There are countless Marvel relics that have been introduced in comic books that could alter the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe if they showed up there. Many relics have already been shown, from the Tesseract and the Infinity Gauntlet to the Darkhold and more. These all altered much of history, from the Red Skull’s actions in World War II to Thanos snapping away half of existence and the Scarlet Witch becoming powerful enough to traverse the multiverse. What is impressive is that these relics are just the tip of the iceberg in Marvel Comics when it comes to devices that could change Marvel history.
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From devices that could destroy the entire world to some relics that were actually already glimpsed as Easter eggs in the MCU, here are seven powerful Marvel relics that could set up a new phase in the Marvel movies.
7) The Casket of Ancient Winters
The Casket of Ancient Winters is a hand-sized Asgardian container that holds the Fimbulwinter of Ymir, which has the fury of a thousand killing winters. If it were opened, it would unleash a massive killing snowstorm that could send the entire world into a new ice age. The Marvel relic first appeared in Thor #346 (1984) by Walt Simonson during one of the best Thor runs in history. In this storyline, Malekith shattered the relic after Thor defeated him, and it sent a lethal winter across Earth, which also freed the fire demon Surtur.
The power of this device is massive, because beyond world-freezing storms, whoever wields it has godlike power and can channel it to fire off blasts of icy energy. Surtur, the Dark Elf Jagrfelm, and Malekith all possessed it in the comics. The Casket of Ancient Winters actually already showed up in the MCU, as it was in Odin’s vault in Thor (2011), and Loki used it in that movie. It was assumed to be in Asgard when it was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok, so the MCU would need to find a way to show it was saved, but an entire movie built on a frozen Earth would be interesting.
6) Astral Regulator
The Astral Regulator is a cosmic artifact that was created by the One-Above-All, the being who represents God in the Marvel Comics world. This device served one purpose, and that was to keep all the separate universes from colliding. Each universe has one Regulator, and they are stored somewhere so lethal that almost all beings would die just getting close to it. The device first appeared in Thanos: The Infinity Conflict (2018) by Jim Starlin and Alan Davis.
This device allows whoever wields it the power to absorb any cosmic entity, and it makes the wielder unharmable by even the higher powers. It is shown in the comics to be more powerful than the Infinity Gems. Thanos almost died trying to get it, and when he grasped it, the relic healed him instantly. Using this device, Thanos became Death itself, using it to consume Galactus’ life force, absorb the Eternal Kronos, and absorb the power of the Infinity Stones, and then devoured both Eternity and Infinity. This is the one device in the MCU that would scare the universe’s version of God.
5) M’Kraan Crystal
The M’Kraan Crystal is a mountain-sized crystalline object that houses an entire neutron galaxy. Marvel describes this as the nexus of all realities, the one point where every universe in the past, present, and future connects. It has been shown several times in comics to be the most powerful relic in Marvel’s reality. This debuted in X-Men #107 (1977) by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum during the “Phoenix Saga.”
This device is so powerful that if the crystal’s cycle is disrupted, reality itself can instantly cease to exist. In the X-Men storyline, the villainous Shi’ar Emperor D’Ken tried to seize the crystal’s power to rewrite reality, and as the alignment triggered, it briefly wiped out all of existence. It took Jean Grey using the Phoenix powers to channel her life force to repair the fracture. This is tied to the Phoenix Force, so it could play into the X-Men movies, although it might be too big for anything other than a running threat through the franchise.
4) The Book of the Vishanti
The Darkhold was already shown in the movies involving the Scarlet Witch, and she proved how dangerous she could be when she was in possession of that magical book. Vishanti has also been introduced in the movies thanks to Doctor Strange and his use of that magic. The Book of the Vishanti first appeared in Strange Tales #116 (1964) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko during Doctor Strange’s debut run in Marvel Comics.
This is the counterpart and antidote to the Darkhold. While the Elder God Chthon authored the Darkhold, the mystical trinity of Agamotto, Oshtur, and Hoggoth authored the Book of the Vishanti. In comics, the book was the one weapon that could stop Kaluu in Strange Tales #147-150, to the point that Strange used the physical book as a shield to turn Kaluu’s own mystic bolt back on him. The book seemed to be destroyed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and since Wanda seemingly destroyed all versions of the Darkhold, there is a chance both books are gone, but this is Marvel, and nothing is ever truly dead.
3) The Serpent Crown
The Serpent Crown is a mystical crown shaped like a seven-headed serpent, a vessel that channels the power of the exiled Elder God Set. The crown made its debut as the Helmet of Power in Tales to Astonish #101 (1968), and it made its first appearance in the Serpent Crown form in Sub-Mariner #9 (1969) by Roy Thomas and Marie Severin. The crown offers the user mind control, teleportation, matter transformation, enhanced strength, and a form of immortality, while it also shoots bolts of mystical energy.
However, the twist is that the crown also corrupts the wearer since Set possesses that individual. The main storyline was the “Serpent Crown Affair” in 1980, and this crown almost destroyed the entire Marvel Universe. In fact, one of the darkest issues of What If showed that Set could have turned all of Marvel’s heroes and Earth’s residents into snake-like creatures. The crown’s owner in that saga is the Roxxon Energy Corporation, a company already introduced in the MCU.
2) The Heart of the Universe
The Heart of the Universe is an all-powerful energy force that makes its wielder omnipotent. Thanos, actually, compared it to the Infinity Gauntlet, saying the Gauntlet is an external force, but the Heart of the Universe bonds the universe directly into omni-reality. This Marvel relic debuted in Marvel Universe: The End (2003) by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom. This device exceeds the Infinity Gauntlet and the Cosmic Cube combined. The wielder can use it to overpower every cosmic abstract at once, including Eternity, Infinity, and the Living Tribunal.
Thanos actually used it to try to save a dying universe, but it instead accelerated its collapse. In anger, he absorbed everything, including the three cosmic abstract entities, and then he sat alone in complete darkness, using it to annihilate all of creation. Thanos then used it to rebuild the entire universe, with the one change that no one could ever return from the dead again. This device is not canon to the mainline Marvel Comics world, so the MCU could alter it in any way it chooses.
1) Ultimate Nullifier
The Fantastic Four could easily introduce the Ultimate Nullifier to the MCU. That is because this was a device that was introduced as the deus ex machina in the original “Galactus Trilogy” in Marvel Comics. It first appeared in Fantastic Four #50 (1966) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. In this story, the Watcher sent the Human Torch on a mission to another part of the universe to find something to help the Fantastic Four stop Galactus from consuming Earth. He returned with the Ultimate Nullifier.
This is a device that power-scales to the mind of the user. The Watcher told Reed Richards never to turn the Nullifier to its full power, or it could wipe out the entire solar system in a microsecond. Galactus showed fear of it and left Earth to keep Reed Richards from using it. Later, Reed used it to reset the entire universe when the Fantastic Four fought Abraxas. This is how Marvel replaced the time-displaced Valeria with a pregnant Susan Storm. It would perfectly help the MCU reboot the timeline or make any changes with just the use of one Marvel relic.
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