Firestorm (DC)
The Ronnie Raymond is the name of several characters in the DC Universe.
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Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond)
- Main Article: Ronnie Raymond
Pre-Flashpoint
Ronald Raymond
In time, the Matrix began to evolve and became more unstable turning Firestorm into the most dangerous being in the universe as he could explode thus result in a new Big Bang. (Brightest Day v1 #10)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Firestorm (Martin Stein)
- Main Article: Martin Stein
Pre-Flashpoint
Martin Stein
For years, the Nobel prize winning physicist Dr. Stein was developing the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant in order to be automated and safe. The day the site went online his former assistant Danton Black who had been fired for theft was accused of stealing the designs of the plant from Stein. This resulted in the Nuclear Regulations Council being forced to put off the plant's opening. Martin Stein came to fear that the negative publicity would keep the site from ever opening with him deciding to put it online himself. Edward Earhart and his Coalition to Resist Nuclear Power broke in where they knocked Stein out. In addition, young recruit Ronnie Raymond was also knocked out after coming to realise that he had associated himself with a terrorist organisation. Earhart and his Coalition then went about setting up dynamite charges where they left Raymond and Stein to die. The explosion blew apart the nuclear reactor but came to fuse Stein and Raymon into a gestalt atomic being called Firestorm who had control over radiation and the structure of atoms. As Dr. Stein was unconscious at the time, he came to serve as Firestorm's subconscious whilst Raymond was the dominant conscious personality. The newly formed hero tested his powers by breaking up Earhart's Coalition who were handed to the police after which Firestorm separated into his two constituent parts though Stein retained no memory of this time. (Firestorm v1 #1)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. He was noted as being a brilliant scientist who proved the existence of the Higgs Boson or 'God Particle'. This allowed for the containment of them within a magnetic bottle that were the Firestorm Protocols which could be bonded to a genetic set giving the person transmutation powers. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #1)
Firestorm (Mikhail Arkadin)
- Main Article: Mikhail Arkadin
Pre-Flashpoint
Mikhail Arkadin
A mysterious man named Rasputin informed Firestorm that he was truly a fire elemental and the only way to beat Svarozhich would be to bond with it "permanently." This he did, and a new Firestorm was made of Svarozhich, Raymond and Arkadin. The human hosts were submerged and sacrificed their wills to this new Firestorm; they were no longer capable of reverting back to their human forms. In the process, it was revealed that Firestorm was meant to be Earth's fire elemental. Martin Stein had originally been fated for that role only to have the matrix corrupted by the unexpected presence of Ron Raymond. (Firestorm v2 #85)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. It was shown that he was a Russian scientist who worked with Martin Stein in the creation of the Firestorm Protocols that imparted a person with nuclear powers. Afterwards, their research was stolen and used to create rogue Firestorms around the world that were involved in terrorist acts with Arkadin exposing himself to the Protocols thus giving him superpowers where he took the name Pozhar. In this role, he went to hunt down and eliminate the rogue Firestorms and recover the stolen research. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #4)
Firestorm (Jason Rusch)
- Main Article: Jason Rusch
Pre-Flashpoint
Jason Rusch was a male human who came to inadvertently be exposed to the Firestorm Matrix and became the new Firestorm. (Firestorm v3 #1)
A 17-year-old Jason was living in Detroit who wanted nothing more than to escape his home city. He lived with his father Alvin Rusch who had turned abusive after he lost his hand in an industrial accident. His mother left the family sometime after the accident. With the loss of a job he needed for college tuition, Jason turned to a local thug for money, accepting a job as a courier. It was on that job that he encountered the Firestorm Matrix, searching for a new host after Raymond's death. In the aftermath, Jason struggled to cope with his new identity and powers – a struggle that led to the death of the man who had hired him.
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
Rusch was an average high school student and worked for the school newspaper. Professor Stein provided him a Firestorm Protocols magnetic bottle to keep safely but mercenaries in search of it attacked his school. This forced Rusch to activate the bottle which bonded with him and Ronnie Raymond thus turning the pair into Firestorm. Jason and Ronnie are now separate Firestorms and do not have to combine to become Firestorm. The creature Fury is created when both of the Firestorms combine their powers. After an initial disagreement, they decided to work together as the Fury. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #1)
Overview
In appearance, Firestorm was the name given to a hero that was atomically altered and consisted of two humans merged together as the result of a nuclear experiment. They were regarded as being the world's first Nuclear Man who gained a range of nuclear-based powers. (Firestorm v1 #1)
It was said to hold ties to the 'god particle' which proved the existence of the Higgs Boson. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #1) According to one account, the Matrix was actually the ‘spark’ that preceded the universe and was the fire that resulted in the Big Bang. (Brightest Day v1 #10) It alongside the other elemental forces of Earth were said to be aspects of the Life Equation which was an antithesis to the Anti-Life Equation. (Firestorm v3 #34)
The Matrix was said to be contained to inhibit the decay of Gauge Bosons allowing the change of Quarks from one state to another thus allowing for abilities such as transmutation. This was achieved using a magnetic bottle containment vessel that could be bonded to a suitable genetic set as per the Firestorm Protocols. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #1)
The Matrix functions best with two people, a pilot and secondary, to comprehend and master it. Martin instructed Rusch on how to study current and potential powers available to them within the Matrix and to manually adjust them on the fly at a later date. Its main source of energy stemmed from the ambient stellar energies of native stars and suns but could also use its co-pilot as a power source, though they will burn out over time and genetically disintegrate if not properly adjusted to its power. (Firestorm v3 #22) The host gained the power to read the atomic structures of objects with a glance. This allowed them to see the molecular combinations that made up an object. (Firestorm v1 #1)
Firestorm had the power to alter their own atoms and switch their atomic structure at will. This meant that allowed him to fly and phase through objects. (Firestorm v1 #1)
The merging aspect of the Matrix can enable outside fusions which assimilate any inherent abilities these others might possess. However, this can diminish its effectiveness and stability. (Firestorm v3 #17)
Under certain circumstances, a Firestorm could acquire additional power applications in addition to the basic set. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #10)
One account claimed that the Firestorm Matrix was actually one of the Elementals that were spirits raised by the Earth itself to protect it in times of need where these beings fused with mortals to be their avatars. In this regard, it was believed that Firestorm was the Elemental of fire where its actions were determined by its human host. It was said that the the entity within Firestorm had walked the Earth in many guises where it was known as Prometheus to the ancient Greeks whilst the Norse knew it as Surtur. It was said that many religions knew of the entity both as a lifegiver and as a destroyer where it could be a servant when controlled who determined if this power was used as a force of destruction or not. (Firestorm v2 #85)
Two Firestorm Matrix bearers were shown to be capable of fusing into a more powerful entity known as the Fury. (Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1 #1)
- The canonicity of certain events are unknown due to the reality reboots caused by certain events.
Notes
- The concept of Firestorm was created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom where it made its first first appearing in Firestorm v1 #1 (March, 1978).
Alternate Versions
- In Justice League of America v2 #26 (2008), an alternate timeline was created by the god Anansi where Batman never existed as the young Bruce Wayne shot Joe Chill with a gun after which he became a vigilante called Paladin. On this world, the Firestorm Matrix was inhabited by multiple people who formed the superhero called We Are Firestorm who was a red formed being that had an atomic symbol of energy around his body. He was shown as a member of the Justice League who was convinced to aid Vixen in restoring the true reality.
- In Justice League v2 #26 (2014), an alternate version of Firestorm was shown as an inhabitant of Earth-3 in the Multiverse. On that world, Professor Martin Stein was a mad scientist obsessed with unlocking the secrets of life through death. Thus, he performed many controversial experiments on humans in order to test his theories as he was an expert in theoretical biology. He was recruited by one of the Crime Syndicate of America’s enemies with finding weaknesses among its members but Stein instead used it as a place for his own experiments leading to him merging himself with a corpse thus transforming him into Deathstorm who wielded the Firestorm Matrix. As Deathstorm, he was invited to join the ranks of the Crime Syndicate and became one of its members.
- In The New 52: Future's End (2014), an alternate timeline set five years in the future was shown. On this Earth, Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch both remained as Firestorm, however, Ronnie dies in order to save the life of a civilian named Madison Payne. This causes her to merge into the Firestorm Matrix with Jason Rusch causing her to become Firestorm.
- In Electric Warriors v1 #5 (2019), an alternate version of Firestorm was shown to exist in a possible future set in the 28th century. This version was Lex Luthor who had forcibly taken control of the Firestorm Matrix and bonded with Superman. In this position, he became a tyrannical being who enforced a brutal rule in the cosmos. He was eventually given the position of the Lord Preceptor that was in charge of the Great Compromise arranged between the Gilded business beings in the cosmos and the Gil'Dishpan. Under this role, he arranged for gladiatorial games as a means of settling disputes between worlds with Electric Warriors gifted superpowers through the Electric Seed where they battled for vital resources in a match between them. Slain Metahumans were then secretly sold to the Gilded for whatever needs they desired including consumption whilst the Lord Preceptor secretly enforced the rules of the Compromise.
In other media
Television
- In Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, Firestorm appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
- In the Arrowverse, Firestorm appeared as a number of different characters in the shared continuity setting.
- In The Flash, Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein were introduced into the live-action television series first season where they were portrayed by actors Robbie Amell and Victor Garber.
- In The Flash, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson was introduced into the live-action television series second season where he was portrayed by actor Franz Drameh.
- In Legends of Tomorrow, Jefferson Jackson alongside Martin Stein join the cast in the live-action television series where he was once again portrayed by actor Franz Drameh.
- In Justice League Action, Firestorm appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
Films
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, the Jason Rusch Firestorm appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced by actor Cedric Yarbrough. Additionally, an unnamed, alternate universe version of Firestorm appeared as a lesser member of the Crime Syndicate.
Video games
- In Injustice 2, Firestorm appeared as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game.
Appearances
- Firestorm v1: (1978)
- Firestorm v3:
- Brightest Day v1:
- Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men v1:
- Justice League v2:
External Links
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