A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings , or universes into the context of a single story . They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders (known as intercompany crossovers ), common corporate ownership or unofficial efforts by fans .
107-495: " Annihilation " is a 2006 crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics , highlighting several outer space -related characters in the Marvel Universe . The central miniseries was written by Keith Giffen , with editor Andy Schmidt . A 48-page one-shot issue, Annihilation: Prologue , was released on March 15, 2006. It was followed by four concurrent 4-issue miniseries , Silver Surfer (April 1, 2006), Super-Skrull (April 12, 2006), Nova (April 19, 2006), and Ronan
214-473: A sketch comedy show or as a humorous interlude on an award telecast. Such crossovers may sometimes involve the real actors—for example, a sketch on Royal Canadian Air Farce saw Yasir and Sarah from Little Mosque on the Prairie buying the gas station from Corner Gas , with many of the characters in the sketch being portrayed by the shows' real actors—although they may also feature one genuine star from
321-586: A video game meet and interact with each other. These can range from a character simply appearing as a playable character or boss in the game, as a special guest character, or a major crossover where two or more franchises encounter. Konami made the first crossover video game featuring Simon Belmont from Castlevania , Universal Pictures ' King Kong and Mikey from the Warner Bros. movie The Goonies in Konami Wai Wai World for
428-583: A " shared universe ". For example, in the Marvel Comics universe, Spider-Man has frequent dealings with another Marvel hero, Daredevil , just as in the DC Comics Universe, the Flash and Green Lantern often collaborate. In comic book terminology, these "guest star" roles are common enough that they are generally not considered crossovers; rather, this short-term collaboration to fight crime
535-399: A January 2014 episode of Republic of Doyle as Bill Murdoch, a 21st-century descendant of his regular character William Murdoch. The earliest example of a crossover in children's television was PBS ' 1971 program The Electric Company . Crossovers can take the form of a promotional cameo appearance , used to draw attention to another work of fiction, with little rational explanation in
642-447: A cameo to a full comedy sketch or episode—is an extremely popular way of circumventing this problem. By various means, such crossovers typically avoid outcry from fans by being obvious parody or homage . However, on rare occasion, the humor of such crossovers can be used by one show make a narrative point by capitalizing on the audience's experience of the other program. Parodic crossovers can be directly established as being outside
749-721: A case in the turmoil of the time after the fall of the Berlin Wall . The episode was produced during the short transition period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany . Annihilus Annihilus ( / ə ˈ n aɪ . ə l ə s / ) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics , primarily as an adversary to the Fantastic Four . The character debuted in Fantastic Four Annual #6, which
856-454: A crossover "event". In one case, a New York City blackout caused by Paul Reiser 's character on Mad About You was experienced by the characters on Friends and Madman of the People . Such "event nights" can also be linked by a single character's quest across multiple shows on the same evening. ABC attempted this kind of "event night" crossover with its Friday night programming during
963-653: A crossover between the Guardians of the Galaxy and SWORD in which Dormammu , Lord of the Dark Dimension, has merged with Ego the Living Planet and plans to conquer space. After a derelict spacecraft crashes on an alien world, the wreck reveals a deadly discovery — DRACULA! But this is a planet terrified of the daylight, which Dracula couldn't love more. Soon, he's their hero but when a DARKHAWK attacks from
1070-592: A device in establishing continuity in a shared fictional universe. This crossover is common in the Star Trek universe , where minor guest stars from one series have appeared as featured guest stars later ones. A good example of this crossover is that of the Klingons Kor , Koloth , and Kang . After the passage of about a century of narrative time, the three onetime adversaries of Captain Kirk appeared together in
1177-570: A gladiator when he refuses to reopen the portal from the Negative Zone. Annihilus is contacted by an alternative version of Reed Richards (one of the last survivors of the Council of Reeds) via the Cult of the Negative Zone, a religious movement worshipping Annihilus. As part of a plan to orchestrate an event known as the "War of Four Cities", Richards offers to open a massive portal between
SECTION 10
#17327659141611284-473: A major Valiant hero. Cartoon crossovers are not uncommon, and most of them – like comics or live-action TV shows – will often feature characters owned by the same company or network. One example is Cartoon Network 's The Grim Adventures of the KND . It features five crossovers – Ed, Edd n Eddy , Codename: Kids Next Door , The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy , a reference to The Powerpuff Girls , and
1391-427: A new concept derivative of an older one. Another intention is to give fictional characters more emotional credibility and thus increase immersion for the fans. Crossovers generally occur between properties owned by a single holder, but they can, more rarely, involve properties from different holders, provided that the inherent legal obstacles can be overcome. They may also involve using characters that have passed into
1498-523: A new uniform designed to help regulate the immense power of the Nova Force, as well as also augment Nova Prime's mental and emotional capacities with its own to in order to prevent Richard Rider from going insane. Nova Prime, along with Drax and Cammi , leaves what remains of Xandar and speeds to the next star system. Once there, they find Quasar , wielder of the Quantum Bands , assisting in
1605-632: A number of different works. Illustrator Howard Pyle conceived his work Twilight Land as one such crossover. In it, a nameless narrator is transported to "Twilight Land" and meets famous fairy tale characters for a soirée in an inn: Mother Goose , Cinderella , Fortunatus , Sinbad the Sailor , Aladdin , Boots , the Valiant Little Tailor , and others gather in the framing device and tell each other adventurous tales featuring other literary personages. French author Jules Lemaître wrote
1712-611: A planet ruled by the Space Parasite. He decides to destroy this murderous entity as a way to regain his honor. Stardust returns from death and re-devotes himself to Galactus . As proof of his commitment, Stardust feeds the last of his race to the malnourished Galactus. Galactus sends the Silver Surfer to track Tenebrous and Aegis. Surfer ends up destroying them with the energy of the Crunch. Firelord tracks down many of
1819-520: A primitive insect, which Thanos steps on. Annihilus, now back to a more standard form, later begins kidnapping and enslaving shipwreck survivors on a desolate world. Using the Nega-Bands to open a portal out of the Negative Zone, Annihilus plots to destroy Earth and the rest of the universe by using a powerful energy cannon. However, he is thwarted by the All-New, All-Different Avengers , who steal
1926-555: A quote from Scooby-Doo , which are all licensed Cartoon Network series. During the 1970s and 1980s, crossovers were particularly common among the Hanna-Barbera properties. Some of the earliest examples happened on The New Scooby-Doo Movies which featured appearances by characters from Harlem Globetrotters , Josie and the Pussycats , Jeannie , Speed Buggy , Batman and Robin , and The Addams Family . Later,
2033-674: A rich family history by speculating familial connections between them (such as a blood-relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Tarzan ). Roger Zelazny 's novel A Night in the Lonesome October combines Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper, and the Cthulhu Mythos, although he never specifically identifies them as such ("The Count", "The Good Doctor", "Jack", etc.). Occasionally, authors will include into crossovers classic fictional characters whose copyright
2140-577: A similar format, Annihilation: Conquest , by the same authors. The second volume of Guardians of the Galaxy , which began in 2008, features several of the characters in Annihilation. In November and December 2019, Marvel released Annihilation: Scourge , a six issue storyline where Annihilus works with Nova, the Fantastic Four, Beta Ray Bill, and the Silver Surfer to stop a different invading army. In 2021, Marvel released Last Annihilation ,
2247-511: A sleeping Odin, transporting him to the Negative Zone to steal his power. Annihilus was defeated by Thunderstrike . Soon after, Annihilus and Blastaar joined forces with fellow Negative Zone warlord Syphonn. During a confrontation with Adam Warlock , Annihilus and Blastaar betrayed Syphonn, allowing him to be defeated. Annihilus began leading the Annihilation Wave , a fleet of Negative Zone battleships, ostensibly claiming to have
SECTION 20
#17327659141612354-752: A small role in the Kree–Skrull War issues of Avengers , #89, 96–97. Other appearances include The Avengers #233, Marvel Team-Up #2, Marvel Two-in-One #75, and Thor #404–405, #434–435. The character was the main antagonist in Annihilation , appearing in the prologue, the second issue of the Silver Surfer mini-series, and all six issues of the main title. He was killed in issue six, but has since been reborn. He appeared as an infant in War of Kings : Ascension #2. Annihilus first encounter
2461-418: A sort of sequel to Cinderella , named Princess Mimi , where Cinderella's daughter is courted by Polyphemus and Charles Perrault 's Hop-o'-My-Thumb . It is also common for authors to 'crossover' characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use in other works. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
2568-512: A top level briefing in Xandar , the Nova Corps home world. During the briefing, The Annihilation Wave invades and successfully destroys the planet, including all Nova Corp members save for Richard Rider , the lone human Nova Corps member. Having also been delivered to Xandar prior to the attack, Drax and Cammi also survive the onslaught of The Annihilation Wave. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Ronan
2675-430: A warning to the heroes of Earth about the approaching wave. Drax stays behind to hunt and kill Thanos. Thanos had allied himself with Annihilus out of curiosity. When he learns Annihilus' plan is to extinguish all life in the universe, Thanos plans to betray him by releasing Galactus. Just before he can do so, Drax appears and kills him. Drax and Moondragon then release the Silver Surfer, who in turn releases Galactus. At
2782-547: Is a fighting game engine that features many fan-created and fictional characters and stages from various television series, movies, as well as other video games. Crossovers of multiple characters, owned by one company or published by one publisher , have been used to set an established continuity, where characters can frequently meet within one setting. This is especially true of comic book publishers , as different characters in various Marvel , DC , or Valiant comic books frequently interact with one another since they live in
2889-471: Is a member of a resistance against Blastaar who was previously rendered amnesiac, assumed a humanoid form, and took the identity of Ahmyor . While fighting Blastaar alongside Blink , he regains his memories and returns to his original form before leaving her to battle Blastaar. An alternate universe variant of Annihilus from Earth-21798 appears in Heroes Reborn . This version is the leader of
2996-493: Is another example of this, as all of the main characters and most of the secondary / background characters are fictional characters whose copyright has expired, and all are characters of different authors and creators brought together within one massive extended universe. Many of the works of Philip José Farmer 's Wold Newton family sequences (which has also been explored and developed by other authors) also utilize and interweave numerous otherwise unrelated fictional characters into
3103-772: Is called a team-up . A crossover in comic book terms only occurs when a story spans more than one title. This has led to "crossover events" in which major occurrences are shown as affecting most or all of the stories in the shared universe; see Category:Crossover comics . The earliest such crossover event was Gardner Fox 's Zatanna's Search which took place in Hawkman #4 (October/November 1964), Detective Comics #336 (February 1965), The Atom #19 (June/July 1965), Green Lantern #42 (January 1966), Detective Comics #355 (September 1966), and Justice League of America #51 (February 1967). This story dealt with Zatanna attempting to reconnect with her father, Zatara , and seeking
3210-480: Is clearly intended in appearance and description by other characters to be Dr. Fu Manchu appears as a significant villain; however, as this character was not in the public domain at the time of writing and the rights still held by the estate of his creator Sax Rohmer , he is not directly named as such in the work and is only referred to as 'the Devil Doctor'. Crossovers involving principals can also occur when
3317-400: Is different from a spoof , where one discrete character, setting, or universe, copies another character, setting, or universe, often in a comedic manner. Crossovers often occur in an official capacity in order for the intellectual property rights holders to reap the financial reward of combining two or more popular, established properties. In other cases, the crossover can serve to introduce
Annihilation (comics) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3424-666: Is further complicated by the involvement of the Universal Inhumans . The Human Torch dies stopping a horde of aliens from the Negative Zone . Later, when Reed Richards opens a window to the Negative Zone and menaces Annihilus with the Ultimate Nullifier , Annihilus in return brandishes Johnny's uniform to Reed. Annihilus uses regenerative surgery to revive the Human Torch, turning him into
3531-594: Is in its path, Kl'rt the Super-Skrull and a young Skrull engineer, R'Kin, travel to the Negative Zone to find a way to stop the Harvester. Kl'rt locates Hawal, the warden of a prison planet and designer of the Harvester. Using torture, Kl'rt forces Hawal to design a virus that can destroy the Harvester. He also unites the planet's prisoners into an army. When Kl'rt brings his army back to the Skrull empire to attack
3638-650: Is killed, and the seekers capture Terrax and Morg in separate engagements. To protect Galactus from the Seekers, Surfer replaces Stardust as his herald. Stardust, Firelord, and Red Shift join the United Front against the Annihilation Wave. Galactus reveals that the Annihilation Wave's destruction of the Kyln may have freed two Proemial Gods, Tenebrous and Aegis , whom he imprisoned when "the universe
3745-444: Is more common on animated programs, such as when Bender found and ate Bart Simpson 's shorts on Futurama , or Milhouse had a talking Bender doll on The Simpsons . This would seem to be another case when a popular franchise is acknowledged as fiction and not a crossover of the stories. Perhaps the most obvious parodic crossover is found when characters from two series interact outside either series. This occurs most commonly on
3852-656: Is outraged; the heroes are fighting over secret identities when such a massive threat is coming, revealing that in this world, Drax was unable to revive Galactus and thus the Wave continued its march, taking much of the Kree Empire along with Ronan and the Super-Skrull. The Wave hits Earth in a massive strike on multiple cities, the heroes and villains uniting to fight it off while sustaining massive casualties. With more of Annihilus' forces coming, this reality's Watcher tells
3959-464: Is still held by the original authors (or at least their estates), but who are nevertheless considered iconic or 'mythic' enough to be recognised from a few character traits or descriptions without being directly named (thus not requiring royalties payments to be made to the copyright holder). A prominent example occurs within The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One , wherein a character who
4066-483: Is that of Mad About You and Friends , which share the character of Ursula Buffay . Neither show shares any production or distribution commonality, but rather an actress ( Lisa Kudrow ), a setting ( New York City ) and a schedule ( Friends initially followed Mad About You on NBC 's Thursday night schedule ). Mad About You and Friends share another type of "network crossover". On rare occasions, networks have chosen to theme an entire night's programming around
4173-571: Is when the characters from all three shows split into groups, where the members all share the same clichéd character archetypes, such the main characters Goku, Luffy, and Toriko falling into the dumb, good-natured, strong character archetype. Manga artist Leiji Matsumoto has been known to cross over the characters of his various stories and characters such as Captain Harlock , Galaxy Express 999 , and Queen Millennia , all of which were originally written as separate, self-contained stories. In
4280-926: The Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 set of movies involved several crossovers, including such combinations as The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones . This was taken to an extreme in the 1977–79 series Laff-A-Lympics , which was essentially a gathering of the Hanna-Barbera characters for a regular series. Crossovers are not necessarily composed of characters under common ownership. Two of the most notable cartoon crossovers consisted of characters from different companies. Disney's movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit had characters from various companies, most notably Disney and Warner Bros. The film also includes cameos of characters from MGM . Another cartoon crossover would occur in 1990, Cartoon All-Stars to
4387-530: The Maetel Legend , Queen Promethium is revealed to be having been Yukino Yaoi, the protagonist from Queen Millennia . Matsumoto has also created various crossovers with Space Battleship Yamato , an anime on which he served as director, although the rights to Yamato are actually owned by Yoshinobu Nishizaki. The first film crossover in a series of Universal Studios monster films was Frankenstein Meets
Annihilation (comics) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-554: The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode, " Blood Oath " – as the Klingons and Federation had become allies in the century between, the former villains are now portrayed as heroes. The distinction between "spin-off" and "crossover" is sometimes narrow. The two terms can become especially conflated if two shows are linked by a guest star with a single appearance. There is debate, for instance over whether Out of
4601-476: The Fantastic Four when they enter the Negative Zone seeking anti-particles needed to treat Sue 's cosmic ray-related pregnancy complications. Annihilus's minions capture the heroes, but they escape and temporarily steal his Control Rod to harness its antimatter particles. Annihilus was challenged by a research scientist, Janus the Nega-Man, who developed a module capable of harnessing antimatter energy within
4708-804: The Kyln . With the help of Star-Lord , he subdues the female mortal form of the Beyonder called the Maker. Thanos also befriends Skreet, a chaos mite, and enslaves a former herald of Galactus , the Fallen One. Drax the Destroyer is on a prison transport ship that crashes in Alaska. He befriends a teenage girl named Cammi and protects the locals from the Blood Brothers , Lunatik , and Paibok . During
4815-684: The Mad Thinker . Blastaar , a fellow Negative Zone warlord, stole the Control Rod and left Annihilus to die. Desperate, Annihilus tried to escape to Earth. He was defeated by the Avengers and Fantastic Four before returning to the Negative Zone. Annihilus was revived by Blastaar and regained his Control Rod. Annihilus attacked the dimension of Asgard , home of the Norse Gods, but was repelled by King Odin . Annihilus later kidnapped
4922-487: The public domain with those concurrently under copyright protection . A crossover story may try to explain its own reason for the crossover, such as characters being neighbors (notable examples being the casts from The Golden Girls and Empty Nest ) or meeting via dimensional rift or similar phenomenon (a common explanation for science fiction properties that have different owners). Some crossovers are not explained at all. Others are absurd or simply impossible within
5029-558: The "Galactus event." Silver Surfer is sent ahead of the blast by Galactus to herald the imminent destruction, as the unleashed "Galactus obliteration perimeter" wipes out the majority of the Annihilation Wave, more than three star systems and even vaporizes a Watcher . Nova, Peter Quill and Phyla-Vell have teleported close to Annihilus' flagship and are preparing to make the last jump when Galactus' energy wave arrives. Annihilus, finding that he has been betrayed by Thanos and undone by Galactus, uses Quasar's quantum bands to protect himself from
5136-533: The 1997 season. There, they proposed that the title character of Sabrina the Teenage Witch should chase her cat, Salem , through Boy Meets World , You Wish and Teen Angel because it had run away with a "time ball" that was displacing each show through time. In 2013, the Canadian crime drama series Republic of Doyle and Murdoch Mysteries produced a crossover, which was complicated by
5243-582: The Accuser (April 26, 2006). Annihilation was published as a six issue miniseries beginning in August 2006. It was followed by two issues of Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus and a new volume of Nova. While not published with the Annihilation banner, Drax the Destroyer : Earthfall #1–4 (Sept 2005) and Thanos #7–12 (2004) were preludes to the event. Thanos visits the intergalactic prison,
5350-689: The Accuser , Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire, is arrested for treason. The Super-Skrull learns that the Annihilation Wave is moving toward the Skrull Empire, while the Silver Surfer decides to investigate. After the fall of Xandar, Richard Rider, the last surviving known Nova Corps member in the universe, allows the Xandarian Worldmind, the artificial intelligence compiled of the eons of knowledge and experiences of
5457-590: The Accuser and Peter Quill , while his outer space forces consist primarily of Firelord, Red Shift and Stardust. They capture one of Annihilus' queens, who reveals that Thanos, Tenebrous and Aegis had attacked and incapacitated Galactus and the Silver Surfer. Believing the Power Cosmic to be within his grasp, Annihilus orders his troops to kill the remaining former Heralds of Galactus. Thanos kidnaps Moondragon and tells Drax via Phyla-Vell that she will be killed if Drax pursues him. Ravenous leads an attack on
SECTION 50
#17327659141615564-472: The Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Ultimate Spider-Man . In 2009, Annihilus was ranked as IGN 's 94th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. The character first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby . He had a recurring role in the series, including issues #108–110, #140–141, #181–183, #251–256, #289–290, and Fantastic Four Unlimited #3. He played
5671-574: The Annihilation Wave armada, using it to battle the Kree fleet as well as the Mad Celestials. Annihilus is captured and a leash is placed around his neck. After a rebellion breaks out for free elections in the Negative Zone, Annihilus wins as a write-in candidate for new leader of the Negative Zone, receiving 14 trillion votes. During the Infinity storyline, Annihilus appears as a member of
5778-503: The Annihilation Wave attacks Godthab Omega. Ronan, Korath, Gamora, and Glorian all battle Annihilus's forces. Tana Nile is killed, preventing Ronan from proving his innocence. Undeterred, Ronan resolves to return to the Kree, violating his exile to warn them of the coming danger. 205 days after Annihilation Day, Richard Rider has formed an army, the United Front, to oppose the Annihilation Wave. His land-based army includes Drax, Gamora, Ronan
5885-471: The Blue is a spin-off of Happy Days , or whether the star of Out of the Blue merely crossed over into Happy Days . Often, the problems of bringing together two shows with different narrative ambitions make the writing of a crossover burdensome. Such difficulties are encountered by situation comedies that wish to crossover with dramatic television programs. The satirical crossover—ranging in length from
5992-600: The Bottled Hive of Annihilation, a race of small but powerful insects from the Negative Zone. An alternate universe variant of Annihilus from Earth-2301 appears in Marvel Mangaverse : Fantastic Four #1. This version is a kaiju -like monster. Nihil , a character from Earth-1610 inspired by Annihilus, appears in Ultimate Fantastic Four . He is the ruler of a space station composed of
6099-400: The Centurians—Annihilus's elite force that murdered his homeworld and many other worlds. He kills some, but others plead for mercy, saying they were tricked. Firelord allows them to live, but only if they behave from that moment on. After the Annihilation event concluded, Marvel announced a new Nova ongoing series, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, as well as a second crossover event in
6206-544: The Chipmunks , the Smurfs , ALF (from his short-lived cartoon spinoff ), Garfield , and the trio of Baby Kermit , Baby Piggy , and Baby Gonzo (from Jim Henson's Muppet Babies ). Animation companies granted unlimited, royalty-free use of their cartoon characters for this project, a feat that has been unequalled before or since. This cartoon was also introduced by then- President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush , and would be distributed to schools and video stores free of charge nationwide. Webtoons (animated shows from
6313-621: The Cosmic Control Rod, a weapon of great power. It slows his aging process and enables him to manipulate energy and matter. Though not always engaging himself in direct combat, Annihilus has proved to be a very formidable opponent, and was able to defeat the Thing, Thor, Nova Prime , Quasar , and Blastaar in individual fights with relative ease. Annihilus also sometimes wields energy pistols based on Tyannan technology that he has modified. In Annihilation: Nova , Annihilus kills Quasar and obtains his Quantum Bands . By using these in combination with most of his stored power reserves Annihilus
6420-415: The Famicom in 1988. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games , released in Japan two months before Super Smash Bros. Brawl , was the first time that Mario and Sonic (as well as their associated characters) appeared in a game together. In literature , some authors also engage in crossovers by including characters from different novels they have written in one. The first popular crossover in literature
6527-612: The Galactic Council. It is later revealed that Annihilus is still trapped in a child form, and has been using a mechanized stand-in for public appearances. Seeking to return to a more impressive size, he abducts Bruce Banner and harnesses his power to mutate into a monstrous form. With this new form, Annihilus and his army make another attempt to conquer the universe. They are successful, ravaging many worlds and killing most of Earth's heroes. However, with help from Above-All-Others, Thanos and Adam Warlock travel back in time and prevent Annihilus' invasion. Warlock then devolves Annihilus into
SECTION 60
#17327659141616634-406: The Graces, a group of cosmically powered women led by Gamora . After defeating Nebula and Stellaris, Ronan ends up in battle against Gamora herself, who now possesses the power cosmic. However, their conflict, as well as several others, is in truth caused by the manipulation of Glorian , who is using the energy from their battles to reshape the world. Just as Glorian's plan approaches completion,
6741-458: The Harvester, R'Kin betrays them. Kl'rt is able to escape and destroy the Harvester, but not before his son is consumed by it. Kl'rt appears to be killed in the process. On the run from Kree authorities since his trial, Ronan the Accuser seeks Tana Nile , a witness who falsely accused him of treason. Ronan lands on Godthab Omega, where he finds an encampment of exiled Kree , including his old friend Korath , and learns that Tana Nile has joined
6848-405: The Nega-Bands and destroy the weapon. Annihilus is capable of self-propelled flight and can withstand the vacuum of space. He possesses an insectoid exoskeleton with armored components that grants him resistance to most forms of injury. He has superhuman physical abilities. He is able to breathe in the vacuum of empty space, and can fly at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. Annihilus wields
6955-461: The Negative Zone and Earth, allowing the Annihilation Wave to pass through. Annihilus agrees, and sends forces to attack the Baxter Building and secure its Negative Zone gateway. Johnny Storm learns of the plan and enlists the Inhumans Light Brigade in an uprising, attacking Annihilus' forces as they prepare to cross over. With the aid of Light Brigade member Kal Blackbane, Johnny wrests the Cosmic Control Rod away from Annihilus, and takes control of
7062-409: The Negative Zone is invaded by Darkhawk and his ally Talon. They discover the infant Annihilus and his Cosmic Control Rod have been placed under the care of a lesser lord of the Negative Zone, Catastrophus. Catastrophus had been using the Cosmic Control Rod to stunt the development of the infant Annihilus, hoping to prolong his own rule. Talon kills Catastrophus and seizes the Rod, before calling out to
7169-404: The Negative Zone. Annihilus defeated Janus, forcing the Nega-Man to lead him to Earth, but Janus was instead seemingly killed in the exploding atmosphere where matter meets antimatter. Annihilus nearly crossed over to Earth through one of Mister Fantastic's portals, but was driven back by the Avengers. Annihilus battled the Frightful Four , and once again attempted to escape the Negative Zone, but
7276-521: The Rescue . This cartoon featured popular characters from children's Saturday morning cartoons, banding together to promote an anti-drug message. ABC , CBS , Fox , and NBC aired this half-hour special one Saturday morning with characters from all their networks, including Huey, Dewey, and Louie (from Disney's DuckTales ), Winnie the Pooh , Tigger , Slimer (from The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters ), Michelangelo (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ), Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Alvin and
7383-466: The Silver Surfer, and the two are connected to a giant mechanism in Annihilus' starship. Annihilus' goal is actually creating a massive Power Cosmic bomb that will destroy the Universe and the Negative Zone, leaving Annihilus the only survivor. Drax and the Silver Surfer free Galactus, who destroys the Annihilation Wave while Nova battles and kills Annihilus. Annihilus is later reborn as an infant while retaining his memories. In War of Kings ,
7490-408: The United Front and he has many of Nova's former allies in his thrall, including Terrax. During the conflict, a huge energy spike restores the deceased Super-Skrull Kl'rt to his full power. Ravenous' troops retreat as Annihilus' ship arrives. With Thanos' aid, Annihilus has turned an imprisoned Galactus into a weapon. The United Front is broken and defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, Nova sends out
7597-456: The Wolf Man , in 1943. After the comics publishing house Marvel Comics ventured into movie production , they set off to produce solitary films with popular superheroes from the Avengers team, with characters from upcoming films making cameo appearances in films starring another superhero, leading up to the crossover film The Avengers (2012). Inspired by Marvel's success, Warner Bros. , who hold movie rights for DC Comics ' heroes, announced
7704-506: The agent has issues over possibly becoming a sperm donor, with David Boreanaz (who plays Booth) repaying the favor in " Road to the North Pole ". An appearance by Elmo , from Sesame Street , was made, in a hallucination of Connie Ray 's, on TV sitcom The Torkelsons . Fan fiction fusions between different science fiction movies and series are often created, such as Star Wars and Star Trek or Babylon 5 and Stargate . M.U.G.E.N.
7811-710: The aid of Hawkman, Batman, Robin , the Atom, Green Lantern, and the Elongated Man along the way. The first major crossover event was spearheaded by the Marvel Editor-in-Chief at the time, Jim Shooter . As a way to further toy sales he devised the Secret Wars crossover which brought all the major Marvel heroes into a 12-issue miniseries to battle a common threat. After the threat was dealt with, they all returned to their regular titles. Secret Wars
7918-460: The battle, Drax gains a new body. A second prison ship arrives and arrests both Drax and Cammi. The Annihilation Wave , a large armada of warships under the control of Annihilus , enters this universe through " The Crunch ", the area of space where the Negative Zone and this Universe meet. The Kyln and several neighboring star systems are quickly annexed. The Nova Corps , an intergalactic police force, immediately calls in all Nova Centurions for
8025-455: The characters have no prior relationship, but are related by time period, locale or profession. The Law and Order series, for example, afford a commonality of setting and profession which lends itself to crossovers, both within the franchise and in a wider universe. Following the cancellation of the ABC soap opera One Life to Live and its high-rated finale, several characters crossed over into
8132-435: The context of the hosting show's narrative. When not clearly presented as parody, this is frequently scorned by fans as blatant commercialism. A notable example of this is The Simpsons episode " A Star Is Burns ", in which the character of Jay Sherman (from The Critic ) appeared. It originally aired on March 5, 1995, on FOX right before The Critic began its second season, its first season having aired on ABC. This episode
8239-444: The continuity of one or all of the properties being crossed over. A good example is the crossover between The Simpsons and The X-Files , which was largely accepted as being outside standard X-Files continuity. They can occur by virtue of a dream sequence , in which the characters of one show will appear as part of a dream had by a character on another show. This method was perhaps used most famously to explain to audiences that
8346-508: The energy blast. Nova battles Annihilus, but is unable to win until Phyla manages to steal the Quantum bands from Annihilus. Nova kills the weakened villain. A treaty between the remains of the Annihilation Wave and the Kree was signed, ceding certain Kree territories to Ravenous. This ends the overt hostilities, but both sides are unhappy. After being captured, enslaved and made a pawn of Annihilus, Terrax has broken free only to crash-land on
8453-569: The entire Xandarian race and the repository for the Nova Force —the cosmic power utilized by all Nova Corps members—to download itself in its entirety into his mind and body in order to prevent itself from being lost to the universe. With the entire knowledge and experiences of the Xandarian culture, as well as the full power of the Nova Force at his disposal, Richard Rider becomes Nova Prime. To compensate for this upgrade, Worldmind creates
8560-509: The entirety of Newhart had been the dream of Bob Newhart 's character on The Bob Newhart Show . It has more recently been used to demonstrate that cast members of The Young and the Restless appeared in a dream of a character on The King of Queens . Parodic crossovers can take the form of " gag " cameos by characters of one property appearing on another. Crossovers of this type can also be completely wordless. This type of crossover
8667-615: The exodus of one of its star system planets. The Annihilation Wave arrives and Nova Prime and Quasar attack in order to give the exodus enough time to succeed. In the ensuing battle, Quasar is consumed by Annihilus , who now wields the Quantum Bands. Annihilus dispatches the Seekers, led by Ravenous, to capture beings imbued with the Power Cosmic . While avoiding them, the Silver Surfer joins forces with other former heralds of Galactus Firelord and Air-Walker . Air-Walker
8774-439: The fictional setting, and have to be ignored by the series' respective continuities . Still others intentionally make the relations between two or more fictional universes confusing, as with The Simpsons and Futurama , where each show is fiction in the other. In contrast with legal crossovers, unofficial crossovers are created solely because of the artistic pleasure derived by their creators. Unofficial crossovers often take
8881-457: The form of fan-written fiction and fan art , but the trope is increasingly prevalent in amateur films and audio . Whereas official crossovers are frequently stymied by such concerns as copyright, royalties payments, quality of writing and ownership of the characters, unofficial crossovers are unfettered by such concerns, so long as property holders do not exercise their right to enjoin the distribution of such material. A good example would be
8988-443: The goal of conquering the universe. He claims that the universe is expanding into areas of the Negative Zone, making the universe his territory. His forces destroy the Kyln , an intergalactic power station and maximum security prison, and the planet Xandar, headquarters of the Nova Corps. He allies with Thanos and two beings that were trapped in the Kyln by Galactus , Tenebrous, and Aegis . Tenebrous and Aegis defeat Galactus and
9095-660: The heroes that the Terminus device can be used to open a black hole to suck the fleet away. With the help of the Inhumans, they trick Annihilus into sending his forces toward the moon. Nova intends to stay and set the device off and Captain America and Iron Man volunteer to help him fight off the Wave to buy Earth time. The three sacrifice themselves to set off the device, sucking the Wave into the black hole and leaving Earth ravaged but still alive. Fictional crossover This
9202-496: The infant Annihilus and asking it to remember in the future that he had spared the creature's life. During a later incursion into the Negative Zone, Johnny Storm discovers that Annihilus's forces have been rebuilt to "pre-Crunch assault levels," but are currently embroiled in a struggle with Blastaar's forces. Central to that struggle is a city built from the remains of the Negative Zone Prison Alpha. The war
9309-558: The internet) can also have crossovers with different webtoons, franchises, YouTubers and more. Some examples are when Kate from TomSka 's Crash Zoom series makes an appearance in Eddsworld as a trick or treater who possesses Matt and Edd in the episode, "Trick or Threat". In addition to this a couple of characters from Eddsworld make appearances in some Crash Zoom episodes such as "Orcs and Dorks". Anime has also participated in many crossover events featuring characters or shows from
9416-807: The monsters forming teams in numerous movies, much like the Marvel movie franchise. Godzilla , Mothra and Rodan (Radon) each first appeared in standalone films before being set against each other or even teaming up against stronger enemies. Their first encounter was in 1964, first in Mothra vs. Godzilla and a few months later of all three in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster . In 1962, Toho released King Kong vs. Godzilla . Crossovers in video games occur when otherwise separated fictional characters, stories , settings , universes , or media in
9523-526: The network's remaining soap opera General Hospital , remaining in the same timeline as their former show. Though most common on shows of the same production company (see, for example, " Hurricane Saturday "), crossovers have also occurred because shows share the same distributor or television network . A notable example of this kind of link is that between Murder, She Wrote and Magnum, P.I. These shows were made by different companies, but owned by Universal Studios and broadcast on CBS . Another case
9630-529: The production of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and further plans to develop the cinematic DC Extended Universe , while Paramount Pictures and Entertainment One announced plans to create a cinematic universe on the Transformers film series . There have been numerous crossovers in Japanese cinema. The boom of kaiju films saw a lot of crossovers produced at Toho Studios , with some of
9737-746: The remains of alien spaceships that orbits a dying red dwarf star . After learning of the Ultimate Universe, he attempts to travel to it to escape the Negative Zone's eventual decay, only to be killed by the Fantastic Four. Annihilus was originally intended to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 , but was ultimately replaced with the High Evolutionary . Annihilus appears in Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game via
9844-444: The same company or network. One of the biggest projects down would be Dream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Special Collaboration as it includes three Shonen Jump franchises, being Dragon Ball Z , One Piece , and Toriko , crossed over into an hour long special-like most crossovers, this special is filler, a fan-service episode that follows the common plot line in most crossovers. What makes this crossover unique
9951-484: The same time, Ronan the Accuser and a small band of allies (including Ronan's sworn enemy, the Super-Skrull) arrive on the homeworld of ruling Kree House Fiyero. Ronan learns that House Fiyero had allied themselves with Ravenous and Annihilus. Ronan kills the members of Fiyero and is called by the populace to be the new emperor. Galactus proceeds to unleash a massive, omnidirectional blast that later becomes known as
10058-510: The show amid a cast comprised otherwise of the sketch show's own stable of actors. Parodic crossovers can be used to lend verisimilitude to the fictional world of a program. Characters from a fictional television series may appear on a stylized version of an established non-fictional television series, such as game shows or reality shows . These crossovers between celebrity hosts and fictional characters are quite common on situation comedies . Mama's Family once appeared on Family Feud and
10165-504: The shows' incompatible historical settings; Murdoch Mysteries is a historical series set in the 1890s, while Republic of Doyle is set in the present day. The problem was solved by having the actors cross over as relatives of their primary characters; Allan Hawco appeared on the November 25, 2013 episode of Murdoch Mysteries as Jacob Doyle, a 19th-century ancestor of his regular character Jake Doyle, while Yannick Bisson appeared on
10272-537: The stars, Dracula fights back as the cosmic side of 2099 explode in a bold new vision of the galaxy-shattering Annihilation storyline and introducing Nova 2099, Starlord 2099, Red Hulk 2099 and Silver Surfer 2099. In a special What If by David Hine and Mico Suayan, the Annihilation Wave reaches Earth in the climactic battle of the Civil War between Iron Man 's pro-Superhuman Registration Act side and Captain America 's anti-Superhuman Registration Act side. Nova
10379-720: The townsfolk of The Vicar of Dibley have had their heirlooms valuated on Antiques Roadshow , for instance. One of the earlier instances of crossovers in TV productions outside the US is the episode Unter Brüdern [ de ] (1990), which was produced by WDR and DFF as a crossover between the West German crime series Tatort and the East German crime series Polizeiruf 110 . Their respective popular heroes Horst Schimanski and Peter Fuchs join forces to solve
10486-643: The unauthorised live action fan film Batman: Dead End which brings together the properties of Batman , Alien and Predator in one setting. Unofficial crossovers can also occur in a "what-if" scenario. Roger makes frequent cameo appearances in Family Guy , while Brian makes cameos on American Dad! . Roger, Rallo Tubbs , and Klaus Heissler were seen in the final Family Guy Star Wars spoof, " It's A Trap! ", as Moff Jerjerrod , Nien Nunb , and Admiral Ackbar , respectively. Stewie also appears as an interactive hallucination of Booth on Bones when
10593-442: The years he clashed with the Fantastic Four on many occasions, often with the group foiling his plans to invade Earth. He is often the partner of Blastaar , who started out as a rival to Annihilus' rule of the Negative Zone before becoming an ally. Annihilus has appeared in a number of Marvel media, including several Fantastic Four shows, as well as The Super Hero Squad Show , The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes , Hulk and
10700-766: Was able to withstand a massive blast from Galactus in the Annihilation series. While the blast destroyed his entire army, along with several solar systems, Annihilus was able to survive. Even as an adolescent, he could withstand the Human Torch's hottest flame with little effort. Annhilus also leads an elite personal guard, the Centurions, who have occasionally wielded portions of the Rod's power. Fantastic Four #600 reveals that Annihilus can continuously resurrect after being killed. An alternate universe variant of Annihilus from Earth-295 appears in Age of Apocalypse . This version
10807-591: Was foiled by Spider-Man and the Human Torch . Sensing great power within Franklin Richards , Annihilus abducted him, along with the Fantastic Four, Medusa , Wyatt Wingfoot , and Agatha Harkness into the Negative Zone. He used a machine to prematurely release the child's full power potential, hoping to transfer the expended energies into himself. The Four defeated Annihilus and escaped back to Earth. Annihilus later allied with Mr. Fantastic against
10914-570: Was hailed as both a critical and commercial success, largely because the events of the crossover had lasting effects on the characters (such as the introduction of Spider-Man 's black suit which would later become the villain Venom ). Jim Shooter later perfected his crossover technique at Valiant Comics with the Unity event. Unity brought all the Valiant characters together to defeat Mothergod , but
11021-721: Was largely condemned by fans of The Simpsons as existing to promote The Critic , an animated series considered inferior by comparison. Even Simpsons creator Matt Groening objected, preferring to remove his name from the credits of that particular episode in protest. In its simplest and most common form, a television crossover involves a starring character on a parent show appearing on a spin-off or vice versa because of established character relationships. An obvious example of this type of crossover occurred when Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby Show visited his daughter, Denise , on A Different World . More complex multi-production franchises can utilize crossovers of characters to serve as
11128-419: Was published in November 1968. Annihilus was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby , and was notably featured in the " Annihilation " event. Annihilus has at various times been the ruler of the Negative Zone , controlling its inhabitants via his powerful Cosmic Control Rod. He first encountered the Fantastic Four after Reed Richards discovered how to travel to the Negative Zone from Earth. Over
11235-1163: Was the 1885 Mark Twain novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , which had an important guest appearance by Tom Sawyer . Similarly, Lady Glencora Palliser from the Pallisers series of Anthony Trollope appears towards the end of Miss Mackenzie , a novel published between the first and second Palliser novels in 1865, a character first introduced in the novel, Can You Forgive Her? (1864). Andrew Lang 's 1890 collection, Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody , contains letters combining characters from different sources, including one based on Jane Austen 's Northanger Abbey and Charlotte Brontë 's Jane Eyre . Kim Newman frequently uses this device, as does Stephen King . The works of James Branch Cabell , J.D. Salinger , William Faulkner , Margaret Laurence , Thomas Pynchon , Kurt Vonnegut , Mordecai Richler , Sir H. Rider Haggard , Edgar Rice Burroughs , Robert Heinlein , and Isaac Asimov also cross over with each other, linking different characters and settings together over
11342-462: Was told within the existing Valiant Comics titles (and two bookend special issues). Readers were not obliged to buy all 18 chapters as the story was coherent when reading just one title, but far more layered when all were read. Like Secret Wars , the Unity crossover had lasting effects on the Valiant universe; most notably the introduction of Turok , the birth of Magnus, Robot Fighter and the death of
11449-476: Was young." Thanos, guided by Skreet and Mistress Death , allies with Annihilus. Thanos also pursues an alliance with Tenebrous and Aegis. Before they agree to it, they kill the Fallen One. Once the Annihilation Wave reaches the Skrull empire, it begins using a weapon known as the Harvester of Sorrows , a massive ship which renders entire planets into fuel for the armada. Learning that the planet his son lives on
#160839