WONDER MAN

 

WONDER MAN

Real Name: Simon Williams

First Appearance: Avengers (Vol. 1) #9, October 1964

Powers: Simon Williams underwent an ionic bombardment process thanks to Baron Zemo. The ionic energy saturated his cellular structure, giving him roughly Superhuman Class 90 strength, superhuman endurance, and durability. Due to a fail-safe incorporated into the energy by Zemo, Williams died within seven days of his original treatment. His "death" actually sent him into a chrysalis stage where his entire body reformed itself out of ionic energy, becoming a living furnace of power. His brother, the Grim Reaper, resurrected him as a zombie, and later the Serpent Crown fully reawakened him. Wonder Man was now more invulnerable than ever, and virtually tireless thanks to his self-replenishing energy supply. He also was capable of running at around 100 mph. Simon's eyes were now glowing pools of red ionic energy. Though he could will them to look normal through intense concentration, the slightest distraction would cause them to revert, so normally he just wore glasses to hide his eyes. He adopted a set of Stark Industries' belt jets in order to fly, later remodeled them as a jet-pack, and then went back to the belt jets, only using a new set which was able to draw energy straight from the ionic power of his own body.

Shortly thereafter, Wonder Man was exposed to a massive dose of nega-radiation when a Skrull nega bomb went off during Galactic Storm. This created an irregularity in his ionic matrix, causing numerous side effects. Simon became ionically contagious, randomly building up and blasting off plumes of energy that mutated people standing nearby into ionic super-beings. He accidentally created the villain Ang-Korr and the heroes Crazy Eight in this manner. He developed erratic mood swings, oscillating between manic and frenzied anger to wallowing in despair and hopelessness. These mood swings accompanied changes in his power levels as well, reducing him to a 98-pound weakling when he was depressed to boosting his powers considerably when he was in a rage. Ultimately, he came to control his powers again, and in so doing manifested the ability to fly under his own power. Unfortunately, he was killed by an ionic bomb shortly thereafter, his ions being scattered across the atmosphere and his soul moving on.

The Scarlet Witch accidentally brought him back to life with a hex-boosted cry for Avengers Assemble, reassembling Wonder Man's body (which, being energy, was not technically "dead"), and bringing him back to life tied to her. Simon was now a far more obvious energy being, his body constantly glowing with purple and red energy. For a few months, he was only summoned into existence by Wanda's need for him, until she managed to hex him completely back to life and physical form. Wonder Man now had two separate forms: His energy state and his human form, normal looking except for the energized eyes. Simon would automatically assume his energy aspect whenever exerting his powers, or when he chose to activate that state consciously. Later, however, Wonder Man showed greater control over his energy form and would only assumed his "charged" state when he wanted to, regardless of whether he's using his powers or not.

Later, it was revealed that his powers come not just from ionic energy, but from Pym Particle-enriched ions. The Pym Particles control more than just size. They operate on a three-dimensional axis that varies size, strength, and durability along x-, y- and z-axes. So Wonder Man's ionic power comes from Pym Particles augmenting him along two of those axes, affecting his strength and durability.

Simon Williams holds a college degree in electrical engineering. He is a trained electrical engineer, capable industrialist, experienced stuntman, and talented actor.