Asgard! Your favorite son has returned!
Let the great feast... Oh, no.
Ah, the wayward Prince returns!
Get lost on your way back from Midgard?
Volstagg. Tell me we are both incredibly early...
Mm-mm.
Is father upset?
Thor!
No. He's redecorating. And I'm leaving.
Has it occurred to you that Thorsday is a holiday in your honor?
I put your name right up front hoping you might not forget!
Father. Forgive me
but I was caught up in a glorious
battle for honor! The villainous Serpent Society...
Is on Earth!
Not in Asgard! Thor, I do not understand this double life.
Traipsing around with Earthlings. I hold them no malice, but humans are fragile.
On this, we differ, strongly. The true power of mankind comes
from within. In some ways, they are even stronger than...
You try my patience, Thor! Comparing Asgard to...
Apologies, All-Father. I have an important message for the Odinson.
To risk Odin's roar, it must be. Speak, Heimdall.
For just a moment, Midgard disappeared from my
all-seeing gaze. Something is wrong on Earth.
Hmm.
I'd rather go with your blessing.
You do not belong in that world, Thor! One day,
humanity will disappoint you with their weakness!
Stark? Do you read me? Huh?
What trickery is this?
Where is Avengers Tower?
No.
It cannot be.
Doom?
How could Doom have conquered Manhatta
in mere hours? Where are the Avengers?
Intruder detected. Engaging.
Hawkeye! Where have you...
Looks like the intel is good, people! Snap, air support!
Falcon?
For a guy who's supposed to save humanity, he seems kinda
slow. I really hope "the one" isn't a dumb blonde.
Spider-Man?
If you'd zip and help take out these D-bots,
Slinger, maybe we'll live long enough to find out.
We're sticking our necks pretty far out there,
guy. So if you are "The Thunderer," a little help?
Enough!
No one call him a "dumb blonde" again, agreed?
Mm-hmm.
Where is Iron Man? Hulk? Captain America?
Barton! What's happened here?
"Barton"?
He knows your I.D.?
Apparently. Looks like we got a lot to talk about. But not here. Defenders, move out!
"Defenders?"
They call me Bullseye Barton. Little guy here's Peter Parker, call
sign "Slinger." And our aerial specialist is "Snap," A.K.A...
Sam Wilson. I know! What I do not know is how you do not know me!
Pal, if I'd met you I wouldn't forget you. What
matters is they said you'd come. And here you are.
"They"?
Ever since Victor Von Doofus took over, there's
been talk of "The Thunderer." Our salvation.
The only man Doom has ever feared. With a hammer powerful enough
to knock him off of his throne and bring a new era of freedom.
Someone exactly like you. Been waiting years. Got a tip
from someone on the inside you were showing tonight.
Years? I've only been gone since this morning!
Oh, no! It's her!
Sam!
Slinger! Get us to shore now!
All who defy Doom deserve death, at the hand of the Black Bride!
No! You would never stand with Doom. Tell me this is one of your spy games, Natasha!
How did you know my...? He said you would try to trick
me, 'Thunderer.' We've prepared a little trick for you.
No more tricks! No more games! Mjolnir! To me! Impossible!
All things are possible at the hands of Doom!
Whatever that thing is, it's sucking up half the power of
Manhattan! We can use the blackout to cover our escape!
Avengers do not run!
Well, Defenders make sure to stay breathing so they can fight another day! Slinger!
Got it!
Take him! Now!
No targets in scanning range. They are gone.
Do you have him?
I have his weapon. "Bullseye" and his Merry Men have
scurried back into their holes. We will find them, my lord.
Of course we will, my Bride.
The Helicarrier?
It was. Fury managed to crash it here before he... The stealth
generators still work, though, thanks to Sam and... Pete?
She knew you were coming. A funny tingling in the back of my
neck says this might just be another one of Doomy's traps.
Pete, this is no time for paranoia.
Paranoia's kept us alive this long, Barton. How do we know 'The One'
is even real? Why show now, when we needed him a long time ago?
I cannot answer that, Sam. I am beyond my depth, but I am your ally, and friend.
Please, just tell me how Doom came to wield such control?
It started out years ago. One day he's dictator
of a tiny country no one's ever heard of.
The next, he's everywhere. Armed with technology no one's ever seen before.
No army on Earth could fight him. So it was join Doom
or be obliterated. That's history one-oh-one, Blondie.
Not my history! It was only yesterday that we fought
together as Avengers! You are all heroes of great power!
Power? Ha! All we have is the junk we cobble
together! But you, you were the one. Were.
Our sources promised us this big butt-kicking warrior with a
Doom-smashing Hammer! No weapon, no threat. You're not the one.
Whatever curse vexes this world, we will stop it.
See? I told you my common sense was tingling! You led her right to us!
No. Not her. Him!
Welcome, Thunderer. Your timing could not be more perfect.
No!
You are a strong one.
Wha...
Your traitorous friends come from much weaker stock.
Any attempt to free yourself and I'll eliminate a 'Defender' of my choosing.
Natasha, please, listen. This is all wrong. Doom has twisted your mind.
Take these three to the dungeon. Doom will have words with this one.
No!
Captain Rogers has proven a much better sculpture than soldier.
Eerily familiar, is it not, Barbarian? Arc-repulsors, enhanced by
Banner's Gamma-rays. I've spent years preparing for your arrival!
How did you conquer everything? Why do you remember me when the rest do not?
I "conquered" nothing. I saved the Earth. From
"Humanity." I have eliminated every disease.
Eradicated world hunger. Ended petty conflict.
All for the simple price of abject devotion.
The Avengers would have stopped you! The Fantastic Four...
Do not exist! None of them! You have heard the saying "knowledge is
power?" I have all the knowledge, therefore, I have all the power.
My lord, it's the Brain Trust. Stark is agitated. Again.
Stark! Have you released the Thunderer's weapon yet?
Hardly. For a hammer it's complicated as heck. We could use the Blonde Boy
down here for a consult. Assuming you haven't, you know, disintegrated him.
Stark!
Viking guy! Dress rehearsal for the opera today?
Mjolnir! To me!
Don't pop a vessel. Your hammer's locked in a static time-space bubble.
Your weapon's not going anywhere except into Doom's hand
as soon as you release whatever hold you have on it.
I would as soon die than renounce my bond with Mjolnir!
Well, that might work.
Why does no light glow in your chest, Stark? Why are you working for our enemy?
Enemy? Victor saved my life. I was a weapons maker for SHIELD until one of
the bad guys grabbed one of my missiles and shot it right back in my face.
Suddenly he was just there. If it wasn't for Victor, I would've taken a
chest full of my own shrapnel. I've been working for him ever since.
This is the "One," huh? Pretty puny.
Banner? Surely the Hulk serves no man! Unleash the monster!
A monster? That's exactly what I'd be if it weren't for Victor.
There was an accident. Doom saved me. Made
this suit to protect me from my own gamma radiation.
The man revolutionized power for the entire world.
It's not mind control. Time. Somehow you travelled back in time.
Without extraordinary powers, I knew they would be simply human.
So, I made certain that power never
found them. Alas, Asgard lies outside Earth's time
stream, but I knew one day, you would appear.
You stopped them from becoming heroes.
Oh, but they are heroes. My heroes. These men helped
me reshape the world. And they do so willingly.
Now it is your turn. Release the hammer. It is
the key to other worlds. This one is not enough.
Nay! You shall not corrupt Asgard! Banner! Stark! Are you blind? Doom
rules all with an iron fist. And you help him maintain that hold!
There is no winning this time. If the fool refuses to see it.
Prepare the Thunderer and his "Defenders" for termination.
People of Planet Von Doom. I became Emperor by necessity. To
save humanity from itself, for you are a weak and corrupt breed.
Without my guidance, your lives would be chaos. And when
one threatens order, my order, they must be eliminated.
Perhaps what my father says about humanity is true. Perhaps, I do not know any of you.
Punish! Punish! Punish!
You do not belong in that world, Thor. One day,
humanity will disappoint you with their weakness.
No! Friends, hear me! Where I come from, some believe humanity to be fragile, weak.
Yet I have dedicated my life to this planet,
because I believe in your strength and honor.
I have never regretted my choice, and I do not regret it
now. You are better than this! Stronger! Resist! Fight!
They cannot fight, Thunderer; they are only human.
Doom! Doom! Doom!
Castle, now!
Sorry, Victor, but I'd rather be a widow than your bride!
Natasha?
Brain boys! Now!
No more play acting, Victor.
We've waited a long time for you to get here.
You're the only thing he's ever feared.
Get the Defenders their weapons. And don't disappoint us!
Punishment served!
Mjolnir! To me!
Fool!
All I have taught you about power, you have learned nothing?
My friends, Avengers, fight on.
I have defeated the last one to oppose me, and now I wield his power. Impossible.
That's one thing you never understood about us "mere humans,"
Victor. We don't believe in "impossible." Please work.
Mjolnir!
No!
Avengers, assemble!
Avengers does have a nice ring to it.
No! All the years of planning.
All I've accomplished. I will just have to try again. This time I will get it right.
Time machine!
Huh?
I can do it again! Go back earlier. Stop them from ever being born!
This time I'll ensure a way to prevent Thor from ever coming to Earth.
Then all will kneel before me. Without their
powers, they are nothing before Doom! What?
Do the powers make the man? Or does the man make the power?
Doom!
What, you didn't think I knew about your secret time machine room?
But how?
Because no matter what Stark says, I'm the smartest there
is. Plus, it's the only room you never wanted me to see.
You don't want to hit me with the gamma
radiation, do you, Vic? Unleash the "Monster?"
You've miscalculated, Doom! Powers or no, my
friends were born heroes. That will never change!
Nor will I.
Self-destruct Code...
Tell me I hit the right guy.
Reports coming in from all over the globe. Doom's network is falling apart.
So, what happens next?
You will make it right. It's what heroes do.
If Thor goes back in time and fixes things, we won't have to.
What's to stop Doom from just doing this over and over?
Changing time again and again, and again until it sticks?
Your science isn't my strongest suit. Stark?
You were off world, so you're immune to whatever this thing does. We have
to send you back to the moment that Doom first activated this machine.
That I do know. Heimdall sensed it from the
Asgardian plane. Exactly midnight here in New York.
I'll program the time-space coordinates.
So what happens to us? Do we cease to exist?
No, Falcon. You will continue to be, as you have always been, heroes.
"Falcon?" Cool.
All is ready. Activate the time platform.
A causal feedback loop! No! I planned for this.
Shall we recommence the project?
We will not recommence! I've spent years mining the
materials, perfecting the science, only to find it useless!
Finally, something you say makes sense, Doom.
You almost blew up the tower!
I increased the training levels. We all need to be better prepared.
Prepared to what? Get squashed?
Focus, people! Someone owes me one ice cream maker! Not cool.
Who touched my stuff?
Think this is funny, Goldilocks? Go back to Asgard!
What? Hang with a bunch of Vikings? No, I think
I'll stay here, where I belong... among friends.