History:(Murderworld: Spider-Man#1 (fb) - BTS) - Alex Benavides was a paramedic who at least once went rock climbing in British Columbia.
ALEX
BENAVIDES
Real Name: Alex Benavides
Identity/Class: Human
Occupation: Paramedic
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Eden Abraha, Kelly Furness, Julian Kim, Marina Komarova, Paul Pastor, Vincent Patilio, numerous Murderworld contestants
Enemies: Arcade, Avengers LMDs
(Ant-Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Wasp), Black Widow LMD, Dave,
Mark VII Slayer LMDs, Miss Locke (robot), Moon Knight LMD, the
Murderettes, Spider-Man LMDs, Spider-Woman LMD, Stacy, Wolverine LMDs
Known Relatives: Julia (wife), Jenny (daughter)
Aliases: "Baby," "Mr. Paramedic"
Base of Operations: Murderworld
First Appearance: (unidentified) Murderworld:
Avengers#1 (January, 2023);
(identified only as Alex) Murderworld: Spider-Man#1
(February, 2023);
(full name revealed) Murderworld: Wolverine#1
(March, 2023)
Powers/Abilities: Alex Benavides has no superhuman
powers but he is an athletic and experienced rock climber.
He is a trained paramedic, capable
of treating a certain degree of emergency wounds and making tourniquets
on the fly if needed.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'5")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 135 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Murderworld: Spider-Man#1 (fb) - BTS) - Alex Benavides was a paramedic
who at least once went rock climbing in British Columbia.
(Murderworld: Game Over#1 (fb) - BTS) - Alex married
Julia and together they had a daughter, Jenny.
(Murderworld: Game Over#1 (fb))
- Alex blew all of his family's money gambling but informed Julia that
he had lost the money playing the stock market. He then began working
double shifts, cheating on Julia while he was on the job.
(Murderworld: Avengers#1 (fb) - BTS / Murderworld:
Game Over#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Alex
Benavides was one of two
hundred people chosen by the assassin Arcade to participate in his
roving
underground Murderworld games and he was given a business card
selecting him for Season 22 of the Murderworld live stream series.
(Murderworld: Game Over#1 (fb)) - Alex subsequently
met with Julia and admitted his guilt at losing their money but Julia
suggested he not beat himself up about it, as it was a mistake. She
then reminded him that she didn't care about money and assured him that
they would figure things out together but a worried Alex remarked only
that he had blown their daughter's tuition savings, their house fund,
all of their money. Unaware of Alex's cheating, Julia expressed concern
that Alex was working himself too hard with double shifts, explaining
that she knew he was trying his best and that he was a good man. The
guilt-stricken Alex muttered that he wasn't a good man but Julia
reminded him that both she and Jenny loved him as Jenny came running up
from school to greet her father. Looking down at the business card he
had been given, Alex thought perhaps he could still fix everything.
Before accepting the invitation on the business card, Alex took out a
large life insurance policy so that, if he died in Murderworld, his
family would be okay.
(Murderworld: Avengers#1) - On the plane to
Murderworld's latest location, Alex sat in the seat directly in front
of online streamer Paul Pastor, who thought he had been selected to
film an online documentary about Arcade's Murderworld games. Once the
plane landed, Alex, Paul and the others were led into the airplane
hangar and locked in. Noticing the sound of the locks clicking, Alex
asked what would happen next moments before a hologram of Arcade
appeared, revealing that the winner of his Murderworld games would
receive one hundred million dollars and a brand new life. He then
announced that there were fifty survival kits scattered around and
suggested that if anyone wanted one, they'd better run, officially
starting the games as Alex and the other contestants rushed to grab a
survival kit. When one of the survival kits exploded, a laughing Arcade
broadcasted that he had placed fifty real survival kits and fifty bombs
among the kits and a concerned Alex remarked that a fifty-fifty chance
wasn't too bad as he grabbed a kit. Arcade then set the door to the
next room on a sixty-second timer, killing whoever was left behind
after the timer ran down, and Alex was one of the 166 that survived
into the next room. Arcade revealed in the next room that the
contestants need only to survive an obstacle course to the other side
of the room and Alex began running through the course but when one
contestant gloated that it was too easy, Arcade unleashed LMD robots
modeled after the Avengers against the contestants. Alex and several
other managed to survive into the next room thanks to Paul Pastor
manifesting his mutant powers for the first time and destroying the
Avengers LMDs, only to watch as Arcade had Paul shot in the head by his
Miss Locke robot. Another contestant, Eden Abraha, lamented Paul's
death but Arcade ushered the rest of the contestants down the corridor
to the next area, Alex silently staying behind for a few moments before
leaving and Eden followed after Alex.
(Murderworld: Spider-Man#1) - Alex and the other contestants were
led into a room where a door opened, revealing a jungle setting where
Arcade unleashed LMDs of various Spider-themed heroes against the
contestants. As Arcade watched, one of the Mark VII Slayer LMDs chased
after Alex until Eden Abraha attacked the LMD, surprising Alex, who
decided to help Eden against the Mark VII Slayer LMD. Vincent Patilio
soon helped them destroy the LMD and they regrouped with the other
contestants as they headed towards an area of the Murderworld
resembling the arctic. Hiking their way through the simulated
mountainous terrain, Alex, Eden, Vincent and several others decided to
venture into a cave while the other contestants continued hiking up the
mountain. Alex and his group eventually stumbled into Rest Station M,
where Arcade congratulated them and suggested they rest for the next
day's games. After spending an hour checking the rest station for
traps, Alex found some sandwiches and offered one to Eden in an attempt
to make friends despite being in direct competition with one another.
The two shared a few basic details about their life before kissing and
sharing some intimate time together, unaware they were being watched by
Arcade's cameras. Following their tryst, Eden asked Alex how he went
from rock climbing to risking his life for a hundred million dollars,
to which Alex solemnly replied that it wasn't a risk, as even if he
died, he won. Arcade then interrupted to gloat to Alex and the other
surviving contestants that there were sixty-one contestants still in
the game but sixty-four people in the head count, claiming that three
"contestants" were actually trained assassins hired by Arcade to mix
things up.
(Murderworld: Wolverine#1) -
After the revelation of supposed assassins in the contestants' midst
and Arcade turning out the lights, leading to many contestants
attacking one another, Alex, Eden, Vincent and a few other contestants
ventured outside the rest station. Making their way down a hill in the
cold weather, Alex asked if Eden was okay since she had blood on her
hands but Eden assured Alex the blood was not hers. Others soon
followed behind them and began to question whether Eden was one of the
supposed assassins but before Alex or anyone else could react, the
group was attacked by several LMDs patterned after Wolverine. Alex
ducked out of the way as one of the Wolverine LMDs killed a contestant
near him, only to find himself facing all of the other LMDs. He was
quickly knocked to the ground by a LMD of Wolverine (Laura Kinney) as
Eden had her arm sliced off next to him. The Wolverine LMDs then ran
out towards the rest station and Alex tore a piece of his shirt to
create a tourniquet for Eden's arm. Regrouping with Vincent Patilio and
the other survivors, Alex helped Eden get through the snow and they
soon met up with Marina Komarova, a secret Hydra agent that had
continued on through the snow instead of venturing into the cave rest
station. Marina and the contestants with her then headed towards the
next objective as Vincent suggested to Alex that Eden get access to a
first aid if she hoped to survive the day. Alex replied that perhaps he
could trade something to Marina for her first aid kit and Vincent
questioned how well Alex truly knew Eden, asking whether or not he
thought she would show him mercy if it came down to the two of them at
the end of the Murderworld competition. Alex admitted he didn't know
but nonetheless refused to leave her to bleed out. Vincent then noticed
something in the distance and when Alex asked what he saw, Vincent
replied that, if they could get through the next part of the
competition and they still needed the first aid kit, he would tell Alex
and Eden what he saw and perhaps use that to trade for Marina's first
aid kit.
They then
made their way to the next part, Eden briefly falling in the snow,
where the contestants were made to sit in chairs that measured their
vital signs and ordered to get their heartbeats down to 60 beats per
minute within two minutes in order to safely enter into the next area
at the risk of death. Alex sat down and watched as the contestant next
to him was killed for failing the task. Shocked, Alex began trying to
force himself to relax and slow his heartbeat, ultimately proving
successful and entering the doorway to the next area alongside Vincent
Patilio. When Eden fell through her door, a worried Alex asked Marina
for her first aid kit. Vincent decided to help Alex, revealing per his
word that none of the contestants were outside and how finding the
parameters of the rooms they were in was the key to surviving. Watching
from his base, Arcade witnessed Vincent show Marina the border well in
exchange for her first aid kit and he angrily ordered his robot
assistant Miss Locke to redirect the room's giant pinballs to kill Alex
and all of the remaining contestants. As the pinball rolled towards the
contestants, Alex suggested they move and Vincent ripped apart the
border wall, giving them access to Murderworld's maintenance tunnels.
Once inside the tunnels, Alex immediately began using the first aid kit
to help Eden.
(Murderworld: Moon Knight#1) - With Alex, Eden, Vincent and Marina the only surviving contestants, Alex tried to keep the increasing weak Eden moving with the others despite her concerns of being unable to make it. Alex continued helping Eden along as they made their way into Arcade's control room, where Marina attacked "Arcade" directly, having been sent into the contest by Hydra to murder Arcade and steal his technology. Dodging a shot fired by "Arcade" as Alex and Eden entered the room, Marina realized too late that the "Arcade" she was fighting was actually a robotic bomb. The robot quickly exploded and while Alex, Eden, Vincent and Marina all survived, Marina deduced that the entire maintenance tunnel escape had been nothing more than another Murderworld trap. Gloating that he was impressed the four had survived the bomb, Arcade then unleashed a Moon Knight LMD against the foursome. The LMD immediately attacked Eden and Alex exclaimed that they should help her but Vincent warned that it was too late. Eden agreed and ordered Alex and the others to flee while she held off the Moon Knight LMD. While Eden headbutted and kneed the LMD, the Moon Knight LMD ultimately killed Eden as Alex, Vincent and Marina fled across the virtual rooftops. When they approached a particular large gap between rooftops, Marina suggested they jump and while Alex warned that they wouldn't make it, he nonetheless jumped with the others, colliding with a fire escape moments after Marina's successful landing. Marina rescued Alex but Vincent was killed by some of the Moon Knight LMD's flechettes before he could jump. Alex paused in shock but Marina suggested he not look down and helped him up on the roof. The Moon Knight LMD leaped over and Arcade ordered the LMD to kill both Alex and Marina, prompting Alex to remind Arcade that he had promised there would be one survivor. Arcade replied that, after Alex and the others started working together, he grew annoyed and now wanted them all dead. Marina then fought back against the Moon Knight LMD and when Alex managed to grab the LMD's cape, Marina took advantage of the distraction to knock the LMD off balance and pound on it. Working together, Alex and Marina severely damaged the LMD but it soon kicked Marina away and grabbed Alex by the neck. Before the LMD could kill Alex, however, it was shot in the head from afar, seemingly by the heroic Black Widow.
(Murderworld: Game Over#1) - Shocked to find himself
still alive, Alex witnessed the Moon Knight LMD kill what appeared to
be the Black Widow and Marina assumed the Widow was just another robot.
Unsure if that were truly the case since the Black Widow appeared to be
bleeding profusely, Alex got closer to check the Widow's pulse despite
objections from Marina, who warned that a sophisticated LMD could mimic
human injury. As Marina predicted, the Black Widow revealed itself to
be another LMD and it whirred and clicked to life, grabbing Alex's hand
with inhuman strength. Marina rushed to aid Alex and attempted to
deactivate the LMD, only to cause it to explode, showering them both
glass shards and disabling the virtual scenario. As Arcade announced
that Alex and Marina were now the last two contestants standing and one
would have to kill the other to win the game, Marina informed Alex that
she would not stop him, as she did not need Arcade's money. Thinking
back on his past mistakes gambling and cheating, Alex remarked that if
he went through the winning door with Marina still alive, Arcade would
likely kill her or perhaps even trap the door itself to kill Alex.
Marina then suggested she slow her heart rate to appear dead, fooling
Arcade's sensors, while Alex won and accepted the prize money but he
assured Marina that his life insurance policy would ensure his family
would be okay either way. When Marina paused, Alex thought how he could
return home a hero and erase his past failures with the money and he
suddenly reached to strangle Marina. Angry, Marina broke Alex's grip
and kicked Alex away, warning him not to force her to kill him.
Knocking Alex to the ground, Marina went in close to hit Alex but Alex
grabbed a shard of broken glass and stabbed Marina with it. The two
then fiercely battled one another until Alex managed to get Marina onto
the ground and strangle her to death, at which point Arcade proclaimed
Alex the winner of his Murderworld games. Still in shock, Alex was led
by the Murderettes into Arcade's control room, where Arcade began
congratulating him. Alex muttered that he needed a medic but Arcade
insisted on showing Alex highlights of his time in Murderworld. Arcade
then noted that he had broadcasted Alex's entire time in Murderworld
and made it a point to make sure Alex's family had seen Alex's actions.
Shocked with the realization that his family had watched him cheat on
his wife and commit murder, Alex looked at the screens as Arcade
remarked that the authorities did witness him committing murder so they
would likely want a word with him. Alex angrily rushed at Arcade and
attempted to strangle him but Arcade had Miss Locke pull Alex off of
him.
Miss Locke then initiated her self-destruct
sequence but Arcade canceled it, claiming that he liked Alex and
offering to still send the money to Alex's family in exchange for Alex
surviving his game but pressing a large button in Arcade's hand to
confirm his desire to live rather than keep uselessly fighting. Tired
and injured, Alex pressed the button and Murderworld medics were
summoned to scene to tend to him. Before Alex passed out, Arcade
promised that he had a unique offer for Alex when he woke up, one
of managing a spin-off Murderworld game. Alex was then led away on a
stretcher as Arcade prepared for the coming confrontation with the real
Black Widow, whom he instead met via video in which he invited her to
his next Murderworld game.
Comments: Created by Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes and Jethro Morales.
It was unclear what became of Alex after his experiences in Murderworld. As of 2026, we have not seen whether or not Arcade actually offered him a job managing a Murderworld spin-off. Arcade doesn't really seem like the type to help someone so I wouldn't be surprised if Arcade simply promised Alex that then had him killed when the medics took him away.
This profile was completed on
03/03/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the
Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Alex Benavides should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Murderworld: Avengers#1 (January, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes
(writers), Jethro Morales (art), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
Murderworld: Spider-Man#1 (February, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes
(writers), Farid Karami (art), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
Murderworld: Wolverine#1 (March, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes (writers),
Carlos Nieto (pencils), Victor Nava (inks), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
Murderworld: Moon Knight#1 (April, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes
(writers), Luca Pizzari (art), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
Murderworld: Game Over#1 (May, 2023) - Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes (writers),
Netho Diaz (layouts), Lorenzo Tammetta (pencils, inks), Sarah Brunstad
(editor)
First posted: 09/30/2026
Last updated: 03/03/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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