The Grail is Within Reach, But at What Cost?
Cover to “Avengers #35” (published February 4th, 2026) written by Jed MacKay with pencils by Sergio Davila, inks by Aure Jimenez, and colors by Federico Blee
Cover art by Russell Dauterman and Rachelle Rosenberg
In the wake of issue #800 of the Avengers, we arrive at the penultimate issue of Jed MacKay’s run that has spanned 3 years so far. With Kang defeated, all that’s left for the Avengers to do is to save the cosmos from being utterly destroyed by the omnipotently powerful Grail. But even with the aid of the Twilight Court, can the Avengers once more rise to the occasion and prevail where no single superhero could withstand? Join me as I break down issue #35 of the Avengers as we approach the end of an era!
Warning: This article will contain spoilers for “Avengers #35”.
The Impossible
Captain Marvel holding the now activated Grail, an all powerful device that will create a new cosmos…while destroying the current in the process.
It is the end of the universe as we know it. The Grail, a cosmic artifact of untold power, has been activated—and with it, the end of everything and everywhen. Despite defeating Kang and his zombies, the stakes remain all too high as the issue begins with Captain Marvel emphatically stating that the Avengers and the Twilight Court are running out of time.
On the remains of Battleworld, the two teams weigh their options concerning the Grail and the rapidly approaching universal reset—a process that will result in the current universe being destroyed. The team suggests destroying the Grail, a suggestion that is quickly shut down; it is noted that destroying it would be tantamount to destroying a color. They then suggest arresting the process of the Grail’s incoming universal reboot to bring it to a halt. While hypothetically possible, there is ultimately not enough time to even begin to figure out the process. Eventually, the heroes decide that if they cannot stop the Grail, nor can they destroy it, they must remove it entirely.
Kang, defeated and in chains, lashes out at his greatest foes.
This prompts derisive laughter from the defeated and shackled Kang, who insults the assembled heroes by explaining that the entirety of existence as we know it is the Eighth Cosmos. To succeed, they would have to remove the Grail from the whole multiverse!
The Avengers agree without hesitation. Kang snorts that such a feat is impossible, which merely prompts Captain America (Sam Wilson) to tell the time-traveling despot to just look at who he’s talking to. After all, if there’s one team capable of achieving the impossible, it’s Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
The Plan
The resident big brains of the Avengers and Twilight Court.
The Avengers and the Twilight Court quickly get to work, splitting up into several smaller teams to better pool their resources, abilities, and skills to achieve this impossible task.
The first grouping we see is the technical group, consisting of Iron Man, Bedivere, Black Panther, Vision, and Camelot (formerly known as the Impossible City). Looking at this lineup, it is obvious that this is where the experts in science and technology are pooled together—and it is not lacking for brainpower in the slightest.
They quickly link up and get systems in place as they discuss the similarities between their respective kings, Artur and T’Challa, as well as the occasional virtue of being obstinate—something Black Panther cheekily reminds Iron Man of. They lock in their calculations as we move to the next grouping of heroes.
Lancelot, Captain Marvel, and Storm gather their powerful energies…
The powerhouse team consists of Lancelot, Captain Marvel, and Storm as they soar above Battleworld, with Carol and Lancelot getting into a playful and spirited competition over who among them can shine the brightest.
Storm, ever the diplomat, reminds the ladies that it is, in fact, not a competition—to which Lancelot replies that everything is a competition, especially their task here, which she plans on winning. All three women begin crackling with power as they flare up their respective energies before informing the next group that they’re ready.
…and direct those energies at Artur as Scarlet Witch and Mordred use their magic to rig the odds for the outcome they desire.
The lightning rod team readies themselves on the surface of Battleworld upon receiving confirmation from the powerhouse team. The trio of Scarlet Witch, Mordred, and Artur stand by as the two spellcasters prepare themselves on either side of Artur, who is wearing the powerful (albeit cursed) Armor of Chthon.
The powerhouses high above channel their combined energies into Artur’s armor as the King of the Twilight Court surges with power. Wanda uses her magic to weave pure possibility while Mordred uses hers to weave pure entropy into the intense energies flowing into Artur—their combined efforts collapsing waves of probability until they have the desired outcome. Artur stands tall, absolutely bristling with rippling energy as the spellcasters declare they have succeeded. Artur bellows that it is now the "openers" turn as we switch over to the next phase of their plan.
After absorbing the energies created by the powerhouse team, Artur channels it towards the openers team..
Captain America, Galehaut, Bercilak, and Parsifal make up the "openers" team as they stand in the center of a maelstrom of energy. The mighty Galehaut admits she’s not sure how the spell is supposed to work, but Captain America reminds her that the spell is all about opposites: she is a god among mortals on her team, whereas he is a mortal among gods on his own. She asks if they’re really going to risk their lives on a metaphor, to which Sam deadpans that they were going to die anyway—if that makes her feel better.
Galehaut laughs and agrees, her spirits and resolve strengthened as Artur fires the incalculable combined energies his armor absorbed toward her and Cap as they clasp arms. The spell-infused energies encircle them but otherwise leave them unharmed, as Iron Man gets confirmation from Camelot that the ritual is working. Bercilak uses their powers to bend space and time, using the combined energies of the spell channeled through Artur and now wrapping around Sam and Galehaut as the fuel to do so. Bedivere wonders if Bercilak can take the strain, but Black Panther reminds them that their cause is just and the odds are impossible. It is because of these two facts that Parsifal, the Perfect Knight—who is literally able to achieve victory provided he fights for what’s right—is able to use his reality-warping power to make the portal work as intended.
…who use said power to create a portal to dispose of the Grail, with Parsifal’s reality warping abilities making the outcome a success due to the virtue of their actions.
As the portal stabilizes, Black Panther arrives on the scene via teleportation, the Grail in hand. He matter-of-factly states that he will take the Grail through the portal and keep the cosmos safe. Captain America informs the most dangerous man alive that this is a one-way trip, but the Panther is already aware. He simply states that it must be done and that the Black Panther always does what must be done—he was born for this.
But before T’Challa can make good on his noble self-sacrifice, a sudden blast from on high sends the heroes scattering.
The Return (and end?) of the Ashen Combine!
You can never keep a good villain down. Or villains, plural.
The villainous Ashen Combine arrive on the scene, and while they’re unsure of where exactly they are, they do sense the power emanating from the Grail. The Avengers and Twilight Court aren’t sure how they somehow got freed, but they quickly move to stop them before they can ruin everything.
As the two teams converge on the outnumbered villains, the Ashen Combine opt to retreat with the Grail, as they are still weakened and in no condition to combat both the Avengers and the Twilight Court. The monstrous foes, Grail in tow, head through the still-open portal as Iron Man demands to know how this happened.
Camelot has had a bone to pick with the Combine for some time.
Shockingly, Camelot, the sentient city/headquarters informs the heroes they it *let* them escape. As the heroes protest, Camelot explains that it intended for this to happen. Camelot expresses love for T’Challa and how it won’t let him die, so it let the Ashen Combine do what the Black Panther was going to do himself. After all, there is only one place where they could have removed a cosmos waiting to be born to: a place that is not a place, a time that is not a time.
I think they’ll be okay, folks. I mean they’re just in some sort of void and -
We watch as the Ashen Combine float in an empty void, devoid of other thoughts and other beings, devoid of anything. Horrified, the villains scramble to understand just how dire their predicament is as the Grail activates, revealing that in a true cosmic twist of irony that they were sent to effectively the very beginning of the cosmos and the Marvel Multiverse as we know it, the birth of the First Firmament and the beginning of everything as our issue draws to a dramatic close.
- oh. NEVERMIND.
Bracing for the End
Some of Earth’s Mightiest Women.
The end is almost here—both for this arc involving Kang and the hunt for the Grail, and for Jed MacKay’s Avengers run as a whole. As you may or may not be aware, once this volume of Avengers wraps up, the title will be on hiatus for some time as the Marvel Universe prepares for its next big event: Armageddon. This is the brainchild of Chip Zdarsky, and it marks a new era for both Marvel Comics as a whole and the Avengers specifically. We can safely assume a new Avengers team will rise from the fallout of that event, but before we get there, MacKay still needs to finish his run. With only one more issue to go, I’m hoping he can stick the landing.
As it stands, his final run has been pretty solid overall, neatly tying up everything all the way back to his first issue. This makes the volume not just an enjoyable entry of the Avengers on its own, but also a run that I believe most of us will look back on in a positive light. Issue #35 pushed the story and the volume towards its highly anticipated ending and gets a lot right here.
I love the banter between the two teams.
The Twilight Court features prominently here, and while I’ve been singing their praises for a while, it is not without cause. Their presence alongside the Avengers drives the story; they have been crucial, if not essential, key characters in the title since they first appeared. The threat of Kang has been dealt with—as powerful as he’s ever been—but this issue shows the Court and the Avengers uniting against a threat even more powerful than the Avengers’ greatest enemy: inevitability. We’re told in no uncertain terms that the Grail is activated, and there’s nothing they can do to destroy it or halt the process. Their only choice is to do the impossible.
And boy, do they ever!
The whole plan here, presumably cooked up in rapid fashion, details just how highly competent and focused both teams are (and, of course, showcases the plotting and writing chops of Jed MacKay). Seeing the teams work together in unison and combine their respective skill sets to make the impossible possible was great. Honestly, I think I enjoyed this more than watching them fight zombie hordes and Kang in the last issue. Don’t get me wrong, I like watching the Avengers beat up bad guys as much as the next person, but it’s when they’re dealing with catastrophic threats that transcend being "punchable" or "blastable" that they really shine and deserve the mantle of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
The noble Black Panther gladly takes it upon himself to prepare for the ultimate sacrifice.
The exchange between Sam and T’Challa, understated as it was, helps bring this "full circle" moment together. The two have a history with one another, and it’s not all good. Of course, this history isn’t as intense as, say, Panther and Namor, but there have been more than a few disagreements here and there between the two.
And yet, despite their personality clashes, there is an unspoken respect between them—as evidenced by how Sam reminds T’Challa that he would die should he take the Grail through the portal. Granted, they buried the hatchet some time ago, but the exchange is a brief reminder of how far they’ve come as teammates and fellow Avengers.
I think I’ll miss these abominations. They were great villains with monstrous designs and unique powers.
The Ashen Combine’s appearance here also serves a purpose in the sense that the very first villains of this volume of the book seemingly have their chapters closed as the volume approaches its finale. It’s fitting that they get a just ending with the rest of the title, effectively banished to the beginning of the multiverse and I would presume…probably dead as a result. Of course, stranger things have happened in comics and I would absolutely expect a writer in the future to bring them back to play with, but for now, I’m happy to see them get an ending they truly deserve.
Artur of the Twilight Court empowered by nearly incalcuable energy contained by his armor of Cthon.
This penultimate issue of Avengers doesn’t happen without the art team—Sergio Davila (pencils), Aure Jimenez (inks), and Federico Blee (colors)—working seamlessly together. Much like the heroes themselves, they craft big, sprawling pages and tight panel compositions worthy of a legendary title that just celebrated 800 issues last month.
There is a lot to love here as the Avengers and Twilight Court work to divert total annihilation. The shot of Captain Marvel, Lancelot, and Storm evoking their powers looks majestic and is a personal favorite of mine. Scarlet Witch and Mordred channeling energy into Artur and his cursed Chthonic armor leaps off the page in a way that transcends conventional superheroes, veering into the realm of high fantasy—which is appropriate given the Twilight Court’s ties to the Knights of the Round Table.
And of course, the finale—where the Ashen Combine realize the folly of their theft—is explosive in the literal sense. We bear witness to the birth of everything, depicted in a fierce and fiery cosmic detonation that would make "The King" himself, Jack Kirby, more than proud (complete with some Kirby Crackles!).
Final Thoughts and Review
The Avengers assembled alongside the Twilight Court and Hyperion.
Issue #35 of the Avengers is a strong entry as we count down to the final issue of this current volume and say farewell to Jed MacKay’s iteration of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Every page is vibrant and colorful, the dialogue is true to the characters, and the plot neatly moves toward its (hopefully) epic conclusion.
It’s big, bold, and beautiful, capturing the essence of what the Avengers stand for and why they are the de facto team to deal with problems of this magnitude—namely, complete multiversal destruction. If I have any issues with this issue, it’s that I’m dreading the ending in the sense that this has been a pretty great and complete run so far. The ending here seemed almost… too perfect, if anything, but that could just be my paranoia speaking and not anything indicative of the quality of this book.
Final Review: 9/10
Telling the Avengers something is impossible is basically giving them leave to achieve said impossible.
Issue #35 of Avengers sustains the momentum Jed MacKay has enjoyed and manages to build upon it, offering a thrilling display of superheroic team-ups and power synergies between the titular characters and the Twilight Court. As we reach the end of this era of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, all signs point toward the conclusion of this well-regarded run becoming—as the classic adage goes—a day unlike any other.