Black Order (Marvel)

Latest revision as of 10:18, 23 July 2024

The Black Order in Avengers v1 #681.

The Black Order are a supervillain team that features in Marvel Comics.

History

Origin

Thanos and his Black Order in New Avengers v3 #9.

The Cull Obsidian were a group of powerful alien warriors that served the Mad Titan Thanos as he razed worlds and demanded tribute from them. (Infinity v1 #1)

The first of their number that was recruited into their ranks was Corvus Glaive. (Black Order v1 #1) He was later joined two survivors of Thanos's Butcher Squadron with these being Proxima Midnight and Ebony Maw. (Thanos v3 #6) They were later joined by the Black Dwarf and Supergiant where they formed the Black Order. (Infinity v1 #1) At some point, one of their missions for their master Thanos was to kill the living planet Ego the Living Planet whose existence was seen as an affront to Death. Despite their skill, the Mad Titan and his Black Order could only achieve a stalemate against the living world. (Thanos: A God Up There Listening Infinite Comic v1 #6)

Infinity

In search for the Tribute, an Outrider was dispatched to Earth where he managed to uncover the information from the mind of the Inhuman King of Attilan, Black Bolt. Though injured, the creature managed to return to Titan where the information was gathered from his mind and the Black Order were assembled awaiting their master's orders. (Infinity v1 #1) Thanos had decided to launch an attack against Earth in a bid to claim one of the Infinity Gems whilst he himself went to claim the tribute personally. Thus, the Black Order were dispatched on their assignment where the Black Dwarf attacked Wakanda, Proxima Midnight besieged Atlantis, the Ebony Maw invaded the Sanctum Sanctorum and Corvus Glaive along with Supergiant both assaulted the X-Mansion. (New Avengers v3 #9)

Contest of Champions

A new Black Order consisting of Proxima Midnight, the Black Swan and Hela were dispatched to retrieve a version of Mjolnir from another universe but were opposed by Thor. As a result, they were forced to return to Thanos empty-handed but Hela defeated her other two comrades and made a deal with Thanos for him to help her regain her kingdom. (Unworthy Thor v1 #5)

The Black Order were all restored back to life by the Challenger to take part in a Contest of Champions game against the Elder Grandmaster who had similarly gathered a new Lethal Legion. (Avengers v1 #681)

In the aftermath, the Cull Obsidian remained alive with them finding themselves in the Wai Desert of the planet Angaral situated in the E-Wing Cluster. Once there, they found themselves meeting the Grandmaster with En Dwi Gast offering them a new opportunity that suited their destructive talents. (Avengers v1 #690) He dispatched them to destabilise the powerful Sinnarian Empire where they massacred opposition on three worlds before their foes began to deploy skilled warriors to combat them. (Black Order v1 #1) They later struck at the homeworld of the Sinnarians only to be captured but were freed by a resistance movement that opposed Emperor Attican. From the rebels, they learnt that the empire gained its power through the cosmic relic of Air-Walker's namely the Bow of Gabriel. The Black Order decided to aid the rebels but ultimately they sought to claim the weapon for themselves in order to forge their own empire across the universe. (Black Order v1 #2)

Infinity Stones

Later, the Black Order was recruited by the Asgardian death goddess Hela to recover the body of Thanos so she could resurrect him. Thanos' body was in the possession of Thanos' Starfox who brought it with him to a meeting attended by major figures from across the universe to discuss Thanos' will. The group crashed the meeting using the space station Knowhere and a horde of Outriders. They successfully retrieved Thanos' body and dealt with the meeting's attendees by trapping them in an artificial rip in space. However, Thanos' head was missing, which prevented Hela from resurrecting him until it was recovered. (Guardians of the Galaxy v5 #1) Hela and the Black Order's search for Thanos' head first took them to the Collector. After Hela threatened the Collector, he directed her to the Negative Zone where the head was in the possession of Annihilus. When confronted by Hela and the Black Order, Annihilus attacked them, but Hela chopped off his hand and threatened him, forcing him to hand over the head. (Guardians of the Galaxy v5 #3) When the Dark Guardians captured Gamora for believing that she was Thanos' means of resurrection, Hela and the Black Order took them out to prevent her execution. However, Hela revealed that she and Thanos had planned for his resurrection for a while and that Gamora wasn't to be Thanos' vessel, Starfox was. After that, Thanos' consciousness took over Starfox's body and left with Hela and the Black Order for Knowhere, where his restored body was being kept for his resurrection. (Guardians of the Galaxy v5 #5) To stop Thanos' resurrection, the Guardians and remaining Dark Guardians attacked Knowhere. Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Nova, and Captain Marvel (Phyla-Vell) subdued the Black Order while Gamora killed Starfox to stop Thanos' resurrection, but Thanos came back with a broken mind. Then Thanos was hit by a missile fired by Hela that generated a black hole, sucking up the two partners and all of Knowhere. The Guardians and Dark Guardians were able to escape. (Guardians of the Galaxy v5 #6)

The Black Order later came to Earth when they learnt that the Reality Stone had bonded to a human host named Star. This saw Corvus Glaive gathering his comrades as they looked to hunt down and claim the gem from the human. (Star v1 #2)

Overview

The group were also known as the Midnight Slaughter. (Infinity v1 #2) They were also referred to as the Titan's Generals. (Guardians of the Galaxy v5 #1)

Every member was held as being murderers and psychopaths who were regarded as the Mad Titan Thanos's favourite soldiers. They considered themselves not mindless fighters but rather as warriors that with the precision of a scalpel removed the heart of their enemies. (Black Order v1 #2)

Members

• Corvus Glaive :
• Proxima Midnight :
• Supergiant :
• Ebony Maw :
• Black Dwarf :
• Black Swan :

Notes

• The Black Order were created by Jonathan Hickman, Jerome Opeña, and Jim Cheung where they made their first appearance in New Avengers v3 #8 (September, 2013).
• In an interview on CBR, editor Tom Brevoort commented, "Every one of these characters exist on a galactic scale. They’re not necessarily Titans like Thanos, but they are beings of the cosmos who walk in the same circles as Thanos. They’re unto like demigods. They’re just as sturdy and undamageable and knowledgable as guardians. These aren’t normal aliens, these aren’t basic Skrulls or Kree or average Shi’ar. These guys are levels that are one-up from that... In the same kind of way Thanos would go up against the Avengers by himself in the past, any one of these characters could hold their own against an Avengers team in the field. There are five of them, and they are backed up by legions of more conventional outer space bad guys."
• They received in an entry in Avengers NOW! v1 #1 (2014) where they were said to be Thanos's generals in his war on life.

Alternate Versions

• In What If: Infinity - Thanos v1 (2015), an alternate version of Black Order was shown in a What If reality designated Earth-15121 in the Multiverse. In this version of Infinity, Thanos and the Black Order allied with the Avengers against the Builders. It was shown that they were instrumental in the defeat of the Builders.
• In What If: Infinity - Inhumans v1 (2015), an alternate version of the Black Order was was shown in a what If reality designated as Earth-99220 in the Multiverse. In this version of Infinity, Thanos destroyed Attilan, enslaved the Inhumans and conquered Earth. The defeated Black Bolt saved his people by agreeing to work for Thanos with the pact meaning that none of the Black Order were allowed to set foot on New Attilan. However, they later learnt of a rebellion against Thanos with the Black Order killing the rebels. Ultimately, they were killed by Black Bolt after he managed to slay Thanos.
• In What If? Infinity - X-Men v1 #1 (2015), an alternate version of the Black Order was shown in a What If reality designated as Earth-15142 in the Multiverse. In this version of Infinity, Supergiant was the sole surviving member of Thanos's Black Order. At some point in time she came across a group of Avengers who were trying to make their back home. Supergiant used her telepathic abilities to mind control the entire team to help her raid other ships for their supplies.

In other media

Television

• In Avengers Assemble, the Cull Obsidian or Black Order appeared as antagonists in the episode "New Frontier" where they were responsible for freeing Thanos from his confinement. After freeing him, they participated in their masters assault on New Korbin with them being accompanied by Outsiders so that he could drain a power source on that world to empower Thanos. When the Avengers arrived, the Black Order battled the heroes where they managed to initially defeat their foes until they began using the alien environment against them. Thanos then offered to spare Earth if the Avengers allowed him to conquer the galaxy with them refusing and attacking the Black Order who were defeated but fled with their master. In "Avengers World", they joined their master Thanos in the attack on Earth where they battled the Avengers on the Moon. After being defeated, they were taken into custody by the Guardians of the Universe.
• In Guardians of the Galaxy, the Black Order made an appearance in the episode "Undercover Angle". They were described as a gang who were tasked by Thanos with recovering the deceased Ronan's Universal Weapon. Supergiant was at dome point captured and imprisoned at Xandar. Corpsmen Titus later forced the Guardians of the Galaxy with infiltrating the Black Order leading to a confrontation with the Black Order. However, Titus arrived revealing his corrupt nature and took the Universal Weapon where he attacked both groups. This led to the Black Order and the Guardians allying with one another until Titus was defeated and arrested by the Nova Corps. They later returned in "Stuck in the Metal With You" where they followed the Guardians of the Galaxy to the planet Retsemaw. They ambushed and nearly overpowered them until Rocket Raccoon wore the Destroyer armor where he defeated them.
• In What If...?, the Black Order appeared in the setting of the animated television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the episode "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?", the Black Order working as security for the Tivan Group. However, when the Ravagers aided by Lady Nebula traveled to the Collector's Museum to steal the Embers of Genesis, the Black Order disbanded. In the episode "What If? ... Zombies!", a reality was shown where after Thanos destroyed the ship carrying the Asgardians he sent his children after the gems that were on Earth, unaware that it had been decimated by a virus that turned those affected into Zombies. Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian came to Earth to reclaim the Infinity Gems, a fresh Bruce Banner tried to confront them but the Hulk would not face them. The two were about to attack Banner when they were interrupted by a zombified Wong, Doctor Strange and Iron Man who attacked and infected them. In the episode "What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?", The Black Order was the former group of warriors under the leadership of Thanos, before he was killed by Ronan the Accuser. Members of the group included Nebula and Gamora.

Films

• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Black Order appeared in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Avengers: Infinity War, four members of the Black Order appeared in the live-action film. They were shown as being the generals of the Mad Titan Thanos with them consisting of Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, and Black Dwarf who was renamed as Cull Obsidian. The Order assisted their master in his plans to acquire the Infinity Stones with all four being killed in the attempt.
  • In Avengers: Endgame, the Black Order appeared in the live-action film sequel. Through time travel, the Black Order were brought into the present where they aided their master in attempting to acquire the Infinity Stones again but were killed when Iron Man used the gauntlet to slay them alongside their masters army.

Video games

• In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the Black Order appeared in the setting of the Facebook video game. They were mentioned as Thanos's fiercest warriors helped the Mad Titan in his crusade to raze different worlds, and force their inhabitants to pay him tributes.
• In Marvel: Future Fight, the Black Order was referenced in the background of each of its members that were playable in the mobile video game.
• In Marvel: Strike Force, the Black Order appeared in the setting of the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, the Black Order appeared in the setting of the Wii video game. They were said to be the most vicious warriors in the universe and served he Mad Titan Thanos.
• In Marvel Duel, the Black Order appeared in the setting of the mobile video card game.

Other

• In Marvel Crisis Protocol, the Black Order appeared in the setting of the miniatures game created by Atomic Mass Games.

Appearances

• New Avengers v3: (2013)
• Infinity v1:
• Wolverine and the X-Men v1:
• Avengers v1:
• Thanos:
• Black Order v1: (2019)
• Guardians of the Galaxy v5: (2019)
• Star v1: (2020)
• Thor:
• Phoenix:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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