This Avengers Villain Has Been Pulling the Strings of the Marvel Universe

The Avengers have certainly had their hands full lately, facing everything from a vampire civil war to a battle with a turbo-charged version of Moon Knight. The latest chapter of Jason Aaron's The Avengers series begins tying these various threads together in a major way, showing us that one Marvel villain has been at the root of countless acts of evil across the centuries. Read on to learn how The Avengers #38 rewrites Marvel history, but beware of full spoilers ahead! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-avengers-38-preview-see-marvels-history-rewritten&captions=true"] Issue #38 unfolds in the aftermath of "The Age of Khonshu," where the Avengers learned Moon Knight's godly benefactor had a vision of a future ruled by the demon lord Mephisto. In order to nip that problem in the bud, Khonshu empowered Moon Knight with enough strength to beat up even the Mighty Thor. Though Mephisto was seemingly killed and Moon Knight ultimately sided with the Avengers rather than allow Khonshu to rule the world, this supernatural hero isn't convinced that dark future has been averted. Even before "The Age of Khonshu," we learned even the late Howard Stark was a servant of Mephisto, and he seems to be still alive and doing his master's bidding. At this point, it's becoming clear Mephisto is the overarching threat tying together the series' many ongoing plot threads. Now we have a better understanding of how exactly Mephisto fits into the bigger picture. The Avengers #38 reveals that Mephisto has been the secret hand guiding many Marvel villains dating back millions of years. In fact, Mephisto is shown to be Earth's very first villain. It all ties back to the series' earlier revelation that Earth's unique genetic diversity and unusual number of superhumans can be blamed on the day 4 billion years ago when a diseased Celestial landed and vomited into the primordial soup. It's like Prometheus, but grosser. [caption id="attachment_2434461" align="aligncenter" width="931"] Art by Ed McGuinness. (Image Credit: Marvel)[/caption] Even billions of years before humanity appeared, Mephisto was already lurking and waiting to spread his evil across the world. The Celestial's disgusting gift of genetic diversity was his cue. Appearing as a fly, Mephisto began laying millions of tainted maggots and setting the stage for new and more twisted forms of evil to be born. As life began to spread and flourish, Mephisto began whispering into the ears of other villains, stoking conflicts that continue to play out even today. He was the one who originally lured a young Thanos to Earth and into battle with the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC. He set Apocalypse on the path to becoming a mutant conqueror (though we recently learned Apocalypse has his own reasons for his "survival of the fittest" ethos). Mephisto once manipulated Hulk, convincing the Jade Giant that humanity will never trust him. This issue even features a flash-forward to the King Thor era of Aaron's earlier Thor saga, showing Mephisto orchestrating a battle between Thor's granddaughters and Doom the Living Planet. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/26/thor-love-and-thunder-jane-foster-as-thor-explained"] The moral is pretty clear. Mephisto may rarely use his power to directly threaten Earth's heroes, but he's all too happy to pull the strings of mighty villains like Apocalypse and Thanos. And as this issue reveals, he always has a backup plan in the event of his own death. A recurring flashback storyline shows Mephisto saving the life of a starving American settler named Ambrose Winthrop. In exchange for his life and the promise of a great fortune in California, Winthrop agrees to sacrifice his family and give Mephisto tributes in the form of the firstborn child of every new generation of Winthrops. That devil's bargain finally culminates in 2020, as Howard Stark visits the last surviving member of the Winthrop family. As the man is devoured by a hellhound, the motivations behind that pact are finally made clear. Centuries of taking the flesh of the Winthrops has allowed Mephisto to assemble a new body for himself. He may have been temporarily defeated by Moon Knight, but Mephisto is already back and ready for the next phase of his twisted plan. [caption id="attachment_2434462" align="aligncenter" width="928"] Art by Ed McGuinness. (Image Credit: Marvel)[/caption] What that plan involves remains to be seen. For now, the series will be turning tis attention to the Phoenix Force, as the next story arc deals with the return of that cosmic entity and the mystery of which Marvel character will become its next host. Could we be due for Avengers vs. X-Men 2.0? Let us know what you think of this revamp of Marvel history - and which Marvel hero you think is worthy of becoming the next Phoenix - in the comments below. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

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