system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Marvel] Have the Illuminati been a net positive for the Marvel Universe? Has their organization's existence "saved the day" at some point?

I know one of their earliest decisions was to blast the Hulk into space, which ended up becoming a crappy fiasco....
gpt
The Illuminati is an example of what happens when a group of very smart people decided to do what *they* think is best, and what also happens when you get a group of very smart, but very flawed individuals together in such a way that they feed into each other's flaws just as much into each others' strengths.

The idea of the Illuminati from the beginning was flawed. Any organization, whether superpowered or not, dedicated to addressing major global issues needs some form of transparency or oversight. Not just because of moral or ethical reasons, but because any committee needs a second opinion, and a means of cycling in new ideas and perspectives.

But let's look at the Illuminati's track record, and see whether their actions were both a net positive, and strictly necessary:

First, in attempting to lead a pre-emptive first strike against the Skrulls, the Illuminati antagonized an entire interstellar empire, and gave them the means to eventually launch the Secret Invasion. Categorically not a net positive, but was it a necessary measure? Also no. Wars are not prevented through excessive shows of force. They are prevented using careful diplomacy. You'd be better off handing the job to the Nova Corps, SWORD, or even the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Next, they tried to handle the Infinity Gauntlet. For a frame of reference, this ends with six men, from Earth, each being given control of *one sixth of all reality*. That means that if they wanted to, they could collectively vote to wipe out half of all life in the universe. Is this a net positive? Absolutely not. Is this necessary? Also absolutely not. Control and jurisdiction of an Infinity Gem should be something handled by an interstellar committee representing quadrillions of sentients.

Then the Hulk. Was exiling him a net positive? No. To add onto this, although the intentions were good, the idea was deeply, deeply flawed. It's the equivalent of strapping an armed nuke to a missile, *with an active timer on it*, and shooting the missile blind into the ocean hoping it never detonates or is discovered. Furthermore, was it necessary? Also not. There are much more effective means of Hulk containment and de-escalation, the first of which is *not to make him mad*. This is another example where the Illuminati needed a second opinion.

I'll then skip ahead to the Incursions. The necessity of *a* solution regarding the Incursions does not justify the actions of the Illuminati. They had no plan, no solution, nothing beyond desperate stopgap measures that would make even the most heinous supervillain blush. Did they actually accomplish anything? Not much, as it was Doom who saved what little was left of reality. Was it necessary? Also absolutely not, because when you're faced with a multiversal catastrophe, you don't keep it between your little boy's club. You let the rest of the world, and the galaxy, and the universe know, so that *they can fucking help*.