Collector (character)

After Thanos was defeated by Earth's superheroes, the Collector foresaw a second major threat: Korvac the Machine Man, a cyborg monstrosity from the 31st century of a divergent timeline, taking the form of a man named Michael in 20th century New York. The Avengers were also aware of a new threat but did not know his identity. In an attempt to protect them, the Collector added some of them to his collection and was probably planning to enlist their aid, when a second group of Avengers appeared and defeated him in combat.[7] After the defeat, the Collector remained in seclusion until a human named Peter Tran of Avondale summoned him to Earth.

Sensing that his end was at hand, the Collector revealed that having learned of Korvac, he had made his own daughter Carina into a spy and living weapon to use against the Machine Man, imbuing her with the Power Primordial. Just as he was about to tell the heroes who their enemy was, Michael learned of his duplicity and used his cosmic powers to blast the Collector into atoms, proving the prediction of the aged scholar's own end to be correct.[8]

In the 1982 miniseries Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions, the Elder known as the Grandmaster plays a game called the Contest of Champions with Death, which resulted in Death resurrecting his fellow Elder the Collector.[9] The Collector captured Marrina, then battled Alpha Flight and Spider-Man.[10] He aided the Grandmaster by tricking the Avengers into entering Death's realm.[11]

The Collector also assisted his fellow elders in a plot to kill Galactus and recreate the universe, but he was thwarted by the Silver Surfer and consumed by Galactus.[12] Since Death had vowed that the Elders could no longer die, they caused Galactus to have "cosmic indigestion" until they were forced out of him by Master Order and Lord Chaos.[13] The Collector was one of the four Elders who aided the Silver Surfer and Nova in helping Galactus to defeat the In-Betweener.[14] Once the battle was over the five Elders used their Infinity Gems to instantaneously travel very far away from Galactus and his vengeance.[15] He later gave his Infinity Gem to Thanos in exchange for the Runner, who Thanos was holding captive. The Runner beat the Collector up upon his release.[16]

The Collector re-appeared when the Avengers fought Thane Ector and the Brethren, who were noted to have escaped from the Collector's collection. It was then noted later that the Collector had planned all of this, intending the Brethren to lay waste to the Earth so that he could "collect" the surviving humans. It was at this point he showed his true form to the Avengers and was noted to be very powerful; enough to subdue Thane Ector. The Collector was eventually thwarted by the Avengers, and the Brethren's Uni-Mind.[17]

The Collector next used the Collection Agency and the Silver Surfer as pawns to capture a virus that caused insanity.[18]

The Collector has become involved with Galactus once again when the latter entity wished to devour one of the worlds that held many of the entities the Collector had taken. Among them were the Starjammers and Wolverine.[19]

The Grandmaster later makes a bet with the Collector who sets his team of Defenders (Hulk, Doctor Strange, Namor, and the Silver Surfer) against the Grandmaster's team of Offenders (which comprises the Red Hulk, Baron Mordo, Tiger Shark, and Terrax).[20] The game results in Hulk claiming victory and the Collector complies with the terms of the game, giving the Hulk the lifeless body of Jarella.[21]

Eight months after the events of "Secret Wars" as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, the Collector is shown in charge of Battlerealm, the small surviving portion of Battleworld. He engages in a new Contest of Champions with the Grandmaster, with the prize being an ancient cosmic artifact called the Iso-Sphere.[22]

When the hammer of the Earth-1610 Thor fell to Asgard after Battleworld had been erased, the Collector took all of the currently-abandoned Asgard into his possession when he found that he was unable to lift the hammer himself. When Thor came to investigate rumors of the hammer's existence, the Collector took Thor prisoner, threatening to kill other aliens in his collection unless Thor would tell him the 'secret' of how to bypass the worthiness enchantment.[23] He then encounters Proxima Midnight and Black Swan, who were sent by Thanos to retrieve the hammer. After Odinson, Beta Ray Bill, Odinson's pet goat Toothgnasher and the Helhound Thori escape and battle his army, the Collector tries to recapture Odinson, only for him to break free and grab the hammer.[24] Odinson chooses not to claim the hammer, but he and Bill are able to channel its power to return Asgard to its true place, simultaneously decimating the Collector's forces, prompting him to kill his last soldier so that he can have the pleasure of destroying something unique.[25]

• The Collector appeared in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. animated series, voiced by Jeff Bennett.[28][29] In his self-titled episode, the Collector arrived on Earth to abduct most of Earth's heroes for his collection, but his plans are foiled by the agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Spider-Man. In the Christmas episode "It's a Wonderful Smash", he uses a holographic neural inducer to place the agents of S.M.A.S.H. in a virtual reality simulation of an idealized life, but they are freed by Rocket Raccoon and join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy to defeat the Collector.
• The Collector appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors animated series,[30] with Jeff Bennett reprising the role.[29] In the four-part episode "Contest of Champions", he and his older brother the Grandmaster hold the eponymous competition to determine the Earth's fate using the planet's heroes and villains respectively. After noticing he lacks confidence due to a history of losing to his brother, Spider-Man helps the Collector find it by teaming up with him to fight the Grandmaster and his army of supervillains. Following the battle, the Collector chooses to stop collecting things from Earth and instead collect experiences with other people as well as retire to prevent further conflict with the Grandmaster.
• The Collector appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series, voiced by Tom Kenny.[29]

Benicio del Toro as The Collector in Thor: The Dark World (2013)

• Benicio del Toro portrays Taneleer Tivan / The Collector in films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
  • In the mid-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World (2013),[31] Sif and Volstagg give a volatile weapon called the Aether to the Collector for safekeeping as they feel it is too dangerous to have it near the Tesseract since both contain Infinity Stones.[32]
  • In Guardians of the Galaxy (2014),[33] the Collector contacts Gamora with an offer to purchase an orb containing a third Infinity Stone, but when he receives it, one of his slaves tries to use it, causing a reaction that disintegrates her and destroys his gallery. In a post-credits scene, the Collector has a drink with Howard the Duck and Cosmo the Spacedog.
  • In Avengers: Infinity War (2018),[34] the Collector appeared as an illusion that Thanos created using the Aether after he turned it into the Reality Stone. The former's final fate is not depicted on-screen, but according to del Toro, the character survived the film's events.[35]

• The Collector appears in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes,[36] voiced by Jeff Bennett.[29]
• The Collector appears as a non-playable character in Marvel: Contest of Champions, working under the command of the Maestro to run the eponymous contest in a pocket universe called the Battlerealm.
• The Collector appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers, voiced again by Jeff Bennett.[29]
• The Collector appears as a playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced Billy Kametz.[37][29]

The Collector appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! attraction at Disney California Adventure, with Benicio del Toro reprising his role from the MCU films. In the attraction, the Collector has captured the Guardians of the Galaxy and put them on display in his collection.