Chapter 189: The Watcher (Patreon)

Rex forced a smile. "Hehe, hello there."

It is no surprise he was being so polite; standing before him was one of the pinnacle existences in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—The Watcher.

The Watchers are a race, one of the earliest civilizations in the universe. In the comics, their strength was once even slightly higher than that of the Celestials.

They once tried to help other civilizations progress, but this only accelerated those civilizations' destruction. Thus, the Watchers took an oath to only observe the universe and never interfere.

"I have seen the past, the future, and everything that could possibly happen, but I have never seen you. Who are you?" The big-headed Watcher asked.

"Rex Cross. You can call me Rex"

After the initial shock, Rex calmed down.

The Watchers in the comics generally observe only one specific universe, but the setting for this bald figure was different: he observed the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, and his strength was top-tier within that hierarchy.

But Rex also knew that the Watcher in front of him might be the most emotional and closest one to the multiverse.

Although he also adhered to the oath of the Watchers never to interfere and respected the self-development of every multiverse, he would also grow anxious on the sidelines while watching the actions of the superheroes.

For example, in the universe where Ultron succeeded in destroying the Earth, when survivors Black Widow and Hawkeye searched for Arnim Zola's data to defeat Ultron, they scoured most of a warehouse. When Hawkeye was about to find the data but suddenly had a mental breakdown and gave up, the Watcher was on the sidelines, dancing with anxiety, nearly revealing himself to point out the data.

Eventually, when Ultron gathered all six Infinity Stones with the intention of destroying the multiverse, the Watcher was discovered by Ultron. He could have just stood by, but he broke his oath and gathered superheroes from across the multiverse to stop Infinity Ultron.

As for why he did this, it was because he greatly admired how humans could still hold onto hope even under the worst possible circumstances.

He had witnessed the destruction of many universes, but in every single one, superheroes fought until the very end.

Having seen so much, the Watcher was moved by this spirit and had come to regard himself as a part of the multiverse.

Just as the Watcher himself narrated in the finale of What If...?:

"The entire multiverse, every world, every story is my home. I will always protect them."

Regarding the development of a single universe, he could uphold the Watcher's oath, but when faced with external threats endangering the entire multiverse, he couldn't help but intervene.

In fact, according to Rex's understanding, the Watcher actually represented us, the audience. He would feel joy, sadness, and anger along with the plot's development, and when a character he approved of faced peril, he would desperately want to crawl into the screen to help.

"Rex, where do you come from?"

The Watcher leaned down slightly, his massive form exerting a strong sense of pressure on Rex.

Rex knew that when facing someone of this caliber, the best approach was to be truthful.

"What is the designation for this universe? Earth-199999?" Rex asked.

The Watcher nodded, somewhat surprised. "You know quite a lot."

"I accidentally arrived at Earth-199999 from another universe, and now I am in Universe 616."

Earth-199999 was the designation for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, encompassing all multiversal timelines under that cinematic view.

Universe 616 was the universe that developed according to the movie plot we were familiar with, also known as the Prime Universe.

The Watcher naturally knew of Universe 616; after all, the worlds in What If...? were all developed by changing some conditions based on the foundation of Universe 616.

"I could not see the development of Universe 616 beyond a certain point. So it was because of you. You are independent of time and space, a variable in the entire multiverse," the Watcher realized in a flash.

Rex felt a sense of danger. 'Is this Watcher going to wipe me out just because I'm a variable?'

"Are you going to deal with me?" he asked directly, though he was already prepared to use conversation to stall for time and instantly open a portal back to the Space.

"No." The Watcher shook his head. "I took an oath not to interfere with the operation of the multiverse. Although you are a variable outside of time and space, you are now a part of the multiverse as well."

Rex breathed a sigh of relief. This guy was still reasonable.

After all, in the plot, when Ultron or other villains destroyed their respective universes, he didn't care. The only exception was when Infinity Ultron intended to destroy the entire multiverse.

And Rex wasn't going to do anything like that.

"Universe 616 is currently..." The Watcher whispered, clearly going to catch up on the plot after Rex's arrival.

"Wanda turned evil and is hunting down America," Rex reminded him.

"Oh, the Scarlet Witch."

The Watcher shook his head, appearing to sigh at the fall of a former Avenger.

"Indeed. Wanda's experiences are truly tragic—losing her brother, losing her husband, and finally, losing herself."

Rex also sighed.

This made the Watcher realize that Rex also knew the plot, so he couldn't help but complain to Rex about the experiences of many characters.

Like Star-Lord, whose single punch kicked off Avengers: Endgame, or Doctor Strange, who went off to control the water in the final battle...

The two chatted just like ordinary viewers, discussing the plot development of the multiverse. The big-headed guy had lived through too many ages, and other Watchers didn't hold as much affection for humanity as he did; they wouldn't discuss the multiverse's superheroes with him.

Now, it was rare to find someone who also knew the fate of the characters, and he could sense that Rex generally held a friendly attitude toward the superheroes, so the Watcher opened his heart.

By now, Rex also learned the big-headed guy's name: Uatu.

"But you actually succeeded in changing Peter's fate. The world hasn't forgotten him, and May didn't die..." Uatu suddenly noticed a clear difference in Universe 616, but instead of blaming Rex for changing the plot, he seemed pleasantly surprised. "You broke Spider-Man's Absolute Point in Time!"

"Absolute Point in Time?"

Rex repeated, suddenly reacting.

In the animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it was mentioned that the passing of Spider-Man's loved ones—like the deaths of the uncles for Tobey's and Andrew's Spider-Men—were all Absolute Points in Time, events that all Spider-People had to experience.

Once changed, that space-time would face collapse.

Rex hadn't expected the death of Aunt May for Tom Holland's Spider-Man to also be an Absolute Point in Time. After all, one was a live-action movie, and the other was an animated film. Although Across the Spider-Verse did mention Holland's Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, because the Main Quest was to save Aunt May, Rex had ignored the setting of Absolute Points in Time.

Now that the Absolute Point in Time for Holland's Spider-Man had been broken by Rex, the space-time remained unaffected. It seemed Rex possessed the ability to alter original space-time development without affecting its continuity.

Of course, it could also be the influence of the Main Quest, but regarding the specific reason, Rex now had an opportunity to experiment.

The purple diamond space next to them was formed because Doctor Strange's attempt to save Christine led to the universe's collapse. In this universe, Christine's death was an Absolute Point in Time.

Rex pointed at the large diamond and looked at Uatu. "Want to give it a try?"

According to Uatu, even if this universe's space-time had collapsed, Rex was beyond space and time and wasn't affected by the collapse; that was why he appeared outside the diamond space rather than inside it.

This also meant Rex's time portal could allow him to return to before the universe's collapse and change everything.

"I will not interfere with the development of the multiverse," Uatu didn't answer directly.

But not objecting at this moment meant agreement.

Because he had previously said that Rex was also a part of the multiverse, it meant that no matter how Rex messed around, he wouldn't intervene.

Rex smiled. "Then I will give it a try."