Regent (Marvel)
Regent is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Augustus Roman
As a result of the superhuman skirmish, it was noted that he came to lose his family and he dedicated his life to controlling the threat posed by people with powers. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #12) He responded to an incident where the police were attempting to stop a speeding vehicle in the West Village in New York City. This saw Regent make his debut by stopping the vehicle allowing the driver to be arrest and where he revealed this persona to the world. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #7)
Returning to the Cellar, he gave an interview and a tour to Daily Bugle reporter Betty Brant. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #12) As Regent, he next responded to an incident at the New York City Harbor when the Atlantean Orka was attacking the surface. Despite his foe's strength, he managed to defeat the supervillain and took him into custody where he kept him at the Cellar with Orka secretly placed in a cell that beamed his powers to Regent. Afterwards, Roman received an alert of a superhuman conflict in the city with this being a dispute between Spider-Man and Iron Man. Regent decided to then embark on the next phase of his plans where he attacked the second Spider-Man and took him captive. He had the young hero placed in one of the cells in secret so that he could gain his powers as he looked to expand his operations to tackling all superhumans. Roman then had an unscheduled meeting with Betty Brant again who confronted his secret identity as the Regent. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #13)
In response, he had her kidnapped and kept contained within his facility to ensure she did not reveal her findings to others. He then triggered a fake distress signal from this Spider-Man to his team mate Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan which he used to capture her as well. Regent did similar acts against a number of other superheroes including Nova, the new Captain America Sam Wilson, the Vision as well as the new Thor. Upon returning to headquarters, he had a meeting with Harry Lyman who confronted Augustus about being the Regent and also for kidnapping his friend Betty Brant who had been missing since her last meeting with Roman. This saw him being captured as well but not before he sent a pre-recorded message to Spider-Man to warn him about the suspicion over Roman. Thus, Spider-Man and Iron Man then departed to rescue him but were confronted by the Regent who used his stolen powers against the two heroes. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #14) He came to defeat the pair where he took them to the Cellar to be placed in cells. Using his mind, he created a spherical construct to hold the prisoners when he was distracted by Spider-Man striking the walls of his 'prison'. This allowed Regent to be taken by surprise by a woman in the Iron Spider suit which allowed Spider-Man and Iron Man to be freed. Iron Spider and Iron Man kept fighting Regent whilst Spider-Man left the scene to free the captives in the Cellar. At first, the Regent nearly defeated his two opponents but began to experience a loss in his powers as his captives were being freed and he came to be surrounded by the heroes released from the stasis tubes. This saw Roman being arrested and placed within the Cellar itself in a prison cell with guards standing watch to ensure he lived out his sentence. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #15)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Roman had said that the right man with enough power on his side could do the impossible. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #13) This saw his desire to become power incarnate and the only saviour humanity needed. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #14) It was said that he became so obsessed with his mission that he allowed it to take over his life. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #15)
Augustus came to view superhuman beings with suspicion due to their involvement in the death of his family. In fact, he believed that those with such inhuman abilities needed to be contained and controlled. According to his view, superhumans needed to be in the right hands as unlimited powers must come unlimited responsibility. In reality, he view the ultimate problem being everyone with superpowers and that the world would be a better place if all these powers were in his hand. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #12) He was somewhat dismayed at the growing number of superhumans on the planet but resolved himself in protecting humanity from the threat posed by them. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #13) Roman believed that the worst outcomes were clashes between villain and heroes with both parties to blame in these superhuman 'grudge' matches. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #14) Regent had said that he was going to save the world from superhumans even if he had to kill them all. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #15)
One of his closest aides was Dr. Shannon Stillwell who was a scientist that helped in his endeavours in controlling the superhuman population. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #12)
Powers and abilities
The suit operated by beaming the abilities of captured superhumans to Regent himself thus giving him their collective powers. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #13) Regent's powers were said to remind Iron Man of the Super-Adaptoids tech but being built into a suit of armour. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #14) According to Roman, he had altered his body in order for it to be instilled with all the powers he could acquire and that this abilities were not strictly contained to his suit. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #15)
He claimed that he had super-senses that he used to survey an area for danger. From his hands, he could fire an energy blast at a target. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #13)
From Miles Morales, he gained the abilities of Spider-Man allowing him to crawl on walls, use camouflage, had a spider-sense and employ his venom touch. This included gaining the powers of Kamala Khan giving him the ability to shapeshift and grow in size. Through the Ghost, he could create energy spears that could be used to stun mechanical foes. Regent also gained the Vision's powers of intangibility after abducting him as well. Other powers he gained from the capture of superhumans included the eye-beams of Hyperion, the freezing abilities of Iceman, the superspeed of Quicksilver and the strength of Thor. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #14)
Roman was the head of a corporation which was Empire Unlimited that he said served the public good and sought to make the world a better place for normal people. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #12) Augustus had claimed that it ran differently from most other companies as profits were not their primary consideration but instead their goal was the containment of superhuman threats. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #14)
He was the overseer of the Cellar prison facility designed to hold superhuman criminals. It was revealed that the security features at the facility were impressive with prison staff using inhibitor collars to control the people kept there. The site was located off the mainland and the detention facilities were kept underground with prisoners segregated from one another. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #12) The prison was known to go down to sub-level 7 which was used to contain cells that could beam a superhuman's powers to Regent thus giving him their power. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #13) People that were imprisoned there were placed in stasis tubes that were filled with a fluid that made the prisoner's body go numb and were unconscious after being engulfed in the liquid. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #15)
Notes
- Regent was created by Dan Slott and Adam Kubert where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows v1 #1 (August, 2015).
Alternate Versions
- In Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows v1 #1 (2015), an alternate version of Regent was shown to inhabit the domain of the Regency on Battleworld.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Regent appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Imari Williams.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows v1: (2015)
- Amazing Spider-Man v4:
External Links
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