Black Order (comics)

The Black Order is a fictional supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They are group of alien warriors with various supernatural abilities who serve Thanos. The original iteration consisted of Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, Supergiant, and Black Swan.

The Black Order have appeared in several forms of media, such as animated television series, video games, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Thanos' version
The Black Order is a group of ruthless aliens that serve Thanos. They help Thanos raze worlds from which they demand tribute. When Corvus Glaive sent one of their Outriders to find a new world to raze, the Outrider targeted Earth.

The Black Order arrive on Earth in search of the Infinity Gems, which are under the control of the Illuminati. Each member of the Order targets a member of the Illuminati with varying degrees of success. During their search for the gems, Ebony Maw finds Thanos' son, Thane, whom Thanos wishes to kill.

During a battle with the Avengers, Black Dwarf and Supergiant are killed, Ebony Maw betrays Thanos and frees Thane. Thane traps Thanos, Corvus Glaive, and Proxima Midnight in an amber construct which leaves them in a state of "living death."

While imprisoned in the Triskelion, Thanos was approached by a mysterious cloaked figure who offered him support in obtaining the Mjolnir of Earth-1610. Thanos accepted the deal. In order to make sure it was a success, Thanos formed a second incarnation of the Black Order with Proxima Midnight and Black Swan of Earth-1365. He dispatched them to the Collector's ship in order to obtain the Mjolnir of Earth-1610. There, the trio battled Thor and Beta Ray Bill and failed in retrieving the hammer. Upon returning to Thanos, the cloaked figure revealed herself to be the Asgardian Death Goddess Hela who then brutally killed both Black Swan and Proxima Midnight to demonstrate her power. She told Thanos that she needed his help to reclaim her rulership of Hel and offered to grant him the death he has long been seeking in exchange. They then kiss in a passionate embrace.

After Thanos was killed by Gamora, Hela along with the Black Order, now using Knowhere as their ship, stole Thanos' body from Starfox, in order for Hela to resurrect him. After getting the head from Annihilus, the Black Order went to Eros, who was revealed to be the consciousness of Thanos in the body of his brother, and plans to go back to his own body.

Corvus Glaive's version
After the restructuring of the multiverse, at the time when Thanos was missing, Corvus Glaive formed a second version of the Black Order where he gathered the worst criminals the universe had to offer as part of his plan to create his own empire. Using a moon called the Black Quadrant that belonged to Thanos, Corvus Glaive and the Black Order began to conquer different planets. When Thanos returned, he broke the blade off of Corvus Glaive's pike. Rather than die at the hands of Thanos, Corvus Glaive took the broken blade and killed himself. Afterwards, Thanos reclaimed the Black Quadrant.

Challenger's version
During the "No Surrender" arc, the Black Order was reorganized with Ebony Maw and Black Swan with Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, and Black Dwarf back from the dead while Supergiant is alive as a psychic projection. Earth was stolen from where it used to be the battleground for the Black Order's fight with an alien version of the Lethal Legion that was formed by Grandmaster. It was revealed that this Black Order was formed by the Challenger who is an old rival of Grandmaster. After the Avengers put an end to the contest, the Black Order regroups on the planet Angargal. They are approached by Grandmaster who had an offer for them.

Thanos' first version

 * Black Dwarf - A member of the Black Order who has super-strength, enhanced density, and impenetrable skin. He is the brother of Corvus Glaive. He is killed by Ronan the Accuser.
 * Corvus Glaive - Thanos' most favored general and husband of Proxima Midnight, who has enhanced strength, speed, durability, and endurance and uses a bladed pike which can cut through anything. When Corvus Glaive has the bladed pike in his hand, it makes him immortal. He commits suicide to avoid being killed by Thanos.
 * Ebony Maw - A member of the Black Order who has genius-level intellect, and specializes in persuasion. He utilizes a teleportation device and force field generator.
 * Proxima Midnight - A member of the Black Order. She is a master hand-to-hand combatant, has super-strength and possesses a high degree of imperviousness to injury. Her lance transforms into unavoidable toxic light beams. She is killed by Hela.
 * Supergiant - A member of the Black Order with telepathic abilities. She is apparently killed by Lockjaw, but later returns as a being of psychic energy.

Corvus Glaive's version

 * Corvus Glaive - Leader. Committed suicide.
 * Coven - A trio of three unnamed witches. Following Corvus Glaive's death, the Coven remained allied with Thanos.

Thanos' second version

 * Thanos
 * Proxima Midnight
 * Black Swan of Earth-1365

Challenger's version

 * Black Dwarf
 * Black Swan
 * Corvus Glaive
 * Ebony Maw
 * Proxima Midnight
 * Supergiant

Television

 * The Black Order appears in the Avengers Assemble animated series, with Proxima Midnight voiced by Kari Wahlgren, Corvus Glaive voiced by David Kaye, Ebony Maw voiced by René Auberjonois, Supergiant voiced by Hynden Walch, and Black Dwarf having no dialogue. The group first appears in the episode "New Frontiers", wherein they infiltrate a special prison in order to free Thanos. Thanos leads the Black Order in attacking New Korbin, leading the Korbinite Jeter Kan Too to enlist the Avengers to help their world. In the episode "Avengers World", the Black Order joins Thanos's attack on Earth and fight the Avengers. After Thanos is defeated, the Black Order are transferred to the Guardians of the Galaxy's custody off-screen.
 * The Black Order appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series, with Kari Wahlgren, David Kaye, and Hynden Walch reprising their roles as Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and Supergiant respectively while Ebony Maw is voiced by James Urbaniak and Black Dwarf is voiced by Jesse Burch. In the episode "Undercover Angle", Supergiant had been previously apprehended by the Nova Corps while the other members sought to obtain Ronan the Accuser's Universal Weapon. When they and the Guardians of the Galaxy find it, Titus attacks both parties, forcing them into a temporary truce to keep Titus from getting it. Titus defeats most of the Black Order and they are arrested by the Nova Corps. In the episode "Stuck in the Metal with You", the Black Order attacks the Guardians on Retsemaw, but Rocket Raccoon finds the Destroyer armor and uses it to defeat them and leave them for the Nova Corps. In the episode "Lyin' Eyes", Ebony Maw leaves the Black Order after Mantis convinces him to join the Universal Believers. In the episode "Free Bird", Ebony Maw adds Proxima Midnight and Black Dwarf to the Universal Believers so they can attack Star-Lord, Gamora, and Groot after they end up in a Ravager trap. With help from an avian energy parasite that hatched from an egg that Groot found, the Guardians were able to escape and repel the former Black Order members.

Film
The Black Order, barring Supergiant and renamed the "Children of Thanos", appear in live-action films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Ebony Maw voiced and motion-captured by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor; Black Dwarf (renamed Cull Obsidian) voiced and motion-captured by Terry Notary; Proxima Midnight voiced and facial-captured by Carrie Coon, with motion capture being primarily provided by stuntwoman Monique Ganderton; and Corvus Glaive voiced and motion-captured by Michael James Shaw. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo took several creative liberties with the group's depiction, altering their abilities and most notably excluding Supergiant for "consolidation".
 * In Avengers: Infinity War, the Children of Thanos are introduced. Assisting Thanos in finding the Infinity Stones, they are sent to Earth to retrieve the Time and Mind Stones. Maw and Obsidian attempt to obtain the Time Stone from Doctor Strange's Eye of Agamotto, while Glaive and Midnight attempt to steal the Mind Stone from Vision. They are each killed by members of the Avengers: Maw by Tony Stark, Obsidian by Bruce Banner, Midnight by Wanda Maximoff, and Glaive by Vision.
 * In Avengers: Endgame, an alternate version of the Children of Thanos (with Ganderton fully taking over the role of Midnight) appear. They time-travel to 2023 to the final battle. During the battle, Obsidian is crushed to death by Giant-Man, Glaive is killed by Okoye, and Midnight and Maw are disintegrated when Stark uses the Infinity Stones.

Video games

 * The Black Order has been featured in a number of Marvel games:
 * Marvel: Avengers Alliance
 * Marvel Strike Force
 * Marvel: Future Fight
 * Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 (as part of the Avengers: Infinity War DLC Pack)
 * Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
 * Cull Obsidian, Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive also appeared in Marvel Contest of Champions and Marvel vs Capcom, but were not identified as the Black Order.