Another peaceful night in the Big Apple is interrupted by a blinding flash of light that reveals a naked man, who begs people to save him from an unspecified "them". The police take him to the Avengers Mansion where Wasp is on duty, commiserating with Ms. Marvel over her rapidly deteriorating love life. He immediately freaks out, mistaking her for another woman named Corrina, and begging for protection from Them. With some prodding, Jan manages to get his name: Michael Korvac. It turns out he was, in fact, abducted by aliens and they performed unspeakable experiments on him. He experiences horrible flashbacks and actually puts a dent in the elevator before Wasp is able to restrain him. While Jane Foster checks him out, Jan fills the rest of the Avengers in. They are understandably skeptical and Black Panther wonders how a normal human being could escape from an advanced race of aliens.
While Hawkeye and Black Panther investigate the giant crater in Central Park, Wasp tracks down Corrina, who is working as a waitress in a small town diner. Iron Man and Hulk are keeping tabs on Korvac himself and after some examination, Stark is able to detect an unknown energy field that Korvac is emitting. Now, for some reason, he's explaining all of this to the Hulk.
Oh right, he's still a world-renowned expert on gamma radiation. Wasp arrives with Corrina in tow, and she and Korvac share a tearful reunion. Unfortunately it is cut short by the arrival of a team of mysterious aliens. The situation quickly deteriorates and Korvac is able to escape in the confusion. As the fight goes on and the Avengers find that they can communicate with their opponents, it becomes clear that their mysterious escapee is not what he seems. In the final confrontation, the aliens' leader Star-Lord explains that Michael Korvac is a wanted criminal responsible for the death of thousands. Wasp is unwilling to believe it but Korvac unleashes his powers for the first time, taking out everyone in the room, and Ms. Marvel when she shows up, with a single blow. He then takes Corrina and disappears.
The Avengers regain consciousness in an ever-shifting world where they find that they can finally communicate with the aliens they've been fighting. Star-Lord introduces the rest of his team: Quasar, Adam Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot, collectively known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. They finally elaborate on their intentions; Korvac was abducted by the Kree and whatever experiments they did gave him incredible powers, but also left him permanently insane. If left unchecked, he could kill countless people in addition to his already considerable death toll. Meanwhile Korvac continues to battle Ms. Marvel, mistaking her for a Kree due to the nature of her powers. The Avengers team up with the Guardians to try and subdue him but it is no use. He is just too powerful.
In the end, what stops him is Corrina, who is horrified by the amount of destruction he has caused. Korvac simply vanishes. Entirely. Not just from Earth but from the entire dimension. The Guardians leave too, simply saying that there are things in the universe that humanity is better off not knowing.
Somewhere far away is Korvac floating in the void, silent and alone.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Name Change: Korvac's love interest goes from Carina to Corrina.
- Alien Abduction: Korvac was abducted two years earlier while driving by himself on a backroad.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Hawkeye refuses to believe Michael was abducted by aliens, even though he knows aliens do exist.
- Armor-Piercing Response: "You're the only monster here, Michael."
- Berserk Button: The Kree for Michael. Sensing Kree energy in Ms. Marvel causes him to actively attack her.
- Brutal Honesty: Ms. Marvel tells Wasp that Hank would never have left if he had cared. It further confirms that Hank didn't feel comfortable having his ideals compromised by fighting.
- Chekhov's Gag: When Hawkeye questions whether or not Little Green Men abducted Korvac, Black Panther quips that they may've been blue. It's later revealed that the Kree (who are typically blue) abducted Korvac.
- Continuity Nod: Jan and Carol begin the episode talking about Jan's behavior last episode. She's feeling slightly down about it.
- Deadpan Snarker: When confronted by the Guardians, Iron Man reminds Hawkeye of his Arbitrary Skepticism.Iron Man: Still think Korvac's making all this up?
Hawkeye: I'm on the fence. - Downer Ending: Michael beats both the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, who finally decided to work together in order to contain him. Sadly, he notices his love interest Corrina terrified of him, after promising to protect her, and warps off-planet (and likely off-universe) in dispair and isolation. No one died during this episode, but no one won in the end.
- Dramatic Drop: Wasp finds Corrina working in a diner. She drops a tray full of dishes when Wasp tells her about Korvac.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: What Korvac did to a chunk of one planet that happened to be next to a ship he blew up, which is why the Guardians are after him.
- Facepalm: Star-Lord, while admitting that Phyla's "explanation" of what's going on hasn't helped at all.
- Flashback:
- Korvac experiences flashes of his abduction, being experimented on, and his relationship with Corrina.
- Quasar and Star-Lord narrate Korvac's history as a Kree subject and his exploits after his escape.
- Flat "What": Iron Man's reaction to Hulk describing the energy as cosmic radiation. He then finds Hulk is exactly right.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Kree experiments turn Korvac, a normal guy from Earth into an insane Physical God capable of shattering planets when he's stressed out.
- Funny Animal: How Rocket Raccoon comes across to the Avengers.
- Genre Savvy: Hawkeye has seen enough Sci-Fi movies to call Wasp out on how she's handling Korvac. See below.
- Hero of Another Story: The Guardians. The episode throws viewers unfamiliar with the team team right into the deep end by not explaining anything about them beyond their being, as Iron Man puts it, "Cosmic Avengers".
- He Who Fights Monsters: Discovering his newfound power thanks to the Kree experiments, Michael wants to wield it enough to stand a chance and "make the monsters go away" in order to protect himself and Corrina. Unfortunately, Corrina watched him fight off the Guardians and Avengers and fearfully tells him...Corrina: You are the only monster here, Michael.
- Humans Are Special: Quasar suspects that the Kree's experiments on Korvac awakened humanity's latent genetic potential.
- Invincible Villain: Korvac is too powerful for any hero to face, able to wreak destruction on a massive scale and pummel any hero one on one. The Guardians' best plan was to trap him in Adam's Soul Gem.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Korvac destroying the ship that abducted him might have been one thing; it's not even clear that if he meant to do it or if it was just Power Incontinence. From there, however, he started wreaking havoc across the galaxy and openly laughed at the pain and death he was inflicting on others.
- Knight Templar: Korvac insists that he is simply protecting Corrina and the rest of humanity from experiencing what he suffered at the hands of the Kree.
- Laughing Mad: After having a momentary freak out and knocking out the Avengers and the Guardians, Michael lets out a very unnerving giggle.
- According to Star-Lord, after destroying a heavily populated space station he was seen floating in the debris laughing.
- Let's You and Him Fight: A good old standby of the Guardians. Iron Man wants to talk things out, but Wasp starts shooting.
- More Dakka: Rocket's specialty.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Wasp is feeling guilty about the way she chewed out Hank the last time she spoke to him.
- Mythology Gag:
- Star Lord says Korvac was spotted by a Rigellian Recorder. In the comics the Recorders are a race of robots created to explore the universe and occasionally appear to witness major events.
- In the flashback to Korvac destroying the space station what appears to be a Shi'ar Imperial Cruiser can be seen. The Shi'ar are a space empire on par with the Kree and the Skrulls, who frequently interact with the X-Men.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Michael's motivation.
- Pokémon Speak: "I am Groot!"
- Properly Paranoid: Part of Hawkeye's skepticism about Korvac's story is that something is just off about all this. Black Panther feels somewhat similarly, pointing out there's no way a normal human could've gotten back to Earth on his own like this.
- Silent Credits: Part of the dedication to Boyd Kirkland.
- Slasher Smile: Rocket looks way too happy about unleashing his guns on the Avengers.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Discussed. Hawkeye points out that having Korvac, who was abducted and experimented on by aliens, strapped to a table was not Wasp's smartest move.
- This Cannot Be!: Korvac over the Avengers and Guardians being Not Quite Dead.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When Quasar says Korvac was abducted by the Kree, Iron Man reacts in this tone.Iron Man: We're familiar with the Kree.
- Troll: As usual, T'Challa has some fun at Clint's expense when discussing aliens.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The Avengers have gotten pretty used to weird things, so they're not surprised by a bunch of people teleporting into their front hall, even when those people include a tree and a raccoon.Hawkeye: There's a tree and a raccoon staring at us, man. Do we fight?
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Hawkeye calls Wasp out for having Michael Strapped to an Operating Table.Hawkeye: When he wakes up he's going to flip out. You realize you put Mr Abductee here in a med lab and strapped him to a table to get examined? Good thinking.
- For a given value of "hero", Corrina's reaction to Michael is basically this in the end.
- Hawkeye calls Wasp out for having Michael Strapped to an Operating Table.
- The Worf Barrage: A few episodes prior, we saw how tough and unstoppable Carol is, so it's not a good sign when Michael manages to shrug off her attacks and then overpower her.
- The World Is Not Ready:Iron Man: If this is the kind of the thing the Guardians deal with, then we should talk.
Star-Lord: Yeah, I don't think so. There are things out there in the universe you're better off not knowing about. - Your Other Left: Janet, when she is giving instructions while fleeing through the Avengers Mansion's hallways.
