1960s Hercules first appears when pulled from the past by the villain
Immortus to battle the Thunder God
Thor. This story is not referenced in the character's next appearance, which depicts Hercules and Thor as apparently meeting for the first time. The discrepancy is eventually explained when it is revealed by
retcon that the first "Hercules" encountered was actually an
alien Space Phantom in disguise. Hercules guest-stars in an extended
Thor storyline, defeating a depowered Thunder God (punished by
Odin for loving the mortal woman
Jane Foster). Hercules unwittingly becomes the slave of fellow
Olympian god
Pluto when he signs a contract which he thinks is for a film, but actually states that he will now rule the Netherworld instead of Pluto. Hercules is eventually rescued by Thor (now at full strength) who battles and defeats Pluto's underworld minions. Pluto opts to void the contract rather than accept the destruction of his realm. While under the contract, Hercules has a chance encounter with the
Hulk, fighting him to a standstill. but after being freed from the spell by one of Hawkeye's arrows using brimstone, and being banished from Olympus for one year by Zeus for going to Earth without permission, aids the team for an extended period against foes such as the
Mad Thinker;
Namor the Sub-Mariner;
Diablo;
Dragon Man;
Red Guardian;
Whirlwind and the
Titan Typhon, who has imprisoned the Olympians in the Land of Shades, until leaving for
Olympus. The character returns briefly during a storyline set directly after the
Kree-Skrull War, in which the returning Avengers witness an
amnesiac Hercules being abducted by two Titans. After dealing with a disruption in
New York City caused by the Olympian
Ares, the Avengers travel to Olympus and free both Hercules and the Olympian gods, who have been turned to crystal by Ares using the Ebony Blade. They find out from the Black Knight's spirit he lost his memory after being thrown from Olympus and drifting for six days and nights.
1970s Hercules continues to aid Thor in several connected storylines. Thor mistakenly battles Hercules when trying to rescue an Asgardian goddess from the underworld, but together they defeat instigators Ares and Pluto who are trying to take over Olympus; battle the
Destroyer and then
Herald of Galactus Firelord before a confrontation with
Ego the Living Planet on Galactus's behalf, as Galactus has been defeated by Ego. Hercules is temporarily possessed by the entity the
Dweller-in-Darkness and guest stars with hero
Spider-Man in the title
Marvel Team-Up, before reappearing in the title
Thor, aiding Asgardian goddess
Sif locate an artifact called the Runestaff of Kamo Tharnn. Hercules also visits
California and battles old foe Typhon. Hercules becomes a founding member of the superhero team the
Champions, aiding the mortal heroes against the machinations of Olympians Pluto and
Hippolyta. The character appears during the
Korvac saga, and after being kidnapped by the
Elder of the Universe the
Collector is freed (with the other Avengers) by comrade
Hawkeye to battle the cosmic entity Korvac who has absorbed power from Galactus's ship, giving him god-like power, and traveled from the 31st century to remake the Universe. Although killed in battle, Hercules and many of the Avengers are resurrected by the entity before dying. Hercules also appears in a humorous story with
Fantastic Four member the
Thing.
1980s Hercules reappears during the "
Celestial saga", joining an invasion force comprising Olympian gods and other allies that storms the realm of Olympia (occupied by the
Eternals). After a
cameo appearance with the Avengers, Hercules reappears and aids the heroes of Earth against an invasion of New York City by the legions of the fire demon
Surtur. Hercules rejoins the Avengers and aids the team against threats such as
Maelstrom; the
Blood Brothers; the android
Vision when malfunctioning;
Terminus; the space
pirate Nebula; and the villains
Kang the Conqueror and
Immortus. During the "Avengers Under Siege" storyline,
Helmut Zemo assembles an army of supervillains to form the fourth version of the
Masters of Evil. Courtesy of a paid pawn, Hercules is drugged at a bar in order to incapacitate him. Hercules, however, manages to return to
Avengers Mansion and singlehandedly engages the Masters of Evil, being eventually beaten unconscious by
Goliath,
Mister Hyde, and the
Wrecking Crew. Although the Masters of Evil are defeated, Hercules remains in a
coma as a result of his injuries. The next storyline, titled, "Assault On Olympus" deals with the consequences of Hercules's injuries, as he is taken from the hospital by fellow Olympian
Hermes and returned to Olympus. The Avengers eventually pursue - also aided by sometime member Namor the Sub-Mariner who is kidnapped by Greek god
Neptune - and discover they are being blamed by Zeus for Hercules's condition, as Hercules mentioned them in his coma. As the Avengers battle several of the gods and Zeus himself, the Titan
Prometheus restores Hercules to full health using part of his life force, Doctor Druid uses his powers to restore Hercules's sanity, and Zeus accidentally attacks Hercules, after which he stops the fight. He hears from his son that the Avengers are not at fault. After that Zeus decides to ban the Olympians from Earth. During the "Evolutionary War" storyline, Hercules defeats a misguided
High Evolutionary by mutating "beyond godhood". Hercules eventually returns to his normal form and aids Thor against villains such as
Mongoose and
Doctor Doom. After Hercules stars in a Hollywood film of dubious quality as a fictionalized version of himself, Zeus punishes him for this "travesty" by sending him on a mission to restore the lost faith of
Magma, an active worshiper of the Greek gods. Hercules's demonstrations of strength and heroism fail to convince Magma that he is the real Greek god, and Zeus ignores his pleas to show her Olympus. However, she comes to believe Hercules after witnessing his eloquent reaction to a mortal's death.
1990s Together with Thor, Hercules confronts the Wrecking Crew once again, and recovers his confidence and defeats the villains when the Thunder God feigns defeat. After a brief appearance in the "Black Galaxy" saga, where he is trapped inside a Celestial, Hercules rejoins the Avengers as a reserve member and is upgraded to active status during the "Collection Obsession" storyline, aiding the team against Thane Ector and the
Elder of the Universe the
Collector and then during the
Operation: Galactic Storm storyline. The other gods continue to feud with Hercules, with Ares - possessing the body of
Eric Masterson who currently wields a missing Thor's power - launching an unsuccessful attack. Hercules is summoned to Avengers Mansion along with all other active Avengers. They learn that the U.N. has forbidden them from interfering with the civil war unfolding in Genosha. The heroes are confronted by an army of S.H.I.E.L.D agents who attempt to confine them to the mansion. Hercules throws a massive piece of debris at the Helicarrier, clearing a path for some of the other heroes to escape in a Quinjet. He and the remaining Avengers storm into an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council where they demand to take an active role in ending the conflict. When Hercules falls in love with a mortal woman called Taylor Madison, the goddess
Hera intervenes and attempts to kill her, although this is prevented when Ares warns Zeus. Hercules discovers that Madison was actually a construct created by Zeus to lure out Hera, and attacks his father. Zeus is angered by "his son's lack of respect", and strips Hercules of his immortality and half his strength, forbidding him from ever returning to Olympus. The Avengers confront Nefarious during an escape attempt at the Vault, but Hercules is overpowered due to his diminished strength. He and Giant-Man throw the Vision like a projectile, knocking Nefarious unconscious. A despondent Hercules helps the
Shi'ar warrior
Deathcry return to her homeworld. Upon returning to Earth, he is devastated to learn that the Avengers and the
Fantastic Four have apparently sacrificed themselves to stop the entity known as
Onslaught. Hercules begins to seek out the remaining Avengers. He meets with Black Widow and learns the Hulk was one of the only survivors of the fight against Onslaught. He tracks Hulk down and appeals to him as a founding Avenger, asking for help to "save them, if they can be saved." The Hulk responds by punching Hercules through a wall and nearly beating him to death. A last second intervention by Zeus saves Herc's life, and both he and the Hulk are teleported to Olympus. They make peace but fail to learn anything new about the missing heroes. Hercules rejects Zeus' offer to restore his immortality before he and the Hulk leave together in search of new adventures. Hercules next travels to the Xavier Institute looking for Quicksilver. He asks Beast if Professor X was indeed responsible for the disappearance of the Avengers, and Beast does his best to explain how Onslaught was created. Hercules consoles Quicksilver over the apparent deaths of Crystal and Wanda, advising him to let go of his anger toward Magneto. They depart together in an Avengers Quinjet, but soon turn back towards New York after Quicksilver has a change of heart. They fly to Avengers Mansion so that Pietro can be with his daughter. Quicksilver quits after the U.N. engages in anti-mutant scapegoating, leaving Hercules and Black Widow as the last two active Avengers. Natasha officially suspends operations at the mansion and disbands the team. When the U-Foes attack the United Nations alongside the Hulk, a drunken Hercules rushes in to help. He teams up with White Tiger and Iron Fist, and together they are able to stop the villains and free Hulk from mind control. Iron Fist then invites Hercules to join the commercial superhero team Heroes for Hire. He briefly accepts, but soon quits the team when his heavy drinking becomes a liability. He expresses survivors guilt over not dying alongside his fellow Avengers and acknowledges that he needs to stop running from his problems. Hercules gives Spider-Man a ride to Greece where they face the threat of Dr. Zeus. Ares and his Warhawks return, leading to Hercules being recruited as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ares had recently found a powerful artifact known as the Heart of Athena, which he uses to create a superweapon called the "Gabriel Horn." S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 125 (Hercules) ultimately defeats Ares by throwing him into the barrel of his own giant weapon. Hercules confronts the Hulk in Central Park during the events of Heroes Reborn: The Return. The strange rainstorm covering the globe seems to protect the Hulk, causing Hercules to be swept away. Following these events he reunites with the missing Avengers, aiding the team against
Morgan Le Fey, before choosing to remain an inactive member. Hercules temporarily rejoins the Heroes for Hire to help stop the Master of the World from releasing a powerful bioweapon. They confront evil clones of themselves aboard the Master's spaceship, including a clone of Hercules named "Demi-God". After defeating the master and his minions, Hercules and the others crash-land back to Earth in escape pods. After a misunderstanding, Hercules is manipulated into fighting Thor, but aids the Thunder God (together with the Asgardian entity the
Destroyer) against the Dark Gods, who have conquered Asgard. Hercules decides to locate Erik Josten - now reformed and renamed "Atlas" and a member of
Thunderbolts - who as "Goliath" participated in the beating of Hercules by the Masters of Evil. Hercules finds and attacks Josten until former Avenger Hawkeye (now leader of the Thunderbolts) convinces him to stop, although at the cost of their friendship. Hercules also aids the Avengers against the
avatar group, the
Exemplars.
2000s Hercules becomes a drunkard, dismayed at the dissolution of the Avengers during the "
Disassembled" storyline, and the destruction of
Asgard and disappearance of Thor. Hera takes advantage of Hercules's vulnerability and via her pawn
Eurystheus (an ancient rival of Hercules during the Twelve Labors) proposes he complete a modern version of the classic Labors for a
reality television show. Despite opposition from villains such as the
Abomination, the organization
Hydra, and awkward tasks such as retrieving the shield of
Captain America, Hercules is successful. Hercules is also forgiven by former wife
Megara, who Hercules accidentally killed - a deception revealed by a humbled Hera. Hercules encounters Thor for the second time in a retrospective story; and guest stars in a humorous story with heroine
She-Hulk, Hercules being successfully sued by the villain
Constrictor for injuring him. Hercules also aids fellow Greek god
Ares against the
Japanese gods when they attempt to overrun Olympus. Hercules eventually wins back his lost fortune in a poker match with the Constrictor. During the "
Civil War" storyline Hercules is depicted as an opponent of the
Superhuman Registration Act, and calls the pro-registration heroes "traitors". Taking the alias of "Victor Tegler" - an information technology consultant with help from
Nick Fury - to hide from pro-registration forces, Hercules is dismissed by
Iron Man, believing he cannot even spell 'registration'". Hercules helps the Secret Avengers escape after the
cyborg Thor clone is first released. Hercules, however, kills the cyborg Thor clone in the final battle between the two sides, claiming that it is an insult to the Odinson, before smashing its head open with a hammer while yelling 'Thou art no Thor!' Hercules also stars in the "
World War Hulk" storyline, featuring a flashback to a period when the superhero team the Champions are still together. In the flashback the team mistakenly attack the
Hulk, with the delay almost killing a gravely ill
Jennifer Walters. Hercules and former Champions teammate
Angel reconcile with the Hulk. Together with several other super beings, Hercules forms a loose-knit group called the "Renegades" to attempt to stop the Hulk when he invades New York City, then helping with rescue and recovery operations in the ruins of the destroyed city then departing before being apprehended. After the conclusion of World War Hulk, Hercules embarks on series of adventures with
Amadeus Cho, a teenage genius and "sidekick". Hercules encounters long-time foe Ares, who poisons the hero with venom from the mythical
Hydra. After being driven mad by the venom and embarking on a destructive rampage, Hercules is eventually stopped by former Champions teammate the
Black Widow (who also neutralizes Cho when he attacks spy organization
S.H.I.E.L.D.). Hercules plays a pivotal role in the "
Secret Invasion" storyline, forming a team called the
God Squad (consisting of
Ajak,
Amatsu-Mikaboshi,
Demogorge, and
Snowbird) to neutralize the
Skrull gods directing the invasion of Earth. Hercules is made leader of the team, as the representative of the Western Gods. When Nightmare asks for the team's fears as they try to get his help to get to the Skrull gods, he sees Hercules's fear from losing his armor bearer Hylas. Hercules and Snowbird form a romantic attachment, and together slay Kly'bn, the leader of the Skrull pantheon by impaling him with the dead Atum's spine (with Amatsu-Mikaboshi assuming this role and ending the intervention by Skrull divinity). This event is immediately followed by the storyline "Love and War", in which Hercules and allies Cho;
Namora and the goddess
Athena attempt to thwart
Amazon leader Artume, who reshapes so that the world is dominated by the Amazon females. Hera and Pluto take advantage of the chaos and an absent Zeus to attempt to kill Hercules and Athena. Hercules helps Cho's lover -
Delphyne - slay Artume and take her place as
queen, and with Athena is able to reset reality. Although successful, Athena dispatches Hercules and Cho to
Hades to find Zeus as he is needed to counter Hera. The pair are waylaid in Hades by the Dark Elf
Malekith the Accursed - disguised as the Asgardian god
Balder - who requests the characters embark on a mission into Svartalfheim, the home of the Dark Elves. Despite Pluto using the spirit of Hercules's adoptive father, they are able to retrieve Zeus. During a humorous series of events, Hercules is forced to disguise himself as Thor and eventually marry Alflyse, the Queen of the Dark Elves. During the "
Dark Reign" storyline, Cho discovers that the activities of the Elder God
Chthon are causing a "chaos cascade". To meet this threat Cho and Hercules form a new team of Mighty Avengers along with U.S. Agent, Vision, Hank Pym, Stature, Quicksilver and Jocasta. The team goes on to break into the
Baxter Building, battle
the Unspoken in China, visit the
Inhumans to return their stolen Xerogen crystals, fight a
Cosmic Cube-empowered Absorbing Man, and capture Loki for information about the Scarlet Witch. When Pym requests that Loki join the team, Hercules and the others lose faith in him as a leader and quit.
2010s Hercules teams with both the
Mighty and
New Avengers to stop Hera from remaking the universe with a device called Continuum. Hercules battles Typhon in the alternate Continuum universe and defeats him. Athena appears after the fight, but instead of coming to help she seemingly destroys the Continuum universe with Hercules still inside. She explains that he had to die so that Amadeus Cho could replace him as the new "Prince of Power". A funeral service is held at the
Parthenon in Athens, where many of Hercules's comrades pay their respects and share memories. Athena appoints Cho as the new leader of the Olympus Group. Cho travels to Hades, only to discover that Hercules is, in fact, not dead. Cho tells Athena he intends to use all their resources to find Hercules and bring him back. Cho teams with Bruce Banner to build a machine that can scan all of reality, but discovers it would take over a billion years to locate Hercules. Cho then embarks on a quest to gain the power of a god, competing against Vali Halfling and the Pantheon and teaming up with Thor. Once Cho becomes a god and attains omniscience, he realizes that he is inadequate to wield such power. First he returns Hercules to Earth, then transfers all his new powers into him. During the events of the 2010 "
Chaos War" storyoline, Amatsu-Mikaboshi arrives on Earth with an army of slave gods, destroying the dream dimension and causing people all over the world to enter a sleep-coma. He then destroys the afterlives of all the cultures of the world, freeing the dead to walk the Earth. The newly super-powered Hercules assembles a second God Squad to battle Mikaboshi, who now calls himself the Chaos King. The combined efforts of the God Squad,
Alpha Flight, the Hulk family, and deceased members of the Avengers and X-Men manage to keep the Chaos King's armies at bay, while Cho and Galactus work on a way to transport the entire Earth into the safety of the Continuum universe. Hercules is able to seal off the Chaos King in the Continuum, saving the world. Hercules then uses up all of his power in order to restore the universe, leaving him reduced to a mortal man once again. Hercules reappears in Brooklyn, armed with an array of Olympian weapons stolen from the armory of his deceased brother Ares. They include a magic sword called the Sword of Peleus, the Shield of Perseus (an unbreakable shield that turns anyone who looks at it to stone), arrows that can penetrate through anything, and the Helm of Hades (a helmet of invisibility). He gets a job bartending at a Greek run bar and restaurant in Brooklyn. He later battles
Hobgoblin in a construction site, who was attempting to intimidate the owner of the restaurant into selling it to the
Kingpin. After defeating him, Hercules discovers that the owner's daughter sold him out to Hobgoblin and confronts her, until Kingpin appears and tells the owner he can keep the restaurant, taking Hobgoblin with him. After his victory becomes public, the restaurant becomes successful and Hercules becomes a local hero and celebrity. During the 2011 "
Fear Itself" storyline, Hercules comes across
Basilisk,
Griffin,
Man-Bull, and an unidentified woman robbing a bank. They had all recently escaped from the Raft during the breakout caused by
Juggernaut, who was transformed into Kuurth: Breaker of Stone. Hercules soon discovers that the woman is actually the witch goddess
Hecate. During the fight, Hecate looks into the Shield of Perseus and regains her memories of taking over Brooklyn. She then teams up with Kyknos (the son of Ares) to take over the city. The pair manage to turn some people against Hercules due to the chaos that the
Serpent's Worthy created. Basilisk and Man-Bull flee when they see Hercules use the Shield of Perseus. The Griffin has an unexpected reaction to the magic forces at work, which cause him to devolve into a savage beast. He saves Hercules's life and becomes his new steed, allowing him to fly around the city. Hercules recovers upon hearing the prayers of his worshipers and finds himself in the Griffin's care, only to discover that Brooklyn has been reshaped into a nightmare landscape. Hercules and the Griffin manage to find where Basilisk and Man-Bull are hiding and recruit their help. The villains approach Hecate and Kyknos using a ruse involving Hercules being turned to stone. Hercules quickly revives and saves the villains by killing Kyknos, then prevents Ares from being resurrected by kicking over his altar. Hecate flees and Brooklyn is returned to normal. During the 2011 "
Spider-Island" storyline, the Greek owners/operators of the bar where Hercules works have fled the dangers of New York City and returned to Greece, leaving Hercules in charge. He befriends an elderly African man named A. Nancy who loves stories. One night Herc is bitten by a bed bug that gives him spider powers, which he uses to fight crime. The Queen of Spider Island reveals herself to Herc and makes him her slave. She sends Spider-Herc against the X-Men, who were in town after fighting lizard people in the sewers. They try to reason with him, but he attacks them with the Sword of Peleus. Due to the mutagenic properties of Spider-Man's powers, Spider-Herc mutates into Herc-Spider mid-battle. Shortly after, the X-Men are trapped in a magic web, and the Greek goddess
Arachne appears. Instead of fighting, it is revealed that Arachne is very attracted to Herc's new form and they embrace, while the X-Men are forced to watch. While Arachne is preoccupied, A. Nancy breaks into her home and steals her mythical woven tapestry. He reveals himself as the African spider god
Anansi, a collector of stories, when he's attacked by
Elektra, who takes the tapestry from him. Hercules is later cured of his spider transformation by Spider-Man, along with everyone else infected. Hercules later encounters Zeus, who was depowered by his wife Hera because of his infidelity and womanizing. During that time, he discovers Elektra stealing a museum artifact from the Hand. After battling the Hand ninjas, Hercules discovers, through Kingpin, that Elektra is stealing mystical artifacts for
Baba Yaga, a Slavic witch who was summoned by the Russian mob, who plans to absorb the magic of the artifacts to gain a youthful appearance and increase her power. He manages to locate Baba Yaga after Elektra steals his weapons. Herc and Zeus infiltrate the witch's home and Herc, with Elektra's help, defeats Baba Yaga. He then lets Zeus absorb the magic from the artifacts, restoring his godly powers, and they part ways. Hercules is called upon to act as a guest instructor at
Avengers Academy when most of the main faculty are preoccupied with the events of the 2012 "
Avengers vs. X-Men." The school is suddenly visited by Captain America, who asks that the facility be used to hold the younger members of the X-Men until the fighting is over.
Kavita Rao and
Madison Jeffries urge their students to comply with the Avengers, but many are resentful of the confinement. Hercules arranges an Olympic competition between the two schools in order to ease tensions and avoid an actual fight from taking place.
Sebastian Shaw (who was also being held at the academy) escapes and the faculty members of both schools try to keep him from reaching the students. Hercules is defeated because Shaw is able to absorb the magic energy from his weapons. Shaw then tells the X-Men students to escape before fleeing himself. Hercules urges
Tigra to let the kids join the fight if they want to, believing they had no right to hold them against their will in the first place. Some of the X-Men students remain at Avengers Academy while many join the fighting, and Hercules reflects that while the older generation has only found war, at least some of the kids were able to find peace. As part of the 2015 - 19 rebranding
All-New, All-Different Marvel, Hercules, isolated and shunned by the hero community, attempts to regain his reputation as a true hero, by adapting himself into modern society. During that time, he takes on the threats of the Uprising Storm, a group of new gods consisting of Catastrophobia: God of War, Horrorscope, and Cryptomnesia: God of Data as they plan to wipe out the old gods. During the 2016 "
Civil War II" storyline, Hercules is seen at a bar talking to Amadeus Cho, who has become the new Hulk, when the city is suddenly under attack by a Celestial and both spring into action. During the battle, while Cho helps the other heroes, Hercules encounters the Uprising Storm, who tell him of their plan to destroy the world and turn him into one of them by teasing him into believing that the other heroes don't want him anymore. Back home, he confines his encounter to his friends and, after a pep talk from his landlady Sophia, decides to reunite the ancient heroes in order to battle the Uprising Storm. Upon gathering the ancient heroes, known as the Gods of War, Hercules informs them of the situation when the Uprising Storm suddenly show up. They begin to battle, with the Uprising Storm getting the upper hand. In the middle of the fight, Hercules begins to destroy the city when Cryptomnesia uses the brand he placed on him to turn him into a God of Chaos, forcing the others to fight him while the Uprising Storm watch. During the battle, Hercules is confronted by Steve Rogers,
Captain Marvel,
Spider-Man and
Medusa who attempt to stop his rampage. After a brief fight, the Gods of War inform the heroes of the Storm and the curse placed on Hercules, though they do not see them. Steve and
Gilgamesh then go to free Hercules from the curse. After the brand disappears and the other heroes leave, Hercules informs his friends about the Storm's true intentions, total destruction, and that they must be stopped. Later, while Hercules, Sigurd, Gilgamesh, Beowulf and Theseus ambush the Storm in their hideout, an abandoned hotel, Ire, Lorelei and Tiresias perform a ritual to weaken the Storm. Initially, the ritual has no effect until Horrorscope is defeated and killed by Ire and Lorelei, when she teleported to the apartment to kill them, while Catastrophobia and Cryptomnesia are killed by Gilgamesh and Hercules respectively. After killing Cryptomnesia, Hercules is congratulated by Athena, who offers him a place in Olympus. Hercules turns it down so that he can continue to live on Earth as a true hero. In the aftermath of "Civil War II", Hercules rejoins the Avengers, where they foil an ambush by
Kang the Conqueror. While the others are trapped in limbo as a result of time paradoxes created by Kang, Hercules (immune to Kang's current tactics of targeting the infant Avengers as nobody knows exactly where or when he was born) goes to
Vietnam, where he fights two versions of Kang attacking a temple who were looking for an infant version of Kang. After Hercules finds the child, the Avengers return from limbo and start fighting until Vision sends
Wasp back in time to return baby Kang to his era. After Wasp succeeds, the Avengers make a plan to defeat Kang for good. They assemble the original Avengers from the past and join forces to attack Kang's alternate versions at the same time. After defeating Kang, each of the Avengers return to their timelines. The Avengers are then recruited by a reformed Doctor Doom operating as Iron Man to defeat a coven of young witches. They later battle Avenger X, a member of the original New Avengers, who attempted to eliminate the team until Wasp shrinks her to sub-atomic levels. During the 2017 "
Secret Empire" storyline, Hercules appears as a member of the Underground following Hydra's conquest of the United States. Hercules and
Quicksilver lead a strike force to find the
Cosmic Cube fragments so that they can use it to restore Captain America to normal. Upon convincing
Sam Wilson to smuggle them out of the country, the team goes to locate a Cosmic Cube fragment which is in possession of Ultron. Upon arriving, they encounter Hydra's Avengers led by Steve Rogers and are captured by Ultron. They later manage to escape while Ultron gives the team his fragment. During a mission in Madripoor, Hercules is petrified by
Gorgon, but later recovers. After their hideout is destroyed, the heroes witness Sam Wilson reassuming the mantle of Captain America. With the use of the Cosmic Cube fragment, they manage to help destroy the Planetary Defense Shield and the
Darkforce dome over Manhattan and liberate all the imprisoned Inhumans. While attacking Hydra forces at the United States Capitol, the Underground are surprised by Steve Rogers, who was wearing a Cosmic Cube-powered armor. They later witness the final battle between the Hydra Steve Rogers and the real Steve Rogers and the restoration of America. In the aftermath of the event, Hercules and Vision go to a coffee shop where they discuss about immortality and its ups and downs. They're later signaled by Sam and Thor, who received a call about a supervillain attack, and spring into action. Hercules and the other Avengers joined forces with the Champions in order to prevent the
High Evolutionary from merging Earth 1 and Earth 2. The original Champions (Hercules, Iceman, Angel, Ghost Rider and Darkstar) reunite at the location of their former headquarters in Los Angeles to mourn the death of the Black Widow. They battle a group of decommissioned Sentinels while out at a West Hollywood nightclub. When the
Human Torch starts losing his powers he asks Hercules for advice on how to restore them. Hercules had recently found a way to get his own powers back after losing them fighting the Chaos King. Johnny and the
Thing find him at a bar in Brooklyn drinking non-alcoholic beer. He tells them about how he was healed by a scientist named Rachna Koul. He takes them to her secret lab, where she explains that she was able to repair the biological conduit connecting Herc to the source of his godly power. During the events of the 2018 "Avengers: No Surrender" storyline, Hercules is sent to the Roman Colosseum with
Rogue‘s team of Avengers to battle the
Lethal Legion. The team then traveled to Antarctica to fight against the
Black Order. Later Hercules, and his teammates attempt to stop the Hulk from rampaging through Avengers HQ. Hercules and
Sunspot use their combined strength to stabilize the "world-engine" that is protecting the Earth while Thor and
Lightning recharge it. Herc, Thor, and
Wonder Man travel to Asgard to celebrate their victory. As a result of the "No Surrender" storyline, the primordial Greek goddess
Nyx escapes her centuries-long confinement and murders most of the Greek Pantheon. Hercules and the Avengers fought to prevent Nyx from fully reclaiming her soul. Nyx's minions were defeated and she was ultimately killed by the
Vision.
2020s When Hercules tried to track down his resurrected family, he instead was captured by them. He was freed by the reformed
Guardians of the Galaxy. He aided the Guardians in stopping the mad gods, but at the cost of
Star-Lord's life. Following the battle with
Gamora's West Spiral Arm Guardians, Hercules began a relationship with
Noh-Varr. During the 2024 "
Blood Hunt" storyline, Hercules is among the superheroes who join Captain America's branch of the Avengers when fighting the vampire invasion. Following the events of "Blood Hunt", Hercules joins the AVENG.E.R.S. (Avengers Emergency Response Squad). The team travels to Kingsport, a town under attack by spectral super-apes searching for the
Red Ghost. They find him hiding in a nearby abandoned building and agree to help the ghosts take their revenge under the condition that they do not kill him. Once the Red Ghost is captured, Hercules uses his adamantine mace to free the ghostly super-apes from their suffering. ==Powers and abilities==