The Avengers Confirms Huge Fan Theory About the Marvel Multiverse and Variations

The concept of "mutants" in the Marvel multiverse has sparked a lot of fan debate, but a recent Avengers comic seems to answer a major question.

After the Marvel Cinematic Universe helped popularize the concept of the multiverse with mainstream audiences, a recent Avengers comic put to rest any debate among fans about alternate reality variants of familiar characters. The multiverse has been a recurring element in Marvel comics for decades, but fans still want answers about the multiverse, as evidenced in Forever Avengers: Infinity Comics #4.

Alternate realities in comic books offer a wealth of creativity and storytelling possibilities, featuring characters from established worlds in completely re-imagined settings. Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's 2015 crossover event "Secret Wars" brought together several heroes and villains from multiple Marvel Comics timelines, each All in their own different ways. Jason Aaron and Kev Walker's Avengers Forever Infinity Comics #4 continues to focus on another Marvel Universe variant, Earth-5478. The world has its own iteration of the Avengers, battling the satanic figure Mephisto as well as Thunder Goddess, Tony Stark, Omni Knight, Ant-Man, and Deadlock, among others. As their names suggest, each of the heroes highlighted originates from Marvel's mainline Earth-616 continuity.

Marvel Concept Of Variants Is Basically Meaningless

Seems like there are still doubts, fans can rest now It's a little easier to know that each existing variant is indeed their own unique entity. At first it was thought that "variant" might just mean a variation of the same character, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all now. Variants may share common similarities, such as facial features and morals, but they differ from each other. Even though he may share villains, supporting characters, and character traits, Earth-616's Peter Parker is very different from the Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) Parker. In the case of Iron Man, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel, what unites the three is their need to win "for the end of infinity."

With the MCU releasing its third live-action Disney+ series, Loki, in 2021, the concept of "variants" has gained mainstream attention. In addition to the titular characters, the time travel show has also introduced countless variants of both established and new characters in the main MCU continuity. Perhaps most memorable is "Survivor," a mysterious variant of Kang the Conqueror, the time-traveling tyrant and future Avengers big bad. Loki is a big part of future installments in Marvel Studios' long-term plan Its "multiverse saga" will culminate in 2026's blockbuster "Avengers: Secret War."

Variant might be a straightforward way to explain Marvel's various alternate characters, but it's not quite the correct term. It's best to think of the Avengers variants as entirely separate characters, rather than variants of the same character.

Next: Every Death in the Ultimate Avengers Multiverse Battle So Far