Marvel Snapshot: Character Spotlight: Immortus

Hey everybody, welcome to another week right here in Marvel Snapshot! This week’s character spotlight will be none other than the time traveling enigma known as Immortus! Yeah, his background and history are a little confusing, but believe me, if I can get it, you can too, so follow along! Immortus was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1964 (first appearance – Avengers #10).

Nathaniel Richards was born in the 40th century, and was a very intelligent boy. He was bullied, though, and found himself in the hospital after an incident. After that, he devoted his life to science, and watched tapes of the heroic times of the 20th century. He then became obsessed with the time travel technology of one of his ancestors (allegedly), Doctor Doom. Thus, he began traveling through time, unknowingly (at first) creating other versions of himself and his guises (Kang, Rama-Tut). While he was disguised as the pharoah Rama-Tut, he ruled Egypt and also tried to enlist the services of a certain slave with great power and promise, named En Sabah Nur. This was thwarted by Nur and the Fantastic Four, though.
Immortus then turned his attention to the Avengers. He began a secret vendetta against them. Especially Tony Stark and the Scarlet Witch. You see, he knew of the power that Wanda possessed, and also that Iron Man would be easy to manipulate and was a key member of the team. Later, a version of Immortus (Kang) was visited by three beings calling themselves The Time-Keepers. These alleged immortal beings were created at the end of time, and had a vast knowledge of time. They bestowed this knowledge to Immortus, and then appointed him time keeper of the period of 3,000 BC – 4,000 AD. After that, Immortus decided to start plaguing the Avengers more steadily. He sent each of them to battle a mythical beast in a different dimension. For a time, Immortus allied himself with one of his divergent selves. He and Kang were partners until Kang betrayed him. He locked him inside a chamber, and then resurrected a few villains who became known as the Legion of the Unliving! He used them to attack the Avengers, but eventually Immortus was freed, and the Avengers thwarted Kang’s machinations.

A huge battle between Kang and Immortus erupted at one point, and both men were intent on destroying one another. This was called the “Destiny War.” An epic story that revolved around Immortus trying to kill Rick Jones because he possessed a “destiny force” that was used during the Kree-Skrull War. Jones escaped, though, with the aid of the Supreme Intelligence and then Libra. Jones then used his ability to summon members of the Avengers from different time periods/universes. This group of heroes had to learn to be cohesive and then fight all kinds of battles in the Old West, and the far flung future, as well. If you haven’t read that amazing story by Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern, I won’t spoil the ending, but rest assured, when you have time travel, Immortus, Kang, dinosaurs, the Two Gun Kid, and a host of other players, and the result is the Agents of Atlas, you know you’re in for the ride of your life!
As usual, check out my recommended reading list, followed by some of Immortus’s best covers! See you next week!
Recommended Reading
Essential Avengers vol. 1 – Tpb
The Avengers: Celestial Madonna – Tpb
The Avengers: Kang: Time and Time Again – Tpb
Thor vol. 1 #281 & 282
Avengers Forever – HC