Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Thanos has attacked Fresno looking for a girl and the Illuminati with help from the Hulk are here to protect her. Thanos found the girl Roberta Marshall and told her she is his love Death and drove off with her in a truck.
Now the Illuminati give chase:- Iron Man and Blue Marvel are flying under their own power. Emma Frost has a motorbike and is eager for a 2nd attempt at beating the Titan in mental combat. Dr Strange is levitating along reminding them that the team is supposed to be secret. Mr Fantastic has finished teleporting most of the population to safety and now has the unenviable task of keeping Hulk under control.
Meanwhile their quarry is in an almost destroyed Mexican restaurant still trying to convince Roberta she's Death. He was trapped in a black hole and it was his rekindled love for her which enabled him to escape. (That's *not* how he got out according the the last Eternals series.) Previously he'd abandoned his devotion to her but now he sees it as their shared destiny to rule the universe.
Roberta doesn't want to hear any more of this and suddenly emits a dark power that knocks her admirer back and finishes demolishing the restaurant. She runs out and drives the truck away. As Thanos calls after her he's shot in the back by a woman named Christine Collins who we've seen also stalking Roberta and calling her Marie. The Mad(dened) Titan grabs her warmly by the throat and demands to know why his love is hidden in this mortal body.
Iron Man and Emma Frost catch up with the truck and try to persuade Roberta to stop running. Blue Marvel and leaping Hulk join them, but it is running into Thanos which actually does the job. IM rescues her from the now blazing vehicle as MrF and DrS catch up. BM keeps Thanos trapped in a forcefield as Tony Stark and Emma try to save the girl's life but she's dying. Which the Titan is happy about because then she'll revert to being Death. Roberta does die, and the dark energy erupts again as Death is reborn.
Stephen Strange reminds Death that they gave her what she asked for - a human life and death (but we don't know anything about that - yet). But Thanos blames it on Christine who he pulls through some sort of force field door. And we find out what actually happened via flashbacks.
In the fb Death consults her Infinity Well, asking it why she has to continue forever. She gets no answer but her minions bring her live human Christine Collins who has somehow got into her Realm. Christine explains that she *saw* Death when her daughter Marie died in hospital. Ever since then she's been searching for a way to find Death and tell her she made a mistake. After many false leads she met Marlo Chandler who was an avatar of Death (since the recent Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel #5). And Marlo showed her how to get here.
She has brought a photo of Marie with her which Death looks at. Death says she can't disturb the balance just to restore such an insignificant being to life. Christine protests that it wasn't her daughter's time to die but Death says she doesn't choose the time, merely presides over the passing. Christine says that Death obviously doesn't understand the pain of the loss of her daughter, and that each life is as important as the whole universe. Death then seems to turn the mother to dust, but presumably actually sends her back to Earth.
In the present Thanos declares that Christine had poisoned Death with the curse of empathy.
And in fb we see Death meeting with the Illuminati (the current version) in the Wakandan Necropolis and asking to be given a human life and death. Reed Richards asks why she couldn't do it herself, but she plays the 'upsetting the balance' card again. Tony Stark asks what they would get in return, and Emma Frost and Blue Marvel 2nd the question. Death replies that Earth is soon destined for destruction, and the identity of who will be responsible lies in her Realm. Give her what she wants and keep it secret and that knowledge will later be made known to them. Stark objects that she could live a long time but she says the Infinity Well will tell them what they need to know when it is time. She asks to be made to look like Marie's photo and be sent to Fresno.
Thanos' voiceover resumes to say that they hid her in this human body with no knowledge of her real identity to live a meaningless life. And now we continue with the current action.
Iron Man points out to Death that she's had the human life and death she asked for so now it's time to tell them about the forthcoming menace. Thanos tries to reawaken her to the full Deathness he loves, but she declares that he's ruined what she wanted to experience and now she will never forgive him and never be his Mistress. The Mad Titan then kills Christine who he still blames for everything, expecting that the shock will bring her to her senses. But it just fuels her hate. She claims that Christine was more worthy than he could ever be and swears to kill him here and now.