In the year 3016 on the technologically advanced alternate world known as Other Earth, 16-year-old robotics student Nathaniel Richards was rescued by his future self, the megalomaniacal time-traveler known as Kang The Conqueror, from a near-fatal attack. Kang outfitted young Nathaniel with a suit of psychokinetic armor that responded to his thoughts and gave him a glimpse of his future as a conqueror. Horrified at the death and destruction caused by his future self, young Nathaniel rejected the help of Kang and used his armor to escape to modern-day Earth-616, hoping to find the Avengers so that they could help him defeat Kang.