Al Ewing explains Iso-8 and its connection to the rebirth of the Multiverse

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Ewing participated in an interview on the Marvel website last week where he elaborated on what's going on with Iso-8 and what it does. The high points:

* As made clear in Ultimates, this is the same as Neutronium, Blue Marvel's area of study, now in a stable configuration since Secret Wars and therefore both usable and existing in great supply (particularly in 'Battlerealm', the remains of the Secret Wars universe).
* While it's not stated outright, Ewing makes clear that this is the material of the Cosmic Cubes, which were previously made with artificial Iso-8.
* S.H.I.E.L.D. got some Iso-8 in Captain America, though they may not be fully aware of what they have on their hands.
* The 'Iso-Sphere' being constructed by the Collector in Contest of Champions "makes the cosmic cube look like a lump of burnt coal".
* Iso-8 acts as a 'cosmic counter' of iterations of the Marvel Omniverse (rebirths of just 616 or other parallel Earths, as Ewing notes, are a dime a dozen). The previous, 7th iteration of the Multiverse (presumably home to the unstable Iso-7) was what was destroyed in Secret Wars. The 6th was Galactus' universe, "a place of pure Kirby science", while the 5th was a realm of dark magic home to Moridun, who's causing trouble in Ewing's New Avengers. He has rough ideas for the first four universes, but that's something to be explored much later on.
* Cosmic artifacts of major power are going to be proliferating like never before as a consequence of Iso-8's very existence.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Certainly is intriguing

[Shin Ji]

Neat! I was wondering if the 6th might have been some earlier incarnation of the Omniverse that had been seen in comics before.

I wonder if the 1st-4th might involve Conan or something like that.

[Dog]

Thanks for summarizing. That's very helpful.

[MindofShadow]

thats cool

I wonder who intially thought of this

[dragon1440]

Neat! I was wondering if the 6th might have been some earlier incarnation of the Omniverse that had been seen in comics before.

I wonder if the 1st-4th might involve Conan or something like that.

Since Disney does own Marvel I betcha 1 of the 4 is going to be the Star Wars universe. Afterall it did happen a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away...... They could have the main characters somehow have survived through a pocket universe or something, similiar to the one Silver Surfer is in during SW. I hope this does not happen, but I could easily see it happening.

[ian0delond]

Ewing participated in an interview on the Marvel website last week where he elaborated on what's going on with Iso-8 and what it does. The high points:

* As made clear in Ultimates, this is the same as Neutronium, Blue Marvel's area of study, now in a stable configuration since Secret Wars and therefore both usable and existing in great supply (particularly in 'Battlerealm', the remains of the Secret Wars universe).
* While it's not stated outright, Ewing makes clear that this is the material of the Cosmic Cubes, which were previously made with artificial Iso-8.
* S.H.I.E.L.D. got some Iso-8 in Captain America, though they may not be fully aware of what they have on their hands.
* The 'Iso-Sphere' being constructed by the Collector in Contest of Champions "makes the cosmic cube look like a lump of burnt coal".
* Iso-8 acts as a 'cosmic counter' of iterations of the Marvel Omniverse (rebirths of just 616 or other parallel Earths, as Ewing notes, are a dime a dozen). The previous, 7th iteration of the Multiverse (presumably home to the unstable Iso-7) was what was destroyed in Secret Wars. The 6th was Galactus' universe, "a place of pure Kirby science", while the 5th was a realm of dark magic home to Moridun, who's causing trouble in Ewing's New Avengers. He has rough ideas for the first four universes, but that's something to be explored much later on.
* Cosmic artifacts of major power are going to be proliferating like never before as a consequence of Iso-8's very existence.

Foreshadowing Marvel 2017 summer event.

[areacode212]

That's a lot of lore for something that mobile gamers just think of as Marvel's in-game currency. I wish that ISO-8 had been established in the comics first and then put in the games, instead of the other way around.

[BMartini]

Thanks for this...im also interested in what ewing has in mind for the other iterations...the star wars verse or anything else Disney isn't a stretch anymore

[davew128]

Neat! I was wondering if the 6th might have been some earlier incarnation of the Omniverse that had been seen in comics before.

I wonder if the 1st-4th might involve Conan or something like that.

Conan and Red Sonja are actually part of the 616 history. Red Sonja appeared in a Marvel Team-Up possessing Mary Jane, and Conan appeared in I believe 3 different What Ifs, one where he comes to the 20th century and ends up learning to be a modern hero courtesy of Captain America, another where Thor is stranded in the distant past and he and Conan become bros, and one where Logan went back in time during the Phoenix battle on the moon and switched places with Conan.

[Dr. Banner]

Intriguing stuff. Can't wait to learn more about it.

[mace11]

Conan and Red Sonja are actually part of the 616 history.

Not anymore and their stories have been rebooted since another company have those stories and are making new ones,so thier history has change and in not in marvel universe anymore.
The history of Conan and Red Sonja does not officially exist in marvel universe anymore.
It's not canon anymore.
So it never happen,just like post-crisis dc never happen.I mean it happen,but it did not happen if you know what mean.

Marvel does not have the rights to Conan and Red Sonja anymore and the history connect to them.Another company have the rights and they reboot,so anything marvel has done has been officially erase by the other comic company because of reboot.

Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard was first adapted into comics in 1952 in Mexico. Marvel Comics began publishing Conan comics with the series Conan the Barbarian in 1970. Since 2003, Conan has been published by Dark Horse Comics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_%28comics%29

[tsaimelemoni]

Already sounds more intriguing than the various games, where it comes across as a generic power up more than anything.

[Radix]

Foreshadowing Marvel 2017 summer event.

Speculation? Or is there a rumor or source going around?

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Speculation? Or is there a rumor or source going around?

Only speculation, but it's a near-universal consensus given the scale of what's involved and that it's building in three pretty high-profile books.