Microverse
Microverses are formerly parallel dimensions occurring within the fictional
Marvel Universe. It is similar to DC Universe's
Pocket Universe.
The Microverses are often visited by the
Fantastic Four in various adventures. They were formerly defined as any
universe only accessible only through vibrational attunement (shrinking). The belief that these worlds exist
within atoms may have given rise to the stock phrase "There are worlds within worlds".
It is not actually the microverses that are microscopic in size but rather the nexuses which make them accessible. It is thus theoretically possible to enter the same microverse from different points on Earth. The volume of these microverses are contained within spacewalls which can only be breached at certain points. It is these breaches that create accessible portals.
Originally, many microverses existed within the Marvel Multiverse. The most commonly visited is the one containing the regions known as Sub-Atomica and the
Micronauts Homeworld. This Microverse was populated to a large extent by a group of refugee starfarers from a doomed planet, Ithaka. Led by their leader, Wayfinder, they eventually settled on Earth. They were displaced, yet again, by demons. With the help of The Sword in The Star, they were relocated to one of the Microverses. They eventually became the ancestors of many of the races located there.
These multiple microverses no longer exist. It was revealed during
Peter David's
Captain Marvel series that a thus far unseen conflict between
Baron Karza and
Thanos had resulted in all of the realms of the Microverse becoming merged into a single dimension referred to as the Microverse.
Other inhabitants of the new merged Microverse include the
Children of the Confluence of Stars and the
Psycho-Man, a scientist exiled from
Sub-Atomica. Psycho-Man was a reoccurring enemy of the Fantastic Four. This Microverse is also the origin of the
Enigma Force which regularly manifests itself on Earth in the form of
Captain Universe.
Marvel Appendix profile covers the origins of Wayfinder and the Microverse*
Marvel Comics Universe*
Marvel Comics Multiverse
