The Thanos Imperative is a Marvel comic story that focuses on the efforts to stop an alternative universe from taking over from reality. The Cancerverse is a horrific dimension where nothing ever dies and mutates forever.
Thanos Imperative #1-6
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Miguel Sepulvida & Brad Walker
From the Canerverse come the evil doubles of Marvel heroes led by Captain Mar-Vell, the alternative version of Captain Marvell.
Star-Lord convinces the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy that he has an all or nothing plan to save the universe. Joining in with his efforts to save the universe with that plan is Silver Surfer and Quasar.
Star-Lord’s plan involves using the mad Titan Thanos to take on Captain Mar-Vell and to stop the Cancerverse from spreading. It just so happens that Thanos is a prisoner under the control of Star-Lord.
There is something ironic that Thanos turns out to be the best option for saving the universe when he had previously destroyed half of it. Yet for the Guardians there seems to be little choice. Thanos becomes their ultimate but unpredictable weapon.
Table of Contents
What Is The Plot Of Thanos Imperative?
The Guardians take Thanos to the Cancerverse and have him unleash his power against it. Whilst on the way Drax attempts to kill Thanos yet he is killed by the Titan instead.
Once Thanos gets to the Cancerverse he unleashes an apocalypse on the scale of class X-4 which means destroying it on a universal scale. Thanos would have it increased that destruction to the class X-5 but for the intervention of Star-Lord and Nova.
Using the power of Thanos, the Guardians of the Galaxy seem to have defeated Cancerverse, though at the cost of Thanos promising to kill them all.
Whilst that was happening the Universal Church of Truth and the Magus had managed to reopen the Fault and revive the threat of Cancerverse. Quasar rescues Nova after he is confronted by Magus, after stopping his own double.
Nova and Quasar are stunned by what Magus does next, and by using the word, Ignition by itself.
Somehow Magus transported many planets belonging to the Universal Church of Truth right next to the Fault. As soon as he uttered Ignition all of these planets explode at the same time, which rips open the Fault.
That massive explosion unleashes all kinds of terrifying creatures from within the Fault. Moondragon, Mantis and Cosmo become aware that there is a terrible problem brewing.
Yet before the Guardians of the Galaxy can do anything about those creatures Thanos manages to escape. Once free Thanos goes on a rampage of destruction.
Meanwhile, one of the beings that has escaped from the Fault is met by Magus and the fake Quasar as their leader. They try to keep him informed of everything that is going on. Mar-Vell then kills Magus for failing to locate and destroy Thanos.
Mar-Vell is the leader of every being that came out of the Fault and his aim is to expel Death from the universe as he has already done with the Cancerverse.
What Comes From The Cancerverse?
Lord Mar-Vell is the leader of all living and undead things, which emerge from the Cancerverse. From the Cancerverse emerge doubles or false versions of other characters like Quasar.
Yet Lord Mar-Vell knows that he must destroy Thanos to prevent further death. For Mar-Vell is the bearer of Life, whilst Thanos is the bearer of Death.
Mar-Vell explores the universe to locate Thanos, as Thanos and the Guardians search the Cancerverse to find Lord Mar-Vell.
The Guardians and Thanos view something vast approaching them in the distance when the false version of the Vision talks to them. He warns them about what is heading their way.
From another position, Nova, Quasar and the Silver Surfer are also watching the Fault. The Silver Surfer manages to get the best view and describes what is coming as being more powerful than Galactus.
The evil Galactus proceeds to invade the universe, forcing the Guardians and Thanos to go to the Cancerverse to find a means of stopping it.
Nova leads the Guardians against Mar-Vell, who detects that Thanos is present after the latter kills Drax the Destroyer.
Badly shaken by the death of Star-Lord the Guardians of the Galaxy decide to disband. However, the survivors then decide to regroup under the new name of Annihilators.
Though they do not join the new group Groot and Rocket Raccoon also continue their efforts to fight Mar-Vell. Yet first, they have to assist the Avengers against Thanos.
Who Do Guardians Of The Galaxy Fight in Thanos Imperative?
The Guardians not only have to fight Lord Mar-Vell, but they also have Thanos to contend with.
Nova takes his force the Cosmic Avengers to deal with the Revengers. The battle is won by the Revengers whilst Nova manages to transfer his powers to Quasar before he takes on Mar-Vell.
Having killed Nova, Mar-Vell believes he cannot be stopped especially after Thanos betrays the Guardians to him. Yet he is not able to kill Thanos who contained Death itself.
After killing Mar-Vell, Death comes out of Thanos, who in turn goes into a rage. Nova and Star-lord combine to take both Death and Thanos back into the Fault, which then collapses.
It is not known if any of them survive the crash.
Why Is The Thanos Imperative Important For Guardians Of The Galaxy Fans?
The Thanos Imperative is important for the Guardians Of The Galaxy fans as it continues from where the book Realm of the King had left off.
This is the story, in which we learn of the aims of the Universal Church of Truth. It shows how they supported Lord Mar-Vell in his efforts to take over the galaxy from the Cancerverse.
This volume also shows how high the costs of stopping Mar-Vell was for the Guardians and their allies.
In this volume, authors Abnett and Lanning kill off quite a few of the characters such as Drax the Destroyer Mugas, and Thanos. Even the main characters of Star-Lord and Nova are apparently killed.
It is definitely worth reading this volume for its different take on the Marvel Universe and because the plot and the twists in the story are not the average comic story.
The idea of the Marvel superpowers being attacked by Cancerverse doubles is a great element to this story. We see the Guardians of the Galaxy up against unbeatable odds and not everyone makes it out alive.
Not only is this a great Guardians of the Galaxy comic, but also a great Thanos story. Well worth reading for fans of either comic book.
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