Actors - Wonder Man

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This article is on the Marvel Comics character. For the DC character, see Wonder Man (DC Comics).

Wonder Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, and is a member in long standing of the Avengers. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Avengers #9 (October 1964). The 1st penciler to draw him in a published comic was Don Heck.

Character Biography

Simon Williams was born the son of a rich family, and inherited the family's company and fortune. His father died when he was in his twenties, and despite his best efforts, his company (Williams Innovations) began to decline and lose money to its biggest competitor, Tony Stark. On the advice of his brother Eric, Simon tried to embezzle money from his company and was imprisoned, blaming Tony Stark for his failure. The supervillain Baron Zemo found the desperate Williams and offered him a chance to escape by transforming him into the ion-powered Wonder Man.

Wonder Man joined the Avengers on Zemo's behalf, but ultimately turned on Zemo and was apparently killed in doing so. He actually remained in a deathlike state of suspended animation for years, during which time the android Ultron stole a recording of his brain-patterns, using them in the creation of an android of his own, the Vision.

William's brother, Eric Williams, became the supervillain called the Grim Reaper, and the process that had empowered Simon was also used to empower the villain Count Nefaria, among others.

Wonder Man was eventually revived as a zombie by Black Talon, by voodoo, and attacked the Avengers again. His body being made of ionic energy, or in the way to be so, was probably the factor why he was able to regain his own free will, and for his consciousness to finally re-emerge. He finally joined the Avengers full-time, becoming close friends with his teammate, the Beast and changed his costume including a period where he had a distinctive look with a turtleneck sweater under a short red trenchcoat with sunglasses.

For some time after his "resurrection," Wonder Man suffered from two psychological problems. One--slight claustrophobia--was minor. The other was the far more serious fear of death; the thought of again being cut off from life was often crippling to him in battle. This fear made his Avengers service somewhat traumatic for him. In an attempt to find a less hazardous occupation, he sought work as an actor. In New York (where the Avengers are based), his career seemed forever stalled; he occasionally found work in stage plays, but more frequently found himself working on cable access shows. When he met Avengers reservist Hercules (during a time when the Avengers were reorganizing their membership rolls), the son of Zeus convinced him he had made many contacts in Hollywood who could help Williams to realize his dream; Wonder Man then travelled to Los Angeles with his new comrade. While Hercules was unable to help Wonder Man find acting work right away, Simon did find work as a stunt man, a job his invulnerability made him ideally suited for. Ironically, this work--undertaken to help him avoid danger--helped Wonder Man overcome his crippling fear, as repeated triumphs on the movie set allowed him to build up his confidence. The change in venue also led to Wonder Man become a founding and core member of the West Coast Avengers team, and eventually to greater success as an actor.

Wonder Man eventually came to accept the Vision as his "brother". However, the Vision was dismantled and rebuilt as an emotionless machine, his memory erased by several governmental powers worldwide which were afraid of all the information contained in Vision's brain.

The Vision's wife, the Scarlet Witch, asked Wonder Man for him to lend his brainwaves again for her lover to be reborn, but Wonder Man refused, suddenly claiming to have always had feelings for her which he could never really voice, and hoping this was his chance. She became mad at his refusal, and used her powers to throw a mountain at him which did not hurt anything but his feelings, sending him hurling and screaming into the airless space in which he is able to survive.

When the Avengers West Coast disbanded Williams became a founder member of its successor group - Force Works, along with Iron Man, the Scarlet Witch, US Agent and Spider-Woman. However, Wonder Man was disintegrated in a battle with the alien Kree in an early mission with the group.

The Scarlet Witch was eventually able to restore Williams to life with her magic, and in the process brought back the Grim Reaper, who at the time had been a ghost. They became romantically involved, but slowly drifted apart, and called it quits during the Kang War, promising to stay friends. Recently Simon was linked to Ms. Marvel, also known as Carol Danvers, during House of M.

Powers and abilities

Initially, as empowered by Baron Zemo, Wonder Man possessed superhuman strength and endurance that were comparable with Giant Man. After his first "death", his powers increased significantly while in stasis, placing him in the "Class 100" strength range, almost on a level with Thor; entailing that he can lift far in excess of 100 tons. Wonder Man also possesses superhuman speed but initially could not fly of his own power. After his revival, he gained a belt that featured a pair of rockets that tapped into his ionic power to give him the ability of flight. Without the belt, he could not fly, but eventually learned to leap great distances like the Hulk. After he was exposed to the energies of a Nega-Bomb in "Operation Galactic Storm", his powers entered a state of flux that lasted until his second "death" in combat with the Kree. At one point during this state of flux, energy erupted from his body and temporarily empowered a group of his non-superpowered friends and associates, who were briefly known as the "Crazy Eight". During an epic battle against Mephisto, he learned that his body made of ionic energy was able to do far more than he first fathomed. Among other things, he learned that he could fly by himself by projecting energy from his lower body. After that, he was killed by the Kree (see bio above and trivia below), and his atoms were dispersed worldwide. His body was later reformed by the Scarlet Witch. His body was now clearly in its natural state, a form of energy (most likely ionic energy).

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