Robert Kelly (Marvel)

Robert Kelly is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Robert Edward Kelly

When the hero Blue Marvel was revealed to be the African American man Adam Brashear, Senator Kelly was alarmed at the prospect of such a powerful man being a part of a minority group. The President at the time was considering using Brashear as a way to heal the divisions within the country, but Kelly consulted with the President and advised him otherwise. Ultimately on Kelly’s advice, the President asked Brashear to step away from the limelight, removing one of the most powerful up-and-coming African American superheroes from the political landscape. (Adam: Legend of Blue Marvel v1 #1)

After uncovering the Mutant Agenda, Carol Danvers and Logan discovered the existence of Mutants with groups such as the Hellfire Club. However, she lacked any evidence but believed that they should reveal their findings to people in government with her believing that freshman Senator Kelly would be interested in their findings. (Logan: Shadow Society v1 #1)

Mutant Menace

Over the next few weeks, Senator Kelly increased his anti-mutant rhetoric and became a serious contender for the presidency. Whilst he gained a lot of supporters who were concerned with the rise in mutants, he also attracted the attention of people who wanted to silence his opinions. The shapeshifter Mystique had formed her own Brotherhood of Mutants and the group had set their sights firmly on Kelly, hoping to put an end to the hatred he was spewing. Working with Shaw, Kelly had been drafting a series of propositions he wanted to invoke that would harshly deal with the mutant threat. One such proposal was the Mutant Registration Act, that would require all mutants to register with the government so they could be monitored. Senator Kelly met with the rest of congress to propose this law, but the hearing was violently interrupted by Mystique and her Brotherhood. The X-Men had been tipped off to Mystique’s activities by a time-travelling Kitty Pryde, and the team fought against the Brotherhood whilst Senator Kelly rushed to safety. The precognitive Destiny managed to corner him, but his life was saved by Kitty’s intervention, knocking Destiny’s shoulder just as she fired a crossbow at Kelly. (X-Men v1 #142)

Despite the X-Men saving his life, Senator Kelly remained firm in his resolve that something needed to be done about mutants. He was given permission to form the congressional committee of mutant affairs and became a fixture on TV whenever the subject of mutants was discussed. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #158)

At Washington, he attempted to get others in government to help him pass the Mutant Affairs Control Act 1984. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #181)

Senator Kelly’s life was to irrevocably changed when his wife Sharon was killed during a fight between the X-Men and a Sentinel. As the two drove in their car, they were hit by Rogue, who had been thrown across the city by the Sentinel. Whilst Kelly was knocked unconscious, Sharon dragged him to safety and then ran back to retrieve Rogue. The Sentinel caught up to them and blasted the car, fatally injuring Sharon in the explosion. Kelly woke to find his wife lying motionless next to him and, when he looked up, he saw the fight between the X-Men and Sentinel raging on. As Sharon lay dying in his arms, she begged for him not to let the hate take over, but it was too late. The irony was that Kelly and Shaw had been funding the Sentinels in secret for a long time. Ignoring the fact that a Sentinel had ultimately killed his wife, Kelly instructed Shaw to ramp up production on some newly designed Sentinels that were capable of healing themselves. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #247)

Later on, Mystique and her Brotherhood, now calling themselves Freedom Force, ended up saving Kelly’s life when he was taken hostage. He was surprised to see her working for the government, and reluctantly accepted her help in freeing a village from the tyranny of a supervillain. (Marvel Comic Presents v1 #41)

Kelly took some time out to grieve his wife but, when he stepped out of the shadows again, he was just as determined to put a stop to the mutant menace. Whenever there was an incident involving mutants, Kelly made sure he visited the scene to stir public opinion away from the X-Men and mutants. Other anti-mutant humans were also gaining traction in their own political aspirations, such as Graydon Creed, forcing Kelly to adopt a slightly different approach. He toned down his heated words and addressed the issue in a calm and level-headed manner. In a TV debate with Creed and Professor Xavier, Senator Kelly admonished Creed for trying to use Sharon’s death for his own gain. Kelly told the audience that, although time had allowed him to see things more clearly, he still believed mutants needed to be controlled, but he drew the line at murdering them. As Xavier explained his viewpoint, Kelly found himself agreeing with the man’s stance, completely unaware of Xavier’s status as a mutant. Whilst Kelly ended the TV debate in a favorable light, his ultimate goal was still the persecution of mutants. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #299)

He would later get involved in the covert government operation, Project Wideawake. Designed to curb the ever-growing mutant population, Kelly oversaw the production of Sentinels and was present when X-Factor and the Acolytes discovered it. He was nearly killed by the Acolyte Frenzy but was saved by the timely arrival of Wolfsbane. (X-Factor v1 #92)

Kelly soon learned that Bastion had been using his Sentinels and the kidnapped scientists for his own agenda, turning humans into Sentinel sleeper agents. Knowing it could make or break his entire career, Kelly met with the president and spoke his mind, hoping that they would shut OZT down before it was too late. Whilst Bastion did manage to unleash his secret Prime Sentinels, Kelly was instrumental in putting a stop to his machinations from a political standpoint, whilst the X-Men took the threat on directly. (X-Men v2 #69)

After the dust had settled and Bastion was defeated, Kelly began looking into the disappearance of Xavier, who had been kidnapped by Bastion during the chaos. After digging through the trail of files left behind by Bastion, Kelly located his prison cell in a hidden facility in the Nevada Desert. However, when he travelled there, Xavier was nowhere to be found. (X-Men v2 #73)

Legacy

Years after his death, a facility known as the Robert Kelly Correctional Facility was established to house Homo Superior prisoners with the site being informally known as the Box. (X-Men: Gold v2 #24)

Notes

• Robert Kelly was created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Uncanny X-Men v1 #135 (July, 1980).

Alternate Versions

• In X-Men v1 #141 (1981), an alternate version of Robert Kelly appeared in the Days of Future Past reality set on Earth-811 in the Multiverse. This version was a possible future timeline that was set in 2013. On this Earth, anti-Mutant attitudes arose after the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants assassinated Presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly along with Charles Xavier and Moira MacTaggert in 1980. This led to the governments of the world passed the Mutant Control Act in 1988 leading to mass deployment of Sentinels that targeted Mutants with the machines eventually taking over North America.
• In Tales from the Age of Apocalypse v1 #1 (1996), an alternate version of Robert Kelly appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality set on Earth-295 in the Multiverse. Robert Kelly was an activist for mutant-human peace who was eventually elected President of the United States. He named Magneto as Director of Mutant Affairs and enlisted the X-Men's aid in the broken country's reconstruction.
• In Mutant X v1 #8 (1999), an alternate version of Robert Kelly appeared in the Mutant X reality set on Earth-1298 in the Multiverse. Vice President Kelly was actually in control of the White House, utilizing the actual president as a puppet/front man. The Goblin Queen found this out, and corrupted him, taking control of the United States Government, and bending it to do her will. He was eventually purged of the Goblin Queen's influence by the mysterious Vendetta. It wasn't revealed if Kelly was killed or simply incapacitated by Vendetta's actions. Whether the case, Reed Richards later became President.

In other media

Television

• In X-Men, Robert Jefferson Kelly appeared in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Len Carlson.
• In X-Men: Evolution, Edward Kelly appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Dale Wilson.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, Senator Kelly appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Richard Doyle.
• In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Robert Kelly featured in the episode "X-Factor" where he was voiced by actor Dale Wilson. Kelly was an anti-Mutant politician where he pushed his agenda against Mutants following Magneto's attack on Simon Trask. Magneto intended to get 'Annie Claremont' to use her telekinetic powers to mimic natural death on Robert Kelly. Kelly later attended a public event where he was a proponent for Proposition X that sought to forcibly register Mutants. Magneto later attempted to kill Senator Kelly but he was saved by 'Annie' along with Iron Man and War Machine. However, Kelly attempted to lynch on 'Annie' for being a Mutant but Iron Man admonished him for his lack of gratitude. The crowd that once consisted of his supporters then turned on the humiliated Senator Kelly as the protestors threw objects at him.

Films

• In X-Men, Senator Kelly appeared in the 2000 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Bruce Davison. He was shown as being a U.S. Senator who attempted to pass the Mutant Registration Act in Congress which would have forced Mutants to publically reveal their identities and abilities with Magneto and Professor X witnessing this event. Magneto later had Toad and Mystique kidnap Kelly who was brought to their hideout on the uncharted island of Genosha. Lensherr had created a machine powered by his magnetic abilities that generated a field of radiation and used Kelly as a test subject. The effects of the device induced mutation in normal humans thus transforming Kelly who gained an elastic skin which he used to escape his confinement.

Appearances

• X-Men v1: (1980)
• Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel v1:

External links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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