Neutronium
Neutronium is an element from Exo-Space, the space between realities.[6] Its most stable form is known as Isotope-8[2] or ISO-8[3], although ISO-9 has been encountered as well.[4] While Neutronium is scarce in regular universes, it's abundant in fractured ones such as Earth-517[7] and Earth-15513.[3]
After discovering it, Blue Marvel tried to harvest Neutronium for years for its potential to solve hundreds of global problems, but its atomic structure refused to cohere in normal space. The next death and rebirth of the Multiverse affected the structure of Neutronium, changing its isometric form from seven to eight-atom groups, an "Isometry-8" form (ISO-8 for short), making it more stable and powerful in normal space.[1]
Two Elders of the Universe, the Collector and his brother the Grandmaster, pitted themselves against each other for the possession of Earth-15513's ISO-8, and an object known as the ISO-Sphere, in a competition known as the Contest of Champions, in which they summoned people from across the Multiverse to Battlerealm to fight in the name of each of the brothers against each other.[3]
Alternate Realities[]
Earth-12131[]
The material which would be later known as Isotope-8 was brought to Earth by a mysterious Pulse, a phenomenon which also affected technology worldwide and left strange energy signatures.
The international security organization S.H.I.E.L.D. noticed this Pulse, but they were not the only people to do so. Rival organisations Hydra and A.I.M. also tried to obtain the strange material left behind, and battled with S.H.I.E.L.D. for control of it. With the help of an alliance of superheroes led by an Agent, the two terrorist groups were drawn back.
After fending off the rival organizations and researching the "mysterious ore," S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived to the conclusion that the Pulse was a charged cloud of an "Isotope-8," a material was capable of multiplying people's powers. The Alliance's new task would become that of securing the Iso-8 from supervillains, some of whom would even create their own alliance, a syndicate led by Doctor Doom.
Both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Syndicate used the Isotope-8 to create different types of armaments and to empower their forces.
Different types of unstable Isotope-8 later appeared, including a green Iso-8; a blue Iso-8 mutated by the Brotherhood of Mutants; a cosmic yellow Iso-8 created when the Phoenix Force interfered in the Pulse's path towards Earth; a red demonic Iso-8 spawned from Hell; an Asgardian purple Iso-8 modified by its contact with the magic of Asgard; a derivated purple Iso-8 developed by Hank Pym; a "chaotic" Iso-8 created by Ultron; a red Iso-8 created from the demonic Iso-8 synthesized by the power of Tony Stark's arc reactor, and a violet Iso-8 variant created by Wonder Man.
After consulting his mentor, Doctor Strange discovered the Iso-8 might be native of Earth, and that emanations similar to Iso-8 were detected by the Ancient One in the 18th century.[2]
The structure of the Neutronium's atoms in its ISO-8 form
Blue Marvel described the crystals of Neutronium as frozen spacetime[5] and theorized that it was formed as a byproduct of creation itself.[1] Their atoms fall naturally into structures of eight. When these used to be seven-atom groups, the isometric lattices tore themselves apart at the quantum level. The change of structure of the Neutronium into ISO-8 and Blue Marvel's theory presented the possibility that there had been in total seven instances of "multiversal renewal," and that the Neutronium's structure changed each time the universe was in a new iteration.[1] Despite these explanations, on Earth-517's Battleworld, Neutronium exists with one extra nucleon in its ISO-9 form, which behaves exactly like ISO-8 when it should be unstable, held together by a mysterious force.[4]
It has been stated that Neutronium is an incredibly powerful substance.[5] Mutable at a subatomic level, the Iso-8 attaches itself to the essential characteristic of a material it touches and intensifies it. According to Otto Octavius, the Isotope-8 can be considered "the perfect catalyst," although Reed Richards has stated it is not because, unlike catalysts, the Isotope-8 also changes itself.[2]
The true extent of its capabilities is unknown, but it has shown to have different uses, like empowerment, healing, stasis, or even resurrection of individuals.[8] If the Isotope-8 is put in a crystal array to focus a laser, it makes the laser have more focus. If it's put in an electrical field, it magnifies the charge and the momentum of electrons, and becomes magnetic. If it is implemented as part of a plasma, the plasma gets denser, hotter and more powerful. Mr. Fantastic has studied the reactions of Isotope-8 with heat, electricity and magnetism, and stated that in those areas, the Iso-8 is an "energy intensifier the likes of which I've never seen." Hydra has managed to condense data down to binary code and transmit it to limbs and muscles via Iso-8, allowing themselves to create almost perfect replicas of the Avengers from footage of different heroes in action.[2]
Neutronium's most powerful form is known as the ISO-Sphere, which, according to the Collector, could grant him power enough to rival gods.[8]
Iso-8 is used as a power-enhancing material in many of Marvel's mobile games.
| Image | Description | First appearance |
|---|---|---|
 |
On Earth-517, Iso-8 in a variety of colors is used to empower the assorted champions. | Marvel Contest of Champions (December 10, 2014) |
 |
On Earth-12131, Iso-8 comes in a variety of colors and crystalline structures. These crystals are used to empower and strengthen characters. | Marvel: Avengers Alliance (March 1, 2012) |
| Never pictured | On Earth-12041, Hawkeye defends an unseen cache of Iso-8 from an invading Hydra force. | Avengers Assemble: Tower Rush (2014) |
 |
On Earth-13178, purple Iso-8 crystals are used to increase the power of team members, and red Iso-8 crystals are used to increase the strength of equipment. | Marvel Puzzle Quest (October 3, 2013) |
_001.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20201214001634) |
On Earth-41940, purple Iso-8 crystals provide power to operate the portals that summon characters from other dimensions. | Spider-Man Unlimited (September 10, 2014) |
 |
On Earth-51156, Iso-8 crystals come in eight different colors, each used to provide combat bonuses to team members.
|
Marvel Future Fight (April 30, 2015) |
 |
On Earth-78149, green Iso-8 crystals are used to give characters ability bonuses. | Marvel Strike Force (September 29, 2020) |
 |
On Earth-TRN765, Iso-8 is used to upgrade and customize a character's fighting ability. This universe's Iso-8 is believed to be a less concentrated form of the substance that makes up the Infinity Stones. | Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (July 19, 2019) |
 |
On Earth-TRN842, blue Iso-8 crystals were used to speed up the time required to upgrade Iron Man's armor.
Thor and his allies used purple Iso-8 crystals to upgrade their abilities. Captain America used a variety of Iso-8 crystals to upgrade his strength and abilities. |
Iron Man 3: The Official Game (April 25, 2013) |
 |
On Earth-TRN842, a variety of Iso-8 crystals could provide bonuses to offensive and defensive skills. | Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon (Jul 17, 2014) |
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On an unidentified Earth, Iso-8 is used for a temporary power boost during battle. | Marvel War of Heroes (19 October 2012) |
- Iso-8 was developed as an in-game resource for Marvel: Avengers Alliance (March 2012) over two years before it was introduced in the comics in Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #9 (April 2014) as neutronium. The comics element would not receive the name Iso-8 until Ultimates (Vol. 2) #1 (November 2015).
- According to Marvel vice president of business development Sean Haran the inclusion of Iso-8 in multiple mobile games was an "attempt to connect — even if it’s a loose thread — the games that we’re creating day-to-day."[9]
- Writer Al Ewing worked with Marvel Games Creative Director Bill Rosemann on how to introduce Iso-8 to the world of the comics.[10]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ultimates (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Marvel: Avengers Alliance
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Contest of Champions #1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Marvel Realm of Champions
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #5
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 6) #0
- ↑ Marvel Contest of Champions
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Contest of Champions #2
- ↑ Marvel is quietly building a shared game universe
- ↑ Iso-8 Evolves in the Marvel Universe