doom, who used it to form the patchwork planetBattleworld out of the Multiverse's remnants.^[10][3] When the Molecule Man transferred the power of the Beyonders toReed Richards, Reed brought back the "Prime Earth" as well as his family.Franklin Richards, a universal shaper, assisted Reed and the Molecule Man in restoring the Multiverse.^[4]

Notes

• Normally, when amultiversal renewal happens, the newMultiverse starts from nothing. The Eighth Cosmos is the only case of a continuation. It is so unorthodox that somecosmic beings do not believe it is truly the "Eighth,"^[5] though subtle differences confirm that "Eighth" is correct.^[11][12]
  • In addition, the next Multiverse is normally embodied by acompletely different being,^[13] but for the Eighth Cosmos, it is stillEternity andInfinity.^[14]
• While the Eighth Cosmos andSeventh Cosmos are virtually identical, there are some differences:
  • Miles Morales plus his friends and family fromEarth-1610 (Seventh Cosmos) were rewritten intoEarth-616 (Eighth Cosmos) by theMolecule Man.^[4][15] Miles' memories of his original life on Earth-1610 were suppressed, but could be triggered by traumatic events.^[16][17] Earth-616'snative Miles Morales was not affected.^[18]
  • Neutronium's natural structure went from 7-points to 8-points, thus stabilizing it in normal reality.^[11]
  • Battleworld's shattered pieces remained and were later used to rebuild it.^[19]
  • Franklin Richards created brand new universes for the Eighth Cosmos.^[20]
  • TheInfinity Gems were redesigned to match theMCU Infinity Stones.^[21]
  • A "missing moment" was inadvertently created byReed Richards.^[22]
  • The cosmic hierarchy shifted.^[23]
    • Due to having been codified by Reed Richards, the principalabstracts of the Eighth Cosmos were broken into systems of two, namelymagic vs.science,time vs.space,oblivion vs. thetriple face of judgment, andorder vs.chaos.^[24]
  • It is not clear if theincursions are a part of the Eighth Cosmos' history. At the end ofSecret Wars #9,Black Panther returns to the scene of Earth-616's very first incursion fromNew Avengers (Vol. 3) #1 and nothing happens, implying the incursions simply never occured in the Eighth Cosmos' version of events (presumably rewritten by the Molecule Man, like with Miles Morales). However, this is very inconsistently applied between different writers and stories.

• TheBeyonders received many significant retcons afterSecret Wars (2015), including their motivation for destroying the Multiverse. Previously, it was thought they did it because they were bored and curious.^[3] This was later changed to a "controlled demolition" from Seventh to Eighth, as the Beyonders had thought it would spare the Multiverse fromEnigma, but because the Eighth Cosmos is a continuation, the multiversal reboot did not work.^[7][25]

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