1969), and featured in an epic cosmic storyline that starred arch-villain Thanos in Daredevil #107 (Jan. 1974) and Captain Marvel #25–33 (March 1972–July 1974, bi-monthly).

Retrieved after Thanos' defeat, this original Cube featured in several Project Pegasus stories in Marvel Two-in-One #42–43 (Aug.–Sept.

The previously powerless second Cosmic Cube finally gained an ability to alter reality in Captain America (vol.

Doom uses a time machine to get the Cube from the ocean floor, into which it had dropped during a battle between the Red Skull and Captain America.

[volume & issue needed] The Cosmic Cubes are actually containment devices created by various civilizations throughout the Marvel Universe at various times.

Unknown to almost everyone in the Marvel Universe, including its creators, the nature of the mysterious energies are such that, after a sufficient but undefined period of time, the matrix will become self-aware and evolve into an independent, free-willed being still possessed of the original Cube's tremendous powers; the new being's overall personality is psychically imprinted with the beliefs, desires, and personalities of those who wielded it as a Cube (for example, the Shaper of Worlds, wielded for a long time by an insane and warlike Skrull Emperor, immediately destroyed a large portion of the galaxy that it was located in once it became sentient).

[3][4] It was found by Prince Namor after Hercules accidentally revealed it to him, but while battling the Avengers he lost contact with it, and it fell into the Earth.

[7] The Cube was eventually found (apparently having reformed) by Thanos[8] who, like the Red Skull, wishes to control the universe (this also attracts the amorous attention of the cosmic entity Death).

Although opposed by superhero team the Avengers and the alien Kree warrior Captain Mar-Vell, Thanos becomes supreme when he wills the Cube to make him a part of—and therefore in control of—everything.

[9] Brought to research installation Project: Pegasus, the Cube was stolen by villain and cult leader Victorius, and is used to create the being Jude the Entropic Man.

[10] The Cube is returned to Pegasus by Captain America and the Fantastic Four member the Thing, where it eventually transforms the alien Wundarr into the entity the Aquarian.

[11] A second Cube was created on the Island of Exiles by a team of scientists (including Arnim Zola) working for the Red Skull and the Hate-Monger.

Planning to transfer his consciousness into the completed Cube, the Hate-Monger secretly arranged for a distraction in the form of a strike team from the spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D.

[16] The character the Magus—an evil version of anti-hero Adam Warlock—acquires five Cosmic Cubes from neighboring universes, with each appearing in a different geometric form.

The Magus uses mechanical aids to manipulate the Cubes, as their combined presence would quickly cause permanent brain damage.

Despite the fact that the Egg can fulfill the Goddess' wishes—although, unlike the Infinity Gauntlet, it has no power over the soul—the character is defeated by Warlock and Thanos.

He was approached by the time-traveler Kang the Conqueror (actually the disguised cosmic entity Korvac), who told him that the reason he had failed to completely control the Cube's power in the past was because his knowledge of the universe was incomplete.

Captain America did so, but as the Skull died, his body released the Cube energy, which flowed into "Uatu", who revealed his true identity and used his increased power to return to his alternate 31st century Earth to conquer it.

[21] A Cosmic Cube was one of the 12 items of power sought by superhero teams the Avengers and the Justice League of America when they competed against each other in a game organized by Krona and the Grandmaster.

Batman briefly attempted to use the Cube to end the game — having been filled in on its capabilities by Captain America — before the Grandmaster took it from him to tally up the score.

The character dies in battle saving Captain America, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine from the villain Iron Maniac.

[24] The powerful entity D'Spayre attempted to enhance his power by using a Cosmic Cube to draw on the grief of the general public in the aftermath of Captain America's assassination,[25] only for his use of the Cube to have an apparently unintended side-effect when it granted the 'wish' of those who wanted Captain America back by drawing the Invaders into the present.

He was defeated in a confrontation with the New Avengers when Echo proved immune to his powers due to her deafness, allowing her to take the Cube from him.

Anslem's intentions to save his friends, who had died during an assault on a Nazi stronghold, allows the Red Skull of the World War II era to gain enough power to take over Earth.

[26] A Cube is also given to Guardians of the Galaxy member Star-Lord by time-traveling villain Kang the Conqueror to use against Adam Warlock's evil alter ego, the Magus.

He is stopped by criminal mastermind Norman Osborn, who uses a magical sword (provided by the Asgardian god Loki) to neutralize the Absorbing Man's abilities.

[33][34] When the villains rebel, Kobik decides to bring Steve Rogers, then reduced to an old man due to the breakdown of his Super-Soldier serum, back to his physical peak, but due to the Red Skull's influence over the Cube from which Kobik was made, she unknowingly replaces Rogers with a covert HYDRA loyalist version of him, believing that to be the "right" version of him.

[37] As their perfect universe began to collapse on itself and the Avengers slowly start to see the cracks in the exposed fraud reality, Coulson decides to use the Pandemonium Cube again as a last-ditch effort to save everything he created only to witness his version of the world come to an end at the hands of Earth's Mightiest Heroes once the cube was apparently destroyed.

After the latter group slowly reform and fight to restore the original reality, Coulson attempts to use the Pandemonium Cube to defeat them.

[44] An adapted version of the Cosmic Cube, referred to as the Tesseract, appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).