Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 182. Who is Wonder Man?

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Ep. 182. Who is Wonder Man? · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

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Hi guys, it's Megan from Vigilante Vibes, and with the
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excitement of the Wonder Man series coming at the end of
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January, I think it's time we talk about him.
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I saw many people ask about him, curious about who he was in the
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comics. Well fellow Marvel fans, I got
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you covered here. This might be my most in depth
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one I've done, so here's hoping it's not too long.
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Who knows? So Simon Williams AKA Wonder
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Man, first appeared in Avengers #9 in 1964.
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Simon Williams was the younger of two sons born to Sanford
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Williams, an industrialist who founded a hugely successful
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ammunitions company called Williams Innovations.
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Sanford was a strict, no nonsense kind of father with a
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sky high expectations for his kids, and his harsh discipline
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often crossed the line into abuse.
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That behavior carried down to Simon's older brother Eric, who
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started taking out his frustrations on Simon.
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When Eric turned down his father's offer to work in the
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family business, Simon, the quieter, more book loving one,
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stepped up instead. So when Stanford died, Simon
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ended up inheriting full control of Williams innovation at just
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20 years old. Unfortunately, Simon wasn't
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exactly ready for the responsibility, and under his
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leadership the company started losing ground to fast rising
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competitors like Stark Industries.
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Maybe you've heard of him? Well, them, the company and
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Stark. Desperate to save his father's
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legacy, Simon turned to Eric for help.
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Eric suggested something pretty reckless, embezzling money from
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the company to invest in some shady but profitable Maggie
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backed Ventures. Simon, under pressure and
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running out of options, actually did it.
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It didn't take long for the board of directors to uncover
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what he'd done, and Simon was put on trial for embezzlement
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and for his connection to organized crime.
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He was found guilty and facing prison when a more of the
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enchantress stepped in. Out of nowhere, she paid his
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bail and magically manipulated the authorities into letting him
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go. It turned out Baron Zemo had
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been following Simon's case in the papers and was intrigued by
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Simon's public resentment toward Tony Stark.
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Believing Stark was Iron Man's boss when in fact, you know
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Stark was Iron Man, Zemo sent the Enchanters to recruit Simon
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to join the Masters of Evil. Still reeling from everything
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that happened, Simon went with her to Zemo's base in South
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America, where he agreed to be a test subject for Zemo's new I
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ionic Gray process. After a grueling round of
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chemical and radiation treatments, Simon emerged with
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superhuman strength and durability.
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Zemo outfitted him in a costume, dubbed him Wonder Man, and told
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him he'd be key to defeating The Avengers.
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To keep Simon in line, Zemo lied and said the procedure had
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altered his metabolism. Without a special antidote, he'd
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die within a week. Terrified, Wonder Man agreed to
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play along in a staged fight with the Masters of Evil.
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He pretended to side with The Avengers and quickly earned
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their trust. When he confessed that he was
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dying, The Avengers did everything they could to cure
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him but could not find a solution.
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Eventually, Simon led the team into what turned out to be an
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ambush by the Masters of Evil, but partway through, he had a
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change of heart. He couldn't bring himself to
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betray The Avengers after how kind they've been to him.
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Giving up Zemo's antidote, Simon sacrificed himself, dying from
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the side effects of the ionic treatment.
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His last words were that he was glad his final act had been a
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noble one. The Avengers thought Simon was
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dead and brought his body back to the US for a burial, but in
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reality he'd fallen into a deep coma caused by unstable energy
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inside him. His brother Eric, now calling
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himself the Grim Reaper, stole Simon's body with plans to use
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it to manipulate the Vision, whose synthetic brain had been
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based on Simon's own mind patterns.
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Eric tried to convince the Vision to betray The Avengers by
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promising to transfer his mind into Simon's body, but when that
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failed, he even tried to offer him Captain America's body
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instead. Eric escaped with Simon's body
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and took it to New Orleans, hoping voodoo priests could
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bring his brother back. The cult leader Black Talon
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succeeded, but only in creating a mindless zombie version of
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Wonder Man Eric sent his reanimated Simon to attack the
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Vision, but the plan didn't work out and The Avengers followed
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the trail back to New Orleans. After exposure to the living
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lasers, powers and other energy surges, Simon gradually came out
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of a zombie like state, regaining consciousness and
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realizing he was fully alive again.
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His body had changed though. It was no longer made of normal
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human tissue, but of superhuman energy based substance fueled by
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ionic energy. Simon had a rough time adjusting
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to being alive again, and struggled with the trauma of his
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death. He stayed at Avengers Mansion
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for a while, helping the team out when he could, but he was
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often paralyzed by the fear of dying again.
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Eventually, during a major battle with the cosmic being
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Korvac, he overcame his fear long enough to reach his full
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potential as a hero. Even after that though, he
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occasionally struggled with panic and self doubt, which is
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pretty human. Overtime, Simon was officially
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reinstated as an Avenger, became close friends with the Beast.
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He even confronted the Magia again when he fought Madame Mask
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and the Dreadnought to reclaim his old factory.
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When the Grim Reaper found out Simon was alive, he returned to
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The Avengers Mansion and forced the team into a mock trial to
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prove that this Wonder man was really his brother.
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When Simon refused to let him kill the Vision, Eric went on a
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rampage and Simon had to fight him.
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The Avengers managed to subdue the Reaper and have him
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committed to a mental institution, but he eventually
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escaped and convinced once again that neither Simon nor the
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Vision was truly his brother. But it's actually really funny
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to think that the Grim Reaper is just in a mental institution.
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I don't. Maybe it's not funny to
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everyone. I think it's funny.
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Living at The Avengers Mansion, Simon decided he didn't want to
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mooch off the team financially. Not wanting to return to
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business, he tried acting, reasoning that he'd been acting
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like a hero for years anyways, which is fair.
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After working as a strong man on a children's show and a security
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consultant at Cord Co, neither of which lasted long, he moved
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to Los Angeles, where he found success as a stuntman,
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eventually as an actor. When Hawkeye formed the West
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Coast Avengers, Simon joined him.
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Despite some doubts about measuring up to the rest, he
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proved himself time and time again, defeating powerful foes
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like Gravidon, Ultron, even his brother, the Grim Reaper, who is
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a problem. Clearly feeling stronger and
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more confident, Simon publicly admitted his past embezzlement,
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asking for forgiveness. The public respected his
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honesty, and for the first time, Simon truly felt free of his
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past. He also developed very
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complicated feelings for the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff,
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especially after the Vision, whose mind was based on his own,
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was dismantled and rebuilt without emotions.
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When Wanda asked Simon to help restore Visions mind by donating
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his brain patterns again, Simon refused, both out of guilt and
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because of his feelings for her. The situation strained things
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between them, though Simon later apologized.
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Simon eventually left the West Coast Avengers to focus on
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acting and his personal life. He dated A screenwriter named
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Alex Flores and continued navigating life in Hollywood.
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His life took an even darker turn when he became involved in
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Operation Galactic Storm, an intergalactic conflict between
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the Cree and the Shi'ar. During this war, Simon witnessed
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the detonation of the Mega Bomb, which wiped out nearly the
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entire Cree race. Even though he wasn't directly
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responsible, the event haunted him deeply and LED to ongoing
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psychological trauma. Later, while working with Force
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Works successor to the West Coast Avengers, Simon was killed
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by Cree warriors seeking revenge for the genocide.
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His body was destroyed in an ionic explosion that turned the
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Los Angeles skies pink. Eventually, Wanda used her chaos
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magic to resurrect him, and the two briefly became a couple.
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Their relationship ended amicably when they realized they
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were better off as friends. Feeling that he didn't deserve
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another chance at life, Simon created a nonprofit organization
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called The Second Chances, using his fame and fortune to help
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people rebuild their lives. When the Superhuman Registration
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Act was passed, Simon registered and became a SHIELD agent.
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Though he hated the politics of it, he joined the Mighty
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Avengers alongside Miss Marvel, whom he had a relationship with
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Iron Man and others. Together they fought threats
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like Ultron, Doctor Doom, the Hulk's War Bound, and the
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Scrolls during their invasion. I should also mention this was
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Carol Danvers Miss Marvel, not Kamala Khan Miss Marvel.
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Nothing weird going on here. After Norman Osborne took over
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national security, Simon became disillusioned with the heroism,
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publicly declaring that The Avengers had caused more harm
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than good. He was later arrested as a part
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of the group called the Lethal Legion.
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When Steve Rogers reassembled The Avengers after the siege
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event, Simon refused to rejoin, even attacking the team at one
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point. Tony Stark later revealed that
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Simon's body was unstable and leaking ionic energy, suggesting
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his erratic behavior wasn't entirely his fault.
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Simon eventually put together his own anti Avengers team, the
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Revengers, believing The Avengers needed to be stopped.
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After a series of battles, he was captured and imprisoned.
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He later redeemed himself by helping The Avengers rescue the
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Wasp and joined The Avengers Unity Squad, A-Team dedicated to
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uniting humans and mutants. During a mission against the
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Apocalypse Twins, Rogue accidentally absorbed Simon's
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essence and powers, keeping his consciousness inside her mind
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until she eventually released him.
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What can you do that Rogue? In later adventures, Wonder Man
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joined groups like The Avengers Emergency Response Squad,
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helping heroes like Photon, She Hulk, and Hercules during global
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crises. He maintained his pacifist
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ideals, but still stepped in when necessary like he, like
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when he drank a VAT of toxic serpent venom to neutralize it
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without harm. Unhinged things like that.
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Even in quieter moments, Simon stayed involved with the
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superhero community, working alongside friends like Beast and
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She Hulk and lending his strength when the world needed
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them. Through it all, Simon Williams,
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Wonder Man remained a complicated but ultimately
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hopeful figure. Someone who fell Rose again kept
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trying to live up to the name Avenger.
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So you have his back story, but what is his powers?
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Well, there's a laundry list of them, so hang tight while we
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discuss all of them. Ionic energy form Wonder Man's
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body isn't exactly human anymore.
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His tissues and bones were like supercharged and partly replaced
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during the ionic ray experiment that gave him his powers, which
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involved PIM particle charged ions.
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Even though he often says he's made of ionic energy, it's a bit
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unclear these days whether his outer form is actually made of
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energy or still has some kind of flesh like substance.
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At one point when everyone in New York got turned into
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symbiotes, Simon explained that he wasn't affected because he's
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basically a being of pure ions, not flesh and blood.
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Superhuman strength. This one is pretty
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self-explanatory. Wonder Man's strength is
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absolutely off the charts. He can lift well over 100 tons
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and no one's really sure what his upper limit is.
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He's been compared to powerhouses like Thor, the whole
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Hercules, even the century. Some people have called him one
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of the strongest human beings on Earth and even the most powerful
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member of The Avengers at different points.
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He's gone toe to toe with Thor multiple times and even knocked
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him down on occasion. Though to be fair, both Thor and
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Century usually hold back, but Spider Man once joked that Simon
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belongs to the same strength class as the Hulk, Thor, and
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Hercules, just a notch below them, but still way above Iron
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Man even at full power. So if Spider Man says that, I
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believe it. Superhuman leaping.
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Simon's leg strength lets him jump ridiculous distances, so
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there's that. Superhuman speed.
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He's very fast. Superhuman stamina.
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Thanks to his ionic Physiology, Simon doesn't tire out ever, so
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he just keeps going. He's the Energizer Bunny.
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Invulnerability. Simon's body is made of ionized
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organic matter instead of normal flesh.
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I've said the word flesh way too many times, which makes him
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incredibly tough. He can shrug off bullets,
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explosions, massive impacts and even atmospheric re entry
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without getting hurt. The next one, Superhuman agility
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and reflexes for a guy with so much muscle.
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Simon moves with the agility, balance and reflexes of a top
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level athlete. Enhanced senses.
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His senses senses are enhanced. Flight.
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He can fly. Power fluctuations.
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Simon's power and strength levels can fluctuate depending
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on his emotional state. When he's mentally off balance
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or under stress, his abilities can either spike higher than
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normal or weaken. Resurrection Empowerment.
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Every time Simon dies and comes back, his ionic energy
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restructures itself stronger than before.
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So each resurrection leaves him more powerful than the last,
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which is just bananas. Immortality because he just
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because he's powered entirely by ionic energy.
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He's not flesh and bones like the rest of us.
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He doesn't age or get sick. He just he's just vibing.
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Self resurrection. We've gone over this.
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He can even his body. If his body is completely
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destroyed or dispersed, he eventually reforms over time.
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Self sustenance. Simon doesn't need food, sleep,
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water, or even air, so he can just survive crazy regeneration.
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His ionic body can heal itself from basically anything.
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Gunshot wounds, torn off limbs, all that stuff.
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Energy manipulation. Before his death at the hands of
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the Cree, Simon learned to release bursts of raw ionic
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energy through his body with devastating force.
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He doesn't use the ability as often now, but it's it's still
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there. Energy constructs.
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Simon can shape his internal energy into solid, tangible
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forms, so he can make like force fields or energy bubbles, all
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that electromagnetic manipulation.
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Under training from the Wasp and the Beast, Simon learned that he
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can detect, absorb, and manipulate electromagnetic
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fields and other types of energy in the environment using his
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ionic energy as a conduit. There's there's more, I'm so
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sorry, I'll just go through them.
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Ionic blasts, ionic beams, flame projection, shape shifting, size
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alteration, power recycling, teleportation.
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So he is obviously super, super overpowered and personally, I
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don't think the MCU knows how to handle a super overpowered
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character. I mean, they handled Wiccan, but
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we didn't, we didn't get that full effect.
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We didn't have to see him take down the world like Franklin
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Richards. I'm very nervous for them to
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use. But Wonder Man is as overpowered
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as it comes and he's a cool character.
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I'm excited to see his series. So as usual, I have comics for
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you to check out to get to know Simon AKA Wonder Man even
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better. So he actually has his own
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solos. You can check out Wonder Man
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solo with volumes 1-2 and three. It's fun, it's good.
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Avengers volume 1 #150 to 200. He's in there a lot.
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Avengers volume 3 when he returns from the dead and stays
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on The Avengers team and most currently you can check him out
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in the Longshots comics and the X-Men Age of Revelation event
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going on currently he's in there with oh, I forgot her name oops,
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Jessica Jones sister. If someone can just help me out
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with that. I forgot her name completely,
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but yes. So that is wonder man.
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I hope you learned something be sure to like and subscribe So
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when the series comes out, you can watch me review the show and
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also I have all these character breakdowns right now.
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I'm going really heavy into the X-Men, but I'm going to start
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sprinkling and other ones in there because it's like there's
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just so many characters in the Marvel Universe that I feel are
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very underrated and need more attention.
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So with that being said, have a marvelous day.