The Avengers have fought a lot of cosmic, extra-dimensional and supernatural beings in the comic books. They have fought Galactus – the Devourer of Worlds, the Beyonders – beings that live outside the Universe and even the Celestials – Cosmic Gods that govern, judge and experiment on all life in the Universe. But the Avengers are going to face an enemy that is so immensely strong they could put Gods to shame. Even the Celestials and the Beyonders are nothing compared to their might. That’s right folks. The Avengers’ newest enemies are the strongest foes they have ever met!!
Spoiler Alert: The following paragraphs contain MAJOR Spoilers for Avengers #1. If you still haven’t read it yet, we suggest you look away…..
The Avengers assembling to stop villains from destroying Earth and/or the Universe is a theme as recurring as Monday Mornings. The story always starts with the Avengers facing a threat they have no chance of beating, the villains are on the brink of victory and sooner than later, the heroes do find a way and beat the living crap out of the bad guy. As generic as that story sounds; it has worked for Marvel Comics for decades. But this time, Marvel Comics has decided to break the mold. They have made the Avenger’s newest foes so powerful that they killed even the Celestials with ease.
To give you a standard of comparison, the Celestials are so powerful that it took all the energy of all the Gods of all the Marvel comic book Pantheons of Earth (Hindu, Norse, Greek and the likes) and they still couldn’t even put a dent on let alone take down even one of those monstrosities. To think the Avengers are going to face an enemy that took down the Celestials as if it was child play is a nightmare in and of itself.
But before we begin, Let us talk about the Celestials a bit more.
The Celestials were created by Jack Kirby in Eternals #2. They came into being in the year 1976 and officially became a part of the Marvel universe. The Celestials bear some resemblance to Erich Von Daniken’s Space Gods who are tinkering with humanity led to various incredible technological advancements. The Celestials are giant cosmic space gods of the same or even bigger caliber.
They have experimented on several sentient beings throughout the universe. Their experiments on humanity are the reason Marvel Comics has superhumans in their ranks. Their most well-known experiments are the Eternals, godlike beings that can tap into the Power Cosmic and are gifted with several superhuman feats and the Deviants. The Deviants are the polar opposite of the Eternals in every way. They are huge, ugly and grotesque. They also happen to be a malevolent race that wants to destroy the Eternals at any cost.
No one knows how the Celestials came into being in the Marvel Universe. Some say they are the remnants of the previous universe that absorbed the energy of the Big Bang and became cosmic gods. Some say they are the children of Eternity, an abstract entity that governs the universe’s laws along with her sister Infinity. The Celestials are meddling with the universe as they want the universe to produce another Eternity to replace the older one.
While the most popular theory is that the Celestials serve a universal entity called the Fulcrum. As servants of the Fulcrum, they watch over the younger races and experiment on them as well as making sure the younger races neither interfere with their experiments or the universe as a whole. They are scientists that have somehow become gods, and now act as shepherds to the flock of sheep that now inhabits this universe.
The Celestials have also gone toe to toe with another ancient species of the Galaxy. The Watchers began as a benevolent race that decided they need to spread their hyper-advanced technology to help uplift the other technologically inferior alien races of the universe.
The Watchers then drew the ire of the Celestials, whose policy of non-interference in other races’ matters was in direct collision with that of the Watchers’. War ensued soon after. The Watchers lost the war and they had to abide by the Celestials’ rule of not interfering with the other races. As a result, all they have done until now is observe and watch, hence the name.
The lists of Celestials that have made an appearance in Marvel Comics until now are: Arishem the Judge, Ashema the Listener, Tiamut, The Dreaming Celestial, Eson the Searcher, Exitar the Exterminator, Gammenon the Gatherer, Hargen the Measurer, Jemiah the Analyzer, Nezarr the Calculator, The One Above All, Oneg the Prober, Tefral the Surveyor, Ziran the Tester, Devron the Experimenter, Gamiel the Manipulator, The Red Celestial, The Blue Celestial, The Red/Blue Judge, Monolith Gatherer, Scathan the Approver.
The threat of the Final Host is real and absolute in Avengers #1. The Celestials become their latest targets. The Celestials are cosmic god-like entities that hold absolute control over the Power Cosmic. They do regular experimentations on life forms scattered throughout the cosmos.
The Eternals -the superhuman race that Thanos belongs to, is a product of Celestial experimentation on a pre Homo-Sapiens species of Earth. Whenever the Celestials are brought into the equation in Marvel Comics, powerful cosmic forces arrive into the scene. This time, as a host of Celestials fall onto Earth, we are greeted by the threat of the Final Host – the group of dark cosmic beings that took the former out.
We still don’t know much about this new group of Dark Celestials apart from the fact that they are nothing like their rather well-known brethren. We could deduce that they are extremely powerful and are elite of their own kind as they did take out the other Celestials with ease. They are nothing like Jack Kirby’s cosmic armor sporting classic Celestials. They each sport a look that is rather unique and a personality different to each other. The Final Host will be coming to Earth as the Avengers prepare for battle against an enemy they can never hope to win.
It’s not like the Avengers are totally useless against these forces. Thor did take out a Celestial with his mystical Jarnbjorn axe once. The Avengers from 1,000,000 BC also took out a Celestial host long ago after combining their powers. The Celestials aren’t invincible, just impossibly hard to beat.
On the other hand, the Dark Celestials are rumored to be even more powerful than Celestials. They are thought to be in the same league as the Beyonders, who could tap into the very fabric of space-time. If that is indeed true, then the fight is over even before it began. After all, the Avengers were unable to beat even the Beyonders during Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers run prior to 2015’s Secret Wars. What good they would be against foes that are as powerful as a foe they have already failed to beat in the past??
Maybe this time, the Avengers cannot make do with just their own members. It is high time to call for allies. The Avengers of 1,000,000 BC could be of help here. They have experience and knowledge that Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor could use.
The Avengers of 1 Million BC have, as we said, fought the Celestials. They even managed to hurt one really badly. A vibranium shield, a suit of iron and a magical hammer may not be enough to take down the enemy this time. They will need something more. Captain Marvel or the Avengers of 1 Million BC is just our favorite guesses. There are plenty of other people that could be of help.
Maybe it could be the Watchers or the Devourer of Worlds, who just so happens to hold a grudge against the Celestials. Or maybe there a completely new ally that could take center stage this time. Anything can happen. It’s Marvel after all. Or maybe a completely new ally could take center stage this time.
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