History ComicBook / TheThanosImperative

ComicBook/{{Thanos}}, the Mad Titan, Avatar of Death, has been brought back to life.

An [[BizarroUniverse alternate universe]] that seems to have gone through a CosmicHorrorStory. "Life had won" and all were united under their ancient gods called Many-Angled Ones, death is meaningless and the universe is overflowing with life to the point of it becoming "full" (please note that said life is invariably of the [[EldritchAbomination unpleasant variety]]). Thus they have used the Fault as a gateway to invade the MarvelUniverse to give their gods new space to consume. Only one thing may stand in their way.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Star-Lord and Nova stay behind in the Cancerverse to keep Thanos from escaping and destroying the MarvelUniverse. It apparently doesn't take for any of them. A few years later, Thanos and Star-Lord manage to get out of it... A few more years after, Nova is finally rescued by his successor]].

* AnyoneCanDie: ''The Thanos Imperative'' is the culmination of Abnett and Lanning's cosmic Marvel comics, and a lot of the characters from them end up dead. [[spoiler:Phyla-Vell]] already died in the prologue to this story in ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', and the miniseries itself kills off [[spoiler:Drax, Thanos, Warlock/Magus, and, ultimately, even Star-Lord and Nova, the two main characters]]. Though this being the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, [[DeathIsCheap most of them will inevitably come back]] sooner or later.

* PowerWalk: Performed by ComicBook/{{Nova}}, ComicBook/{{Quasar}}, ComicBook/BetaRayBill, Gladiator, Ronan the Accuser and ComicBook/SilverSurfer. And because the tease before the issue's release as the basis for fan speculation of a cosmic [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] after the event.

** Inverted with ComicBook/BetaRayBill, who appears halfway through the event (the above-mentioned PowerWalk is the first panel to actually show him), but is treated as though he has been there for the entire fight.

* ImmortalityField: Death is meaningless in the Cancerverse and it is overflowing with life to the point of it becoming "full." It all began when somehow, somebody ''[[DeathTakesAHoliday killed Death]]'' and allowed Life to grow unrestrained. The entire universe is under the influence of [[EldritchAbomination Elder Gods]] and, using the Fault that has opened up in the main ''616'' universe, they are now intent on corrupting the rest of reality.

An [[BizarroUniverse alternate universe]] that seems to have gone through a CosmicHorrorStory. "Life had won" and all were united under their ancient gods called [[UltimateEvil Many-Angled Ones]], death is meaningless and the universe is overflowing with life to the point of it becoming "full" (please note that said life is invariably of the [[EldritchAbomination unpleasant]] [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily variety]]). Thus they have used the Fault as a gateway to invade the MarvelUniverse to give their gods new space to consume. Only one thing may stand in their way.

* SpinOff: The Annihilators miniseries.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ThanosImperative_1658.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:250: What I am is ANGRY. What I am is '''INSANE WITH RAGE'''. What I am is... '''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast THANOS]]'''!!]]

A Creator/MarvelComics BatFamilyCrossover for Marvel's cosmic/space titles that spun out of 2009's ''[[RedSkiesCrossover Realm of Kings]]'' storyline and various story elements that have been introduced under the tenure of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning post-ComicBook/{{Annihilation}} Marvel cosmic era.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: The Many-Angled Ones are not simply CaptainErsatz of Creator/HPLovecraft's Cthulian abominations; they ''are'' his Cthulian abominations, or more accurately some of them are. They are explicitly three of the Great Old Ones, with classic Marvel Eldritch Abomination Shuma-Gorath thrown into the mix (see below- Marvel canon recognizes Shuma-Gorath as the Master of the Old Ones, confirming that he is the most powerful of the Great Old Ones). The term actually comes from Creator/GrantMorrison who used it in ComicBook/{{Zenith}}, and he says they are also known as the Lloigor, from Creator/AugustDerleth's Lovecraftian stories, though Morrison promoted them to Great Old One status. The moniker "Many-Angled Ones" is meant to imply that they exist in several dimensions and what we see is only "one angle" of them; they are literally dipping into our level of existence.

** [[spoiler: Blastarr, first running during the last battle against the Cancerverse and then a week afterward, attacking the capital of the Kree home world.]]

* TheWorfEffect: The BigBad Lord Marvel pulled this with most of the characters in the story. The most obvious example is [[spoiler:Magus]], who was a massively powered [[spoiler:BigBad of his own]] in ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', yet here Mar-Vell casually kills him with a wave of his hand.

Now all the key interstellar empires, cosmic heroes and forces of universe have descended on the Fault to stem the invading forces of the "cancerverse", forces filled with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and [[EvilTwin twisted versions of Marvel's strongest]].

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler: Thanos invokes a Class X-4 on the Cancerverse, and was about to ramp it up to Class X-5 before Nova and Star Lord began to intervene.]]

* DefectorFromDecadence: [[spoiler:The Cancerverse Scarlet Witch aids the heroes and her husband the Vision in reaching the site of the Necropsy Ritual. She gets her soul eaten by Lord Mar-vell for her troubles.]]

* EvilCounterpart: [[Comicbook/TheAvengers The Revengers]], [[ComicBook/TheDefenders Defenders of the Realm]] and the cancerverse's main leader [[DramaticIrony Lord Mar-Vell]].
** During one of the Realm of Kings miniseries, evil counterparts of the ComicBook/XMen appeared to fight the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.

* FakeDefector: [[spoiler:Thanos surrenders to Lord Mar-vell so that Mar-vell will try to kill him and bring him close to Death. Literally, allowing her to eradicate the Cancerverse.]]

* ForWantOfANail: The only difference between the regular Marvel universe and the Cancerverse before things became tentacly was that the Cancerverse was a ''bit'' closer to the center of the multiverse, where the Many-Angled Ones lay.

* ImmortalityField: Death is meaningless in the Cancerverse and it is overflowing with life to the point of it becoming "full." It all began when somehow, somebody ''[[DeathTakesAHoliday killed Death]]'' and allowed Life to grow unrestrained. The entire universe is under the influence of [[EldritchAbomination Elder Gods]] and, using the Fault that has opened up in the ''Marvel Universe'', they are now intent on corrupting the rest of reality.

* RidiculouslyHumanRobot: The Resistance, lead by [[spoiler: ComicBook/TheVision]], within the Cancerverse is made of the few Marvel [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot mechanical life]] that weren't wiped out in the early in the conversion of the cancerverse.

* ThanatosGambit: Well, what did you expect? [[spoiler:Thanos surrenders and allows Mar-vell to kill him, drawing Death to the universe full of Life and letting her destroy it.]]

* YouHaveFailedMe: [[spoiler:Adam Magus, head native cheerleader for the Cancerverse and SuperpoweredEvilSide of the Avatar of Life, at the end of the Ignition one shot and prologue.]]

* [[ThanatosGambit Thanos Gambit]]: Well, what did you expect? [[spoiler:Thanos surrenders and allows Mar-vell to kill him, drawing Death to the universe full of Life and letting her destroy it.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: At the start of the series half of the [[ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Guardians]] follow Star-Lord into the Cancerverse and the other half goes to the frontlines to fight. Only member of the group that went to the frontlines shown is Major Victory, who is later among the captured anomalies on the Cancerverse flagship.]]

* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: Despite the arrival of the massive Galactus Engine to battle the cosmic abstracts and entities, to both the reader and the non-abstracts at the battle, it does nothing. The ComicBook/SilverSurfer is the one that explains that both the Galactus Engine and the other abstracts are in a battle that the rest can't fathom until its the consequences have already been decided. Likely doubles as an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome.

An [[BizarroUniverse alternate universe]] that seems to have went through a CosmicHorrorStory. "Life had won" and all were united under their ancient gods called [[UltimateEvil Many-Angled Ones]], death is meaningless and the universe is overflowing with life to the point of it becoming "full" (please note that said life is invariably of the [[EldritchAbomination unpleasant]] [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily variety]]). Thus they have used the Fault as a gateway to invade the MarvelUniverse to give their gods new space to consume. Only one thing may stand in their way.

** Inverted with ComicBook/BetaRayBill, who appears half–way through the event (the above–mentioned PowerWalk is the first panel to actually show him), but is treated as though he has been there for the entire fight.

* BiggerBad: The Many-Angled Ones that gave Mar-vell the power to kill Death in the first place. [[spoiler:They make a brief appearance as Lord Mar-vell summons them and they're pretty much your typical {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. Shuma-Gorath, the enemy of Comicbook/DoctorStrange, is mentioned to be amongst them, but he has taken advantage of VoluntaryShapeshifting and is not recognisable.]]

** Inverted with Beta Ray Bill, who appears half–way through the event (the above–mentioned PowerWalk is the first panel to actually show him), but is treated as though he has been there for the entire fight.