"Eighth Cosmos" is the denomination given to the eighth iteration of existence and seventh Multiverse. It is a continuation of the Seventh Cosmos,^[1] which was destroyed by the Beyonders and the incursions.^[2][3] After being salvaged by Doctor Doom as Battleworld,^[3] the Multiverse was recreated by Reed Richards, Franklin Richards, and the Molecule Man (with the power of the Beyonders).^[4] It is embodied by Eternity/Infinity.^[5]

Death and Rebirth of the Multiverse

The entities responsible for the Seventh Cosmos' destruction have many names, such as the Ivory Kings, but they are most commonly known as the Beyonders.^[6][3][7] Living outside the Multiverse, these Beyonders conducted a grand experiment to witness to simultaneous death of everything inside: a living multiversal bomb known as the Molecule Man. The Earth-616 Molecule Man and Doctor Doom ("Rabum Alal") began interfering with this plan; however, the Beyonders had set up the Molecule Men so that their deaths would cause the Multiverse to contract, resulting in incursions wherein realities would collide. Thus, the Multiverse was still being destroyed by the Beyonders' "perfect annihilation plan."^[8][9]

 We weren't going to prevent the early death of the Multiverse. The Beyonders had built me too well...so we got tricky. [...] We couldn't stop the Beyonders from destroying everything, but we could draw them out...destroy them...steal their power...and store it someplace safe. Where it could be used to preserve some of what had been lost. 

—Molecule Man on Doctor Doom's second plan^[src]

Realizing that killing the Molecule Men was not going to save the Multiverse, Doom began collecting them instead.^[3] In a final last-ditch effort to save something, Doctor Doom unleashed all of the remaining Molecule Men on to the Beyonders after drawing the Beyonders out of their home. The Earth-616 Molecule Man absorbed the Beyonders' power and gave it to Doom, who used it to form the patchwork planet Battleworld out of the Multiverse's remnants.^[10][3] When the Molecule Man transferred the power of the Beyonders to Reed Richards, Reed brought back the "Prime Earth" as well as his family. Franklin Richards, a universal shaper, assisted Reed and the Molecule Man in restoring the Multiverse.^[4]

Notes

• Normally, when a multiversal renewal happens, the new Multiverse starts from nothing. The Eighth Cosmos is the only case of a continuation. It is so unorthodox that some cosmic beings do not believe it is truly the "Eighth,"^[5] though subtle differences confirm that "Eighth" is correct.^[11][12]
  • In addition, the next Multiverse is normally embodied by a completely different being,^[13] but for the Eighth Cosmos, it is still Eternity and Infinity.^[14]
• While the Eighth Cosmos and Seventh Cosmos are virtually identical, there are some differences:
  • Miles Morales plus his friends and family from Earth-1610 (Seventh Cosmos) were rewritten into Earth-616 (Eighth Cosmos) by the Molecule Man.^[4][15] Miles' memories of his original life on Earth-1610 were suppressed, but could be triggered by traumatic events.^[16][17] Earth-616's native Miles Morales was not affected.^[18]
  • Neutronium's natural structure went from 7-points to 8-points, thus stabilizing it in normal reality.^[11]
  • Battleworld's shattered pieces remained and were later used to rebuild it.^[19]
  • Franklin Richards created brand new universes for the Eighth Cosmos.^[20]
  • The Infinity Gems were redesigned to match the MCU Infinity Stones.^[21]
  • The cosmic hierarchy shifted.^[22]
    • Due to having been codified by Reed Richards, the principal abstracts of the Eighth Cosmos were broken into systems of two, namely magic vs. science, time vs. space, oblivion vs. the triple face of judgment, and order vs. chaos.^[23]
  • It is not clear if the incursions are a part of the Eighth Cosmos' history. At the end of Secret Wars #9, Black Panther returns to the scene of Earth-616's very first incursion from New Avengers (Vol. 3) #1 and nothing happens, implying the incursions simply never occured in the Eighth Cosmos' version of events (presumably rewritten by the Molecule Man, like with Miles Morales). However, this is very inconsistently applied between different writers and stories.

• The Beyonders received many significant retcons after Secret Wars (2015), including their motivation for destroying the Multiverse. Previously, it was thought they did it because they were bored and curious.^[3] This was later changed to a "controlled demolition" from Seventh to Eighth, as the Beyonders had thought it would spare the Multiverse from Enigma, but because the Eighth Cosmos is a continuation, the multiversal reboot did not work.^[7][24]