Infinity Saga story arcs. With the addition of the MCU, even casual Marvel fans are familiar with the Mad Titan's reality destroying gauntlet. What non-comic readers may not know is that there is another gauntlet holder who tried to balance the universe following Thanos's fiasco. No, not just Nebula. Adam Warlock, the engineered being and Soul Stone-born space God. But even the best intentions face dire consequences, and Adam's Infinity Stone plan accidentally ends up worse than Thanos's.
Is it possible to concoct a method no better than wiping out half the universe? Adam's seemingly wise creation of a cosmic pair of yin and yang figures spirals into another threat to reality. Similar to Tony in the MCU's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Adam Warlock quickly discovers the folly of granting free will to new entities that he has yet to understand; in this case, the two versions of his soul--the good and the bad. Thinking that the expulsion of good and bad from his soul will bring balance to the universe, and provide him with all-knowing logic, The Goddess and the Magus are born. But Adam soon finds this plan to be rife with disaster.
Warlock's evil side, the Magus, serves as the villain of Infinity War #1-6 by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim, wherein the Marvel heroes must band together once more to save the universe. They even need Thanos's help to stop the evil version of Adam Warlock. Things get so bad that the Magus takes control of the Infinity Gauntlet, summoning evil alternate reality versions of each hero to fight. Thanos ironically saves the day by intercepting a fatal blow from the Magus to Adam Warlock, allowing Warlock and the Magus to engage in an epic space opera battle. Warlock is victorious and the Magus is trapped within the Soul Gem. For additional irony, the story ends with Thanos supposing there's another half of Warlock's soul that will come back to haunt everyone. Say what you will about Thanos's questionable motives, but the Mad Titan is seldom wrong.
Turns out, Thanos was right. Infinity Crusade #1-6 showcases Adam's battle against his good side, the Goddess. The Goddess emerges as a righteous figure, with a character design smartly modeled after the famed Joan of Arc. Like the French hero, the Goddess leads a crusade against the sinners of the universe. But, unable to comprehend any gray areas in morality or existence, the Goddess determines that nearly everyone in the universe is a 'sinner', thus the entire reality must be cleansed of every living thing. Adam is dismayed that his 'good' side shows less mercy than that of Thanos. Instead of evil copy-cat heroes, the Goddess 'converts' a large chunk of the Marvel heroes under her control and pits the hero against hero in the Infinity Crusade battles, and plans to annihilate the universe. Again, Warlock can only defeat her with the help of Thanos.
She, too, is trapped within the Soul Gem, forcing her and the Magus to dwell inside the stone as trapped souls that no other soul can see, touch, or hear. What a disastrous way for Adam Warlock to learn how bad his plan for the Infinity Gauntlet was! At least when Thanos enacted his snap, the outcomes were all part of his plan. Adam Warlock's mistake, however, was lacking the foresight to assume the consequences of what using the gauntlet to split his soul would create.
