WILDCARDWILDCARD
Real Name: John Crenella
Identity/Class: Alternate
reality (Earth-1287) mutate circa 2072 A.D. (see
comments)
Occupation: Adventurer;
former haberdasher
Group Membership: Strikeforce Morituri
Affiliations: Backhand (Greg Mattingly), Brava (Domenica Contreras), Hardcase (Burke O'Halloran), Commander Yuri Pogorelich, Shear (Walther Feyzioglu), Silencer (Akiya Bandaranaike)
Enemies: The Horde;
formerly Blackthorn
(Aline Pagrovna), Radian
(Louis Armanetti), Scaredycat (Pilar Lisieux), Scatterbrain (William
Deguchi), Toxyn (Ruth Mastorakis)
Known Relatives: Unidentified father
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
born in East Orange, New Jersey
First Appearance: Strikeforce: Morituri#13 (December, 1987)
Powers/Abilities: Wildcard could adapt/replicate the powers of other Morituri within an unspecified but close range of him.
He could replicate such abilities even if the being whose powers he was duplicating was unconscious.
It is unrevealed if he could retain
such abilities once adapting them if he moved out of the range from
which he could adapt such powers. 
He was seen to adapt the strength of Brava and the sound-muting power of Silencer.
Like most Morituri, he at least temporarily possessed some degree of superhuman strength and endurance as part of the first phase of the Morituri process, which helped his body survive the development of unique powers.
He carried some sort of blaster in a
hip holster, presumably so he would still be able to fight even if he
was separated from other Morituri, but was never seen to use it during
his brief tenure. Presumably it was the standard issue energy blaster
other Earth forces used.
Height: Unrevealed (he didn't seem particularly
short nor particularly tall; perhaps 5'8" to 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (perhaps 155-170 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Strawberry blond
History:
(Strikeforce: Morituri#13 (fb) - BTS) - Born in
East Orange, New Jersey, John Crenella worked in his father's clothing
store until the Horde came to Earth and took his father as a
slave.
(Strikeforce:
Morituri#13 (fb) - BTS) - John volunteered for the Morituri process (see comments) to oppose the Horde,
gaining the power to duplicate the power of any nearby Morituri, and he
adopted the codename Wildcard.
(Strikeforce:
Morituri#13) - Wildcard was with fellow new Morituri Backhand,
Brava, Hardcase, Shear, and Silencer when they were greeted by
commander Yuri Pogorelich, who had replaced
fallen commander Beth Luis Nion.
Yuri addressed the Morituri, detailing and/or listening to their history and abilities; when he got to Wildcard, John interrupted detailing his history and demonstrating his powers via duplicating Brava's strength. John vowed to show the Horde what happens when someone messes with a Crenella.
Yuri noted his approval and advised them all to get some rest before their press conference the next day at Debutante Hall.
The next day, however, Yuri informed the new Morituri that the press conference was cancelled, as their predecessor Morituri agents had gone rogue in a space mission, after which they had returned to Earth in a Horde ship, attacked Paideia (Earth's ruling government) personnel, and stolen a troop skimmer to escape.
The new Morituri were assigned to bring in the renegades, and they reluctantly complied after Yuri assured them that the renegades would be treated fairly after being brought in.
Wildcard and his group confronted their predecessors as they considered their fate and options in an old auto factory, collapsing the roof and asking them to come out and talk to avoid a fight.
When the predecessors escaped the assault, Backhand commented that they should have figured that the telepath would detect them, and Wildcard replied that they had forgotten about their predecessors' flight boots.
When the two groups battled, Brava was quickly taken out by Toxyn, but Wildcard nonetheless accessed Brava's strength, shattering the roof below them as they fought.
Backhand chided Wildcard for his idiotic maneuver, reminding him that they didn't have flight boots like their predecessors.
After Toxyn took out Silencer and explained how they had flown to Jupiter and taken out a Horde ship, Wildcard adapted Silencer's powers and muted Toxyn, noting that that was exactly what a bunch of traitors would say.
Scaredycat then jumped on Wildcard's
shoulders and wrapped her legs around Wildcard's neck, insisting he hear
Toxyn out. 
Wildcard fought back, insisting Scaredycat get off him and then telling Shear to stop conversing with Radian and get her off.
After threatening to cut Scaredycat in half, however, Wildcard suddenly had trouble breathing, and Radian told Scaredycat to get off of Wildcard as something was wrong.
Desperately announcing it was too soon as he'd only had weeks, Wildcard futilely tried to siphon power from the unconscious Blackthorn.
Collapsing as he asked for help,
Wildcard swiftly died and decomposed.
(Strikeforce: Morituri#13 - BTS) - Blackthorn subsequently considered that Wildcard had taken her power to die her death.
Wildcard's death stopped the fight, with the newer Morituri appreciating their new existence and what their predecessors were living with.
Comments: Created by Peter Gillis, Brent Anderson, and Scott Williams.
I haven't read this
series, and I just profiled a single-appearance character at the
recommendation of fellow writer Loki. By what I read in this issue and a
little "never-wrong" Internet research, Strikeforce Morituri is a future
reality circa 2073 A.D. (as of when it was written in the late 80s)
where Earth was overrun by the extraterrestrial Horde. Scientist Dr.
Kimmo Tuolema developed a process that could grant humans super-powers
but proved fatal within a year. The process was named the Morituri
Effect, and it was used to empower agents to fight the
Horde.
Biowar Facility Alpha, aka "The Garden," test facility was based on Dr.
Tuolema's daughter's vid-comics' X-Men's Danger Room.
For once the internet is
right about the date. While the comic doesn't initially commit to a
specific year, the sequel Electric Undertow is set ten years after the
Horde were defeated and takes place in 2083; allowing that a couple of
years might have passed between the start of the series and the end of
the original run of the title, that would place the first issue of
Strikeforce: Morituri circa 2071 A.D. and the issue where Wildcard
debuts and dies around 2072 A.D. - Loki
"Morituri te salutant" is a Latin phrase meaning "Those who are about to die salute you." It used in the gladiatorial games as the participants addressed their emperor, Caesar.
A Gambit in the Exiles was identified in-story as being from Earth-1287.
Strikeforce Morituri took place on Earth, yes, but it's an Earth of
around 100 years in the future as of the 1980s, where IIRC superhumans
never existed until the title team was created to fight the alien
Horde.
There were a few "in-joke shots" like seeing
Galactus' helmet on the Horde ship, but, really, it might as well have
been an Epic series like "The One" or "Brats Bizarre" for all the
connection it had to anything else). As off the 1980s Marvel Universe
map as G.I. Joe.
Sort of like Earth-Supreme-Power with an invading
race as the catalyst for the story developments instead of just the
one alien infant, I guess.
But there's nothing to say that on such an Earth,
the government didn't employ an agent called Maverick and that he
couldn't have been under the authority of a guy who looked like Nick
Fury. There've been odder juxtapositions, and since Exiles didn't have
any problem pulling characters from "far enough in the future" that
Nightcrawler, Magneto, etc. could have adult offspring, there's no
reason Maverick-1287 couldn't have been pulled from Strikeforce
Morituri's "future" (explaining why he's a COSTUMED government agent).
It's the easiest way to explain why the same Earth-number is applied
to both concepts, for those few of us who care.
--Ronald Byrd
Ronald is correct in saying that
within the Strikeforce comics themselves there were only Easter eggs
that might suggest it is an alternate Earth within the Marvel
multiverse, though it's worth noting it wasn't just Galactus' helmet
on the Horde ship; they also had Captain America's shield and the
Silver Surfer's board, not to mention some Green Lantern battery
lanterns, the giant penny from the Batcave and Robbie the Robot. Jokes
or not, that suggests the Strikeforce's past did have superhumans on
Earth, who perhaps all died off. Heck, maybe the Morituri process came
about because someone was trying to rediscover the Super Soldier
serum. The fact that there were vid-comics about the X-Men doesn't
prove they were purely fictional in this reality, since we've seen
X-Men comics in the movie Logan too; fictional stories based on real
people have plenty of precedent. And that existence of X-Men comics
within the Strikeforce Morituri era would count against Ronald's
suggestion that 1287 Gambit came from after the Horde invasion; if the
X-Men are from the past, he probably is too.
However, even more clear
connections were established in X-Force IV#4, when Cable is informed
that a villain called Volga purloined the technology he is using from
"Earth-1287," and explains that the tech, developed in response to an
alien invasion, transformed recipients into superhumans but also
killed them within a year, a clear reference to the Morituri process.
The person explaining this even mentions that the the soldiers of
Earth-1287 had a phrase they used, recalling it as "When it comes your
time to die..."; though this isn't an exact match to how "Morituri te
salutant" translates into English, given it's someone's vague
recollection of what they were told the phrase was by a third party,
it's close enough to be pretty clear cut.
So, if Earth-1287
had superhumans in the 20th century, how come people in the late 21st
don't seem to recall them? I'd look to the real world for how that
works. We live in a world where people are surprised to learn that
Titanic was based on a true story and where the vast majority of
in-their-day important and well-known public figures are largely
forgotten by the general public within a couple of generations. It's
not hard to believe that the superhumans of the 20th century have
largely faded from public consciousness by the 2070s, especially if
the Heroic Era of Earth-1287 was a lot briefer than on Earth-616. -
Loki
This profile was completed 7/31/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Wildcard should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Strikeforce: Morituri#13 (December, 1987) - Peter
Gillis (writer), Brent Anderson (penciler), Scott Williams (inker), Carl
Potts (editor)
First posted: 09/07/2021
Last updated: 09/06/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!