SPOILERS FOR SECRET WARS #4 FOLLOW

The fourth issue of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s Secret Wars event hit stands today, and finally put the full power of God-King Doom on display by having the omnipotent ruler of Battleworld kill two of the Marvel Universe’s oldest members.

The issue involves a three-way battle between Thanos’ Cabal, Doom and his Thors, and the refugee heroes of the Marvel Universe. Cyclops, hyped up on Phoenix power, decides to stand up to Doom. It doesn’t end well for Cyke.

Doctor Strange uses his magic to scatter the remaining heroes across Battleworld, buying them at least a temporary respite, but Strange remains behind. Doom deals with Stephen Strange in much the same way that he dealt with Scott Summers.

While having Doom kill of a Phoenix host a Sorcerer Supreme in the same issue is a fine way of driving home just insanely powerful Doom is, let’s put some things in perspective. The entire Marvel Universe died in the very first issue of Secret Wars, and yet a Marvel Universe will exist come October, when Secret Wars is over. When you’re planning on giving your universe a fresh start in a couple of months, it essentially grants you license to kill as many characters as you want before then.

On top of that, we know that Doctor Strange has a solo series kicking off in October as well, so some version of him is going to be back by then. Keep in mind that this is Battleworld, so it may not be the exact same version of Doctor Strange that we went into Secret Wars with, but it will probably be close enough – or at least close enough to base a movie on.

Cyclops’ death most likely explains why he’s missing following the events of Secret Wars. Whether that’s because he’s still dead or not remains to be seen. It’s worth noting that Cyclops only obtained the power of the Phoenix in Secret Wars #1. If the only reason he was granted that power was so that Doom’s threat level could be pumped up, I’d call that a pretty weak plot point. After everything Cyclops has been through since Avengers vs. X-Men, he deserves better, and I expect better from Hickman.

Finally, several characters who died during the opening of Secret Wars – Deadpool, for example – are showing up again once All-New, All-Different Marvel kicks off. Of course, Cyclops is only one of several characters who survived the initial destruction of the Marvel Universe only to be absent from Marvel’s October previews, including Sue and Reed Richards and Doom himself. Perhaps we’re getting clues towards Secret Wars’ final list of fatalities.

Secret Wars #4 is on sale now.