As Marvel offers up a look at its 2023 Timeless one-shot, two iconic heroes go to war in the most intense 1-on-1 fight in the publisher’s history. While fights like Sentry vs Hulk have unleashed world-ending power before, no two characters have ever duked it out with so much raw strength behind every punch.
In a preview of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Juann Cabal’s Timeless #1 shared by Marvel, fans see a future where Power Man and Moon Knight have come to blows. However, by this distant period in Marvel history, the two street-level heroes have an Avengers roster worth of powers each. Power Man wields the abilities of Iron Fist, the Hulk, and the Sentry, while Moon Knight’s powers have been intensified like never before, and added to Iron Man’s armor and Doctor Strange’s mystic powers.
It’s as if all Marvel’s strongest heroes were trading punches, but compressed into the bodies of just two fighters. With so much power in play, it’s no surprise that Power Man is able to punch Moon Knight into space in the preview. The issue’s summary reads:
BEHOLD THE FUTURE OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE – FEATURING THE DEBUT OF TWO NEW MARVEL ICONS!
In a devastating future born from the choices of today, all of time and space is threatened by the ascension of an ancient evil. The MOON KNIGHT UNENDING has risen – a nightmare born of StarkTech, the Eternal Machine and the God of the Moon – and now all of Earth bows before his overwhelming power! But one man stands against Khonshu’s coming tide of chaos: POWER MAN, the Marvel Universe’s final living super hero. But who is Power Man – and how did he come to wield the unstable powers of the Sentry, the Hulk and the Iron Fist? What dark, deeply personal conflict underpins this mind-bending apocalypse? And at the end of the line, can the Marvel Universe ever truly be saved?
PLUS – a SHOCKING glimpse into the next year of Marvel stories!
Timeless Gets Extreme with Moon Knight vs Power Man
Hulk, Sentry and Doctor Strange’s Powers Unleashed
Marvel’s Timeless comics have become a yearly tradition, offering a look ahead at the stories that will define the coming year. Officially, Timeless issues only show the possible future if Marvel’s timeline continues on its current path, and it’s likely this particular future ties into the upcoming Sentry series. In that title – beginning December 6 from Jason Loo and Luigi Zagaria – random people will find themselves granted the almost limitless power of the Sentry (a hero so strong, he’s able to punch holes between realities.) The series has hinted one person will keep these powers, becoming Marvel’s new Sentry – perhaps it’s the wrong person getting those powers that creates the future of the Moon Knight Unending.
There are many, many questions to answer when Timeless arrives. Who is the new Moon Knight, and does the reference to “the Eternal Machine” mean they also possess the powers of the Eternals? It’s worth knowing that Moon Knight’s powers aren’t static – they’re granted by the Egyptian god Khonshu, and have elevated him to godhood before; in Avengers’ ‘Age of Khonshu’ arc, Marc Spector used Khonshu’s blessing to single-handedly defeat Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, from Captain America to Thor.
Another dark mystery is what happened to all Marvel’s other heroes, with Power Man described as the “final living super hero.” Even Power Man’s identity is a question mark. Fans had assumed this elderly Power Man was Luke Cage, but art showing his hands swelling with power suggests a more concrete link to Víctor Álvarez, who inherited the name a few years ago and possesses the ability to channel chi into incredible force.
Fans will soon learn the secrets behind Timeless‘ monumental battle, but as Power Man vs Moon Knight combines the powers of the Sentry, the Hulk, and the Sorcerer Supreme, it’s safe to say that all of reality could be at stake every time either of these combatants throws a punch.
Timeless #1 is coming December 27 from Marvel Comics.
