Avengers: Annihilation, also referred to as Avengers II, Avengers & X-Men: Annihilation, or simply Annihilation, was the second Avengers comic book storyline in the Marvel Limitless series of the comic books by Marvel Comics. Following up the events of Avengers: Origins and X-Men: Exile, Annihilation brings together the remaining X-Men and the newly established Avengers in an effort to defeat the newly resurrected Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen, whose ultimate goal is world domination.
As a storyline, Annihilation was the first double-team comic in the Limitless series, and the resulting joining of forces against a common enemy would greatly influence later installments in the series, such as X-Men: Genocide and the Fantastic Four: Total War, which would end up pitting all three major teams (those being the X-Men, Avengers, and the Fantastic Four) against Doctor Doom.
Synopsis[]
Genesis[]
Following the events of X-Men: Exile and the movement of mutant populations to the island nation of Genosha, Professor Charles Xavier sits upon a large skyscraper that overlooks most of the island itself. He is approached by the Beast, Hank McCoy. After Hank sits down, he begins talking to Charles about various topics, including the material resources of Genosha being primarily supplied by Stark Technologies, as well as the failed attempts to fully track down the Wolverine, with the last sighting of him being somewhere in Russia. Charles looks away from the skyline and looks towards Hank, telling him to end the search for Wolverine, saying that Logan will return when the time is necessary. As if struck by something, Charles falls from his wheelchair, landing to the ground in a semi-conscious state. Hank calls for help, and soon a mutant with the ability to heal others appears, and begins to use her powers to heal Charles from whatever is causing him problems.
About two days later and in a recovery room, Charles regains full consciousness, and soon most of the X-Men arrive. Upon regaining consciousness, Charles begins sweating, with his heart rate rapidly increasing. Many of the X-Men ask Charles what is wrong, with him acting as if he was gagging on something. Eventually, he grabs Hank's shirt, pulling him close, and whispers into his ear "I have awakened". Upon this occurring, the ceiling in the hospital begins to be lifted away from the interior, revealing a fully-armored grey-skinned figure descending into the hospital room. After landing on the tile floor, a dark portal opens up, and another four figures come into the room. During this time, Charles's eyes turn a dark black, and he falls into a semi-vegetative state, where he remains awake but lacks the ability to hear nor move any of his body.
The armored grey-skinned figure reveals himself to be En Sabah Nur, or as he was called during his original period of existence, Apocalypse. The X-Men, cautiously put on the defensive, ask what En Sabah Nur was doing here and demanded an explanation for what he did to Charles. En Sabah Nur, realizing that the X-Men were moving into an offensive attack positions, says "You will soon call me Apocalypse", and upon stating this, a large explosion is seen in the room, resulting in most of the X-Men being flung into mid-air, although it is revealed that a few mutants capable of flying had managed to rescue them. Apocalypse, looking towards the unscathed Charles, telepathically lifts him into his wheelchair, and soon, Apocalypse, Charles, and the four figures leave through the portal to another location.
Barely surviving the fall, Cyclops declares that the X-Men should begin a search and rescue mission for Charles. Hank disagrees with this idea, proclaiming that if Apocalypse was able to cause that large of a blast and survive unscathed, then they should plan out their next moves. In conjunction, Hank speaks of how Apocalypse had stated he had existed sometime in past, and suggests the X-Men begin finding any historical documents relating to Apocalypse in hopes of finding any possible weaknesses and learning of his true powers and possible intentions with Charles.
Tower of Babel[]
Following the destruction of New York City in the aftermath of the Avengers' battle against Red Skull and Hydra, StarkTech begins to make a fortune in the cleanup and reconstruction period, making millions upon near-billions of dollars off of the selling of steel, iron, cement, and wood-related products. With this, the Avengers Tower is constructed, providing a base of operations for the newly created team of Avengers. Following the Battle of New York City, one year has passed.
Tony Stark, the Iron Man and de facto leader of the Avengers, begins testing out a new Iron Man suit with the hopes of establishing a lighter but stronger suit. As he finishes up his work on the project for the day, Pepper Potts calls Tony, explaining that he should turn on the TV to channel 7. Upon turning on the TV, Tony sees the events that had unfolded in Genosha. He prepares a flight to Genosha, and after consulting the events and later being accompanied by Avenger member Hank "Ant-Man" Pym, they jointly travel to Genosha to help piece together what had occurred.
Upon arriving, Tony and Hank are met by X-Men member Beast and Storm, who welcome them and guide them to the X-Mansion, the primary location of the X-Men's base of operations. Upon arriving to the X-Mansion, Tony and Hank meet the other X-Men members. After sitting down and being told the events, Tony takes off his shaded glasses, while Hank looks down in utter shock. Tony, after processing the events, says that the Avengers will begin searching for Apocalypse and Charles. Cyclops, angered towards the offer, declines it after speaking on how mutants don't need to be dependent on humans for every single situation that unfolds. Tony begins to argue with Cyclops, only to be stopped by Hank Pym, who says how the Avengers will stay out of the events that had unfolded if the X-Men wish so.
Leaving Genosha, Tony and Hank discuss whether they should actually join in the search for Apocalypse. They decide to consult with the other members of the Avengers before continuing the proposal further. Upon flying into New York City, Tony wakes up from a silent slumber to see a large man with wings standing on the wings of the plane. After rubbing his eyes and blinking, the man disappears from sight. However, upon thinking that he must be hallucinating, the primary door to the plane is ripped off the plane, and soon a youthful blonde man with metallic steel wings resembling those of an angel's appears walks into the plane. Hank Pym wakes up during this time, and soon Tony realizes his Iron Man suit is located in the neighboring room, making him unable to obtain it. The winged man walks up to Tony and Hank, and soon whistles. Upon whistling, a portal opens up in the room, and soon Apocalypse walks through onto the plane.
Tony and Hank freeze as Apocalypse stares them down in the plane. Apocalypse thanks Archangel, the winged man, for being able to locate Iron Man and Ant-Man before he did. After this, Apocalypse begins speaking to Tony and Hank on how he plans to ultimately dominate Earth, and says that the Avengers will not stand in his way. Upon saying this, he turns the wings of the plane into dust and disappears into the portal once again. Tony and Hank, in a long free fall, are able to survive after Tony is able to secure his Iron Man suit and effectively transport them to safety.
Arriving at Avengers Tower, all of the Avengers are assembled into a conference. Thor, Bruce Banner, Black Widow, Spider-Man, and Hawkeye all show up, and soon the conference is underway between the heroes. After relaying the events in Genosha and the appearance of Apocalypse while Tony and Hank were on their way to New York, many of the Avengers look somewhat curious and slightly scared, with Spider-Man showing some dislike for the mobilization of the Avengers against Apocalypse, mainly due to the fear. He is reassured by Black Widow, and soon the Avengers begin to arm themselves.
After sightings of Apocalypse begin appearing in Dubai, the Avengers take off to Dubai. Upon arrival, the Avengers notice that the X-Men had beaten them there, and much of the city had turned into a devastating war zone with collapsing buildings and major rubble falling from great heights. As the helicopter began closing into the area, Nightcrawler teleports inside the Avengers' helicopter, prompting a close encounter with death as all of them prepared to defeat what at first appeared to be Apocalypse at first. Nightcrawler, exhausted, begins to explain what Apocalypse plans to do and who is fighting alongside him.
Nightcrawler explains that Apocalypse plans to revive the biblical "Tower of Babel", which would allow him to use Charles as a puppet to effectively begin killing much of the world population. Nightcrawler also explains that if the Tower of Babel is properly revived, then Apocalypse plans to create the Arc, which is a device that has the ability to flood, and essentially "restart," the Earth. Upon learning of this, Spider-Man becomes more nervous and relatively scared. Nightcrawler then explains that Apocalypse has four allies he calls "Horsemen", consisting of the winged Archangel, the telekinetic Sinister, the metal-manipulating Polaris, and the steel-bodied Colossus, all meant to represent the biblical Four Horsemen Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War respectively. Nightcrawler then explains that Apocalypse plans to use the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, as his Tower.
As the Avengers arrive on the scene with Nightcrawler, numerous X-Men members such as Banshee, Gambit, Cable, and Havok have been knocked unconscious. Other X-Men, such as Iceman, Cyclops, Psylocke, and Jean Grey continue to fight against the Four Horsemen, while the remaining X-Men continue to evacuate the city and ensure the remaining citizens' security before coming in to help against the Horsemen. Iron Man devises a plan, where he and Spider-Man will search for Charles and potentially Apocalypse, while the remaining Avengers help assist the X-Men against the Horsemen. With this, Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk and begins to assist Iceman in attacking Archangel, Thor begins to assist Psylocke in attacking Colossus, Black Widow helps Cyclops in attacking Polaris, while Ant-Man and Hawkeye assists Jean Grey in defeating Sinister.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Iron Man go into the sewers in an attempt to breach the Burj Khalifa without being noticed. Upon reaching the lobby, the landscape becomes distorted and soon Spider-Man and Iron Man find themselves in a large and open desert, and after looking around, discover that they are in Egypt after noticing a pyramid. Soon, sand and dust begins to move in a singular direction, which they follow until they discover a hooded figure with his hands raised, telekinetically building one of the ancient Pyramids of Egypt. Iron Man and Spider-Man watch on as the figure creates one of the ancient Pyramids within a matter of minutes. Soon, the hooded figure removes his hood, and turns around to confront Iron Man and Spider-Man, revealing himself to presumably be a younger version of Apocalypse. After looking at Iron Man and Spider-Man curiously, the younger Apocalypse faces back towards the Pyramids and begins levitating, soon entering a meditative position surrounded by a spherical force of energy. Watching this occur, a man whispers in Spider-Man and Iron Man's ears, saying "welcome to my world".
The heroes turn around to see the current version of Apocalypse, who smirks at their sight. He compliments their ability to reach the tower, and soon, begins to levitate himself. He then speaks on how he had originally attempted to create the Tower of Babel back during his youth, using the Pyramids as the beacon, however, he was ultimately stopped following the Egyptian Pharaoh sealing him away deep into Egypt and effectively putting him into a state of slumber until the discovery of his tomb. Following the backstory, multiple screens of glass are molded out of sand and dust, showcasing the Avengers and X-Men fighting the Four Horsemen. Iron Man and Spider-Man watch as the Avengers and X-Men are being defeated, with the Hulk having been manipulated into returning back into Bruce Banner, while Thor and much of the other heroes being wrapped into steel chrysalises created by Polaris. Soon, the screens fade away, and Apocalypse ascends back onto the ground, offering them one chance to surrender. Iron Man looks at Spider-Man, and soon, Iron Man and Spider-Man begin attacking Apocalypse, with Spider-Man attempting to wrap his body with webbing while Iron Man fires blasts of energy at Apocalypse.
After fighting for what felt like hours, Iron Man is punched once more through his core reactor, rendering his armor useless and knocking him unconscious. Spider-Man, heavily exhausted and drained from fighting, finally collapses on his knees. Apocalypse, nearly undamaged, grabs Spider-Man by his neck and lifts him up, as a means of choking him until he dies. Soon, Spider-Man begins to blackout, and is presumed dead.
Interlude[]
Peter Parker wakes up, finding himself to be floating mindlessly somewhere deep in space. Thinking that he has died and thus is in the afterlife, he begins to cry as he wasn't able to fulfill out his personal goals in life. After floating around for what felt like an eternity, he begins to come across a vortex of colored light, and begins being pulled across mass amounts of space, viewing extraordinary and bizarre cosmic phenomenon and distorted landscapes showcasing unusual mixtures of colors.
He eventually closes his eyes, wishing for the nightmare to be over, and upon opening his eyes, discovers himself to be on a moon. He is then confronted by a cloaked being of an extraterrestrial origin, and upon the being walking toward him, begins to feel his spider-sense rise and then abruptly stop. The being soon walks in front of him and looks into Peter's eyes. The being uncloaks himself, revealing a large-headed figure wearing neoclassical robes. The being introduces himself as Uatu, the cosmic watcher of the Earth and its Solar System. Peter, confused as to what is occurring, asks where he is. Uatu answers that Peter is on Earth's Moon, but as they are on the Dark Side, Peter is unable to see Earth from his position. Peter then collapses in front of Uatu, crying and punching his fist against the Moon's surface. Uatu asks him why he does this, with Peter responding that he had failed the his family, the Avengers, and the people of Earth. Uatu requests he stands up, and after Peter stands up, Uatu touches his forehead and Spider-Man begins to move in reverse as he begins to move back through the cosmic phenomenon that he had traveled through prior.
The Exposition[]
Spider-Man finally returns to the point of when he was being choked out by Apocalypse, only this time he is able to subdue Apocalypse and successfully escape his grip. After doing this, Spider-Man begins using his webbing to effectively disorient and blind Apocalypse, which works incredibly. During this time, with Apocalypse unable to see, Spider-Man grabs Iron Man and leaves the Tower.
They are successfully able to escape the tower and return back to the surface just in time for the other X-Men members to successfully finish evacuating the city and arrive to assist. After some time, the remaining members of the Avengers and the X-Men are able to defeat the Four Horsemen. By the time they finish, most of the X-Men and Avengers that had been knocked unconscious wake up, and after securing the Four Horsemen, decide to collectively move into the Tower.
Arriving into the Tower, they discover Charles Xavier laying unconscious upon a slab of rock, while Apocalypse is seen drawing ancient symbols. With this, the full force of the X-Men and Avengers begin attacking Apocalypse. They were initially successful, in a surprise arrival however, Magneto joins Apocalypse in his fight and they are successfully able to end the Avengers' and X-Men's attempts at stopping the rise of the Tower of Babel.
Apocalypse thanks Magneto after they are successfully able to push the Avengers and X-Men out of the tower and promptly blockade the entrance. Soon, Apocalypse lays upon a separate slab near Charles Xavier, and soon, white flashes appear before every human and mutant's mind, and soon everybody in the world passes out.
The Arc[]
With the power to be omnipresent and essentially control everything and everybody, Apocalypse flies out of the tower and begins the process of collapsing numerous existing structures and buildings and begins building large pyramids and other ancient Egyptian architecture. With total control over everything and everybody, he comfortably sits upon a large throne at the top of a pyramid and continues to use his powers to build.
In a separate reality, Peter Parker wakes up in a completely white space. He sits down and begins to process his failure as both a person and an Avenger. Soon, a black substance begins to emerge from the white walls, and after encompassing most of the room, attaches itself to a reluctant Parker, and soon, the black substance covers all of Peter and he presumably dies.
In numerous other realities, separated members of the Avengers and X-Men begin to face their largest fears. Wolverine is flooded with information from his past, Iron Man ends up seeing everybody he loves dead, and Bruce Banner is in a fight with the Hulk, but with the knowledge that he will never die, becomes severely disfigured and in numerous pieces.
Peter Parker is the first to wake up, and looking around, realizes that his Spider-Man suit has turned black, and in comparison, feels more powerful and as if something is living on him. After looking around, he realizes that everybody appears to be knocked out, and soon comes across a large pyramid. With his new strength, he begins running up it, to finally come across Apocalypse sitting atop a throne. Apocalypse is surprised, and soon a fight ensues. Only subduing Apocalypse, Spider-Man is able to seemingly end the "white space" for a few X-Men and Avengers, who wake up to see Spider-Man fighting Apocalypse. After being knocked down off of the pyramid and being within an inch of his life, he calls for help, and soon Jean Grey arrives to his side. She looks at him, realizing that one of his arms is broken, as well as a few ribs.
Upon realizing this has gone to far, she turns around to see that Apocalypse has descended onto the main ground from the top of his pyramid and soon says that she will be the last being to ever see him again. She looks to him, and unleashes the "Phoenix", something that she had faced in the white space. With this, she is effectively able to eradicate Apocalypse within a matter of minutes by stripping him of every element inside him piece by piece until he is nothing but dust and particles. With this, she enters the full Phoenix form, and soon is able to revert the Earth to the pre-Apocalypse form at the cost of entering a six-month coma.