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| “ | You are my last hope to save all of them. You are the Guardians of the Multiverse. | „ |
| ~ Strange explaining to the chosen heroes. |
| “ | The Guardians of the Multiverse. Heroes plucked from across different realities to protect the fate of all of them. | „ |
| ~ The Watcher explaing who the Guardians are to the audience. |
The Guardians of the Multiverse are major characters in the Disney+ show What If...?.
They are a group of heroes, all from different universes, who were selected by Uatu the Watcher and Stephen Strange to defend the multiverse from Infinity Ultron and other threats.
History[]
What If... the Watcher Broke His Oath?[]
After being defeated by Infinity Ultron, who wanted to destroy the multiverse, in his own Observatory, Uatu met with Stephen Strange, who had previously begged for Uatu's help with his own universe and been denied, and requested he help him with stopping Ultron from destroying the entire multiverse. Agreeing, Strange took Uatu to various universes, where they selected Peggy Carter, T'Challa, Gamora, Erik Killmonger, and Thor Odinson to form a team they named the Guardians of the Multiverse.
Uatu took the selected to a universe with no sentient life in it and explained the situation, as well as introducing all the heroes and having them prepare for battle. Thor, initially believing Uatu to be with Loki, did not take it seriously, only listening when Strange warned him that they were not on solid ground. Uatu explained that Ultron had taken the Infinity Stones and was destroying other universes with them; Gamora offered for them to use the Infinity Crusher, which had the power to destroy Infinity Stones, and they decided to get the Soul Stone from Ultron to weaken him.
Preparing for battle, Thor accidentally alerted Ultron to their presence in a toast. Strange cast a protective spell on the Guarrdians as Ultron appeared, and through fighting, Peggy and T'Challa were able to grab the Soul Stone; Uatu helped them escape by opening a portal to Ultron's original universe while Strange attacked Ultron with hordes of zombies. Ending up in Ultron's original universe, the Guardians encountered Natasha Romanoff, who nearly killed them until Peggy persuaded her to assist them to avenge her friends, who had all been killed by Ultron, who suddenly reappeared to try and take the Soul Stone back. The fight continued until Ultron used the Time Stone to get the Soul Stone back, but Strange reversed this with his own Time Stone from his original universe, and Gamora finally activated the Infinity Crusher. Unfortunately, it did not work, and Ultron explained the Crusher only destroyed Stones from its original universe.
Blasting them away again and regaining the Soul Stone, Ultron managed to break Strange's protection spell over them all. Natasha noticed that Arnim Zola's consciousnesss arrow was nearby, and she came up with a plan to shoot the arrow into Ultron to shut him down. Peggy helped her with this as Strange held back Ultron, and they finally defeated the android; however, Erik betrayed them suddenly, taking the Stones and saying they could use them to fix their own universes. When they refused, Erik attempted to attack them until Zola suddenly reawoke in Ultron's body. Grappling for control, Strange stopped the destruction of the universe they were in by shutting them in a pocket dimension for all eternity, forever trapped to fight for the Stones.
Their mission succeeded and the multiverse safe, Uatu disbanded the team, sending them back to the exact moment they left their respective universes. Peggy hesitated to return, as her universe's Steve Rogers was believed to be dead, and she asked to be with him again, but Uatu told her that she could not abandon her reality, so she went back to her own universe, as did the others, except Natasha, who refused to go back to her ruined universe, as she was the only person still alive after Ultron caused mass extinction. Understanding, Uatu instead sent her to a universe where the Avengers candiates were killed by a vengeful Hank Pym, and she defended Nick Fury from Loki, introducing herself to him while Uatu continued watching over the multiverse as before.
What If... Strange Supreme Intervened?[]
However, Strange eventually grieved the destruction of his universe and the death of Christine Palmer, deciding to restore it by using knowledge Uatu had given him. He created a machine called the Forge that was capable of restoring his universe when heroes were sacrificed to it. Strange began crossing universes, imprisoning beings from them all, including T'Challa, an old teammate. He attempted to capture Kahhori, a cosmically-enhanced hero, and tried to kidnap her in her universe. When she escaped, he instead went to the universe Peggy was trapped in to trick her into helping him capture Kahhori. Strange claimed a dangerous prisoner had escaped and promised to send Peggy back to her home universe if she helped him.
Peggy went after Kahhori and attacked her, but Kahhori told her the truth at the same time Strange captured them both through a portal. Peggy tried to persuade Strange to stop, but he refused, saying he would do the same if it meant she could be with Steve again, and wanted her to join him. Refusing, Peggy threw her shield at the orbs that contained his prisoners, making Strange try to feed the rioting prisoners to the Forge. Peggy put on the Infinity Armor that Ultron had originally worn, containing the Infinity Stones; she and Kahhori then fought Strange, attempting to destroy the Forge. During the fight, Peggy and Kahhori met and fought against various prisoners, including Variants of Wanda Maximoff, Hela Odinsdottir, and Erik Killmonger.
Trying one last time to get Peggy on his side, Strange used his powers to create an illusion of Peggy back at Project Rebirth. Strange offered to give Peggy Steve back if she helped him, but she broke out of the illusion while Kahhori saved the prisoners from the Forge. Unfortunately, Strange used his Time Stone to reverse Peggy's own Time Stone effect to stop both women from interfering any further, and he then attempted to kill Peggy, to his great sorrow. The prisoners then gave Peggy their weapons to defeat Strange while Kahhori sent them back to their respective universes, and the three fought yet again. Strange slowly transformed into a demon from his own absorbed beings, making Peggy used the Stones power to force the demon out of him.
With the Forge about to explode, Peggy asked Strange how it could be destroyed, but he said it could not as it had grown beyond his control. The demon then returned and forced Peggy into the Forge, but Strange overpowered it and saved Peggy, sacrificing himself by letting him fall into the Forge in order to redeem himself. His universe was reborn, but Strange was never born it it in this new rebirth; he kept watch over it by becoming every atom and being able to shape the destiny of the inhabitants, including a reborn Christine.
Awakening later, Peggy found Uatu beside her, in the Observational Plane, where he showed her where he watched over all the universes. Uatu spoke on Strange's new universe while the pair observed a happy Christine in a park. He then offered to send Peggy back to her universe; she agreed, but requested to see what the multiverse looked like first. Happy to oblige, Uatu did so before finally sending her back to her own universe.
What if ... the Watcher Disappeared?[]
At some pont later, the Guardians all reunited and continued to help the multiverse by stopping incursions in different universes, being joined by new arrivals Byrdie, hybrid daughter of Howard the Duck and Darcy Lewis, Kahhori, and a lightning-powered Mutant going by the title of the Goddess of Thunder named Ororo Munroe. Eventually, the old Guardians all left except Peggy, Byrdie, Kahhori, and Ororo, with Peggy assuming leadership of the new team. They continued helping across the multiverse, and at one point, they were joined by an individual named the Hero of the Multiverse; the individual was manipulated by a Variant of Wanda Maximoff who desired the Infinity Stones, but they managed to stop Wanda. The Hero joined the team, but eventually left.
On one mission, they went to a universe where Nebula was the Nova Prime to defeat a Cosmic Squid Monster and stop it from destroying the universe. They defeated the creature, but while celebrating, shards suddenly fell from the Observational Plane, and the team realised Uatu must be in danger. Taking the shards back to their ship, Peggy analyzed them and explained they were pieces of the Fifth Dimension, and she and Ororo remembered the attack Infinity Ultron had done on the Dimension. Assuming something had happened to Uatu, they decided to try and get up to the Fifth Dimension; however, no matter what the team tried, they could not get up there, and eventually ended up with only one shard left.
Deciding to try and get help from the only being who had ever reached the Fifth Dimension, Infinity Ultron, they decided to find a version of him across the multiverse who never heard Uatu, and that they could reprogram him into helping them. Peggy was skeptical, but they were determined, and so went with the plan. She confinded in Ororo privately, explaining how she had lost most of her friends and refused to lose anymore, and Ororo tried to assure her that they were all fighters and could handle Ultron. Still scared, Peggy secretly decided to go and see Ultron alone, so her friends would not be in danger.
Before the mission, Byrdie spoke with her parents and discovered that the final shard and Peggy had both vanished. She gathered Kahhori and Ororo, alerting them to what had happened, and the three went after their leader into Ultron's universe; they discovered her broken shield and Ultron and, assuming the worst, attacked them until Ultron stopped them, explaining he had not harmed Peggy and that she was taken by the other Watchers, who had also been the ones to take Uatu. This Ultron realised his flaws after exterminating all life in his universe and felt remorse for the lives he had claimed, so wanted to atone for all he had done by helping the Guardians. He revealed he had kept the shard Peggy gave him before she was taken and absorbed its energy, getting the Guardians to the Fifth Dimension, offering them a warning as they went to rescue both Uatu and Peggy.
What If... What If?[]
Finding the other Watchers about to execute Peggy and Uatu for their interference in the multiverse, Ultron attacked them all to buy the Guardians time. The Guardians' ship arrived, and Ultron ordered them to leave as he covered for them; fortunately, the Guardians' escaped, but Ultron was killed by the Eminence, and the Watchers went after the Guardians, wanting to kill and erase all versions of them from the multiverse, and a battle ensued between the Guardians and the Watchers.
Knowing that the heroes could not beat the Watchers on their own, Uatu had them all swear a Watcher's oath so that they would gain the powers of a Watcher, but they were still not able to beat them. Peggy, realising her friends were about to be killed and remembering her earlier discussion with Kahhori, yelled defiantly that she would lose no friends that day and opened a portal to Strange's universe, to which he had become one with and had absolute power there; she knew this would cancel out the Watchers other powers, but it killed her in the process. Strange's image appeared in the stars and looked out for Peggy one final time, knowing the sacrifice she had made.
Realising that they were powerless and had lost their omnipotence, the Watchers surrended, and Uatu offered for them to observe the multiverse with him to help different universes, to which the Watchers accepted, allowing him back into his observatory and returning his status as a Watcher to him, with Uatu returning their powers to them.
The Guardians, meanwhile, held a funeral for Peggy, mourning the loss of their leader and acknowledging the fact she had sacrificed herself for the multiverse. However, Uatu ensured that the team remained together, and became their new leader, having them help in the universes he viewed as needing assistance and deserving of saving, and he encouraged them all to wonder the question of, 'What If...?'.
Members[]
- Uatu the Watcher - Founder, Current Leader
- Stephen Strange † - Co-Founder, Former Leader; Deceased
- Peggy Carter † - Former Leader; Deceased
- Erik Killmonger - Formerly
- T'Challa - Formerly
- Gamora - Formerly
- Thor Odinson - Formerly
- Natasha Romanoff - Formerly
- Hero of the Multiverse - Formerly
- Byrdie the Duck
- Kahhori
- Ororo Munroe
Relationships[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Trivia[]
- The Hero of the Multiverse is the only member of the team to never appear in What If...? itself, only appearing in the mixed-reality video game based on the show.
- In What If... The Watcher Disappeared?, the Incarnate referred to the Guardians of the Multiverse as 'Exiles', which is a group in the comics made up of individuals from across the multiverse.
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 Heroes
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Stark Industries United States Armed Forces S.H.I.E.L.D. Culver University Asgardians Frost Giants Howling Commandos The Avengers Guardians of the Galaxy Ravagers Nova Corps The Defenders PYM Tech/X-Con Security Consultants Wakandans Midtown School of Science and Technology Masters of the Mystic Arts The Revengers/Sakaaran Rebellion House of Agon Runaways Skrulls S.W.O.R.D. S.A.B.E.R. Time Variance Authority Red Room Ta Lo Armed Forces The Eternals New York City Live Action Role Players Avatars Abomaste Freedom Fighters The Marvels Choctaw Agatha Harkness' Coven New Avengers Multiverse Illuminati X-Men Resistance Fantastic Four Zombie Outbreak Survivors Deadpool's variants Loki's variants Spider-Man's variants Nebula's variants Scarlet Witch's variants Others Others (Films/Disney+) Others (Pre-Disney+ TV) | ||
 Heroes
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Comics TV Show See Also | ||