In the third spotlight issue of this series, the past of Captain Universe's human host is explored with some help from Shang Chi, the Master of Kung-Fu. Perhaps because it is not presented in the context of an Avengers mission or action-heavy sequences, "Zen and the Art of Cosmology" does not have that wow factor that the previous issue had, despite being the most emotional of the three stories. On the other hand, "Zen" allows Shang Chi to have some panel time after being just a background figure for five installments.

As it was mentioned in a previous review, the Captain Universe character is too similar to that of Sentry: extremely powerful heroes with extremely damaged, fragile hosts; it seems too soon to use the same plot device. One point this issue wants to make clear is that going forward, readers and Avengers will be dealing with the Superior Spider-Man, rather than the Friendly Neighborhood one. Overall, both, writing and art suffer a bit when compared to the exciting issue dedicated to Smasher; however, the larger story keeps moving along, which is good.