(Secret Wars II#1) - Stewart Cadwall was on the phone with his agent, arguing the merits of including more violence in his television scripts, when the essence of the Beyonder arrived, intrigued by Cadwall's angry voice. The Beyonder sought to learn more about humanity, and when Stewart marveled at his powers and wish he had them, the Beyonder distributed some of his to the man, through a Shazam Award Cadwall was wielding as a weapon. Transforming into Thundersword, a character he once created, Cadwall decided to lash out at the mediocrity of the world. He then created a winged steed he dubbed Boromir, and flew off.

   Thundersword attacked the NBC studio, upset that they had forced him to rewrite some of his scripts. Several members of the X-Men and New Mutants arrived, believing him to be the Beyonder. Before they could attack, Thundersword did the same, and then turned his attention to the McDonalds they crashed through. Captain America and Iron Man arrived shortly thereafter, and engaged Thundersword in combat. When Captain America threw his shield, knocking the sword out of Thundersword's hand, he reverted to his normal form (and the sword reverted to the Shazam Award). Powerless, Cadwall was overcome with the realization that he'd destroyed the place he worked at.

(Iron Man I#197) - When Iron Man delivered Cadwall to the local police, Cadwall realized that the power the Beyonder had bestowed upon him wasn't in the award, but rather, in him. He reverted back to Thundersword and formed a new sword, busting out of the jail. He also reformed Boromir, and flew off on the winged steed. When Iron Man tried to stop him, Thundersword quickly defeated him and left. Realizing his armor was no match for Thundersword, Iron Man contacted Tony Stark, and the two of them came up with a plan to imbue the armor with more power through a generator. With the extra strength, Iron Man easily resisted Thundersword's blows, and knocked him into the ocean with one punch. When he went to retrieve Thundersword, he was nowhere to be found.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Captain Marvel X#8 (fb) - BTS) - Stewart survived and claimed to have lost his sword. He was arrested, but was eventually released on parole. He married and fathered two children. Because his former career was over after his attack on the studio as Thundersword, he became a bartender. He watched the children during the day while his wife went to work.

(Captain Marvel X#10 (fb) - BTS) - The Master of the World secretly jump-started the energy build-up in Stewart's award that had been empowered by the Beyonder.

(Captain Marvel X#8 (fb) - BTS) - The Inhuman Ulysses predicted a huge pulse of energy would take out several blocks in Van Nuys, California. The details pointed to Stewart Cadwall. Alpha Flight's satellites confirmed an anomalous energy signature in Cadwall's home.

(Captain Marvel X#8) - Captain Marvel stormed the Cadwalls' home with Ms. Marvel, Black Panther and a few soldiers at her side. Stewart and his wife were shocked and protected their children. Captain Marvel had to stop a soldier from shooting the family dog while she sent Black Panther to retrieve whatever was emitting the strange energy. Black Panther found the award that had served Stewart as his power source in the past. Stewart claimed that he had lied about losing it because it was the only thing he had left from his former career and was a reminder of a time when he was good at something. He had no plans of using it again and didn't even know that there was any power left in it. Stewart was arrested for parole violation. His wife and children were inconsolable.

(Captain Marvel X#8 - BTS) - Captain Marvel personally drained the remaining energy from the award and took it to Alpha Flight Station for storage. She noticed that something externally had activated it. She also asked Henry Gyrich to get Cadwall released, but it was out of his jurisdiction. Danvers was mad that Cadwall was held under a seven figure bail he couldn't afford.

(Captain Marvel X#10 (fb) - BTS) - Danvers spoke at Stewart Cadwall's parole hearing and he was released.

(Captain Marvel X#10 - BTS) - The Master of the World, undercover as Alpha Flight board member Philippe Beaulieu, used the award to gain the power of Thundersword.

Comments: Created by Jim Shooter, Al Milgrom, and Steve Leialoha.

A really cool looking villain. Too bad he only lasted two months before disappearing. Perhaps he's still out there somewhere, retaining the power the Beyonder gave him.

In Secret Wars II#1, the Shazam Award, which Cadwall apparently won for one of the shows he wrote, had a clear base with trapezoid sides. In Iron Man I#197, it had a solid brown base that was vertically high and rectangular in shape. Maybe Iron Man picked up the wrong object after the fight?

Obviously, the Shazam Award, with it's lightning bolt, is in homage to the Fawcett/DC character Captain Marvel.

Marian fell asleep while the Beyonder was in their home, and giving Stewart superpowers. Some girlfriend. Perhaps she fainted?

Thundersword/Stewart Cadwall is based on comics writer Steve Gerber, who was working in television at the time. Don't believe me? Compare Stewart Cadwall to a photo of Gerber in the 1980's. --Shad Z. Daly

See another Gerber image for comparison:

Thundersword got a full entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook.

Profile by Madison Carter. Update by Markus Raymond (Captain Marvel).

Clarifications:

THUNDERSWORD has no known connections to

• any other "thunder" or "sword" characters

BOROMIR has no known connections to

• Boromir, @ J.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings trilogy

MARIAN has no known connections to

• anyone else named Marian

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Boromir

Boromir was Thundersword's winged steed. An artificially-created being, Boromir disappeared when Thundersword first lost his powers, and was recreated when he regained them.

--Secret Wars II#1 (Secret Wars II#1, Iron Man I#197

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Marian

Stewart's girlfriend, she was watching one of the cartoons he wrote for when the Beyonder appeared. She fell asleep shortly thereafter.

--Secret Wars II#1

 

 

 

 

 

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Stewart Cadwall's wife & children (Captain Marvel X#8 (fb) - BTS) - Stewart got married and lived a normal life with his wife. They had two children, lived in a house in Van Nuys, California and while Stewart worked at night in a bar, his wife worked during the day while Stewart looked after their children. (Captain Marvel X#8) - Stewart's family spent the evening together when Captain Marvel stormed their home with other heroes and soldiers. Stewart and his wife tried to protect their children and didn't understand what was going on. Stewart was arrested for parole violation because he still owned the Beyonder-empowered award and it posed a threat to the whole area because it was building up power again. Stewart's wife and children were inconsolable after his arrest. Stewart's wife asked Captain Marvel what she was supposed to do because she had to go to work in the morning and with Stewart gone there was nobody around to look after her children. --Captain Marvel X#8

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images:
Secret Wars II#1, page 14, panel 4 (full shot)
Secret Wars II#1, page 12, panel 7 (normal self, with Shazam Award)
Captain Marvel X#10, p19, pan4 (at bar with award)
Secret Wars II#1, page 15, panel 1 (Boromir)
Secret Wars II#1, page 12, panel 4 (Marian)
Captain Marvel X#8, p15, pan2 (Cadwall family)

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Secret Wars II#1 (July 1985) - Jim Shooter (writer), Al Milgrom (pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Iron Man I#197 (August 1985) - Denny O'Neil (writer), Rich Buckler (pencils), Ian Akin & Brian Garvey (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain Marvel X#8 (October, 2016) - Ruth Fletcher Gage & Christos Gage (writers), Kris Anka (artist), Sana Amanat (editor)
Captain Marvel X#10 (January, 2017) - Ruth Fletcher Gage & Christos Gage (writers), Thony Silas (artist), Sana Amanat (editor)

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First Posted: 09/20/2004
Last updated: 02/11/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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