

Mar-Vell kills the Magus for failing to locate Thanos. Among the invaders is their leader, Lord Mar-Vell, who is an alternate version of Captain Marvel. Monstrous creatures emerge from the Fault and are confronted by the Kree and Shi'ar armadas, Galactus, the Celestials, and other cosmic beings. While the Guardians of the Galaxy watch over the newly resurrected and imprisoned Thanos and Nova pursues the false Quasar, the Magus and the Universal Church of Truth tear open the Fault (opened at the end of the War of Kings and previously sealed by Adam Warlock). The aftermath of those storylines was dealt with in Guardians of the Galaxy #25 and Nova #36, after which both titles were cancelled. The story is the culmination of events starting with the " Annihilation" storyline and more specifically the " War of Kings", which climaxed with the opening of a hole between alternate universes, and " Realm of Kings", which involved different characters in conflict with the many-angled ones and counterparts of the Earth-616 superheroes. The story focuses on the cosmic heroes of the Marvel Universe, who band together to combat the imminent threat of the Fault (a rift in space-time formed at the end of " War of Kings") and the Cancerverse (a universe where death itself is extinct) that lies beyond it.

It was written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and was bookended by two one-shot comics, Ignition and Devastation. The Thanos Imperative is a six-issue comic book limited series published in 2010 by Marvel Comics.
