FOR THE WANT OF A SPIDER
Consider just how many tiny little victories Thanos had win to finally arrive at the moment where Tony Stark gave up his life to defeat him.
Imagine another universe, where Peter Parker watched the Q-ship flying off out of the atmosphere, obeying his mentor’s last demands.
Did he love and worship the Tony Stark that was on that ship, flying away? Oh yes, yes he did. But he feared that man more – feared his wrath, feared that look of anger that left Peter feeling immature and ashamed and defeated (and very very horny.)
Peter wanted Tony. Wanted to fight at his side as his equal. But there was something he wanted more.
THAT Peter feared the man’s disapproval. THAT Peter feared the man more than he desired the man...
...and that’s why the Avengers had Peter Parker in their midst at the battle of Wakanda.
Peter’s exceptional skill at webbing up massive amounts of outriders and swinging them around in ever-increasing arcs to topple the Black Order siege weapons brought inspiration (and great tactical advantage) to the forces of Wakanda.
This bought Princess Shuri the last few minutes she needed to successfully remove the Mind Stone from Vision.
What happened next was the beginning of the end of Thanos.
When Wanda Maximoff saw what was left of Vision, a confused, baffled, affable amnesiac with no idea who she was or why she mattered, Wanda destroyed the Mind Stone with the power of the loss she could not bear.
In fact, the building could not bear it – in fact many buildings in the Golden City would later collapse after the structural damage of her anger.
After the destruction of the Mind Stone, Wanda went to ground in search of the one who had forced her to destroy her Vision.
In Wakanda it was known as the Quake of the Scarlet Witch, the shudder of mother Earth that toppled buildings and left structures, both ancient and modern, askew for miles in every direction. It was spoken of in song and story for generations to come. A good third of the Wakandan army suffered broken feet, ankles and legs that day, but there were still enough of them to swarm upon the maimed Thanos, whose body had been pulverized from the waist down. He escaped, of course, leaving Wanda to live with the guilt of the destruction she had caused, and the credit for saving the Universe.
Tony Stark and a badly maimed Doctor Strange survived their battle in space and were returned to via the Guardians of the Galaxy, who made the trip to Earth in pursuit of the wounded and defeated Thanos, determined to avenge themselves for the death of Gomorrah and were joined by Dr. Strange and the The Illuminati, avowed to rescue the Time Stone from the failed gauntlet. Unable to live with the destruction she caused on Earth, the Scarlet Witch journeyed into space with them, alongside the New Vision (now a brilliant but otherwise powerless man who preferred to be called Jarvis) to counsel and advise her.
Remaining on earth a wide group of unique individuals categorized as “Avengers” waited for word of their success.
The majority of these Avengers lived to have many years of episodic adventures of the comic-book and romance-novel variety, to succeed, or to fail, at attempts to live Happily Ever After.
All for the having of a Spider-Man.