Brad Cage

> "I'm Brad. Leader of this, uh, little band of misfits."
> "Leader, or so he fancies himself."
> "Well, if you were me you'd fancy yourself, too."
>
> Brad Cage and Korina Dominguez, *Army of Thieves*

**Alexis Broschini**, later going by **Brad Cage**, was a member of Gwendoline's heist crew who acted as their "real life action hero." He was responsible for handling their action-heavy and more violent needs. Brad was portrayed by Stuart Martin in *Army of Thieves*.

## Biography

### Early life

Alexis was a scrawny boy who got into a school fight at the age of eleven. He was easily defeated by his larger opponent, and was still upset about it after arriving home from school that afternoon. Inspired by Nicolas Cage in *Con Air*, Alexis began to work out using his own makeshift weights. He eventually left home and joined a gang of other rich kids who had left home. It was here that he met Gwendoline Starr, and the two later created a heist crew that would come to be some of Interpol's most wanted criminals. Alexis changed his name to Brad Cage in honor of Brad Pitt and Nicolas Cage, and continued to develop his musculature in adulthood.

In 2012 Brad was arrested but later released for lack of evidence. In 2016, after he and Gwen had started their crew, he injured two policemen during a heist.

### Rheingold heist

Gwendoline Starr sought the adventure of cracking the Ring Cycle, while Brad just wanted the safes' contents. The first target, which Brad wasn't particularly interested in attacking due to its containment of lesser amounts of cash, was the Rheingold. It waited in a credit union in Paris. Brad's role was to provide the distraction that would allow Sebastian to sneak out of the building with his bags of cash. The mission went entirely according to plan and the group headed back to their hideout to celebrate. Brad and Gwen had a minor fight and she secluded herself upstairs, while Brad noted that Sebastian had followed her up and spent a large part of the evening talking with her. He began to grow jealous of Sebastian.

### Valkyrie heist

The next day's target was the Valkyrie in NPIB Prague. Brad was again on standby for creating a distraction, which he needed to do when Korina Dominguez noted that NPIB security had issued a soft lockdown. Calling it "Plan B," he put on a Richard Nixon mask and stormed the bank. He took down several security personnel with tranquilizer darts before engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the few that remained, also tranquilizing them when able. He commanded the bank patrons into the center of the lobby while ordering employees to fill his bag with cash. He made to leave, but was shot by one final security guard before jumping from a window and heading for the van. The chaos his stunt created was enough to allow Sebastian and Gwen to flee from the safe with as much of its contents as they could carry.

Rolph started their getaway van while Gwen and Sebastian ran after it. Brad helped Gwen into the back, then helped Sebastian up onto the edge, but tossed him back into the street as the van sped away. Rolph lost the approaching police and drove them out of town, where Gwen, furious that Brad had tossed Sebastian aside, decided she'd leave the crew and end her relationship with Brad. Korina shortly followed, and Brad and Rolph kept going.

### Siegfried heist

After Gwen and Korina's departure, Brad suspected they'd continue to the third safe in the St. Moritz Bly. In an attempt to win back Gwen, Brad had Rolph drive them to St. Moritz where the final heist would go down. They scoped out Bly's Casino only to find Interpol coming out, looking dejected. Realizing Gwen must have already made off with the money, Brad gave up hope of finding them, until Rolph asked to see the location of Gwen's phone on GPS. Seeing their path before them, they followed Gwen and found her pulled over and collecting the cash from the back of an armored truck with Sebastian.

Brad and Rolph approached them and Brad pulled his gun on them. He asked Gwen to take him back, but was rejected, so he attempted to shoot Sebastian. When the gun didn't go off, he tried to shoot him again. Gwen informed him that she'd removed the firing pin, and pulled her own gun on him. Sebastian lunged forward and punched Brad in the face, but only managed to hurt his own hand. Brad laughed, but Gwen commanded him and Rolph over to the side of the truck, where she restrained them and left with Sebastian. Brad yelled out after her, claiming he'd find them again, but shortly after Vincent Delacroix arrived to arrest him.

## Abilities

* **Exceptional physiology**: Brad worked on developing and maintaining his musculature from the age of eleven, and so was very strong, at one point lifting a security guard in the air to slam him back down to the floor.
* **Hand-to-hand combat**: Brad's skill in hand-to-hand combat enabled him to take down multiple security guards on his own.
* **Marksmanship**: Brad had incredible coordination, especially when it came to his dart guns, which he used to quickly take down several guards from an impressive distance without missing a single shot.

## Equipment

* **Richard Nixon mask**: Cage wore a Richard Nixon Halloween mask to hide his identity during the Valkyrie heist.
* **Binoculars**: Brad used a pair of binoculars to search for Gwendoline Starr at the St. Moritz Bly.
* **Dart gun**: Brad carried a gun capable of firing tranquilizer darts, which he used to knock out several security guards during the Valkyrie heist.
* **Pistol**: Brad carried a pistol at all times while on missions, though unbeknownst to him, Gwendoline Starr had removed the firing pin after he shot Vincent Delacroix in the upper thigh.
* **Shotgun**: Brad carried a shotgun as a backup weapon when his darts weren't enough. He used the gun to fire at Pavel during the Valkyrie heist.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Gwendoline's heist crew
	+ Rolph
	+ Korina Dominguez

### Enemies

* Interpol
	+ Vincent Delacroix
	+ Beatrix
* Gwendoline's heist crew - allies turned enemies
	+ Gwendoline Starr
	+ Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert
* Pavel

## Trivia

* Brad's Richard Nixon mask is an homage to *Point Break*, which featured a bank robbery wherein the robbers wore masks representing United States presidents, including one of Richard Nixon.

## References

Shay Hatten (writer) & Matthias Schweighöfer (director) (October 29, 2021). *Army of Thieves*.
2. ↑ In *Army of Thieves*, Vincent Delacroix's presentation includes these details about Brad's past.