CELESTIALS
Earth-8101
Membership: Arishem the Judge, Eson the Searcher, Ziran the Tester
Purpose: To shape evolution and guide the development of life on a cosmic scale
Aliases: None
Affiliations: Deviants, Eternals (Ikaris, Makkari, Sersi, Thena)
Enemies: None
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout outer space
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008)
History:
(Marvel Apes I#1/3) - At the dawn of the simian race, the godlike Celestials traveled to Earth to experiment on the simian race, believing them to hold great cosmic potential. From these experiments emerged two new races, the long-lived Eternals and the monstrous Deviants, setting the stage for their lasting influence on simian history.
Comments: Created by Tom Peyer.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from Earth-8101 when zombies invaded their world. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5 indicates that the timelines designated Earth-95019 and Earth-21050 were seemingly erased when Earth-616's Gorilla Girl went back to the moment the portal was opened and destroyed it.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Celestials has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Marvel Apes I#1, p25, pan2 (main image)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008) - Tom Peyer (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils, inks), Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan, Tom Brevoort (editors)
First Posted: 1/13/2026
Last Updated: 1/13/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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