Doctor Strange Summons the All-New Defenders

Have you tried Marvel Unlimited yet? It’s your all-access pass to over 29,000 Marvel comics, available at your fingertips. Download our all-new, supercharged app on the App Store or Google Play today and save 50% off your first month!

Now on Marvel Unlimited: Superstars Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez reunite for a cosmos-colliding journey in DEFENDERS (2021) #1!

When existence itself faces extraordinary threats, it needs an extraordinary defense. That's when you call... the Defenders! Doctor Strange and the Masked Raider take a non-team of Marvel's weirdest, wildest heroes on a mission that will uncover the hidden architecture of reality itself! This cosmos was not the first to exist... but if the Defenders can't track Marvel's oldest villain through the deepest trenches of time—it might be the last.

Read our top five takeaways from issue #1 now, and dive into this exciting debut on Marvel Unlimited.

STRANGE TIDINGS

The cards portend something Strange as we open on a gorgeous double-page spread from Rodríguez. Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme has been all turned around over an “inauspicious” reading that bears ill news... in this case a gun to the head. The Masked Raider has dropped in to “chat” about a grave, cosmic imbalance.

THE MYSTERY OF THE MASKED RAIDER

Who is the Masked Raider? An excellent question—with very few answers. But the identity of the person behind the mask is less important than the mask itself. An ancient artifact woven from threads of Eternity, the “Eternity Mask” has been used across millennia to topple world orders and assert influence. Some of its originators, the Enclave, banded together to gain the “power of kings,” but were betrayed by their own creation. Now, Carlo Zota, last surviving member of the Enclave, is hiding in a pocket of time. And the man in the mask believes he knows when...

THE MAGIC OF TIME

Unlike the creator of “time magic,” sorcerer Sise-Neg, Strange fears that Zota will be less discreet in his manipulations. Sise-Neg of the 31st century used his skillset to become the creator of the universe, but was benevolent enough to stop once he gained ultimate enlightenment. For Carlo Zota to have access to the absolute power of time is a risk too great for Strange... and the entire cosmos.

TAROT OF THE SECRET FLAME

Using his enchanted deck of cards, Doctor Strange races through magical means to assemble this latest team of cosmic Defenders. And, the Tarot of the Secret Flame calls forth none other than original Defender Silver Surfer! Red Harpy, AKA Betty Banner, and ex-Defender Cloud also join the fray. (Cloud is a sentient nebula that has been known to take on a human form, both male and female.)

MEET TAAIA

AKA the mother of Galactus! After summoning his unwitting team, Doctor Strange and the Defenders crash land in the “Sixth Cosmos” of the Multiverse, or the birthplace of the Devourer of Worlds. Taaia of Planet Taa already seems as fearsome as her son, but the present action has everyone staring down an even more menacing foe—the planet-eating Omnimax.

Read DEFENDERS #1 now, along with more of our top comic picks of the week, and start your comics reading with the all-new, all-different Marvel Unlimited! Download the app for iOS or Android devices today to gain this award-winning experience.

Follow Marvel Unlimited on Twitter and Facebook to stay tuned in to weekly announcements, articles, and more, all at @MarvelUnlimited. Follow us today to join the conversation with thousands of fellow fans, and let us know what you’re reading!