Demystifying a series of “confusing” concepts related to the MCU's multiverse

After a somewhat disjointed phase 4 with disconnected individual film projects, Marvel Studios has recently begun to focus more on the multiverse element, delving deeper into stories related to realities other than the Sacred Timeline. This is clearly demonstrated through projects such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, What If…? or most recently Deadpool & Wolverine.

With each such project, Marvel Studios brings many new definitions related to the multiverse. These definitions, over time, are becoming more and more complicated and can “confuse” any audience if they do not focus on following MCU movies.

Absolute Point – Absolute Point

One of the most impressive episodes of What If…? season 1 revolves around the tragic story of Stephen Strange, when a traffic accident took away his “muse”, Christine Palmer, instead of his hands as in the sacred timeline. Unable to face this great loss, Strange decided to study the arcane with the ambition to rewrite history and save his beloved, despite the damage he could cause to his reality.

However, Palmer's death, according to the Ancient One's explanation, is an absolute point – an event that must happen and nothing can change it, otherwise the entire timeline will collapse immediately. In a broader sense, an absolute point can be the origin story of a superhero, or an important event like the Battle of New York – the origin of the Avengers team.

Nexus Being – Nexus Entity & Nexus Event – Nexus Event

In fact, the concept of Nexus Being in the original Marvel comics has never been mentioned in the MCU, but its meaning has been embedded in the WandaVision series. More specifically, in an advertisement for a drug called “Nexus”, it was mentioned that “this is a drug that helps keep users in their own reality, or the reality they choose”.

In the comics, Nexus Beings are unique individuals in each timeline and possess powerful abilities that can change future scenarios. Some notable Nexus Beings in the original comics include Wanda Maximoff, Franklin Richards (son of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman) and Kang the Conqueror.

Meanwhile, Nexus Events were clearly and precisely defined in the first episode of the Loki series. These are moments, or decisions that are “unnatural” and lead to time branching. One of the biggest Nexus events that the MCU has ever exploited is Sylvie, a variant of Loki, killing He Who Remains, a variant of Kang who also manipulated the entire sacred timeline. This event caused a serious time branching situation, or more accurately, unleashed the entire Marvel multiverse.

Incursion – Invasion

Incursion was first explored in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and was somewhat referenced in Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. It is essentially a collision between different realities, caused by an individual's prolonged multiverse travel. Incursion can lead to the collapse of one or more different timelines, and is currently considered the greatest threat to the stability of the multiverse.

Of course, multiverse travel isn’t the only thing that could cause the invasion. In order to lead up to Secret Wars, Marvel Studios would need to trigger an incursion sequence that would wipe out nearly every reality in the MCU, allowing Doctor Doom to emerge and create Battleworld, a planet that’s essentially made up of fragments of different realities to keep them from being destroyed. The invasion will certainly play a bigger role and be explored in more depth in future projects in the Multiverse Saga.

Sacred Timeline – Sacred Timeline

The Sacred Timeline is the creation of He Who Remains, the victor of the multiverse war between the Kang variants. The Sacred Timeline is essentially the main timeline of the MCU, also known as Earth-616, and was “written” by He Who Remains himself. He is the one who decides all the events that have happened, are happening, and will happen here, and any action that goes against his plans will cause a branching of time.

This is why He Who Remains created the Time Variance Authority (TVA) to erase all those timelines. In doing so, he prevented the formation of all other Kang variants that could threaten his power and position. However, after 2 seasons of Loki, the Sacred Timeline is no longer the only reality in the Marvel multiverse. Loki has used Asgardian magic and himself to maintain the existence and balance of all timelines, instead of having to erase the universes outside the Sacred Timeline.

Anchor Being – The Pillar Entity

Anchor Beings, as explained by Mr. Paradox in Deadpool & Wolverine, are individuals who play a particularly important role in the universe they inhabit. If they die, that universe will gradually decline until it is completely erased. Logan is the Anchor Being of the Earth-10005 universe, or Fox's previous superhero universe. His death, as explained by Marvel Studios, is the cause of the collapse of Fox's X-Men universe.

It can be seen that Anchor Being has many similarities with Nexus Being, and it is not impossible that Marvel Studios will combine these two concepts for future projects. Currently, Anchor Being is still a fairly new element and has many ambiguous points. Deadpool & Wolverine shows that if Anchor Being can be replaced by another variant of itself, like Logan, to “trick fate” and ensure their existence in reality.

Source: ScreenRant