The Beyonder is back! And he’s completely out of character. But don’t worry… so is everyone else! It seems the original plan for this alleged event was to make it one mini-series, but All-Out Avengers ended up being so badly received, it was cancelled and relaunched as Avengers Beyond.
Synestalgia isn’t a word, but it’s the only thing that sums up this travesty of a tale which is designed to appease the film-going fans of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes annnnnnnnd nostalgia-lovers who want to relive the glory days of the ‘classic’ ’80s event SECRET WARS II (1985-1986). Yet somehow, it pleases neither. This offense to storytelling reminds me why I don’t do modern Marvel – whether it’s good example of their output or not. The Avengers don’t kill. But they’ll chop off the eye-stalks off an alien they could’ve easily overpowered, while cracking ‘jokes’ as they go.
Dear god, make it stop…
Crossover: The story jumps from one mini-series to another, bringing no talent as it goes; it’s bolstered by a short story in one of Marvel’s 2023 FCBD comics which does precious little to justify its existence.
Must-Reads: In the Fallout section, issues marked with a ✔ are the stories that are most heavily impacted by this event.
Anthology Issues: When an issue contains multiple stories, the relevant story is denoted with square brackets. For example, [2/5] refers to the second story of the five stories in that issue.
Spoilers: The issue descriptions and fallout section contain spoilers, so be warned!
Previous events that directly impact this story:
- SECRET WARS II (1985-1986) – The Beyonder takes physical form
Want to keep it simple? Here’s the chronological reading order without story descriptions, or spoilers:
- Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom #1 [3/3]
- All-Out Avengers #1-5
- Avengers Beyond #1-5
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom #1 [3/3] The Avengers battle Ulik who’s gained the power of the Revenant Stone. But no one can remember how they got there. Even Ulik. Thor ultimately takes Ulik down, unaware that someone is watching the team’s actions. |
| All-Out Avengers #1 Iron Man and Thor are under attack from Captain Marvel who’s under the influence of something called the Dark Tide. Her new masters, Queen Arrok the Seventh and the Bowmaster are confronted by Blade, Captain America & Spider-Woman who have somehow been teleported aboard their Sinnarian ship. The team stop the aliens from obtaining the terraforming Bow of Attican and free Captain Marvel. 1st appearance: Queen Arrok the Seventh |
| All-Out Avengers #2 No one can remember Doctor Doom being split into two beings – a good Doctor Doom and a ‘Dark Doom’ – by the Soul-Splitter Stone. Now Doctor Doom bears Captain America’s shield, while wielding Mjolnir and utilising the Book of Wrath while leading the Avengers against his evil counterpart. With Blade’s help, the good Doom frees the captured Avengers and regains the Soul-Splitter Stone. The two Dooms merge to restore the true Doctor Doom. Iron Man is concerned that no record of the past 48 hours seem to exist! 1st appearance: Dark-Doom, Book of Wrath |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| All-Out Avengers #3 Arnim Zola has unleashed an army of amped-up Red Skull Life-Model Decoys (LMDs) who have captured the real Red Skull. While the Avengers fight the ‘Super-Skulls’, Iron Man questions how this situation even started. Whoever is manipulating the Avengers wants them to discover and use these LMDs’ technological advancement. The Avengers are finally aware that someone’s playing them. |
| All-Out Avengers #4 A team of Avengers find themselves stranded on a Drahl world, allied with AIM agents in an effort to escape the planet’s hunters. Whoever is manipulating the Avengers needs them to learn something from this experience that will help them save Earth in a coming battle. A new player called the Emissary enters the game – one that the manipulator can barely sense – and attacks Captain Marvel. The Avengers escape the planet, unsure what they were supposed to have learned. The Emissary returns to her master. 1st appearance: Emissary/Tiamok Rath (unnamed), Lost One/Cal-Horra (unnamed) |
| All-Out Avengers #5 Spider-Man is the target of the mind-controlled Avengers who need to take the Resequencer from him. He distracts them long enough to get it to Prof Samuel Crassus who deactivates it. But was it the Avengers or Spider-Man who was being controlled? Both strands of reality exist. ‘Crassus’ is actually the Grand Manipulator who’s been playing the Avengers. He’s neutralised by the Resequencer. But Captain America know this, too, is a ruse. The Avengers have been played by the Beyonder. |
| Avengers Beyond #1 The manipulation of the Avengers starts again, with She-Hulk is almost driven to kill the Autocrat. Iron Man and the Black Panther independently create two halves of a device that force the manipulator to take form in Avengers Mountain. Activating it summons an upset Beyonder who claims he’s been trying to save the Avengers and Earth, without drawing the attention of his creator… the Lost One! He sends his Emissary (Tiamok) to cut the Beyonder so he can be located as soon as he accesses a certain aspect of his power. The Beyonder teleports away, leaving the Avengers to figure out how to stop their all-powerful foe, unaware he’s already sent the Black Order to face them! 1st appearance: Autocrat, Lost One/Cal-Horra (named), Tiamok Rath (named) |
| Title, Issue & Synopsis |
| Avengers Beyond #2 The Avengers, Wasp and Luke Cage try to contain New Yorkers imbued with powers and infected with rage! Blade locates the alien Sel Sennan whose own powers are causing all of this under the Beyonder’s influence. Iron Man and Black Panther use tech to subdue her abilities. Tiamok remains imprisoned in Avengers Mountain and mocks the Beyonder for thinking the Avengers stand a chance! 1st appearance: Sel Sennan |
| Avengers Beyond #3 The Black Order invade Avengers Mountain, leaving it up to Captain America and Captain Marvel to hold them back until Moon Girl can unlock their teleporter, allowing the Black Panther, Iron Man, She-Hulk and Thor join the fight! But the Mountain’s shields drop, allowing the Lost One in to reclaim Tiamok. The Black Order bow to the Lost One before he single-handedly defeats the Avengers. Captain America realises they were tricked by the Beyonder who uses hise crystals to trap the Lost One and his minions on Earth. |
| Avengers Beyond #4 Reality shifts. The Avengers face the Bootleg Avengers – humans who gained powers from Sel Sennan – believing they’ve fought the Avengers before and will inevitably replace them! But Sel Sennan also granted one of them the powers of the Beyonder who he draws the attention of the Lost One. The Avengers know the Lost One was created by the Celestials and he, in turn, created the Beyonders. The Lost One teleports to Earth’s orbit where the Beyonder is hiding, looking to reclaim his power! More Beyonders arrive, accusing the Beyonder of turning four of their bretheren into the crystals that are trapping the Lost One on Earth. Despite their gratitude, the Beyonders strip the Beyonder of his powers and trap him on Earth! 1st appearance: Lost One/Cal-Horra (real name revealed) |
| Avengers Beyond #5 Reality shifts. The Lost One has killed thousands and now rules Earth. Tiamok retrieves the powerless Beyonder for the Lost One. The Avengers confront a construct of part of the Beyonder’s memory that the Lost One needs. The Avengers fight against the Lost One, drenched in Celestial blood drained from Avengers Mountain – his one weakness! The Beyonder absorbs the strand of himself, but the Lost One dissipates him, having already turned off the shield around Earth. The Avengers threaten the Lost One into restoring everything back to the way it was or they’ll blow him up with a Celestial-tech satellite. He agrees. With Earth restored, the Lost One departs in a new form, leaving Tiamok to find a life of her own. But the Beyonder remains disincorporated. And the only other thing that can’t be restored is the time I lost reading this mess. |
| Must Reads | Issue & Fallout | Event / Crossover |
| ✔ | Defenders Beyond #2 (2022) The Beyonder reveals a different origin for the Beyonders. | DEFENDERS BEYOND |
| Collected Edition Title | Collects… |
| All-Out Avengers: Teachable Moments | All-Out Avengers #1-5 Free Comic Book Day: Spider-Man/Venom #1 [part] |
| Avengers Beyond | Avengers Beyond #1-5 |
Reading Order © Omniverse Comics Guide 2026
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