Ex Nihilo is one of the Gardeners carried along with his sister
Abyss as an egg by an Aleph (a species of robotic creatures created by the Builders). In accordance with their mission as creations of the Builders, Aleph taught them to transform into perfect creatures any species they encountered. Ex Nihilo, Abyss, and their Aleph arrive on
Mars and
terraform it to contain a breathable atmosphere and vegetation. After Ex Nihilo shoots an Origin Bomb at
Earth to accelerate the evolution of mankind, the
Avengers assemble a response team. Not interested in fighting, Ex Nihilo tries to accelerate
Iron Man's evolution so that he no longer needs an exoskeleton. When
Black Widow and
Hawkeye retaliate, Ex Nihilo becomes angry and attacks them. During the brawl, Ex Nihilo, Abyss, and the Aleph defeat the Avengers and imprison them. A helpless
Captain America is sent back to Earth as a message. Awakening three days later, Captain America implements the Avengers initiative called "Wake The World", prompting the team's most massive assemblage to date. After the fight against the Builders and
Thanos, Ex Nihilo joins his brethren who endeavor to recreate life on worlds ravaged by the war of the Builders. During the
Time Runs Out storyline, Ex Nihilo and his fellow Gardeners attempt to fix the decaying universe caused by the contraction of the
multiverse. Once on Earth, Ex Nihilo and the Gardeners are able to see its whole system and find that Earth has scars.
Sunspot offers the Gardeners a one-way trip to help his branch of the Avengers investigate the origin of this decay. Sunspot's Avengers travel across numerous universes navigating the map left by the Mapmakers. After one last jump across universes, Sunspot's Avengers branch encounter a fissure in time and space, from which two
Beyonders emerge. Ex Nihilo, Abyss, and the Gardeners sacrifice themselves in an attempt to reprogram one of the Beyonders. ==Powers and abilities==