The MCU has yet to introduce one of Marvel’s most powerful and rarely used characters

Dr. Victor Von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) is about to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universefirst in “Avengers: Doomsday”, then in “Avengers: Secret Wars”. Marvel readers familiar with “Secret Wars” might expect him to bring along another bad guy: Owen Reese, the Molecular Man.

Molecule Man is not a top-tier villain like Doom, Magneto, or Thanos. His control over molecules means he has been outpacing them almost ever since Everything It consists of molecules. (Molecule Man originally channeled his powers using a wand, but this wizard-like practice has been mostly forgotten.)

1963’s “Fantastic Four” #20, directed by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, introduced Molecule Man. He was an unknown factory worker who was granted his godly powers in a nuclear accident. The story contrasts how insignificant he was before and how dangerous he is – So So dangerous Uatu the Watcher breaks his vow not to interfere To help the four.

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Molecule Man outmaneuvers the four at first, but then Reed Richards realizes that only he can control him inorganic molecules. (This issue doubles as a science lesson for young readers What are “molecules”.) Molecule Man was defeated, and taken captive by Uatu.

Lee & Kirby never reused Molecule Man during Fantastic Four, and he has only been featured occasionally since. However, Molecule Man was lucky enough to be one of the villains featured in the 1984 “Secret Wars” miniseries. Written by Then-Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter Drawn by Bob Zeke and Howard Layton, “Secret Wars” featured many of Earth’s superheroes and villains being whisked away to Battleworld by the divine Beyonder.

Molecule Man’s ties to the Beyonder made him his biggest role yet in Jonathan Hickman’s “Avengers” and “New Avengers” series, culminating in a pseudo-“Secret Wars” remake in 2015. It’s anyone’s guess which “Secret Wars” the film will take on more of – and whether it will find a place for Molecule Man.

Shortly before “Secret Wars”, Jim Shooter used Molecule Man as the villain in the two-part “Avengers” story, issues #215-216. (This story is where the name “Owen Reese” comes from.) The cover of issue 215 called Molecule Man “infinitely powerful and utterly insane,” and his actions inside live up to that; Inspired by Silver Surfer Tales of GalactusHe is trying to destroy planet Earth.

This may be why Shooter used Molecule Man, a minor villain, in Secret Wars. In his last appearance, Molecule Man has abandoned his megalomania and Shooter continues to describe Molecule Man as a reluctant villain. On Battleworld, he falls in love with fellow villain Volcana, and they try to settle down.

In the later Shooter game “Secret Wars II”, Molecule Man is the one who finally defeats the Beyonder, as he is the only man who can rival the power of the god. Their battle literally shakes infinite time and space (see below, art by the Milgroms).

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In “Fantastic Four” issue #319 (“Secret Wars 3”), writer Steve Englehart retconned Molecule Man’s origin; The power-granting incident opened a “loophole” in the Beyonder’s home dimension, which piqued the Beyonder’s interest. Hickman modified this further for his “Secret Wars”.

The driving force of Hickman’s “Avengers” saga is the Incursions, in which two Earths encroach on and ultimately destroy each other’s worlds. To stop an invasion, you must destroy one of the two planets before their combined time runs out. Some forces are too powerful for even the Avengers to overcome, such as global heat death, the reality law that everything eventually dies… or an entire race of Beyonders. These space gods want to erase everything and created Molecule Man to destroy the multiverse.

Dr. Doom and Molecule Man try to stop the incursions; Victor has a savior complex and you can’t be emperor when there’s nothing left to rule. They travel through time and dimensions, discovering that Molecule Man is the same person in all of reality; The connected consciousness has split into many bodies. Some dialogue in “New Avengers” #26 (art by Kev Walker) tells me that this is where the MCU got the idea that dreams are our afterlife (As stated in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”).

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The multiverse is supposed to be an infinite diversity of infinite possibilities. Take how There are some worlds where Doom is a hero And his opponent, Reed Richards, is evil. Molecule Man is identical throughout the universe because he was created directly by the Beyonders to be a bomb. When every identical iteration of itself explodes at the same time, it will take the multiverse with it.

Doom and Molecule Man set out to preemptively kill the Molecule Men one by one to stop this, recruiting an army of… “Black Swans” Of the destroyed worlds to achieve this purpose. The murders committed by Molecule’s men trigger the Incursions, a backup plan for mass destruction created by the Beyonders. Therefore, death begins collection Instead, the Molecule Men unleash the Beyonders’ special bomb on them. The Earth-616 Molecule Man takes the power of the Beyonders into himself and gives it to Doom, who creates and rules a new battle world. When Doom proved himself unworthy of that power in “Secret Wars” #9, Molecule Man gave it to Reed Richards; He and his family rebuild the multiverse together.

In his first appearance, Molecule Man boasted that he was “the strongest being that ever lived.” Stories told since then have shown that the cliched, ultra-villain threat was no exaggeration – time will tell if the MCU follows that pattern and introduces its own Molecule Man.