The Loki series has changed a lot of what people thought they knew about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (UCM). The God of Mischief is dealing with a scale of power never seen before. But, of course, it would be funny if it wasn’t a bit scary…
Behind it, all are the Timekeepers, the entities that are above all that exists. Or at least, that is what the series is letting the audience believe. However, who are they really? Do the answers lie in the comics?
The Time Travel Problem
In some stories, the author decides to solve everything wrong by using the good old-fashioned time travel. We saw this in Avengers: Endgame and even in the old Superman stories. Who doesn’t remember the iconic moment when Superman turned the Earth upside down to go back in time?
Only this starts a new problem. If it is possible to use this mechanism to go back in time when something goes wrong, what stops the character from wanting to use it every time? And what does this have to do with the Timekeepers?
Imagine that the Avengers need to face the return of Ultron. If they catch it, they go back in time and redo the fight. Has Wanda Maximoff gone crazy potato? Go back in time, share a thought with herself, WandaVision is over. Captain America lost a battle? Go back in time. Ant-Man forgot his daughter at the barbecue? Go back in time.
History and Origin of the Timekeepers
Usually, authors let the subject die and pretend that the possibility doesn’t exist. Not in the case of the Timekeepers.
They were created by screenwriters Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio to put an end to this. In the late 1970s, Thor could travel through time using the Mjolnir. But, instead of leaving it alone, the screenwriters created cosmic entities that would watch over the timelines. Immortus, one of several phases of Kang the Conqueror, would be an agent of this trinity.
They would teach the knowledge of the temporal flow to the villain, and he, in return, would help adjust errors and paradoxes caused by time travelers. But, unfortunately, in this prank, Thor lost his ability to travel through time.
Over the decades, the Timekeepers have gained a complete origin, details, and motivation. They were created by He Who Remained, the last director of the Temporal Variance Authority (TVA) of the previous reality – which ended simply because it reached the end of its existential cycle.
The One Who Remained knew that another reality would come after that one, that the universe would be restarted. He then created a trio of cosmic entities that would take over the timeline of the next reality.
The Timekeepers were not the first to be created by He Who Remains. Initially, he made a mistake and created the Time Twisters, cosmic entities that did not want to preserve time.
The Time Twisters were eventually hit by Thor, and reality split into two timelines. In one timeline, the Time Twisters rule. In another, the Timekeepers are the real bosses. This can be considered the first variation of existence.
Immortus was chosen to be the agent of the Timekeepers. In their omniscience, the entities saw several realities that were destroyed by the evolution of man. The human race was given a bad name. The idea was that Immortus would sabotage civilization to prevent this from happening.
The Timekeepers informed Immortus that Wanda Maximoff is a Nexus – a person that exists simultaneously in all realities. They consider the Scarlet Witch extremely dangerous to existence and give Immortus a particular order: Wanda cannot bear children.
After all, magic poses the greatest threat to the Sacred Timeline than anything else. Besides the Scarlet Witch, characters like Loki, Sylvie, and Doctor Strange have the potential to wreak havoc on one or more timelines
Immortus, the Great Betrayer
This is when Immortus betrays the Timekeepers out of curiosity. He is literally responsible for Wanda falling in love with the Vision and having children with the synthezoid.
After this, the Time Twisters return and disguise themselves as Timekeepers. They call Immortus to be their agent. In the end, this plan goes wrong because Immortus betrays them as well.
The Timekeepers do not learn from their mistakes and see another threat on the horizon: Rick Jones. The brat could be the key to the return of the Destiny Force, a power that could awaken all humanity and turn the entire planet into a planet of super beings. The Timekeepers do what? They call Immortus back to settle the matter.
Immortus has betrayed them before, but they ask the villain for help again. If this happens in the MCU, this saga could be the basis of Marvel’s entire Phase 5.
The Timekeepers and Immortus go hard against Rick Jones, who is turned into the Destiny Force. Only he can’t handle it. So he calls on Avengers from different eras to protect him. The Timekeepers even manage to contain the Avengers for a while and reveal their plans.
The cosmic entities then annihilate several timelines to preserve themselves and a minimum of realities from the influence of the human race. Can’t protect everything? Let us destroy almost everything ourselves and live on with what’s left—a selfish plan.
Anyway, the Timekeepers even build a giant weapon, an ultra-cosmic-power-blaster-9000 cannon capable of destroying entire realities.
To make sure the plan works, the Timekeepers summon the Avengers from evil timelines, such as the Dark Multiverse. The evil Avengers begin to confront the forces that Rick Jones has assembled. The solution is to summon more Avengers from other timelines, only from the good guys’ team. It is a war, Avenger against Avenger.
In the end, Rick Jones manages to destroy the Timekeepers’ cannon, and Kang manages to destroy the Timekeepers themselves.
Is Marvel’s Phase 5 begin to draw itself?
Imagine this happening in the MCU. Would it be impossible? It might not. Is it a coincidence that the Scarlet Witch awakens her full power now? Is it a coincidence that Wanda’s children are out there?
Do you know who Immortus was working within the comics at this stage? Agatha Harkness. Would that be a coincidence too? Is it a coincidence that Marvel is introducing the Timekeepers now and Kang the Conqueror is already packed?
Ever wonder if Avengers 5 is that time war? With Steve Rogers coming back and all? The answers will appear in the future. The way to do this is to stay tuned.
