Ultimate Nullifier

Ultimate Nullifier
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Fantastic Four #50 (May 1966)
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
In story information
Type Device
Element of stories featuring Galactus

The Ultimate Nullifier is a device of immense power in Marvel Comics. The device made its first appearance in Fantastic Four volume 1, issue #50 (May 1966), in which Johnny Storm retrieves it from the home of Galactus—as directed by Uatu the Watcher—for the Fantastic Four to employ against the threat of Galactus himself. The Nullifier appears as a small, hand-held metallic device with no apparent functionality. When first introduced in 1966 it was described as the only known weapon in the universe capable of inspiring fear in Galactus.[1]

History

In its first appearance, Reed Richards threatens the use of the Ultimate Nullifier as a last-ditch effort to stop Galactus from destroying Earth as Human Torch recovered it from the base of Galactus with the help of Uatu the Watcher. Faced with the prospect of dying by Richards' activation of the Nullifier, Galactus withdraws.

The Nullifier later appears in the Infinity War. Quasar tries to use it in an attempt to destroy the Magus, who had acquired the collective power of five cosmic cubes and a gauntlet containing 5 of the 6 Infinity Gems. The Reality Gem was replaced in this instance with a duplicate created by Thanos. Although Quasar tried to use the weapon on Magus, Quasar's attack gets redirected by the incomplete Infinity Gauntlet, temporarily nullifying Quasar in the process.[2]

The Ultimate Nullifier is generally kept within Galactus' Worldship, Taa II, though at times Galactus has been known to carry it aboard his spherical starship. In the rare instances that the Nullifier gets stolen or kept in other locales, such as the Fantastic Four's headquarters, the Nullifier inevitably returns to Galactus' possession. In the Abraxas saga Galactus demonstrates his ability to recall the Nullifier to himself at will. In conjunction, he stated it to be "as much a part of me as my heart itself."[3] In the 2006 edition of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Marvel Comics included a profile of the 'Ultimate Nullifier' which, using technobabble, described the device to be of "unknown origins" within the context of the fictional Marvel Universe."[4]

During the Original Sin storyline, an evolved Mindless One had the Ultimate Nullifier in its possession and used it on itself to put it out of its misery despite Thing trying to talk it down. By this time, Nick Fury and the Avengers arrive where Captain America wants the Ultimate Nullifier left alone until it is contained.[5]

Powers

The Ultimate Nullifier has been described as "the universe's most devastating weapon".[2] As such, the Ultimate Nullifier has the ability to completely eliminate any target the wielder chooses, along with the user if his or her mind is not focused enough.[2] In the hands of a being with an extremely powerful mind, the Ultimate Nullifier can destroy (or in conjunction recreate) entire time-lines from beginning to end.[3][6]

Other versions

Earth X

In the Earth X trilogy, Universe X in particular, the Ultimate Nullifier is one of the cosmic objects Captain Marvel, resurrected as a child, gathers to create Paradise. Later, it is used against Death after Marvel's spiritual counterpart, Mar-Vell, reveals to Thanos how Death has manipulated him in the past and gives the Ultimate Nullifier to him. Thanos annihilates Death and removes her from power, paving the way for the new paradise. However, as an unforeseen consequence, it leaves those still living unable to die, forcing the remaining heroes on Earth to resurrect Jude The Entropic Man as a means for dying.

JLA/Avengers

During the JLA/Avengers crossover (published between Sep 2003 - Mar 2004), the JLA and the Avengers go after twelve items of power, six from each universe. The Grandmaster approaches the League and tells them the Ultimate Nullifier is one of the great six items of power of the Marvel Universe, along with the Infinity Gems, the Casket of Ancient Winters, the Wand of Watoomb, the Evil Eye of Avalon and the Cosmic Cube. The first item the League collects is the Ultimate Nullifier. The Martian Manhunter examines it, but it threatens to overwhelm his mind, and he starts to lose control of his shape due to the immense power felt while probing the Nullifier, stating the item alone could destroy an entire universe.

Marvel Adventures

In Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #26, Spider-Man theorizes that the Nullifier does not actually destroy things, or it would be called an "Ultimate Annihilator." He believes that it instead alters the laws of probability, changing the universe so that "everything has an equal likelihood of affecting everything else." The theory turns out to be right when Spider-Man activates the Nullifier in an attempt to stop Galactus.

Ultimate Marvel

During the Ultimate Extinction storyline in the Ultimate Marvel universe, Reed Richards created a massively up-sized, towering version of the very same portal device that he had previously designed on two other occasions to connect to the N-Zone. This weapon unleashed the tremendous energies of an alternate universe's Big Bang at Gah-Lak-Tus, destroying 20% of its mass and driving it off. This weapon is referred to as the Nevada Gun, and is activated by triggering a Big Bang in an infant universe, and channeling that energy into a giant beam of destruction.

Marvel: What If?

In What If? vol. 1 #32 The Avengers Had Become Pawns of Korvac? Korvac sends a mind-controlled Captain America to the worldship of Galactus to steal the Nullifier and then use it on Galactus himself. In doing so Captain America destroys both Galactus and himself and it is explained that is the secret of the Nullifier—that it nullifies both target and wielder. The story ends with a frustrated and angry Korvac. Having absorbed almost all the most powerful beings in the universe, but still unable to achieve complete domination, in a fatalistic rage he uses the Nullifer to destroy all of reality and himself in the process. Even in this all-encompassing use of the device, it survived the destruction of all else.

Several issues later, in issue #43 of the same volume of the series, Doctor Strange, the Phoenix, and The Silver Surfer—who had all been thrown entirely out of the local universe at an earlier point by Korvac and thus were spared its destruction -were stopped by the "ghost" of Eternity from attempting to use the Ultimate Nullifier on the void once they separately found their way back to that alternate universe and located the device—the only remaining object in all of the void. The entity implied that the three survivors of the destroyed universe were correct in their deduction that, if they used the device on the same region that it had previously nullified, that the resulting action would "undo" the previous nullification event and restore the universe; instead of restoring the universe, Eternity's spirit wanted the empty expanse to forever serve as a warning to others that might try to use the Nullifier.

Age of Ultron

In the Age of Ultron storyline, the Ultimate Nullifer is shown stored at Nick Fury's secret base in the Savage Land. When its use is discussed, Iron Man claims that he will not entertain the thought.[7]

Other media

Television

Video games

References

  1. ↑ Fantastic Four vol. 1, #50
  2. 1 2 3 The Infinity War #5 (Oct. 1992)
  3. 1 2 Fantastic Four #478 (Jan. 2002)
  4. ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11 (November 2006)
  5. ↑ Original Sin #1
  6. ↑ Fantastic Four vol. 3, #49
  7. ↑ Age of Ultron #5 (Apr. 2013)
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