Wonder Man
Wonder Man is a male comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Simon Williams was the son of Sanford Williams and Martha Williams where he had a brother named Eric Williams. As young boys, he and his brother were noted to had been very different from another as Eric was more into sports whilst Simon was more the intellectual. Simon pushed his mind to the point that he got the top grades at school and preferred to read books over other pursuits. Over the years, Eric began to secretly steal and also started to bully Simon for not helping him. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
Eventually, he took over as the head of his fathers company Williams Manufacturing. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
He was then approached by Heinrich Zemo who offered Simon incredible power for his aid. Williams accepted and underwent an ionic experiment that made him superhuman with him being given the name Wonder Man. Then he was forced to join the Masters of Evil as Baron Zemo had intentionally made the experiment to kill Simon in a week unless he was given an antidote at regular intervals. This served as a failsafe to keep Wonder Man in check and ensure Simon's compliance in helping the Masters of Evil against the Avengers. (Avengers v1 #9)
Though seemingly dead, an aspect of him still clung to life and remained on the edge of death. He remained this state until Morgan le Fay altered the world and creating an Earth that she ruled by using Asgardian relics alongside the probability manipulation powers of the Scarlet Witch. In captivity, Wanda Maximoff desperately called for the Avengers to return with her powers inadvertently being a beacon to Simon allowing his body to reform. (Avengers v3 #3) Wanda later managed to summon him again when the reformed Avengers battled the Squadron Supreme. (Avengers v3 #5)
Following the Stamford Incident, Wonder Man came to sign up to the Superhuman Registration Act. However, he came to be blackmailed by the authorities to participate in the apprehension of unregistered superpowered beings. (Civil War: Front Line v1 #5)
During the Civil War, he joined the ranks of the Mighty Avengers that were formed by Tony Stark and led by Carol Danvers. (Mighty Avengers v1 #1)
After the Dark Reign, he participated in helping rebuilding operations across the country when he was approached by Steve Rogers about joining a new incarnation of the Avengers. Simon, however, refused and was adamant that it was a bad idea as them being heroes caused more destruction than they saved. After Rogers departed, Williams became determined to stop the formation of the Avengers by any means necessary. (Avengers v4 #1) He then decided to assemble a team of superpowered beings that were to forcibly disband the Avengers with this being a group called the Revengers. (New Avengers Annual v2 #1) Williams then led them in an attack on Avengers Tower where he told the media that the heroes were a menace to the world that did more harm then good. The Revengers were then defeated by the combined Avengers, New Avengers and Secret Avengers leading to Simon's arrest though his actions led to increasing anti-hero sentiment among the public. (Avengers Annual v4 #1)
He came to learn of the crisis in the Microverse where Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hank Pym had gotten lost whilst investigating an old Avengers distress beacon. Simon then took a new batch of Pym Particles which he used to shrink into the sub-atomic realm where he came to find out that Janet van Dyne was alive and that the others were looking to save her from the warlord Gouzar. Williams aided them in returning back to the Macroverse though Lord Gouzar followed them where the villain was defeated by the combined Avengers who sent him back to his realm. (Avengers v4 #34)
In the aftermath, he swore a vow of pacifism where during this time he decided to join the Avengers Unity Division as a P.R. person. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #5)
After absorbing Deadpool's healing factor, the cells within Rogue expelled the ion energy of Wonder Man from her body. This allowed him consciousness to reform his body with his thoughts coming together at this point. He was then informed that after his death that his fortune was lost and that he had no money with Deadpool looking to help return his money to him. (Uncanny Avengers v3 #23)
During the War of the Realms, Simon came to be contacted by Balder the Brave who had chosen a select group of heroes to protect his younger sister Laussa Odinsdottir who became a target of the Dark Council. Wonder Man came to agree to offer his help and his RV to help transport the young Asgardian in plain sight where they had to keep her from the forces of the Queen of Cinders and her henchman Ares. (War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
After being transformed by Zemo, he was given the name Wonder Man though Simon found the name corny at the time. (Avengers v1 #9) As a registered superhero, his registration number came to be JQ-272712-K. (Civil War: Front Line v1 #5)
It was said that his father Sanford was a strict man with nothing his sons capable of doing being able to satisfy him. (West Coast Avengers v2 #2)
He came to swear a vow of pacifism and not to engage in any form of violence against others as this only brought more chaos in life. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #5)
Powers and abilities
Originally, he was an ordinary human being until his body was bombarded with the most powerful and potent of ionic rays. (Avengers v1 #9) Baron Zemo was said to had created Wonder Man using Pym-Particle-charged ions. (FF v2 #16) This resulted in his body gaining increased strength almost beyond description and being invincible as a result. As Wonder Man, he was said to be able to match the strength of Giant-Man and his bare fists were equal to the power of Thor's hammer. (Avengers v1 #9) The ionic energy was responsible for giving him his superstrength, invulnerability and the power of flight. (Wonder Man v3 #1)
It was said that Wonder Man had Sentry-level strength. (Avengers: The Children's Crusade v1 #3)
Medical technos had noted that he was a being of almost pure energy meaning he was virtually indestructible and could survive in any temperature or environment with him not even having to breath. (Wonder Man v1 #1) As such, he could not die as a normal person and his ionic energy simply reformed his body upon his 'death'. (Avengers v1 #686)
He came to learn to control his internal energy flux that allowed him to simulate a normal appearance such as with his eyes for brief periods of time. Though the effort used to leave him with a headache afterwards. (Avengers v1 #194)
Initially, he lacked the ability of flight and had to rely on miniature rockets on his belt. (Avengers v1 #9)
His business empire was known as Williams Innovations that had a number of branches such as one in Brooklyn. (Marvel Premiere v1 #55)
Notes
- Wonder Man was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Don Heck where he made his first appearance in Avengers v1 #9 (October, 1964).
- As noted on CBR, Jim Shooter was under the impression that DC had complained over the use of Wonder Man due to the name similarity to Wonder Woman. When DC created Power Girl, he became irked as Marvel had Luke Cage as Power Man leading to him being intent on reviving Wonder Man in response with this happening in Avengers v1 #151 (September, 1976).
Alternate Versions
- In Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #17 (1991), an alternate version of the character named Hollywood appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-691 in the Multiverse. Simon survived the 20th century invasion of the Martian Masters because Vision teleported him away from Earth, believing there was no logical chance of victory. By the time he returned, the war was over. Legends of Wonder Man as a coward or failure arose on Earth because of his disappearance, leading Simon to obscure his identity as Hollywood.
- In Earth X v1 #7 (1999), an alternate version of Wonder Man appeared in the Earth-X reality that was designated as Earth-9997 in the Multiverse.
- In Exiles v1 #24 (2003), an alternate version of Wonder Man appeared in a reality that was designated as Earth-42777 in the Multiverse. In his pursuit of becoming ruler of the world, Tony Stark devised a way to destroy the Hulk. He succeeded by dropping a high concentration Gamma Bomb on him. Unfortunately, Simon Williams was 20 feet away when this happened, and became an even stronger Hulk. Tony and Simon came to an agreement to leave each other alone, and Simon lived peacefully with Stephen Strange and Wanda Maximoff. Eventually Weapon X came looking for the key Reed Richards left Williams, at which point he was sucked into the Negative Zone alongside Jen Walters.
- In Ultimate Comics Ultimates v1 #22 (2013), an alternate version of Wonder Man appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. Simon Williams was a promising bodybuilder until he was exposed for cheating through the use of performance enhancers, possibly Tyrone Cash's Hulk serum. After his career was finished, Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. approached him and offered him to join the S.H.I.E.L.D. super human unit known as the West Coast Ultimates, a secret version of the known super hero team. Williams had mental instability, which caused him to Hulk-out when the team failed to find terrorist Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, causing his teammates to fight him. This situation, along the team's previous rogue attitude, made S.H.I.E.L.D. decide they were too dangerous. Nick Fury decided to put them in stasis tubes until they were be truly needed. Nick Fury planned to use the West Coast Ultimates against the Maker and the Children of Tomorrow but chose not to. During the civil war, California tried to become an independent country, but they were forced by president Captain America to remain a part of the United States. The special adviser to California's governor, Spokesperson Ford discovered about the West Coast Ultimates, taking them from S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Hugo Lopez's lab and decided to unleash them against the Ultimates.
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, Wonder Man appeared as a character in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Hamish McEwan.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Wonder Man appeared as a character in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Phil LaMarr.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Wonder Man appeared as a boss character in the video game where he was voiced by actor Dave B. Mitchell.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Wonder Man appeared as an unlockable character in the setting of the Facebook video game.
- In Marvel Heroes, Wonder Man appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
- In Marvel Duel, Wonder Man appeared in the setting of the video game.
Appearances
- Avengers v1: (1964)
- West Coast Avengers v2:
- Marvel Premiere v1:
- Force Works v1:
- Avengers v3:
- Avengers v4:
- Avengers: The Children's Crusade v1:
- New Avengers Annual v2:
- Avengers Annual v4:
- Uncanny Avengers v1:
- Uncanny Avengers v2:
- Uncanny Avengers v3:
- Avengers:
- Avengers: No Road Home v1:
- Secret Empire v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
