Warning: contains spoilers forFantastic Four#2!
The final fate of Earth-616 is way bleaker thanMarvelfans ever expected. As the primary Earth in Marvel’s multiverse, Earth-616 is also home to the publisher’s biggest heroes. Now, inFantastic Four#2, Marvel takes fans into the far distant future, where the Invisible Woman discovers an ignoble end to what was a bastion of heroism.
Fantastic Four#2 was written by Ryan North and drawn by Humberto Ramos.The Invisible Woman is strandedmillions of years in Earth’s future, where a red sun hangs high in the sky, heating the planet to temperatures normally unbearable to humans.
Earth-616, the Primary World in Marvel’s Multiverse, Explained
Earth-616 is Home to Many Marvel Icons
Marvel’s multiverse is expansive, but a good portion of the publisher’s output is set on Earth-616.Legendary comic writer Alan Mooregave Marvel’s primary Earth this designation during his epic tenure writing Captain Britain for Marvel UK in the early 1980s. He allegedly chose this number at random, to denote it was just another Earth in the multiverse.
And while Earth-616 may be just another link in the multiversal chain, the fact remains that it contains a large portion of super-powered characters. It is home to The Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man and the Avengers. There are other Earths in the multiverse, but 616 still reigns supreme over the rest.
Marvel Has Explored Earth-616’s History Before, Both Past and Future
Franklin Richards Closes Out Marvel’s Multiverse
There have been many stories set at various points in Earth-616’s history. Fans have been thrilled by the exploits of a team of Avengers active in the Stone Age, and there have been stories set in 616’s future as well. The first incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy originated in the 30th century, but later retcons changed this about them.
Fans have also learned the final fate of the Marvel multiverse as well, and it involves Earth-616. As the Eighth Cosmos (the current incarnation of the Marvel Universe) winds down, Franklin Richards will survive, becoming a cosmic entity in the next cycle, akin to Galactus in the current multiversal structure.
Earth-616’s Ending Is Bringing Life Full Circle
Earth-616’s Ending Eerily Mirrors Its Beginning
In essence, life on Earth-616 is ending just as it began: as microscopic organisms residing in dirty pools of water. After billions of years of heroic history, Earth is now just another dying planet in the universe. The Earth has been reduced to virtually nothing in the grand scheme of the universe.
This ending for Earth-616 also mirrors aspects of its origin as well. As revealed in the first arc of Jason Aaron’s run onThe Avengers,a corrupted Celestial bled into the primordial soup that eventually gave way to life on Earth. As a result, many of Earth’s super-powered people, including mutants, could trace their roots back to this incident.
The primary difference between these two periods in Earth-616’s history is that there will be no heroic legacies springing from Earth ever again. No Celestials are coming to jump-start a new evolutionary chain. Instead, Earth-616, the bastion of the Marvel Universe, dies with a whimper, and not a bang.
Alan Moore’s Vision for Earth-616 Has Finally Come to Pass
Earth-616 Was Marvel’s Primary Earth, But All Good Things Must End
Finally, Earth-616’s bleak and brutal ending fulfills Alan Moore’s vision for the concept. He chose the number 616 because it was nothing special, and it was just another world in the multiverse. In the end, Earth-616 was unable to escape the cycle of planetary evolution, being reduced to nothing in theMarvelUniverse.
