Beyonders

Beyonders
The Beyonders as seen in New Avengers vol 3 #29, art by Kev Walker
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Two-in-One #63 (May 1980)
Created by	Mark Gruenwald Jerry Bingham
Characteristics
Place of origin	Unknown
Inherent abilities	Reality warping

The Beyonders are a fictional enigmatic higher-dimensional race appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The Beyonders were first mentioned in the team-up comic Marvel Two-in-One #63 (May 1980), by Mark Gruenwald and Jerry Bingham. The Beyonders subsequently appear in Incredible Hulk #263 (September 1981), and Avengers Annual #17 (1988).

The Beyonders received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #1. They also received an entry in Secret Wars Official Guide to the Marvel Multiverse.

An initially unrelated character called the Beyonder was tied to these older characters by Steve Englehart for his "Secret Wars III" story in Fantastic Four #318-319 (September–October 1988). The Beyonder first appeared during the first Secret Wars, as a being that was stated to be the omnipotent embodiment of an entire separated multiverse. As he became self-aware, he recognized himself as the only person in his Universe. According to Englehart, an editor hated the character and ordered the Beyonder "removed" from the Marvel Universe. Englehart did as asked but has stated that he tried to exile the character with dignity. The character was retconned into a less powerful character, a self-aware Cosmic Cube inhabiting his own "dimension" because there was no matrix to hold his energy, with the explanation that other more powerful beings had exercised their powers on the Beyonder's behalf to ease his transition into self-awareness. The Beyonder later underwent another retcon and is now considered to be a member of the alien race of the same name and is referred to as a "child unit" by the Beyonders.

The Beyonders are a race of extra-dimensional entities powerful enough to collect planets. Their nature is so alien that they are unable to leave their own dimension and for millennia were never observed by any being of the Earth dimension (apparently including even the near-omniscient Watchers themselves); to interact with the Earth dimension they must operate through agents. After becoming aware of the Earth, the Beyonders began studying the Marvel Multiverse with amusement and curiosity. They first came to the attention of Earthlings when they commissioned the alien Nuwali race to create the Savage Land as part of their study of evolution. Thousands of years later, the Beyonders created the Fortisquians as agents to observe other worlds, including Max.