Ahead of Doomsday learn how multiverse incursions collide
How unauthorized timeline hops, fractured realities, and collapsing cosmic boundaries trigger the universe-ending collisions threatening the MCU.
Long before comic books became interconnected cinema, Marvel writers established a strict rule of cosmic physics: parallel dimensions can coexist peacefully until an outside force disturbs their boundaries. In Avengers: Endgame Encore, the Time Variance Authority monitors thousands of universe-ending collisions lighting up their screens at once. As we traced the evolution of these 'incursions' across recent storylines, the mechanics revealed themselves to be surprisingly logical once you strip away the theoretical jargon.
At its heart, an incursion is the catastrophic collision of two parallel universes. Rather than crashing everywhere simultaneously, the collision begins at a single shared focal point: the Earth of each respective reality. When two Earths cross paths in the dimensional boundary, a cosmic countdown begins.
The comic origins of the eight-hour countdown
Writer Jonathan Hickman introduced the concept of incursions in his acclaimed 2013 run on New Avengers. In Hickman's framework, an incursion occurs when the dimensional boundaries between two universes decay. The two Earths become visible to each other in the sky above, initiating a strict eight-hour window of gravitational alignment.
During those eight hours, only two outcomes are possible. If one of the two Earths is destroyed, the dimensional alignment breaks and both universes survive. If the eight-hour window expires without either Earth being annihilated, both complete universes instantly collapse into mutual destruction. That brutal moral dilemma formed the emotional engine of the 2015 Secret Wars storyline.
The brilliance of Hickman's concept lay in its intimacy. Cosmic catastrophes in comic books often feel detached from everyday human life, involving distant galaxies and unfathomable energy fields. By centering the collision on the planet's sky, an incursion forces heroes to look directly at another living civilization while deciding how far they will go to save their own home.
How Marvel adapted incursions for the screen
The Marvel Cinematic Universe first introduced incursions on-screen in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In that film, the Illuminati of Earth-838 warned Doctor Strange that travelling between universes leaves a lingering multiversal footprint that destabilizes reality.
In my analysis of recent Marvel lore, the time-travel missions in Avengers: Endgame and the creation of branching timelines in Loki accelerated this cosmic instability. When the Avengers hopped through quantum tunnels to borrow Infinity Stones, they left dimensional cracks that weakened the boundaries holding realities apart.
The threat expanded further when Clea appeared in the Dark Dimension to enlist Strange's aid, and when Deadpool & Wolverine explored the concept of anchor beings whose absence triggers the gradual decay of an entire timeline. Every dimensional jump leaves a scar on the cosmic fabric.
How Loki and the TVA manage the collapsing web
In the season two finale of Loki, the titular character sacrificed his own freedom to gather the dying timeline strands into a living cosmic tree, becoming the God of Stories. While Loki's sacrifice preserved the branches from being erased by the Temporal Loom, it did not eliminate the underlying risk of incursions.
The new footage in Avengers: Endgame Encore confirms that thousands of incursions are now occurring simultaneously across the multiverse. Spatial monitors in the TVA command center flash with emergency warnings as whole galaxies drift toward catastrophic alignment. With the multiverse fraying at the seams, the stage is set for Doctor Doom to seize power and attempt his own radical restructuring in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, 2026.
When we look ahead to December, the impending collision feels less like abstract cosmic geometry and more like a thrilling human crossroads. Marvel has taken a complex comic book mechanic and turned it into an exhilarating reason to gather in theaters once again.
Sources
Every factual claim above traces to one of these. Links open in a new tab.
- Secret Wars and the Comic History of Multiverse Incursions
- Marvel Multiverse Incursions Explained: How Doomsday and Secret Wars Connect
- How Multiverse Incursions Threaten the MCU in Avengers: Doomsday
- Avengers: Endgame Encore Loki and TVA Scene Breakdown
- Timeline Incursions and the Path to Avengers: Doomsday
