Thunderbolts

The **Thunderbolts** are a task force of reformed supervillains brought together by H.A.M.M.E.R, giving them an opportunity to lessen their various criminal charges. When several of its members formed the Masters of Evil, the remaining members recruited new members to stop them once and for all.

## History

### The Villains of America

Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross was a respected general in the United States Armed Forces who was charged with developing the gamma bomb. The test went disastrous when lead scientist Bruce Banner ran out into the test site to save trespassing teenager Rick Jones. Ross blamed Banner for the disaster and eventually he was promoted to Secretary of State. In this new role, Ross was responsible for the government project to replicate the Super Soldier Serum. Eventually, with his job on the line, Ross tested a heat-treated sample on himself, causing him to transform into a red, heat-emitting hulking monster.

SS-006 was one of several clones of Spider-Man created by Oscorp's "Spider-Slayer" project to create a perfect killer with Spider-Man's abilities. He was rescued during the Duel of Oscorp Tower by Cassandra Web, his creator, alongside his genetic clone brother SS-005. They hid out in the sewers, with SS-006 taking the name Kaine. He became an expert assassin in the employ of the Maggia, wearing a costume that resembled the supposedly dead Spider-Man. Kaine was brought down by Ben Reilly, his clone brother, who had become the vigilante known as Scarlet Spider and was imprisoned in the Raft. A year later, Reilly and his girlfriend Jessica broke Kaine out of prison to help them hunt down Cassandra's murderer, the Lizard. Following Ben's death sacrificing himself to restore Earth from Battleworld, Kaine finally found respect for his brother and secretly attended his funeral.

Duke Helmut Zemo is the grandson of Baron Zemo, a Nazi officer and co-founder of HYDRA who inherited the east German Duchy of Novi Grad. Under his dukedom, Novi Grad seceded from Germany and achieved international recognition only from the Eastern European kingdom of Latveria, ruled by Victor von Doom. As thanks for this recognition, Zemo helped Doom locate the Nega Bands and conspire with the Elders of the Universe to create a new Battleworld from a piece of Earth. Zemo became one of Doom's barons, responsible for supplying the Dreadnoughts and other weapons of mass destruction. Zemo was captured by Resistance forces and interrogated for the location of Doom's coveted Cosmic Cube, which enabled the Resistance to forge a second Nega Band and restore Earth and the Multiverse. Zemo was arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D for his role in Doom's empire.

Philip "Phil" Ulrich is the nephew of veteran journalist Ben Ulrich. Largely raised by his uncle, Phil was always known as a troubled young man, diagnosed with psychosis at a young age. Nonetheless, he displayed remarkable creativity, particularly when it came to photography. Thanks to his uncle's connections, Phil became a photographer for the Daily Bugle and was seen as a rising star. He developed a close friendship with the young Miles Morales, and appeared to be doing well with his treatments. Unfortunately, this was ruined when he broke into Gustave Fiers' lab following the Symbiote War, and was exposed to the Empire's most potent form of the Goblin Formula, which hideously mutated Phil's body, gave him superhuman abilities, and drove him insane. Declaring himself the Goblin King, Phil acted on his every base instinct for dominance, eventually taking over the whole of Manhattan. He was only brought down thanks to Miles - the new Spider-Man - and Prowler, who led an army of NYPD officers against Phil's Goblin Knights. Miles injected Phil with a serum that reversed the formula's effect, but sadly could not restore his fragile sanity.

Darren Cross is the nephew of Hank Pym, a kind-hearted scientist who discovered Pym Particles, extradimensional particles that can increase or decrease the size of any object.

### Assembling the Team

With a large group of villains with powers equal or even greater than the heroes that now defended Earth, S.H.I.E.L.D charged their sub-division H.A.M.M.E.R with the task of assembling a specialized task-force, offering these villains the opportunity to lessen their crimes by carrying out operations in defence of the planet. The responsibility was given to agent Jane Forester, the Queen of the Savage Land, with the help of MI-13 agent Peter Wisdom.

## Members

### Current

#### Thunderstrike

* **Name:** Jane Foster
* **Abilities:** Subjection to Sauron's electricity field provides electricity manipulation, superhuman durability and flight
* **Description:** Jane Foster was a zoologist who bonded with Koba the Humanimal, a gorilla who underwent rapid evolution into a human. When Paradise Island was freed from the Ani-Mator by the Ani-Mates, Jane married Koba and was declared Queen of the Ani-Mates. Following the war with Kang the Conqueror, she joined the Ani-Mates in their quest to find the Savage Land. There, they encountered the mad scientist Karl Lykos who kidnapped Jane and used her as a test subject. The experiments resulted in Jane gaining powers over electricity, and together with her husband she freed the primitive inhabitants of the Savage Land, the Small-Folk, from Lykos. Following this, Jane decided that her powers could be used for the good of the whole planet and she became a member of H.A.M.M.E.R and given the responsibility of assembling the Thunderbolts task force.

#### Peter Wisdom

* **Name:** Peter Henry Wisdom
* **Abilities:** Expert hand-to-hand combatant, tactician and sharpshooter; possesses mutant ability to generate electric "knives" from his fingers
* **Description:** Peter Wisdom is an agent of MI-13, the British intelligence agency that investigates supernatural and paranormal phenomena around the world to secure Britain's safety. Despite his relative youth, Wisdom is well-known as a successful agent, due to his ingenuity and his vast knowledge of the supernatural. Following the Incursion, Wisdom was transferred on-loan to H.A.M.M.E.R, joining the Thunderbolts task-force.

#### Thaddeus Ross

* **Name:** Thaddeus Ross
* **Abilities:** When enraged or stressed, transforms into a red hulking monster with superhuman strength and limited intelligence; the angrier he gets, the hotter his body becomes, to the point of melting nearby objects
* **Description:** A disgraced former general in the United States Military, Thaddeus Ross was present during the testing of the gamma bomb, which killed lead scientist Bruce Banner when he tried to save tresspassing college student Rick Jones. Framing Banner for the incident, Ross rose to become the Secretary of Defence. He was tasked with heading up the government's attempt to recreate the Super Soldier Serum, and ended up testing a specific heat-treated version on himself. The serum transformed him into a hulking creature with superhuman strength that generated and emitted heat the angrier it became. Drunk on power, it sought to amplify its powers using the blood of Rick Jones. This culminated in the Duel of Chinatown, where A-Bomb defeated Ross after a lengthy battle. Ross was stripped of his ranks and placed in a cryogenic prison, the Fridge.

#### Kaine

* **Name:** SS-006
* **Abilities:** Spider-like physiology allows for superhuman strength, accelerated reactions, adhesion to walls, and organic webbing
* **Description:** One of many clones of Spider-Man created by Oscorp's "Spider-Slayer" project, SS-006 was rescued by Cassandra Web alongside his clone brother, SS-005. Taking the name Kaine, the clone became an assassin for the Maggia, using a suit resembling the supposedly-dead Spider-Man. Kaine was confronted by his clone brother SS-005, who had become the masked vigilante Scarlet Spider. Beaten and imprisoned in the Raft, Kaine was broken out a year later by Scarlet Spider and Spider-Woman to help them locate Cassandra's killer. Kaine went into hiding after Jessica's supposed death, but secretly attended his clone brother's funeral after he sacrificed himself to restore Earth and the Multiverse. Since then he has acted as a violent vigilante in an attempt to honour Reilly.

### Formerly

#### Helmut Zemo

* **Name:** Helmut Zemo
* **Abilities:** Scientific genius, expert tactician, hacker, combatant and engineer; prior to the Incursion, was provided diplomatic immunity
* **Description:** The grandson of a high-ranking HYDRA officer, Baron Helmut Zemo was the ruler of the secessionist Duchy of Novi Grad, which was only internationally recognised by the kingdom of Latveria, ruled by Doctor Doom. As such, when Doom helped the Elders destroy Earth and create Battleworld, he kept Novi Grad protected. In return, Zemo supplied Doom's army with armour, weapons and vehicles, including the notorious Dreadnoughts. The Duchy was restored along with Earth when Scarlet Spider wielded the Nega Bands, and Zemo was arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D for his aiding of Doom.

#### Goblin King

* **Name:** Philip "Phil" Ulrich
* **Abilities:** Goblin formula provides enhanced strength, endurance, stamina, senses and regenerative healing factor in exchange for the erosion of his sanity
* **Description:** Phil Ulrich was a rising star in investigative journalism, possessing a natural gift for photography. A close friend of Miles Morales, Phil eventually deduced that Miles was Spider-Man's mysterious protégé Prodigy. While photographing Gustave Fiers' symbiote lab, Phil was exposed to Fiers' purified goblin formula, which turned Phil's skin grey, mutated his body, provided him superhuman strength, endurance and healing factor and drove him insane. Declaring himself the Goblin King, Phil assembled the Goblin Knights, beat the new Spider-Man almost to death, and sieged Manhattan by separating it from the mainland. Six months later, Goblin King was brought down by the NYPD led by Prowler and the healed Miles, and was injected with a serum that reversed Phil's superhuman abilities but could not restore his sanity.

#### Yellowjacket

* **Name:** Darren Cross
* **Abilities:** Yellowjacket suit allows size alteration, superhuman strength, and flight; possesses genius-level IQ
* **Description:** Darren Cross is the nephew of Hank Pym, the scientist who discovered Pym Particles. When his uncle died, Cross inherited Pym Industries and transformed it into Cross Enterprises. Unlike his uncle, who wanted to use the particles for the better of humanity, Cross intended to weaponize them and used company funds to buy black-market HADES technology. This brought the attention of the Prowler, who was still on his campaign to erase all traces of the evil AI Hades. Believing this technology could still harbour traces of Hades, Prowler vowed to destabilize Cross' goals, which also involved taking down Cross' army of enforcers led by Shocker.