The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many Marvel superheroes live in this universe, including characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Wolverine, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and Captain Marvel, Blade, Black Widow, Hawkeye, among numerous others. It also contains well-known supervillains such as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ultron, Thanos, Loki, The Green Goblin, Kang the Conqueror, Red Skull, The Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, Apocalypse, Dormammu, Mysterio, Electro, and the Vulture. It also contains antiheroes such as Venom, Namor, Deadpool, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, and Black Cat.
The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC continuity. It contains such well-known superheroes as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg; as well as teams such as the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Suicide Squad, Doom Patrol, and the Teen Titans. It also contains well-known supervillains, including Lex Luthor, the Joker, the Cheetah, the Reverse-Flash, Black Manta, Sinestro, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Brainiac, and Darkseid.
Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics.
Uatu, often simply known as the Watcher, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #13. He is a member of the Watchers, an extraterrestrial species who in the distant past stationed themselves across space to monitor the activities of other species. Uatu is the Watcher assigned to observe Earth and its Solar System.
Earth Prime is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction, most notably in DC Comics, involving parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, or to a parallel world with a bare minimum of divergence points from Earth as we know it — often the absence or near-absence of metahumans, or with their existence confined to fictional narratives like comics. The "Earth Prime" of a given fictional setting may or may not have an intrinsic value to or vital connection to the other Earths it exists alongside.
The Thunderer is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Timely Comics.
Marvel Zombies is a five-issue limited series published from December 2005 to April 2006 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Robert Kirkman with art by Sean Phillips and covers by Arthur Suydam. It was the first series in the Marvel Zombies series of related stories. The story is set in an alternate universe where the world's superhero population has been infected with a virus which turned them into zombies. The series was spun out of events of the crossover story-arc of Ultimate Fantastic Four, where the zombie Reed Richards tricked his Ultimate counterpart into opening a portal to the zombie universe only for the latter to contain the former from ever coming to his universe.
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the Multiverse was established as being protected by Merlyn. Each universe has a Captain Britain designated to protect its version of the British Isles. These protectors are collectively known as the Captain Britain Corps. This numerical notation was continued in the series Excalibur and other titles. Each universe of the Multiverse in Marvel also appears to be defended by a Sorcerer Supreme at nearly all times, appointed by the mystic trinity of Vishanti to defend the world against threats primarily magical in nature from within and beyond and bearing the Eye of Agamotto.
The Howling Commandos is the name of several fictional groups appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Blue Diamond is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, debuting under the company's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics. The character was created in 1941 by Ben Thompson, who also drew the first comic book adventures of Ka-Zar the Great and Citizen V for Timely, as well as the Masked Marvel for Centaur Publications and Dr. Frost for Prize Comics.
Daring Mystery Comics is an American comic-book series published by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the 1930-1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Primarily a superhero anthology, it ran eight issues from 1940 to 1942, and is notable for work by Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, Alex Schomburg, and the team of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.
U.S.A. Comics was an American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics' 1930–1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books.
In DC Comics, the Multiverse is a "cosmic construct" composed of the many fictional universes the stories of DC take place in. The worlds in this multiverse share a space and fate in common, and its structure has changed several times in the history of DC Comics.
Marvel Apes is a four-issue limited series by comics publisher Marvel Comics which started publication in October 2008. The series is written by Karl Kesel with art by Ramon Bachs and covers by John Watson.
Old Man Logan is an alternative version of the fictional character Wolverine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. This character is an aged version of Wolverine set in an alternate future universe designated Earth-807128, where the supervillains overthrew the superheroes. Introduced as a self-contained story arc within the Wolverine ongoing series by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven, the character became popular with fans. After the death of Wolverine, Laura Kinney took the Wolverine mantle but an Old Man Logan from the similar Earth-21923 was brought in to serve as an X-Man and featured in his own ongoing series.
Marvel Zombies is a comic book metaseries published by Marvel Comics. The series features zombie versions of Marvel Universe superheroes and supervillains who have been portrayed as both protagonists and antagonists through the different limited series within the metaseries.
John Binder was a Golden Age comics creator and art packager. A fine artist by education, Binder had a prolific comics career that lasted primarily from 1937 to 1953, through his most concentrated work was through 1946. He was the creator of the original comic book Daredevil, for Lev Gleason Publications. Binder is credited with coining the term zero gravity as part of a 1938 article in Thrilling Wonder Stories. Binder's younger brothers were Earl and Otto Binder, collectively known as Eando Binder when writing science fiction.
The Multiversity is a two-issue limited series combined with seven interrelated one-shots set in the DC Multiverse in The New 52, a collection of universes seen in publications by DC Comics. The one-shots in the series were written by Grant Morrison, each with a different artist. The Multiversity began in August 2014 and ran until April 2015.
Spider-UK of the Captain Britain Corps, or simply Spider-UK, is the name of several British alternate-reality superheroes appearing in American comic books published in Marvel Comics.
The multiverse is a fictional setting within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Based on the setting of the same name from the Marvel Comics, it is a collection of infinitely many alternate realities and dimensions. First explored in the film Doctor Strange (2016), it is revisited in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019) before playing a key role in Phase Four, Phase Five, and Phase Six of the franchise, which constitute "The Multiverse Saga".
