Ebony Maw

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Ebony Maw
Ebony Maw.jpg
Ebony Maw as depicted in Infinity #6 (January 2014).
Art by In-Hyuk Lee.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Cameo appearance: New Avengers vol. 3 #8 (Sept. 2013)
Full appearance: Infinity #1 (Oct. 2013)
Created by Jonathan Hickman
Jerome Opeña
In-story information
Species Alien
Place of originUnknown
Team affiliations Black Order
Abilities
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Telekinesis
  • Powerful psychic abilities telepathy and mental-manipulation
  • Pyrokinesis
  • Utilizes high-tech equipment

Ebony Maw is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a prominent member of the Black Order, a team of aliens who work for Thanos.

Contents

The character has made several appearances in media, such as animated television series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe live-action films, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), voiced by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, and video games. Lawlor also voiced alternate timeline versions in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021).

Publication history

Ebony Maw first appears in a one-panel cameo in New Avengers #8 (Sept. 2013) and was created by Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opeña. [1] His second one-panel appearance came later that month in Infinity #1 (Oct. 2013).

Fictional character biography

Ebony Maw was a member of Thanos' Black Order. He is not a fighter, but a dangerous thinker of the Black Order. [2] When Thanos targeted Earth as the next planet he would raze during the Infinity storyline, Ebony Maw was dispatched to deal with Doctor Strange. [3]

Ebony Maw used his abilities to control Doctor Strange and force him to summon Shuma-Gorath. [4] When the Illuminati travel around the world to find Thanos' son Thane, Doctor Strange finds him in a hidden Inhuman city of Orollan in Greenland before freeing himself from Maw's control. [5]

When Black Bolt detonates a Terrigen Bomb, spreading Terrigen Mists across Earth, Thane undergoes Terrigenesis and gains the ability to kill anyone with a touch. [6] However, he cannot control his powers, so Ebony Maw gives him a containment suit. [7] When the Avengers arrive in Orollan to battle Thanos, Maw convinces Thane to assist the latter and becomes his mentor. [8]

During the "No Surrender" arc, Ebony Maw appears as a member of Challenger's Black Order and battles the Grandmaster's Lethal Legion. [9]

Powers and abilities

Ebony Maw has genius-level intellect. He mostly demonstrates his intelligence with his highly skilled abilities of manipulation being described as a "black tongue that spreads mischief and evil wherever he goes." [10] Maw's skills at manipulation are a result of his superhumanly persuasive voice, which allows him to control even the strongest minds such as Doctor Strange. [11] Maw's other abilities include telekinesis and pyrokinesis. [12] [13]

He also uses technology that provides for teleportation and force field generation. [14] [15]

In other media

Television

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Ebony Maw appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, voiced and motion-captured by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. [16] [17] [18] [19] This version has telekinetic abilities and serves as Thanos' herald, perversely evangelizing to the inhabitants of worlds that Thanos attacks that they are actually being saved and the ones who are dead or dying should "rejoice" in their deaths bringing balance to the universe.

Video games

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References

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