Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle is a comic set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is set before and during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Synopsis[]
The Battle of New York is over, but the war has just begun! S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking a vested interest in artifacts recovered from the cataclysm...but they're not the only ones! Dive deeper into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with this prelude to the upcoming film Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron in the stunning Infinite Comics style!
Plot[]
With the Battle of New York concluded and Loki defeated by the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. confiscates the Scepter and brings it to S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.T.I.O.N. for research. Nicholas Cooper theorizes that the Scepter's energy signature is similar to the Tesseract, but is unable to make out a solid connection. Mark Smith is far less enthusiastic about his assignment, noting that Maria Hill deemed him unfit for field operation and assigned him to S.T.A.T.I.O.N., which he did not appreciate.
Later, Smith receives a note about a meeting at the hangar, where he is approached Wolfgang von Strucker. Von Strucker tells Smith that they share common interests and that HYDRA needs a man like him to bring a great future to mankind. Smith defects from S.H.I.E.L.D. and kills Cooper, as he got close to making a breakthrough in his Scepter research. With Cooper dead, Smith and Mark Basso bring the Scepter to HYDRA Research Base in Sokovia.
Von Strucker orders List to proceed with the work on the Scepter to power the recovered Chitauri weaponry. List says that their current progress is not enough and suggests von Strucker to use the human subjects. They decide to find the subjects within the rioters, and List approaches a group, offering them the power to save their country. Multiple rioters volunteer to HYDRA experiments and undergo a number of tests, being exposed to the Scepter's energy, however, only Pietro and Wanda Maximoff survive. Basso tells Smith that they will not be working underground for long, once the Project Insight commences.
During the Battle of Washington, D.C., Captain America exposes HYDRA's existence within S.H.I.E.L.D., von Strucker remains confident that their work will continue regardless. Von Strucker then orders List to get rid of the dead volunteers and focus on the Maximoff twinss, who have both unlocked extraordinary powers as a result of the experiments.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
- Doctor List
- Mark Smith
- Nicholas Cooper
- Mark Basso
- Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
- Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
- Tony Stark/Iron Man
- Loki
- Thor
- Bruce Banner/Hulk
- Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
- Erik Selvig
- Steve Rogers/Captain America
- Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
- Sam Wilson
- Brock Rumlow
- Councilman Chao Yen
- Maria Hill (mentioned)
- Nick Fury (mentioned)
Locations[]
Events[]
Items[]
- Infinity Stones
- Tesseract Accelerator
- Chitauri Gun
- Iron Man Armor: Mark VI
- Arc Reactor
- Captain America's Shield
- Captain America's Uniform
- Winter Soldier's Prosthetic Arm
- Uru
Vehicles[]
Sentient Species[]
Organizations[]
Trivia[]
- The comic is featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude and The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Marvel Comics Omnibus.
- The name of the comic is taken from William Shakespeare's King Richard II, attributed to John of Gaunt: "This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars ... This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."
