Cosmic Cube

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A Cosmic Cube

Cosmic Cube is the name of a fictional device that exists in the Marvel Universe. It made its first appearance in Strange Tales #79 (July 1966), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

A Cosmic Cube is a cube-shaped matrix that holds vast energies that are responsive to the wills of sentient beings. (In The Infinity Crusade, it was revealed that there are other similar objects which have other forms than that of a cube; these objects as a whole are called Cosmic Containment Units.) A sentient being can use a Cosmic Cube to manifest his thoughts as reality, and thus to accomplish virtually anything he or she desires. The nigh-omnipotent Beyonder was actually half of a Cosmic Cube. Sentient beings can create a Cosmic Cube by generating a particular kind of force field which opens a rift into another dimension. A force will slip through the rift which can be collected within a matrix, which the force then (usually) shapes into a perfect cube (like Owen Reece did when he became Molecule Man). This force provides the power of the Cosmic Cube that has thus been created. Eventually, a Cosmic Cube will evolve and develop its own sentience, which is influenced by the minds of the sentient beings which have wielded it.

The first known Cosmic Cube was created by Skrull scientists, which was then used by the Skrull Emperor to enforce his rule over the Skrull Empire as a god-king. It subsequently developed sentience, and because of the megalomaniacal personality of the emperor imprinted on its mind, it lashed out and devastated a significant portion of the empire before it reached emotional maturity. It is now known as the Shaper of Worlds.

The Cosmic Cube that was "created" on Earth by A.I.M. evolved into a being named Kubik. A new superhero in the Marvel Universe named Freedom Ring got his superpowers from a ring crafted from a fragment of a Cosmic Cube, thus giving him reality-warping powers. The Cosmic Cube possess such power that numerous supervillains have sought it out including Thanos, Korvac, the Red Skull, and Doctor Doom. Doom even once used a cosmic cube, along with several other cosmic artifacts, to usurp the power of Galactus.

During the Infinity War storyline, the Magus had acquired immense power by wrestling five Cosmic Cubes from neighboring universes. This might proved to be enough to render Eternity's M-body catatonic and to create an entire duplicate universe which the Magus then tried to merge with the main Marvel Universe in order to bring it under his dominion, as well as creating doppelgangers of Thanos and all of Earth's superheroes, only excluding the Infinity Watch and Quasar from being duplicated. The Magus had apparently created, or stolen, high-technological instrumentation through which he was capable of manipulating the cubes mechanically, a feature that even Thanos considered to be mind-boggling. Thanos stated that the combined power of the five Cosmic Cubes was very close to the full Infinity Gauntlet. Kang the Conqueror and the Magus both stated that the naked power of the five Cosmic Cubes could cause permanent brain damage if used directly, due to the immense radiations being emitted from the cubes, hence the necessity for instrumentation. During the Infinity War, the Cosmic Cubes are mostly referred to as "cosmic containment units", since not all units were actually shaped like cubes but had other geometric shapes.^[1]

During the Infinity Crusade storyline, Mephisto agrees to reveal all he knows about Cosmic Cubes to Adam Warlock and Thanos^[2]. According to Mephisto, the Cosmic Cubes are theoretically as powerful as the Infinity Gems, but unlike the gems, the undeveloped cubes are host to a semi-sentient will (that will eventually evolve to a physical being like Kubik or the Shaper of Worlds) that can make selections as to how its wielder may use the cube's wish-granting powers. The cubes simply "refuse" to, for instance, commit universal genocide as the Goddess tried to do or to affect souls, both of which the semi-sentient cube beings considers to be taboo. The only thing that can overcome the semi-sentient cube being's self-imposed restrictions is, according to Mephisto, a universally linked will generated by millions of sentient beings at the same time, which was the Goddess's goal with the cubes - to unlock their full universal potential in order to "purify" the universe from evil. The Goddess had merged 30 Cosmic Cubes, including the five units the Magus once possessed, into a "Cosmic egg" which she had situated herself in so she could harness its power undisturbed from outside forces that may try to usurp it. It is not clear whether Mephisto meant that an uninhibited cube would be a match for the composite Infinity Gauntlet or for individual Infinity Gems. For sharing this knowledge, Mephisto demanded that Thanos would give him a Cosmic Cube as payment for the information, which Thanos actually did; however, Mephisto never specified that the cube should be a functioning unit, so Thanos took advantage of this oversight from Mephisto's side to trick him without actually breaking the deal, giving him a dysfunctional cube, something that greatly angered Mephisto.^[3]

[edit] Trivia

Green Lantern Kyle Rayner recharging his power ring with a Cosmic Cube in JLA/Avengers #2.

Members of the DC Universe Green Lantern Corps can recharge their power rings with a Cosmic Cube, if necessary, in place of their individual power batteries (as seen in the JLA/Avengers crossover), although this process is erratic and should only be attempted when all other options are exhausted.

[edit] Ultimate Cosmic Cube

In Ultimate Fantastic Four, Thanos attempted to force Reed Richards to make him a "power cube" which he will use to force all life to obey him. Reed refuses and, after he leaves, begins to build what he calls a Cosmic Cube, for use on him should Thanos return.