The Avengers have seen it all—vampire civil wars and turbo-charged battles with Moon Knight. But what if the absolute puppet master behind all that chaos lurks in the shadows for a long time? The Avengers #38 flips the script on Marvel history, revealing a sinister force at play: Mephisto.
In the aftermath of “The Age of Khonshu,” the Avengers learned that Moon Knight’s divine benefactor had visions of a world ruled by the demon lord Mephisto. Talk about a bad dream! Khonshu powered up Moon Knight to prevent this catastrophic future, giving him the chops to tussle with Thor himself. But even after Mephisto seemingly met his end and Moon Knight aligned with the Avengers, the supernatural hero remained skeptical about the darkness being genuinely vanquished.
The plot thickened when we discovered that Howard Stark, yes, Tony Stark‘s dad, had ties to Mephisto. Surprise! He was alive and serving his dark master. As the story unfolded, it became clear that Mephisto was the evil force weaving together the tangled web of Marvel’s narrative.
In this issue, we learned that Mephisto has been guiding villains for eons, positioning himself as Earth’s first baddie. Talk about an origin story! Millions of years ago, when a diseased Celestial landed and spewed into the primordial soup, Mephisto was already lurking, ready to sow chaos. It was like Prometheus but with extra grossness.
As life began to sprout and flourish, Mephisto whispered sweet nothings to the world’s villains. He played puppet master for characters like Thanos, pulling him into battle with the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC. He also nudged Apocalypse onto the path of mutant domination and manipulated Hulk, convincing the big green guy that humanity could never trust him.
A flash-forward to the King Thor era, part of Aaron’s earlier saga, shows Mephisto orchestrating a showdown between Thor’s granddaughters and Doom, the Living Planet. All these moments connect back to one overarching villain, quietly orchestrating evil while heroes face the fallout.
But Mephisto wasn’t just lurking. He had a backup plan for when his luck ran out. A chilling flashback revealed a deal made centuries ago: a starving settler named Ambrose Winthrop sold his family’s firstborns to Mephisto in exchange for survival. That pact culminated in 2020 when Howard Stark confronted the last Winthrop, only to see the man devoured by a hellhound.
With the flesh of generations fueling his resurgence, Mephisto was far from defeated. Even after a brush with Moon Knight, he was back, ready to unveil his next twisted phase.
So what’s next? The series hinted at the return of the Phoenix Force, teasing a possible Avengers vs. X-Men showdown 2.0. With the strings of fate again in Mephisto’s hands, the Marvel Universe braced for another thrilling chapter. Buckle up, folks; the real action is just getting started!
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