Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Ulysses, the new Inhuman from #0, staggers through woods begging for something to stop. He is met by Medusa leading a delegation of Inhumans and their allies Beast and Human Torch.
Weeks later in Manhattan the ANAD Avengers face a giant something called the Celestial Destructor. They are heartened when Thor (Jane Foster) joins them, leading heroes too numerous to mention (including Captain Marvel and the above Inhumans). They fight human-sized servitors of the Celestial.
Then Dr Strange pops up with a bunch of other mystic characters. The other heroes fall back in a pre-planned manoeuvre. The sorcerers unleash a prepared spell. And the menace disappears in a flash of light. And everybody retires to Stark Tower for drinks.
Tony Stark thanks the Inhumans for the warning that enabled them to have a plan for dealing with the Celestial. People chat, including War Machine and She-Hulk. James Rhodes wants to know why Tony Stark hasn't upgraded the WM armour for a long time - Stark says he can't afford it these days. Jennifer Walters asks Carol Danvers how the Inhumans knew the Celestial was coming. They go over to ask Medusa.
Queen Medusa takes a selected few (The original Spider-Man and both Captain Americas are added to the mix) into the kitchen to explain. She introduces them to Ulysses and tells them that he sees the future. Stark brings in young Jean Grey (of the time-displaced X-Men) to read Ulysses' mind to find out how his ability works. But his mind can't be read. (And he temporarily seems to be alone in the room?)
Capt Marvel wants Ulysses to join the Ultimates because their aim is to be proactive - stop disasters before they happen. Tony isn't so happy. The save they were all just involved in was undoubtedly a good thing. But many situations won't be so clear-cut. How will they know whether their intervention will be for the best? And what will they do if Ulysses predicts a person is going to do something bad? Do they lock him up to stop him? What if it's 1 of the people here? They all know that there are multiple alternate futures.
Ulysses tells them how he was infected by the Terrigen mist in #0. He started uncontrollably experiencing rather than seeing visions - in quick succession. Then the Inhumans took him in. Karnak trained him to focus on the contents of his visions (thereby stopping the kaleidoscope?), and notice details. Then he saw the future arrival of the Celestial Destructor, and checked exactly what day and time it was. Hence the successful defence against it.
3 weeks after that Ulysses wakes in New Attilan after another vision, and tells Medusa to contact the Ultimates.
(That call happens in Ultimates #7 and leads to the confrontation with Thanos in Free Comic Book Day 2016: Civil War II which leads to the death of War Machine and the severe wounding of She-Hulk. And that story continues here.)
Mary Jane Watson brings bad news to Tony Stark and the AI Friday. Rhodey is dead. Iron Man flies to the Triskelion HQ of the Ultimates where he's met by Black Panther and Maria Hill. He views the body and then angrily goes after Carol Danvers. He finds her by the bedside of Jennifer Walters, who is in a coma and may never walk again.
Carol tells him that they fought Thanos after a warning from Ulysses. They have Thanos captive. She tries to tell Tony that she loved Rhodey too (they were in a relationship) and that he knew the risks of the superhero life. But Stark storms out saying he's going to make sure this doesn't happen again.
She-Hulk has obviously been awake and listening for a while. She tells Carol not to let Tony have it all his own way - to fight for the future. Then she dies.