Mutant Response Division

X-Factor Investigations apprehended by the MRD in X-Factor v1 #204.

The Mutant Response Division is an agency that features in Marvel Comics.

History

The Mutant Response Division (MRD) was a government agency that operated on the planet Earth. Their existence partly came as a result of the Leper Queen who organised her Sapien League into capturing Mutants and infecting them with the Legacy Virus. (X-Factor v1 #203) The infected were then sent into anti-Mutant rallies where their powers went out of control and killed all those participating in the events. (X-Factor v1 #204) The resultant deaths resulted in an assembly being called of the United Nations. During this gathering, the seemingly restored Bolivar Trask and Stephen Lang came to address the threat of Mutants. Gabrielle Haller believed that the pair looked for a renewed Sentinel Program with her refusing the support of the Israeli government. However, instead the pair unveiled the creation of an anti-Mutant taskforce that was the Mutant Response Division. (X-Force v3 #17)

They first target the mutants that aren't on X-Men's Utopia base which included X-Factor Investigations. They arrange a trap for them by hiring Absorbing Man to set up the trap.<ref>X-Factor #204</ref>

The MRD officers also attempted take out Banshee in Ireland, but were thwarted by the arrival of Shatterstar and Layla Miller. The pair rescued Banshee,<ref>X-Factor #205</ref> and teleported back to New York City.<ref>X-Factor #205</ref> Meanwhile, MRD officials also followed Monet and Strong Guy into South America. However, before the troops could lead an attack, Monet, Strong Guy, and Monet's father were all transported with Baron Mordo to New York City.<ref>X-Factor #205</ref>

The MRD launched one final assault on X-Factor, with Trask leading in his Dread-X. Monet used her telepathic abilities on Trask briefly freeing him from Bastion's control. Trask used this small window of freedom to commit suicide after telling the MRD soldiers to retreat. Colonel Moran continued the charge, but was defeated by X-Factor.<ref>X-Factor #206</ref>

Like Trask, Steven Lang (also resurrected by Bastion), the Head of Project: Armageddon, was placed in a high ranking position in the Mutant Response Division. As Trask is dealing with the mutant population in New York City, Lang is hunting mutants in more remote locations. He was stationed in Portugal to eliminate Vanisher at his safe house/brothel in Monsato.<ref>X-Factor #206</ref>

When Steve Rogers became the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., he voiced disapproval for the MRD.<ref>Heroic Age: X-Men</ref>

Overview

In appearance, the Mutant Response Division was an agency created with the sole purpose of monitoring and dealing with the threat posed by Mutants on a global level. The organization combined the next generation of Sentinel technology with the best soldiers of humanity. Their mandate was policing Mutantkind across the world with funding drawn from the United Nations. It was said that the MRD was to battle the threat of Mutant terrorists using technology. (X-Force v3 #17)

The MRD was a government agency who had a single task which was the detainment and capture of mutants by any means necessary. This organized military body had funding from the government to acquire the latest weapons needed to capture their dangerous targets which were placed in high security detention facilities.

The soldiers of the MRD were racist and tended to look down on Mutants who they saw as being dangerous as well as violent threats. Thus, they work actively with anti-Mutant groups and individuals in detaining them in high security facilities. Even those Humans who harbored or sheltered Mutants were targeted as well as interrogated in order for them to get the information they wanted so that they could track down their targets. In order to accomplish their goals, its soldiers were trained and armed with the latest equipment from the government in order for them to accomplish their goals. They also had a civilian team consisting of scientific specialists. More powerful Mutants were kept in coma-like states and sealed deep within the facilities where they were suspended in cylinders containing fluids that were in the deepest Omega-levels of the facility.

Infantry deployed in the field were first tasked with using infra red to determine if there were any Mutants after which they began a search for the suspects. If the inspection team encountered heavy resistance then they initiated a Code 10 which was the deployment of heavier forces such as Prowler Sentinels. Whilst a high ranking government authority in regards to mutant hunting activity, their orders were capable of being overrided by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Their reputation among the Mutant populace led to them being derogatively referred to as MRDies.

They were charged with addressing Mutant acts of terrorism. (X-Factor v1 #204)

Members

• Senator Robert Kelly
• Warren Worthington II
• Bolivar Trask
• Colonel Moss
• Dr. Sybil Zane
• Dr. Kavita Rao
• Agent Haskett
• Dr. Peterson

Captives

• Harpoon
• Tildie Soames
• Nitro

Facilities

• MRD Facility Alpha - Central
• MRD Facility Beta - Midwest
• MRD Facility Gamma - Northwest
• MRD Facility Delta- South

Technology

• Sensory Assault Helmet - an interrogation tool noted to be the cutting edge in information gathering from prisoners; they were chairs with a device that strapped onto the face that assaulted the sensory perceptions of the target until they gave the information the interrogator wanted.
• Sonic grenades - these small spherical grenades emitted a sonic field designed to knock out a target or make it difficult for them to concentrate.
• Sentinel Prowler - first robotic Sentinel created to combat Mutants.
• Master Mold - central Sentinel production unit and guiding intelligence.

Notes

• The Mutant Response Division were an original creation that did not feature in the comics but were first introduced in the animated Wolverine and the X-Men series.
• They were introduced into the comics by Peter David where they made their first appearance in X-Factor v1 #204 (June, 2010).

In other media

Television

• In X-Men, the organization did not appear in the 1990s animated television series but the Mutant Control Agency was briefly mentioned in the first season.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, the Mutant Response Division was first created as antagonists in the animated series. The Mutant Restraint Division (MRD) was created sometime after the disappearance of Professor Charles Xavier and was formed by the U.S. government due to the wide scale threat posed by Mutants. They began procedures to detain Mutants that were captured by the MRD who were then locked up in prison facilities. Normal humans were asked to provide tips about any sheltering mutants and led to many to believe that the actions of the government and the MRD would bring about a war between the two races for control of the Earth. Senator Kelly was a noted spokesperson and supporter of the MRD along with the father of Warren Worthington. The Division attempted to gather more public support by the unveiling of the Sentinel Prowler as well as the mass hysteria caused by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. After the failure of the first public conference when the Prowler went rogue, the MRD later guarded Senator Kelly during a second press conference when the Brotherhood manipulated the X-Men into arriving at the site when they believed the Brotherhood was attacking. This painted the X-Men in bad light to the public cameras and resulted in the signing of the Mutant Registration Act. They later attempted to capture a device created by Forge and used by the X-Men to inhibit Mutant powers for cases when a Mutant has lost control over them. The aim was to reverse engineer the technology and allow the MRD to use it against captured Mutants. However, before they could succeed in their goal, Wolverine and Gambit retrieved the inhibitor collar. The MRD later came under siege by a Mutant army led by Magneto who orchestrated a simultaneous assault of twelve facilities across the country. This act nearly crippled the organization with only its central Alpha facility remaining in operation. The Mutant Response Division was effectively destroyed during the assault when a powerful Mutant was released who went on a rampage throughout the city. With its near destruction, Senator Robert Kelly incited normal Humans to rise up against Mutants and level the playing field. He proposed the creation of the Sentinel Program that would become the new protector of Humanity against the Mutant threat. The agency then began wide scale production of the Sentinels whilst increasing its activity despite its near destruction at the hands of the Mutants of Genosha. More active and aggressive attacks were made to detain Mutants across the country and emboldened Senator Kelly's anti-Mutant initiative. Thus, he began Phase 1 of Project Wideawake which began rounding up Mutants across the country with the deployment of Sentinel Prowler's to the field. With full support of the government, the Project began the active and compulsory act of Mutant Registration which began in New York after which it was expected to expand across the country. To that end, they developed the Master Mold artificial intelligence to guide the Sentinels and after it learnt that its systems were being hacked by the X-Men, it orchestrated a trap for them at the central facility. The MRD then launched two raids; one against the Xavier Institute and the other being made after an anonymous tip that revealed the location of the Brotherhood. However, the Brotherhood managed to avoid arrest and went to support the X-Men whereupon they seemingly succeeded in destroying the Master Mold intelligence which temporarily shut down the MRD operations.
• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes, the Mutant Response Division was mentioned in the episode "The Big House". S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury sent Whirlwind to the Mutant Reponse Division after discovering he was a Mutant and believed that the Division was a more appropriate body to handle the captive.
• In Legion, the organization did not appear but an agency named Division III (D3) were shown as antagonists in the live-action television series. It consisted of a super-powered operatives such as a telepath known as The Eye and was a black ops government group that targeted emerging Mutants who were deemed a threat to society. There were additional divisions briefly mentioned including a Division I.

Films

• In X-Men: The Last Stand, the organization did not appear but instead the Department of Mutant Affairs was referenced in the live-action film. It had replaced the Department of Domestic Security and Defense and was reformed as an official public government body responsible for handling Mutant affairs in the United States. Doctor Hank McCoy was assigned as Secretary from the Department of Mutant affairs and part of the President of the United States of America's cabinet.
• In X-Men: First Class, the organization did not appear but a branch of the CIA named Division X briefly formed in the live-action film that consisted of Professor Xavier and Erik Lensherr's band of Mutants that became the X-Men.

Video games

• In X-Men: Legends, an unrelated organization named the Genetics Research and Security Organization (G.R.S.O.) appeared in the video game.
• In X-Men: Destiny, the Mutant Response Division made an appearance in the video game. They were described as a government organization of peacekeepers that sought to diffuse the growing tensions between Humans and Mutants. Under Director Luis Reyes leadership, 10,000 troops were deployed in the Bay Area and moved its Telos communication satellite into orbit above San Francisco. It was later revealed that Reyes and the M.R.D. were tools of Bastion who were using them as part of his anti-Mutant plans. They later came into conflict with the players character.

Appearances

• Wolverine and the X-Men:
• X-Factor v1:
• X-Force v3:

External Link

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry

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