WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Savage Avengers #25, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Conan the Barbarian's journey to the present-day Marvel Universe has taken a drastically dark turn as of late, with his longtime nemesis Kulan Gath rising to power as the dominant force on Earth. Easily crushing the Avengers and X-Men when the superheroes attempted in vain to prevent his conquest, Conan decides to turn to an unlikely source for help in Kang the Conqueror for a desperate, final bid to overthrow Gath and restore reality to how it once was. Fortunately for the Last Cimmerian, Kang is not only willing to personally intervene but also gives Conan access to his extensive armory existing beyond the timestream. And charging into the final battle, Conan is now armed to the teeth with some iconic Marvel weaponry from Kang's personal collection.
Residing with Citadel Kang, a castle beyond time, Kang showcases his safe haven from Gath, with all of its halls adorned with the various heroes and villains that Kang has personally defeated across the various timelines. Boasting everything from Thor's mighty hammer Mjolnir to a deactivated Sentinel, Kang has built up quite the repository of iconic ordinance before tacitly revealing he took refuge in the castle after Gath proved to be completely unstoppable. And in Savage Avengers #25 -- by Gerry Duggan, Patch Zircher, Java Tartaglia and VC's Travis Lanham -- Conan hand picks a selection of especially powerful weaponry from Kang's armory to even the odds.
Conan comes to Kang already outfitted with one of Doctor Doom's suits of armor, capable of withstanding the journey to Kang's remote castle. The first item that Conan claims is the Black Knight's trusty Ebony Blade, having previously wielded the Necrosword during the crossover event King in Black against Knull's invading army of symbiotes. To go along with this sword and complete the crusading warrior ensemble, Conan arms himself with Captain America's Marvel Now!, Secret Empire-era shield. Finally, to give himself a ranged weapon, Conan takes Cable's infamously large laser rifle, reasoning that he only sees guns as cowards' weaponry when he isn't using them himself.
Given Conan's past experience with symbiote-powered swords, he is able to tap into the Ebony Blade's tricks when he finally confronts Kulan Gath for a brutal showdown, contorting the blade into different weaponry as he clashes with Gath. And rather than charging into battle atop a mighty steed, Conan roars in with a modified Fantasti-Car designed by the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards to travel through time from Citadel Kang to surprise Kang at his own throne room. And with these choice armaments from Kang's collection, the battle for the fate of the Marvel Universe is joined.
Kulan Gath has always been Conan's most prominent, enduring antagonist since his arrival in the Marvel Universe. Nw, at the end of time and with all of the other heroes and villains defeated by Gath, the two fantastical figures' longstanding feud has reached a new climax. Based on his past experiences, Conan is going in with some of the mightiest weapons in the Marvel Universe, ready not to take any chances with his mortal enemy. But even with this impressive arsenal at his disposal, Conan will quickly discover this is still not enough to turn the tide against the fearsome powers of Kulan Gath.
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