POWER MONK
Earth-8101
Real Name: Luke Cage
Identity/Class: Alternate Earth (Earth-8101) primate mutate
Occupation: Superhero
Group Membership: None;
formerly Outcasts (Beast/Henry McCoy, Colobbus/Piotr Rasputin, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Dr. Druid/Anthony Druid, Elektra/Elektra Natchios, Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze, Huhr/Bruce Bananner, Icemonk/Robert Drake, Iron Paw/Daniel Rand, MACH IV/Abner Jenkins, Moonstone/Karla Sofen, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Psylocke/Betsy Braddock, Punisher/Frank Castle, Speedball/Robert Baldwin, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Wolverine/James Howlett)
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Captain America (Baron Blood/John Falsworth);
formerly Ape-Vengers
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Monkhattan;
formerly Outcast's safehouse, Sanctum Sanctorum, hidden in a memory through the Monkey's Paw
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#2/1 (November, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Power Man possesses superhuman strength and extremely durable skin, making him highly resistant to physical injury. His enhanced physiology allows him to withstand powerful impacts and engage opponents with overwhelming force.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Brown
History:
(Marvel Apes I#2/1 - BTS) - Luke Cage gained his abilities through an illegal prison experiment that left him with enhanced strength and unbreakable skin. Adopting the name Power Monk, he chose to use his powers for hire before gradually becoming a more heroic figure within the superhuman community.
(Marvel Apes I#2/1 - BTS) - Power Monk and Iron Paw became part of the Outcasts, which emerged as a loose resistance within the simian world, formed by super-powered apes who had learned a truth most refused to face, the heroic Captain America was no patriot at all, but a powerful über-vampire (secretly the undead Baron Blood in disguise). The Outcasts saw the danger and united in secret to oppose the growing corruption within their world's heroes, operating from the Sanctum Sanctorum, the former home of the late Doctor Strange, their sanctuary was mystically concealed within a shared memory and could only be reached through the Monkey's Paw. To most simians, the Outcasts were little better than the criminals they opposed and were actively hunted by "Captain America's" Ape-Vengers.
(Marvel Apes I#2/1) - Power Monk was present at the Sanctum Sanctorum when Speedball brought Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh and the Gibbon of Earth-616 to their hidden refuge to safe them from "Captain America", the Fantastic Four and Ape-Vengers after being accused for killing Reed Richards.
Comments: Created by Karl Kesel.
Both Marvel Apes I#2 (December, 2008) and Marvel Apes I#3 (December, 2008) included a Bonobo-Pen Bulletin letter page that established that several Marvel Apes variant covers at the time were part of their reality with fun little solicitations of those issues. In issue two Power Monk was mentioned in the solicitation for The New Apevengers#1. The supposed cover of this fake issue was in fact the real cover to Marvel Apes I#1 which featured Power Monk alongside Spider-Monkette, Wolverine, Spider-Monkey, Iron Mandrill and Captain America. However the narratives seen on covers and variant covers aren't necessarily a reflection of what happened on Earth-8101, especially in this case it's good to mention that there was no New Apevengers team consisting of these members at the time on Earth-8101 as these individuals were on opposing sides. An image of Power Monk from this cover can be seen on the left.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from 8101 when zombies invaded their world. The reset button was eventually pushed on the original Earth-8101, preventing the divergence.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Power Monk has no known connections to
Images: (without ads)
Marvel Apes I#2, p23, pan1 (main image)
Marvel Apes I#1, cover (variant)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#2/1 (November, 2008) - Karl Kesel (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils, inks), Tom Brennan (editor)
First Posted: 12/19/2025
Last Updated: 12/19/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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