BLOCKBUSTER
Real Name: Michael Baer
Identity/Class: Human mutant
Occupation: Assassin, criminal
Group Membership: Marauders (Arclight/Philippa Sontag, Harpoon/Kodiak Noatak, Prism/Robbie, Riptide/Janos Quested, Scalphunter/John Greycrow, Scrambler/Kim Il Sung)
Affiliations: Chimera, Exodus (Bennet du Paris), Frenzy (Joanna Cargill), Lady Mastermind (Regan Wyngarde), Magneto (Max Eisenhardt), Malice (Alice MacAllister), Mr. Sinister (Nathaniel Essex), Mystique (Raven Darkholme), Polaris (Lorna Dane), Random (Marshall Stone), Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Tempo (Heather Tucker), Unuscione (Carmella Unuscione), Vertigo;
formerly Gambit (Remy LeBeau), Susan Hatchi (Da'o Coy Manh), Omega Sentinel (Karima Shapander), Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), Threnody (Melody Jacobs), Vanisher ("Telford Porter")
Enemies: Bishop (Lucas Bishop), Blaquesmith, Cable (Nathan Summers), Dark Mother (Fiona Knoblach), Goblin Queen (Madelyne Pryor), Hellions (Empath/Manuel de la Rocha, Havok/Alex Summers, Nanny/Eleanor Murch, Orphan Maker/Peter, Psylocke/Kwannon, Scalphunter/John Greycrow, Wild Child/Kyle Gibney), Herr Hitzig, Artie Maddicks, Magneto (Max Eisenhardt), Morlocks (Annalee, Ape, Beautiful Dreamer, Berzerker, Bliss, Blowhard, Caliban, Callisto, Chickenwings, Cybelle, Erg, Healer, Leech, Lightning Bug, Marrow, Masque, Mole, Piper, Plague, Tar Baby, Tommy, Scaleface, Sunder, Zeek and unrevealed others), Nimrod Sentinels of Earth-1610, Predator X, Purifiers, Briar Raleigh, Illyana Rasputin, The Right, Sentinel Squad O*N*E, S.H.I.E.L.D., Hope Summers, Thor (Odinson), X-Man (Nate Grey), Threnody (Melody Jacobs), X-Men (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Dazzler/Alison Blaire, Emma Frost, Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Havok/Alex Summers, Iceman/Robert Drake, Karma/Xi'an Coy Manh, Longshot, Magneto/Max Eisenhardt, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, Northstar/Jean-Paul Beaubier, Omega Sentinel/Karima Shapander, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Psylocke/Betsy Braddock, Cecilia Reyes, Rogue/Anna Marie, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Warbird/Ava'Dara Naganandini, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett), X-Factor (Angel/Warren Worthington III, Beast/Hank McCoy, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Iceman/Robert Drake, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey), X-Force (Archangel/Warren Worthington III, Domino/Neena Thurman, Elixir/Josh Foley, Hepzibah, Warpath/James Proudstar, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair, Wolverine/James "Logan" Howlett, X-23/Laura Kinney);
formerly Vanisher ("Telford Porter")
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Genosha;
formerly Muir Island;
formerly Dominion Range, Antarctica;
formerly The Alley, Morlock Tunnels beneath New York City;
formerly old orphanage, Sage, Nebraska
First Appearance: X-Factor I#10 (November, 1986)
Powers/Abilities: Blockbuster is a mutant who possesses superhuman strength (class 50, possibly higher) and enhanced durability and stamina. Known as the Marauders' powerhouse, he has repeatedly fallen in battle. Each time, he has been cloned and revived by Mr. Sinister. Blockbuster appears aware of this fact.
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 420 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Bald, black goatee
History:
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) / X-Men Origins: Gambit - BTS) - Mr. Sinister hired Gambit to assemble a group of mercenaries to break into an impenetrable community, in exchange for this Sinister had performed an operation on the mutant so he could control his abilities again. Gambit travelled to all corners of the world to find all kind of mercenaries; amongst them Blockbuster, who agreed to join the Marauders.
(Uncanny X-Men I#350 (fb) / X-Men Origins: Gambit) - Gambit, still not fully realizing what the Marauders were about to do, led them into the Morlock Tunnels. But when Sabretooth killed the first Morlock they came across, Gambit was shocked and asked Scalphunter why they'd come to the tunnels. Scalphunter told the cajun he'd done what he was hired to do. Realizing what they intended to do Gambit tried to stop the Marauders but once Vertigo weakened him Sabretooth grabbed Gambit by the throat and gutted the cajun, leaving him for dead while the Marauders moved on.
(X-Factor I#10) - The full team of Marauders reached the huge central shaft of the tunnels called the Alley, where most of the Morlocks lived. There, the assassins struck the mutant community at it's hardest. Seeing their friends killed by the Marauders caused chaos and upheaval, causing Morlocks to flee into several smaller tunnels. Blockbuster and Vertigo were about to kill Ape and Tar Baby but Cyclops, Iceman and Beast intervened. They managed to knock Vertigo unconscious, causing Blockbuster to grab her and flee the scene.
(X-Factor I#10 (fb) - BTS) - Vertigo told Arclight about her encounter with X-Factor, prompting Arclight to organize a search and destroy mission.
(X-Factor I#10) - Once X-Factor left the tunnels to attend the wounded, Angel stayed behind to continue his search for Artie Maddicks. Once he found the boy they stumbled upon another group of Marauders, consisting of Vertigo, Blockbuster and Harpoon. Angel was able to hit Vertigo in the face but couldn't stop Blockbuster from nailing him against the wall. Harpoon used two of his spears to pin the winged hero like a butterfly. The Marauders decided to leave Angel hanging on the wall like a scarecrow, as a warning to the other heroes.
(Thor I#373) - Harpoon, Blockbuster and Vertigo enjoyed themselves torturing the pinned Angel when they heard someone approaching. Figuring it could be another mutant they hid in the shadows. It turned out to be Thor, the Asgardian god of thunder who'd been warned about the massacre by his frog friend Puddlegulp. The Marauders tried to jump Thor, but ran off as soon as he summoned a powerful bolt of lightning.
(Thor I#374) - After regaining their confidence and thinking Thor's power was nothing more than "some mumbo-jumbo", Vertigo, Blockbuster and Harpoon sought out the Thundergod who was still in the tunnels. They all fell before him, causing the Marauders to once again scurry away. This allowed Thor time to free Angel, gently removing the harpoons that held Warren against the wall. Sometime later, Harpoon and Sabretooth contently conversed while looking at the dozens of corpses in the Alley. While they deemed their mission a success, Blockbuster was still upset by his defeat at the hands of Thor. He finally decided to have another go at Thor to prove himself in the eyes of his fellow Marauders. He caught up with Thor just as the hero was carrying Angel and Artie Maddicks towards the tunnel's exit. Blockbuster came crashing through the ceiling, breaking Thor's arm in the process. But before he could hit Thor again, the Marauder was jumped by the injured and barely conscious Angel. Unimpressed, Blockbuster grabbed him by the throat. Angel's attack had given Thor enough time to grab Mjolnir. Not allowing another mutant to die on his watch, Thor swung Mjolnir with full force at Blockbuster's face, killing the Marauder instantly.
(Uncanny X-Men I#240 - BTS) - Mr. Sinister successfully cloned Blockbuster, Riptide and Prism, who themselves were aware of their true nature.
(Uncanny X-Men I#240 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Sinister ordered his Marauders to relocate to the former Morlock Alley.
(Uncanny X-Men I#240 - BTS) - The advanced computer system in the X-Men's outback headquarters suddenly picked up the location of the Marauders (thanks to N'astirh's involvement). Eager for some payback and outraged their foes were hiding in the Alley of all places, the X-Men decided to ambush them.
(Uncanny X-Men I#240) - The Marauders were still moving into the Alley, wondering why they were even ordered to move there, when the X-Men attacked. Blockbuster was carrying one of the crates on his back when he bumped into Colossus who politely checked if he was indeed dealing with a Marauder before smashing him right across the tunnel to announce the X-Men's presence. While the X-Men fought the Marauders, Blockbuster slowly regained consciousness on the other side of the tunnel. But when Blockbuster tried to stand up he fell prey to a hungry wall, transformed by the growing demonic influence of the limbo dimension that was getting ready to merge with Earth. Meanwhile the X-Men had gained the upper hand in the fight forcing the Marauders to flee, only to find themselves in a Manhattan transformed into a demonic parody of itself.
(Uncanny X-Men I#241 - BTS) - The X-Men's corruption had become so all-encompassing, they visually resembled demons. Now delighting in killing, they slaughtered all the Marauders they could find.
(Uncanny X-Men I#243 (fb) - BTS) - Malice and Sabretooth survived the killings and joined Mr. Sinister at the Charles Xavier School for Higher Learning. Unbeknownst to everyone, Blockbuster had survived the initial demonic attack in the tunnels. However, the encounter had turned him into a giant demonic version of itself. He also joined the surviving Marauders to the school.
(Uncanny X-Men I#243) - A team of X-Men consisting of Colossus, Dazzler, Havok and Iceman combed the tunnel network between Xavier's and the Morlock Alley and came across the giant demonic Blockbuster. With a single blow Blockbuster took out Colossus, ironically returning the favor from their previous encounter. Iceman was unable to contain the Marauder after which he grabbed Dazzler. Fed up, Havok used a fully powered plasma beam to blow Blockbuster's head off.
(X-Man I#13 (fb) - BTS) - When Mr. Sinister learned his accomplice Threnody tried to escape, he sent the full force of the Marauders after her. The Marauders followed Threnody to Paris, where she'd gone to find X-Man (Nate Grey).
(X-Man I#13) - The Marauders pursued Threnody through the tunnels of Paris until Nate Grey intervened when he picked up the girl's frantic thoughts. When Prism mentioned Sinister, Grey was reminded of Earth-295's Sinister, who had killed most everyone he cared for. Furious and ready to fight, he telekinetically hurled Blockbuster through the tunnels. The Marauders got in attack formation to counter Grey and Scrambler successfully disrupted the hero's power, causing a giant explosion in the tunnels which ended up killing Scrambler. Threnody used the opportunity to get Grey to safety while the Marauders were still scrambling. Prism used his abilities to light up the dark tunnels, leading the Marauders towards their prey unaware Grey and Threnody prepared a trap for the villains. Once the Marauders arrived near Grey, he used his telekinesis to force Scalphunter's hand, shooting Riptide in the shoulder and landing a piercing shot against Prism, causing the Marauder to explode. Shocked by their sudden decimation Arclight was eager to kill Grey when she spotted him. However, Grey telepathically fooled her senses and she actually struck a mortal blow against Blockbuster. After Grey killed the other Marauders he only spared Riptide's life and then placed a telepathic command in his mind. The Marauder was to forget Threnody was still alive when reporting back to Sinister.
(X-Men II#200 - BTS) - Through unrevealed ways, Sinister learned that for the first time since the Scarlet Witch's reality altering spell wiped out the mutant gene, a new mutant was going to be born. Dubbing the newborn the "Messiah Child", he intended to seize it and reassembled his Marauders.
(X-Men II#204 (fb) - BTS) - Next to the original Marauders, Sinister also contacted the supremely powerful mutant Exodus, convincing him to join forces so he could help rebirth the mutant race. The zealous Exodus agreed and gathered several mutants to join Sinister's Marauders, including Frenzy, Random, Tempo and Unuscione.
(X-Men II#200 - BTS) - To make sure he alone would know when and where the Messiah Child was born, Sinister targeted three specific groups: psychics and precogs, time travellers with direct knowledge of the future like Cable and objects like the Destiny Diaries. Sinister figured that eliminating all of them would ensure his success. He sent Blockbuster and the other Marauders out on numerous hit jobs.
(X-Men II#202 (fb) ) - After wading through a couple of hundred warrior nuns Blockbuster, Riptide and other Marauders killed the Dark Mother.
(X-Men II#200 (fb) - BTS) - When the X-Men were staying at Mystique's house in Caldecott County, Mississippi, the Marauders gathered nearby. Lady Mastermind used her abilities to create a null zone so the X-Men could not sense their presence.
(X-Men II#200) - Back in Mississippi, Emma Frost was trying to mend Rogue's fractured mind (as a result of her fight against the Hecatomb) when she suddenly sensed the Marauders' presence. Before she could warn the others, she was stunned by the Omega Sentinel, who was now fully controlled by Malice. Seconds later, both Beast and Wolverine picked up the Marauders' scents and quickly ordered Iceman to "ice up". Just then, Lady Mastermind dropped her illusion to reveal Blockbuster and the Marauders were already inside. Still not realizing Omega Sentinel had been possessed by Malice, Cyclops tried to shield her from the Marauders' attack only to be taken out by Malice herself. Scalphunter successfully injured Iceman by driving a spear through his midriff. Hearing the shooting from her room Rogue activated her powers and flew down to stand beside her fellow X-Men. She immediately used her fire abilities to set Blockbuster on fire after which Scalphunter tried to shoot Rogue but was taken out by Mystique, declaring that no one was allowed to shoot her daughter...except her. She then fired a round at Rogue's chest, revealing her alliance to the Marauders.
(X-Men II#201) - The Marauders had dealt a devastating blow to the X-Men, leaving only Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast and Cannonball to deal with them. Blockbuster slammed Beast into a wall after which he set his sight on Wolverine. While the Marauders fought the X-Men, an immobilized Emma Frost used her telepathic abilities to reach out to Cannonball. She explained what she'd learned about the Marauders' goals, targets and plans before taking over Sam's mind and causing him to rocket off with Iceman. Moments later, the Marauders successfully defeated the remaining X-Men. Seemingly asserting herself as their leader, Mystique ordered the Marauders to pull back after which Arclight used her abilities to bring the house down on the X-Men. The Marauders planned to return to Sinister taking Rogue along, since she carried the content of Destiny's diaries in her mind.
(X-Men II#203 - BTS) - Through the use of Cerebro, Sinister learned the Destiny Diaries were located somewhere in an old industrial park in Flint, Michigan. Sinister sent his Marauders to retrieve the books.
(X-Men II#203) - The Marauders spotted the Blackbird as soon as they arrived at the Michigan site, which told them Cannonball and Iceman were already there. They proceeded to free their teammate Sunfire and then split the group in two. The original Marauders plus Sunfire and Mystique, Gambit, Lady Mastermind and Malice would sweep the park and attack the X-Men from two sides. They were unaware Cannonball and Iceman were well aware of their presence and had planned to face them head on. Cannonball came crashing through the floorboards, grabbing Riptide and dumping him on the second group of Marauders. The X-Men continued their assault by destroying several huge water towers, dousing the first group of Marauders so Iceman could flash-freeze them in place. The X-Men managed to find the capsule containing the Destiny Diaries but when they tried to depart with it, Mr. Sinister showed up, knocking them over. Sinister was joined by his Marauders who he ordered to grab the diaries. But the diaries were accidentally destroyed by Gambit and Scalphunter who tried to shoot Cannonball.
(X-Men: Messiah Complex#1 (fb) ) - On the eve of the birth of the Messiah Child, a small team of Marauders (Blockbuster, Prism, Scalphunter, Malice, Lady Mastermind, Sunfire and Gambit) arrived in Cooperstown, Alaska to claim the child. However, despite Sinister's best efforts to root out the competition, the mutant hating Purifiers were also present. Blockbuster and Sunfire killed several of the radical humans, clearly enjoying using their superhuman powers, in the meanwhile Gambit and Prism searched the town for the baby. Blockbuster then noticed a giant explosion in the town's center.
(X-Men: Messiah Complex#1 (fb) - BTS) - The giant explosion was caused by Cable who'd come to locate the child and keep her safe. Blockbuster attacked Cable but was shot in the dead, killing him instantly. Cable successfully found the child and escaped.
(X-Men: Messiah Complex#1) - The X-Men, also unaware of what had happened in Cooperstown, arrived, only to find destruction and evidence of the Marauders' involvement. As such they found Blockbuster and Prism's corpes. When the X-Men left the mutant hunting Predator X arrived in Cooperstown, drawn by the smell of mutants. The predator located Blockbuster's corpse and most likely ate him.
(New X-Men II#46 - BTS / Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb) ) - Blockbuster stood by as Scalphunter shot Wolverine through the head. Eager for the opportunity to kill Wolverine, Scrambler grabbed the heavily injured X-Man, scrambling his healing powers. Logan was saved by X-23, who cut off Scrambler's hands and then used her claws to disembowel the Marauder.
(X-Men: Legacy I#221-222 - BTS) - Rogue was immersed in Danger's holographic projections. This also led to the creation of Marauders simulations that hunted Rogue in a scenario reminiscent of the Morlock Massacre. In this scenario Rogue defeated Blockbuster by throwing Scrambler into him, thus taking away his superhuman strength. After that she simply knocked him unconscious, forcing the massive Blockbuster to fall on top of Prism.
(Heroic Age: X-Men - BTS) - As the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Steve Rogers assessed the entire known mutant community. In his report, he analyzed the Marauders and stated that each and every single one of them were "butchers" that had to be found and apprehended before they could kill again.
(Astonishing X-Men III#52 (fb) - BTS / Astonishing X-Men III#48 - BTS) - Susan Hatchi (Da'o Coy Manh) secretly infected her sister Karma with experimental nanotech allowing her to command her sister's powers. Unaware she was doing so, Karma took control of Blockbuster, several other Marauders and villains Chimera and the Vanisher who she planned to send against the X-Men.
(Astonishing X-Men III#48) - The Marauders, joined by the Vanisher and Chimera, ambushed the X-Men in New York City.
(Astonishing X-Men III#49) - While Chimera used her psionic dragons to attack Northstar and Iceman, Prism blinded the other X-Men. Harpoon succeeded in severely injuring Wolverine by plunging a spear through his stomach. The tide turned when Karma tried to invade Chimera's mind, thereby breaking Susan Hatchi's influence on her. Realizing she had been used, Chimera tried to convince the Marauders they were also being controlled. Believing Karma was actually controlling Chimera, the Marauders was turned against her until she once again unleashed her psionic dragons to push the Marauders back after which Vanisher teleported them away. Chimera stayed behind to explain to the X-Men what had happened.
(Astonishing X-Men III#50 - BTS) - Blockbuster and the group of Marauders hid in an abandoned building in Brooklyn's Red Hook.
(Astonishing X-Men III#50 (fb) - BTS) - Wanting to rid herself of the evidence Hatchi once again took possession of the Marauders and had them kill each other. However, Blockbuster managed to break free of the mind control and escaped, crying.
(Astonishing X-Men III#50) - Just as the X-Men arrived at Red Hook searching for the Marauders they saw Blockbuster bruised and bleeding fleeing the abandoned building. Refusing to let a Marauder escape a second time the Shi'ar Warbird hurled her sword at him, striking a lethal blow. When the X-Men entered the building to investigate, they found the corpses of the other Marauders.
(Magneto III#5 - BTS) - Briar Raleigh sought out Magneto in hopes of arranging a partnership. She possessed intelligence that would be of use to him, including the current whereabouts of the Marauders, as well as information on how to hurt them. Eager to strike back against mutants who murdered their own kind for money, Magneto accepted.
(Magneto III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Magneto sought out one cell of Marauders and killed them, thus activating another cell of Marauder clones. He then went after a second and third cell. During the third raid, Magneto discovered he could use ferro fluid (ferromagnetic particles suspended in a carrier liquid) to slip past their defenses.
(Magneto III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Magneto located the fourth cell of Marauders (Scalphunter, Prism, Scrambler, Blockbuster, Riptide, Arclight, Harpoon) and attacked them, eagerly wanting to punish them for their crimes against mutantkind.
(Magneto III#6 (fb) ) - Blockbuster, Riptide, Arclight and Harpoon had joined forces searching for Magneto when they heard the dying screams of their fellow Marauders. Harpoon noted they'd only been activated because Magneto had killed another cell of Marauders. And although another clone would always live, they were irked by the fact it wouldn't be them. The four Marauders prepared for the coming fight but were shocked when a giant construction crane came swooping down on Harpoon. It hit him in the face, breaking his neck and killing him. Magneto then fired Harpoon's spears to slaughter Riptide after which he used two balls filled with ferro fluid to kill Arclight and Blockbuster.
(Magneto III#6) - Sometime later Magneto had caught up with another batch of Marauders before they could be activated. He then activated a special program, designed by himself and Raleigh, that consisted of a behavior modification sequence for the various cloning baths. This ensured that any future Marauders would be loyal to Magneto and his cause.
(Nightcrawler IV#7 - BTS) - Nightcrawler replayed the events of his life in the Danger Room, amongst them how Blockbuster and the Marauders fought during the Morlock Massacre.
(Magneto III#15) - For their first mission loyal to their new master, the Marauders (Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Prism, Riptide, Sabretooth, Scalphunter and Scrambler) dressed in all-new black costumes and were sent out to rescue Magneto from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. The Marauders were meant to frighten the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents creating enough chaos to cover Magneto's escape but when he reached the top of the Helicarrier he saw how the Marauders had killed a great number of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D agents. He prevented Sabretooth from killing Agent Hines. In the end, Magneto hurled Sabretooth into the Helicarrier propellor, figuring the mutant's innate healing factor made him a problem to control from the word go. Magneto, Raleigh and the Marauders then left for Genosha.
(Magneto III#16) - Magneto tried to recreate a safe haven on the island of Genosha where Scalphunter and Blockbuster were seen guarding him. Despite Magneto's best intentions Genosha was victim to several murders. Both the Marauders and Magneto were unaware the killings were caused by Herr Hitzig, or rather a construct accidentally created by Genoshan mutant Amy, whose powers allowed her to create imaginary constructs in reality.
(Magneto III#17) - Blockbuster and the other Marauders were tasked with searching Genosha for the killer. That night Magneto faced the Herr Hitzig construct, but was unable to stop the monster from escaping.
(Magneto III#18) - On the eve of total destruction when Earth-616 was about to crash into Earth-1610, Magneto ordered his Marauders to help as many people they could. For the first time in their existence, the Marauders found themselves doing good, rather than wreaking havoc and destruction.
(Magneto III#19) - The Marauders were seen helping people in the streets of New York City while Magneto and Polaris fought an army of Nimrod Sentinels who'd swooped down from Earth-1610.
(Magneto III#20) - Blockbuster and Arclight launched several power amplifiers so Polaris and Magneto had the strength they needed to destroy the Nimrod Sentinels of Earth-1610.
(Magneto III#21 - BTS) - The Marauders and all of Reality-616 were seemingly destroyed when Earth-616 and Earth-1610 collided as part of the final Incursion.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb) - BTS) - Blockbuster was approached by Scalphunter and the Vanisher who'd located a clone of Scrambler who had survived his interaction with X-23 (New X-Men II#46). Scalphunter wanted Scrambler's help with an "easy job" but he refused and used his abilities to make Scalphunter and Vanisher shit themselves. Wanting revenge Scalphunter had asked Blockbuster for help.
(Deadpool v Gambit#4 (fb) ) - Sometime later Scalphunter returned with Blockbuster and Harpoon, all three wearing special collars so Scrambler's powers wouldn't work on them. Scrambler, however, could still scramble the collar, and by doing that he stopped them and called the cops. The three Marauders were subsequently arrested.
(Uncanny X-Men V#14 - BTS) - When another Morlock Massacre transpired in the Morlocks tunnel (presumably caused by either the Hellfire Club or the Upstarts) their leader Callisto believed the Marauders were the culprits.
(Uncanny X-Men V#18) - Blockbuster had gathered with several of the Marauders (Arclight, Harpoon, Malice, Scalphunter and Vertigo) in a subway station in Brooklyn dressed in civilian guises when suddenly a large group of X-Men arrived who believed they were responsible for the new Morlock Massacre. Clearly confused but easily agitated the Marauders defended themselves and went head to head against the X-Men. During the fight Blockbuster took on Juggernaut. In the end it was Harpoon who surrendered after which Blockbuster swore they didn't attack anybody. Enraged by the injustice, Chamber unleashed the full extent of his powers and blatantly murdered the Marauders, who, were innocent of the crime. When their bodies burned to a crisp, Harpoon managed to kill Chamber with a final blow.
(Hellion I#2 - BTS) - Scalphunter repeatedly visited Professor X to ask after his former teammates. However, bringing the original Marauders to Krakoa was rather problematic as the current iteration were clones of clones, most likely suffering from generation loss and genetic corruption. Professor X reasoned that even the Marauders deserved to be the most natural version of themselves. As such the Quiet Council decided Sinister's clone farm was to be dismantled so they would know if they were dealing with the last of the line to assess the Marauders' genetic integrity and discern if the group could be properly resurrected by the Five.
(Hellions I#1 - BTS) - Madelyne Pryor, former adversary of the Marauders had secretly taken control of Mister Sinister's clone farm planning to take control of the many Marauder clones to build an army and ravage Krakoa.
(Hellions I#1) - Madelyne Pryor activated the clones of Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Prism, Riptide and Scrambler but corrupted them, taking away their free will turning them into flesh-eating versions of themselves.
(Hellions I#2) - Witnessing the arrival of Scalphunter and the Hellions in the clone farm, Pryor activated the corrupted Marauders. Seeing her friend, Arclight tried to fight Pryor's influence but was unable after which Pryor revealed her presence to the Krakoans. Ordering her Marauders to attack them they easily gained the upper hand as Blockbuster fought Nanny and Orphan Maker. While Pryor took Alex away the Marauders continued their assault, easily defeating Nanny, Orphan-Maker and Scalphunter.
(Hellions I#3) - While Blockbuster joined the other corrupt Marauders to crack open the armors of Nanny and Orphan-Maker, Pryor showed Havok the cloning baths were an uncountable group of Marauders (including Blockbusters) were stored and revealed she planned to birth all of the Marauders at once and flood the Krakoan gates. Meanwhile the remaining corrupted Marauders continued their assault on the Hellions.
(Hellions I#4) - Blockbuster, Riptide and Harpoon successfully cracked Nanny's armor but just as they were about to feast on the mutant they were attacked by Wild Child and Psylocke who then drove her psi-knife through Blockbuster's head. Meanwhile as Pryor was bringing the entire Marauder clone farm online her influence was spread thin as the corrupted Marauders started to regain their minds. In the end it was Scalphunter who shot and killed Pryor after which Havok destroyed the clone farm, destroying the many clones of Blockbuster.
(Hellions I#4 - BTS) - Although a weight had been lifted off of Scalphunter he worried over the resurrection of his former teammates. He agreed they should be returned with as few of Mr. Sinister's genetic modifications as feasible, but aside from that refuses to help them assimilate if and when they'll be resurrected, feeling it's better for everyone if they each go their separate ways. Not long after the Marauders were approved for resurrection by the Quiet Council.
Comments: Created by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, and Bob Wiacek.
Blockbuster's real identity, Michael Baer, was revealed (as far as we can tell) in the Marvel Phile article in TSR's Dragon Magazine #117 (1987), a regular feature of the RPG magazine that covered characters for the licensed Marvel Superheroes game. Since TSR had a license with Marvel and it was TSR's house magazine, it is canonical info and has been corroborated in various Marvel titles since, but it's noteworthy as one of the more unusual places for new information to debut.
--Loki
Blockbuster received a profile in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#18 and Wolverine Encyclopedia#1. The Marauders received profiles in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe II#18 (1987), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe III#5 (1989), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition#27 (1993), Wolverine Encyclopedia#2 (1996), Marvel Encyclopedia X-Men (2003), Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#7 (2009), X-Men: Messiah Complex - Mutant Files (2007) and appeared in the X-Men's villains gallery in the X-Men Annual II#1 (1992)
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Blockbuster has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
X-Man I#13, p7, pan1 (main image)
X-Factor I#10, p12, pan1 (attacking Ape and Tar Baby)
X-Factor I#10, p24, pan1 (pinning Angel to the wall)
Thor I#374, p12, pan5 (killed by Thor)
Uncanny X-Men I#240, p16, pan4,5,6 (hit by Colossus)
Uncanny X-Men I#240, p19, pan1,2,3 (Inferno)
Uncanny X-Men I#243, p16, pan3 (as a demon)
X-Man I#13, p15, pan4,5 (killed by Arclight)
X-Men: Messiah Complex#1, p16, pan3 (murdering Purifiers)
Astonishing X-Men III#50, p12, pan1,2 (crying)
Magneto III#6, p16, pan1 (murdered by Magneto)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#18 (ohotmu)
Appearances:
X-Factor I#10 (November, 1986) - Louise Simonson (writer), Walter Simonson (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Thor I#373 (November, 1986) - Walter Simonson (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils, inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Thor I#374 (December, 1986) - Walter Simonson (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils, inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#240 (January, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Uncanny X-Men I#243 (April, 1989) - Chris Claremont (writer), Marc Silvestri (pencils), Hilary Barta (inks), Robert Harras (editor)
X-Man I#13 (March, 1996) - John Ostrander (writer), Luke Ross (pencils), Rob Hunter (inks), Jaye Gardner (editor)
X-Men II#200 (August, 2007) - Mike Carey (writer), Chris Bachalo, Humberto Ramos (pencilers), Carlos Cuevas, Tim Townsend (inkers), Will Panzo, Andy Schmidt (editors)
X-Men II#201 (September, 2007) - Mike Carey (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Nick Lowe, Andy Schmidt (editors)
X-Men II#202 (October, 2007) - Mike Carey (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men II#203 (November, 2007) - Mike Carey (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Carlos Cuevas (inks), Nick Lowe, Will Panzo (editors)
X-Men: Messiah Complex#1 (December, 2007) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Marc Silvestri (pencils), Joe Weems, Marco Galli, Sheldon Mitchell (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men: Legacy I#221 (April, 2009) - Mike Carey (writer), Scot Eaton (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
X-Men Origins: Gambit (August, 2009) - Mike Carey (writer), David Yardin, Ibraim Roberson (pencils, inks), Nick Lowe, Daniel Ketchum (editors)
Heroic Age: X-Men (February, 2011)
Astonishing X-Men III#48 (May, 2012) - Marjorie Liu (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum, Jeanine Schaefer, Nick Lowe (editors)
Astonishing X-Men III#49 (June, 2012) - Marjorie Liu (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils, inks), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)
Astonishing X-Men III#50 (July, 2012) - Marjorie Liu (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum, Jeanine Schaefer, Nick Lowe (editors)
Magneto III#5 (August, 2014) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Magneto III#6 (September, 2014) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Javier Fernandez (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Magneto III#7 (September, 2014) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Javier Fernandez (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Nightcrawler IV#7 (October, 2014) - Chris Claremont, Marguerite Bennett (writers), Todd Nauck (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Magneto III#15 (April, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Magneto III#16 (May, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Magneto III#17 (June, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum (editor)
Magneto III#18 (July, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Paul Davidson (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum, Xander Jarowey (editors)
Magneto III#19 (August, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Paul Davidson (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum, Xander Jarowey (editors)
Magneto III#20 (September, 2015) - Cullen Bunn (writer), Paul Davidson (pencils, inks), Daniel Ketchum, Christina Harrington, Xander Jarowey (editors)
Deadpool v Gambit#4 (October, 2016) - Ben Acker (writer), Danilo Beyruth (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Heather Antos (editors)
Uncanny X-Men V#18 (May, 2019) - Matthew Rosenberg (writer), Carlos Villa (pencils), Juan Vlasco, Craig Yeung (inkss), Jordan D. White, Chris Robinson (editors)
Hellions I#1 (March, 2020) - Zeb Wells (writer), Stephen Segovia (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Annalise Bissa (editors)
Hellions I#2 (July, 2020) - Zeb Wells (writer), Stephen Segovia (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Annalise Bissa (editors)
Hellions I#3 (August, 2020) - Zeb Wells (writer), Stephen Segovia (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Annalise Bissa, Mark Basso, Lauren Amaro (editors)
Hellions I#4 (September, 2020) - Zeb Wells (writer), Stephen Segovia (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White, Annalise Bissa, Mark Basso, Lauren Amaro (editors)
First Posted: 10/18/2017
Last Updated: 02/10/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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