The Beyonders...they really knew their stuff. They made one of me to kill a universe. And all of me to kill the Multiverse. [...] We had to kill me. Lots and lots of me's. At first, it was a cost I was willing to pay...[...]...but the madness wasn't worth it. We weren't going to prevent the early death of the Multiverse. The Beyonders had built me too well... 

—Molecule Man^[src]

The incursions are the result of the Beyonders' machination to end the Multiverse and Rabum Alal's failed attempt at stopping them.^[1][2] To destroy the Multiverse, the Beyonders, desiring to spare it from Enigma,^[3][4] conducted an "experiment" and created the Molecule Man as a living "bomb" in each reality. The death of these Molecule Men destroys their universe and they were all set to go off in 25 years. Opposing the Beyonders, the Molecule Man–616 and Doctor Doom, Rabum Alal's true identity,^[5] embarked on a time-travelling mission to eliminate all of these Molecule Men early to diminish the charge and save the Multiverse; they founded the Black Swans to help. However, the Beyonders had built the Molecule Men "too well" and the sabotage attempt simply sent the Multiverse on an alternate path of destruction.^[2] The Molecule Men's deaths had caused the Multiverse to contract, both in its timeline and the proximity of its realities, and realities began to collide in events called incursions.^[6] The first incursion happened seven years after the first Molecule Man's death,^[1] and the site was Earth because that was where the Molecule Man had died.^[7] To the Beyonders, this was not unforeseen, as the Beyonders had designed the incursions to happen as part of their "perfect annihilation plan."^{[8][9][10][11]}

The contraction caused universes throughout the Multiverse to collide, with each universe's respective Earth as the point of impact. An incursion is the the period in which the two Earths collide, lasting exactly eight hours.^[6] Throughout the duration, there is a short period of harmonic alignment which allows both Earths to exist next to each other without any detrimental effects.

Once the eight hours pass and the Earths collide, both the planets and their respective universes are obliterated.^[6] According to the Black Swan, there are at least eight ways of averting an incursion.^[12] One of these involves the destruction of at least one of the Earths before they can collide. Doing so will save both universes, and one of the Earths. Each time a new incursion happens, the rate in which universes collide accelerates. With each universe that is destroyed, the Multiverse contracts and its lifespan is shortened.^[6]

For each incursion there is an "incursion point," a single area in each of the colliding Earths from which the other Earth can be seen approaching. The skies inside the incursion point are usually colored red,^[6] but they can also be blue. Blue incursions signified the Mapmakers, who drained Earths of their resources, used the incursions to travel to other Earths, destroyed the old Earths to save the new Earths, and repeated the process.^[13] Outside the incursion point, everything looks normal.^[14] An unusual phenomenon called "Simtum Tapputu" can occur, in which an Earth is in an incursion with two realities at the same time.^[15]

 With the Multiverse threatened by a series of cosmic incursions caused by the enigmatic Beyonders, Earth-616's secretive Illuminati, a grouping of great superhuman minds, came together to destroy alternate Earths before they could collide with their own. 

—Secret Wars: Official Guide to the Marvel Multiverse #1

Even if a universe's Earth was prematurely destroyed, which stopped the incursion from destroying the universe, the universe would still die early due to the fact that the incursions were shortening the entire Multiverse's lifespan and not just colliding Earths together.^[6] For example, Abyss mentioned that the stars of Earth-1120006, whose Earth had been destroyed by the Mapmakers, were collapsing and the universe was nearing its last gasp.^[8] During the battle between the final two Earths, Earth-616 and Earth-1610, the Maker and the Cabal knew that the conflict was pointless because every single simulation showed that the Multiverse was going to end even if one of the Earths was destroyed. They had reached the death of everything.^[16]

 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^[src]

The final incursion ended the Multiverse as the Seventh Cosmos. The Future Foundation created a life raft that allowed Mister Fantastic and various heroes to survive, and the Maker built a similar life raft for the Cabal. Doctor Doom, the Molecule Man, and Doctor Strange killed the Beyonders and stole their power. With it, they created Battleworld out of the remnants of defunct realities, allowing them and many others to also survive. Doom ruled Battleworld for eight years until the two life rafts opened, releasing those suspended inside. In a confrontation with Doom, the power of the Beyonders was transferred to Reed, who then restored the Multiverse as the Eighth Cosmos with help from his son Franklin and the Molecule Man.^[17] As the Eighth Cosmos ended up being a continuation, the Beyonders' experiment was deemed a failure and the remaining Beyonders changed their strategy to using Concordance Engines to contain Enigma to a small number of realities.^[3]

Further Information

Involved Parties

Many multiversal groups and beings were involved in the "Great Game of Worlds."^[12]

The two main factions were the Ivory Kings/Beyonders and Rabum Alal/Doctor Doom. The objective of the Beyonders was the destruction of the Multiverse, secretly to avert Enigma's threat,^[3][4] and they attempted to set off a multiversal bomb that was the Molecule Man in each reality. Doctor Doom tried to save the Multiverse by eliminating these Molecule Men in hopes to lessen the Beyonders' actions; however, the Molecule Men's deaths triggered the incursions. Upon realizing that killing the Molecule Men was not going to prevent the Multiverse's destruction, Doom gathered the Molecule Men to challenge the Beyonders directly, steal the Beyonders' power, and save what he could of the Multiverse.^[2]

• Doctor Doom (a.k.a. Rabum Alal, the Great Destroyer)^[14][18] and his servants
  • Black Swans, the Great Ladies^[12]
    • Yabbat Ummon Tarru
  • Molecule Man

• Beyonders (a.k.a. Ivory Kings, Sinnu Sarrum, etc.) and their agents^[12][19][18]
  • Mapmakers
    • Sidera Maris
    • Adaptoids (they become Mapmakers when infected by them)^[20]

The Black Priests and the Builders were two factions with similar goals: stabilize the Multiverse by destroying as many Earths as possible.^[21][18] The Builders even waged a massive war in an attempt to destroy the Earth.^[22] They were later annihilated by the Beyonders while investigating the incursions.^[23] Meanwhile, the Black Priests were hunting Rabum Alal (unaware that Rabum Alal was trying to save the Multiverse) but were destroyed by the Black Swans when they attacked the Library of Worlds.^[5]

• Black Priests
  • Eye of Eyes (Stephen Strange)
• Builders
  • Alephs
  • Caretakers
  • Curators
  • Gardeners
  • Manifold

 [W]e were with the Avengers, trying to save a dying Multiverse...and we were hunting the cause--the Beyonders. 

—Starbrand^[src]

Like the Builders, other groups tried to track the source of the incursions (the Beyonders) via the Mapmakers, but it was a trap by the Beyonders, and these groups were all destroyed by the Beyonders.^[23]

• Captain Britain Corps (destroyed)^[24]
• Many cosmic entities^[23]
  • Celestials & Galactus^[25]
  • Eternity & Infinity
  • Master Order & Lord Chaos
  • In-Betweener
  • Living Tribunal
• Multiversal Avengers^[8]

There were also various groups and people looking for solutions to save their own realities:

• Multiple versions of the Illuminati
  • Illuminati (Earth-616)^[26]
  • Illuminati (Earth-23099)^[27]
  • Illuminati (Earth-2319)^[28]
  • Illuminati (Earth-14515)^[29]
• Alliance
• Galaktus (destroyed his reality's planet Earth to save his universe)^[30]
• Great Society^[31]
• Namor's Cabal^[32]
• Scientists working for Latveria^[33]
  • Kristoff Vernard
  • Mad Thinker
• S.H.I.E.L.D.^[34]
  • S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Avengers^[34]
• A.I.M. (later bought by Sunspot)^[35]
  • Sunspot's Avengers
  • Children of the Sun
• Nation X
• The Maker^[36]
  • City
  • Children of Tomorrow^[16]
• S.H.I.E.L.D. (Earth-1610)^[37]
• Galactic Council^[36]
  • Shi'ar Empire
  • Annihilation Wave
• Inhumans
• Future Foundation^[38]
• Kang the Conqueror^[39]
• Immortus^[39]
• Iron Lad^[39]
• Korvac
• Iron Man 3030^[40]

Finally, the Manifolds seemed to have some role to play.^[14][29][41]

Survivors

While the final incursion ended the Multiverse, many characters survived via various methods.

• Using the power of the Beyonders:^[9]
  • Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom)
  • Molecule Man (Owen Reece)
  • Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
  • Battleworld's residents
• Using a Life Raft (Earth-616):^[16]
  • Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards)
  • Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
  • Phoenix/Cyclops (Scott Summers)
  • Star-Lord (Peter Quill)
  • Thor (Jane Foster)
  • Black Panther (T'Challa)
  • Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
• Using a Life Raft (Earth-1610):^[42]
  • The Maker (Reed Richards)
  • Black Swan (Yabbat Ummon Tarru)
  • Thanos
  • Proxima Midnight
  • Corvus Glaive
  • Maximus the Mad
  • Terrax the Truly Enlightened (Tyros)
  • Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
• Going outside the Multiverse:
  • Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd)^[43]
  • Dawn Greenwood^[43]
  • Glorian (Thomas Gideon)^[43]
  • Incredulous Zed^[43]
  • Shaper of Worlds^[43]
  • Loki Laufeyson^[44]
  • Verity Willis^[44] (ghost)
• Additionally, the Challenger appeared to have avoided the effects of the incursions as he was trapped in the Far Shore.^[45]

Alternate Realities

Marvel Cinematic Universe and adjacent realities

• On Earth-838, Earth-199999, and other earths depicted in the related continuity, the Incursions are caused as a result of prolonged multiversal travel. Dream walking, a spell found within the Darkhold that allows its user to take control of an alternate self can trigger an Incursion. The Doctor Strange of Earth-838 caused the first of these incursions, destroying an entire reality. A sinister Strange caused an incursion on his home reality, although it wasn't totally destroyed. The Doctor Strange of Earth-199999 caused an incursion as well.^[46]

Notes

• While the incursions are not the Beyonders' original plan,^[1] the Beyonders state that the incursions are still part of their experiment and that they are the cause of the incursions.^[8]
• Doctor Strange called the Beyonders' annihilation plan "perfect."^[47] If nothing is done, the Molecule Men would explode and destroy the Multiverse, but if the Molecule Men are killed early, their deaths would start the incursions which would still destroy the Multiverse.^[1]

Clarifications

• The Beyonders and Doom each had two plans, which may result in confusion:
  • Beyonders' Plan A: Destroy the Multiverse with the Molecule Men (simultaneously).^[1][2]
  • Doom's Plan A: Eliminate all the Molecule Men to save the Multiverse. Doom founded the Black Swans to help.^[1][2]
  • Beyonders' Plan B: The incursions^{[8][9][10][11]} (caused by setting off the Molecule Men).^[6][1][2][7] The Beyonders sent the Mapmakers to track and lure irritants (e.g. Multiversal Avengers).^[23][48]
  • Doom's Plan B: At some point, Doom stopped killing Molecule Men and started kidnapping them to use as a weapon against the Beyonders. The Molecule Men destroyed the Beyonders and stole their power, allowing Doom to preserve the Multiverse's remnants as Battleworld.^[2]
    • Secret Wars #5 clarifies that Doom was genuinely trying to save the Multiverse by killing the Molecule Men. He only conceived his Battleworld plan after he had realized his original plan was futile.
• History of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #6 claims that Doom and Reece were unaware that killing Molecule Men would trigger the incursions, but Reece knew their actions would cause worlds to collide.^[1] They thought that the Molecule Men exploding was the main threat and did not anticipate how effective the incursions would be.^[2]
• Because of the Black Swan,^[29] many characters mistakenly believed that Rabum Alal (Doctor Doom) and the Ivory Kings (Beyonders) wanted the same thing: the destruction of the Multiverse.^[18] However, Doom explained that she was a rogue Swan and that he was actually trying to save the Multiverse.^[1][2]

References