Warning! Spoilers for Defenders #5 by Marvel Comics
The Defenders have arrived in the Third Cosmos, which has revealed Marvel's most powerful hero, will later define the Sentry.
The Sentry is Marvel's most powerful hero, able to manipulate the molecules around him to alter reality itself. He has the powers of one million exploding suns and numerous other abilities, including energy manipulation, matter manipulation, near-invulnerability, and superhuman senses. Sentry is practically unkillable (unless you're the King in Black) and has more powers than he knows what to do with. However, part of the Sentry's powers is he also has a dark side, named the Void, a powerful cosmic entity capable of destroying the Marvel Universe. Sentry previously has gone out of his way to erase his own existence from the minds of his fellow heroes (and himself) to avoid the Void from rising again.
In a brand new preview for Defenders #5 by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez, the Masked Raider's pursuit of Carlo Zota takes the superteam to the Third Cosmos. The Third Cosmos existed before science and magic were invented, where two cosmic beings representing existence and nothingness fight. Taaia tells the Defenders they have front-row seats for the battle that "began them all" as the First Sentry takes on the Anti-All. The Third Cosmos seems to be beyond human understanding and senses, as the heroes' concept of time and perception starts to waver. Soon, the Defenders encounter Zota, who struggles to understand what's real. Enjoy the preview, shared by AIPT.
While the Defenders #5 preview only provides a small tease of the battle between the Light (Lifebringer One) and the Dark (Anti-All), the battle implies a pretty incredible secret origin for the Sentry. Ewing's writing - and especially the Marvel Universe-redefining Defenders - doesn't leave much room for coincidence, so the use of Sentry's title is a major clue for fans, but the idea that his powers tap into this original cosmic being have a lot of precedent. Dark Avengers #13 strongly implied Sentry is drawing on Marvel's ultimate power (presented in that issue as the Biblical God), and the King in Black boasted of being able to control the Void since - as an embodiment of the absence before creation - the villain was just another expression of his power. It seems that the forces at war within Marvel's most powerful hero are connected to the Third Cosmos, making Sentry a living embodiment of the battle the Defenders witness here.
This implication also ties the First Sentry and Anti-All to the God of Light and the King in Black, making Sentry only the most recent embodiment of concepts that exist right at the core of Marvel's multiverse, and throughout its history. Regardless, the battle between light and dark in Defenders #5 further deepens the truth of Sentry's powers and origin, emphasizing his ability to save or destroy all of creation. Readers can see the First Sentry and Anti-All in action when Defenders #5 arrives in comic book stores January 19.
Source: AIPT
