Warning: SPOILERS for A.X.E: Judgment Day #5
Marvel has officially revealed the eight most powerful heroes from the the destructive force of the God Celestial.
As the Judgment Day event continues, the situation goes from bad to worse as a war between the X-Men and the Eternals explodes into a world-endangering conflict. In an attempt to keep the peace, Iron Man awakens the Progenitor Celestial - but the plan backfires as the Celestial decides to judge humanity (along with mutants and the Eternals) for their many crimes against Earth and each other). After istering various tests to the inhabitants of Earth, the Celestial has seen enough...and judges that humanity is not worth saving. The apocalypse in the Marvel Universe officially begins.
In A.X.E: Judgment Day #5, written by Keiron Gillen with art by Valerio Schiti, the remaining heroes mount a desperate, last-ditch attack on the Progenitor Celestial while another team searches for a weakness. A specialized team is sent on the mission: Captain Marvel, Starbrand, Phoenix, Ikaris, Jean Grey, Namor, Thor and Exodus. These are the most powerful heroes remaining on Earth, and many of them (Phoenix, Namor and Exodus especially) required multiple heroes to take them down in the past.
The plan involves every hero currently on planet Earth, so some heroes are not included. The Guardians of the Galaxy are absent, as are the Incredible Hulk and the Sentry. Even so, Marvel uses the above to state that these heroes are more powerful than Magneto, Professor Xavier, the Ghost Rider, and countless others. Some are heroes whom Marvel has powered up and are attempting to promote in recent years, such as Starbrand and Exodus, while some - Thor most especially - are old hats at turning the tide of battle single-handedly. Unfortunately, it is not enough; the Celestial kills them all in gruesome fashion on the very next . The eight most powerful heroes on Earth serve as a distraction and nothing more.
The Celestial has Godlike abilities and clearly cannot be defeated in a physical fight. It can only be reasoned with; as such, the X-Men use one of their few remaining eggs to resurrect Captain America as Earth's champion. Already killed by a Celestial in the issue, earth now depends on Captain America's oratory abilities rather than his physical strength - and judging by the fact that the most powerful Avengers, X-Men and Eternals failed to stop the Celestial, it is Earth's only recourse.
