Battleworld is a fictional patchwork planet appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It serves as the setting in Secret Wars comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics.
There have been three Battleworlds in total. The first Battleworld was created by the Beyonder, the second was an imitation created by the Stranger pretending to be the Beyonder, and the third was created by Doctor Doom who had stolen the power of the Beyonder race.
Publication history
The first Battleworld debuted in the Secret Wars crossover where it was created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck.
The second Battleworld debuted in Beyond! and was created by Dwayne McDuffie and Scott Kolins.
The third Battleworld debuted in Secret Wars #2 and was created by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić.
Fictional planet biography
First Battleworld
The Beyonder merged dozens of fragments from many planets (including a suburb of Denver, Colorado, from Earth), to create Battleworld, intended to provide an unfamiliar environment where all contestants could use their powers to the fullest. Many peoples, both alien and human, were brought along "for the ride" by this method; it was because of this that Spider-Woman II was on Battleworld, as was Zsaji, the healer, who had brief romances with both the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four and Colossus of the X-Men.
In the aftermath of Secret Wars, the planet became infected with cosmic energy when the Beyonder reclaimed his stolen power from Doctor Doom. This led to a "wish fulfillment" phenomenon whereby force of will could alter reality; for example, repairing Captain America's unbreakable shield or allowing Mister Fantastic to create a way to take them quickly home. This is may be due to the Beyonder's nature as an incomplete Cosmic Cube, which allows the wielder to alter reality by force of will, or was an aspect of the "heart's desire" promised by the Beyonder and granted to the winners of the Secret Wars. All the heroes left the planet, except for Ben Grimm. He stayed behind because he was able to change to and from his human form while on the planet's surface; his adventures were recounted in his own side-series while She-Hulk took his place in the Fantastic Four. After Ben returned home—he had defeated Ultron and slain his manifested dark side Grimm the Sorcerer— the planet had no more reason to exist and broke apart.
It is unknown whether all pieces returned to their home planets; the fragment of Colorado was ferried back to Earth with its citizens and the Secret Wars villains by Molecule Man.
Second Battleworld
A Battleworld appeared in the miniseries Beyond!. It was constructed by the Stranger posing as the Beyonder for the purposes of studying various combatants from Earth under the guise of battle. This faux Battleworld was destroyed at the end of the miniseries by the departure of the irate Stranger with Gravity holding it together long enough for his group to escape at the cost of his life. Gravity was later resurrected by Epoch as the new Protector of the Universe.
Third Battleworld
A third Battleworld appeared in the 2015 Secret Wars storyline. Before the incursions destroyed the Multiverse, Doctor Doom and the Molecule Man, as well as Doctor Strange, defied the godlike entities behind the catastrophe, the Beyonders. Doctor Doom used a secret weapon made up of a multitudinous number of Molecule Men to defeat these Beyonders and usurp their omnipotence for himself.
With the leftover realities from the incursions, Doom merged them into Battleworld, made in his own image and filled with mindwiped residents who worshipped him as God Emperor. Doctor Strange became his sheriff. However, in truth, it was actually the Molecule Man who had absorbed the Beyonders' power and Doctor Doom was being lent it. To hide this, Doom kept the Molecule Man hidden away and falsified his death.
Battleworld was divided into domains which are ruled by an appointed "Baron" or a "Baroness"; while most domains have the ability to interact with each other, the borders of each domain are clearly defined and travel between different domains is discouraged, as it requires special dispensation from the local Baron or from God Emperor Doom himself. Only the Deadlands (which contains the Marvel Zombies), Perfection (which contains the Ultron Sentinels), and New Xandar (which contains the (Annihilation Wave) are separated from the rest by the Shield (a giant version of Ben Grimm) because each contains threats that if loosed would destroy the other domains.