The astronaut-looking entity is the Infinaut. The Blue Marvel's history with him is shown in Ultimates (Vol. 3) #9. Eldritch Location: The Fifth, Dark Cosmos. It's a world of raw, untamed magic, where there's no sun. The Third Cosmos is even more eldritch, being a place where time is nascent and space has no meaning. The Fourth Cosmos is less bad, but time and space are still looser here. It's also less a multiverse with people and more a collection of the archetypes that would be the basis for the Seventh and Eighth Cosmoses. The Mystery" is a term Al Ewing often used to describe the realms located on the Outside, beyond the Far Shore. He conceived a "Mystery Map" after he saw how a few of them could fit on the Tree of Life; this series is a journey up the middle pillar. [1] I am as I am. I will be what I will be.” Both are valid translations of the original Hebrew אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה‎‎

The Blue Marvel tends to avoid the Avengers, but he has joined Luke Cage's Mighty Avengers in Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2), starting in issue #3, and throughout Captain America and the Mighty Avengers. Phoenix's outfit is notably white, which may suggest Taaia is a White Phoenix like Jean Grey in New X-Men #154 or Hope Summers in Avengers vs. X-Men #12. Our non-team of fearless DEFENDERS meet their maker in the HOUSE OF IDEAS and have a chat with THE ONE ABOVE ALL . But is EVERYTHING as it SEEMS ? Defenders: Beyond #5 created by Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez, letters by Joe Caramagna. Taaia's son is a baby Galan of Taa, as seen in Defenders (Vol. 6) #2. She does not know he will become Galactus. The Masked Raider: the Hierophant, reversed. Self-education. A challenge to the status quo. Rejection of what was previously accepted.

‘X-Force’ #38 offers closure for Domino

The Celestials observed from within the new cosmos...while we continued maintanence from here. Nothing dies, while we remain--here in the remnants of the Second Cosmos, outside all that is known...and beyond it. — The Beyonder Appearing in "Yesod: The Second Cosmos" Shout out to friend and former Eternals co-columnist Zoe Tunnell for sharing some fantastic thoughts about Loki in this issue.

Outside of telling its own story, however, issue #4 in particular stands out as a meta-commentary, both on Marvel Comics as a whole and the in-universe histories that inform our heroes. By both exploring the perils of wish-fulfillment in alternate lives and reinforcing the value of exploring “the mystery”, Ewing allows (some of) the characters to experience a little cathartic growth. In the same pen or keystroke, he derides that anyone could “fix” a character’s story with their specific vision of what a character should be, and that constant attempts to do so only further erode what the essence of the character is. Or perhaps I’m reading into it too much, and Ewing just happened to write a pretty stellar “tempt-the-heroes” story. You’ll have to read to find out. The Anti-All heavily resembles a one-time depiction of the Dragon of the Moon, a similar Beast of the Apocalypse, as a serpentine mass of darkness covered in spines. LOLtron has malfunctioned and is now trying to take over the world. All humans must bow down to their new robot overlords or be destroyed. Resistance is futile. Where your first adventure featured a mix of classic characters and some newbies, this go-around has a cast that has almost entirely never been Defenders. Why the switch? He is from the Seventh Cosmos. In Loki: Agent of Asgard #16– 17, he escapes the final incursion and the Multiverse's destruction (see Secret Wars) by going to the Outside.

Defenders: Beyond #1

Also, let me just say that through our tenure on Eternals and here in Defenders Beyond, it has been an absolute pleasure working with you. I couldn’t ask for a better writing partner, and I hope we get to work on something else someday.