| Mastermind | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The X-Men #4 (March 1964)[1] |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Jason Wyngarde |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | Secret Empire Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Factor Three Hellfire Club |
| Notable aliases | Mastermind |
| Abilities |
|
Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, commonly as an adversary of theX-Men. The original Mastermind was amutant with the psionic ability to generate complextelepathic illusions at will that cause his victims to see whatever he wishes them to see. He was a founding member of the firstBrotherhood of Evil Mutants and later a probationary member of the Lords Cardinal of theHellfire Club, where he played an important role in "The Dark Phoenix Saga".
After Wyngarde's death from theLegacy Virus, his three daughters appeared: two possessing his illusion-creating abilities, Mastermind (Martinique Jason) andLady Mastermind (Regan Wyngarde), and theX-ManPixie.
Mastermind was created by writerStan Lee and artist/co-writerJack Kirby, and first appeared inThe X-Men #4 (March 1964).
During their time working onX-Men,Chris Claremont andJohn Byrne gave Mastermind the real name of Jason Wyngarde, based on British actorPeter Wyngarde, and redesigned the character to resemble Wyngarde.[2]
Jason's daughter, Martinique, first appeared inWolverine/Gambit: Victims #2 (August 1995) and was created byJeph Loeb andTim Sale, with subsequent appearances in the next two issues of the series. She also appeared as a member of theBrotherhood of Mutants.[3]
Martinique appeared inUncanny X-Men as a prisoner ofX-Corps before being freed.[4]
When Chris Claremont was writingX-Treme X-Men, he intended Martinique to appear, but an editorial oversight failed to notice Martinique's current whereabouts in the pages ofUncanny X-Men, written byJoe Casey. Claremont createdLady Mastermind, Martinique's sister, as a replacement for the character.[5]
Martinique next appeared as an amnesiac in San Francisco[6] before being recruited for theSisterhood of Mutants.[7] She would subsequently appear inX-Men: Pixie Strikes Back and during theKrakoan Age.
Jason Wyngarde was a carnival mentalist before joining theBrotherhood of Mutants. With Mastermind's help, the Brotherhood takes over Santo Marco, a fictionalSouth American country, with an illusion of thousands of soldiers. However, theX-Men free the country, asProfessor X sees through Mastermind's illusions, helping the X-Men when they believe they are trapped by a wall of flame.[8] As a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, he participates in repeated clashes with the X-Men. He attempts to court his teammateScarlet Witch, but his advances seem driven more by an unsatisfied need for love than by any true feelings for her, and she repeatedly spurns him.[9][10]
Mastermind later joinsFactor Three, an organization that attempts to conquer the Earth. Factor Three eventually disbands when their leader, theMutant Master, is revealed to be an alien.[11] Mastermind, alongside Factor Three membersBlob andUnus, reform the Brotherhood of Mutants.[12]
Mastermind becomes involved with theHellfire Club, who conspire to capture the X-Men for their own uses. He manipulatesJean Grey through the use of his own powers and a mind-tap mechanism created byEmma Frost, making Grey that believe she is the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club and is married to him.[13] This turns Grey against the X-Men.Cyclops attempts to free Grey on theastral plane, but Mastermind confronts him there and soundly defeats him. Cyclops' apparent death causes Grey to break free from Mastermind's control and attack him, leaving him catatonic.[14]
Following Grey's death, Mastermind decides to use those closest to her as proxies for his revenge. He disruptsWolverine's wedding by psionically compelling his betrothed,Mariko Yashida, to reject him and open up dealings with the criminal underworld.[15] He manipulates the X-Men into thinking Cyclops's fiancée,Madelyne Pryor, is Grey's reincarnation, hoping to goad them into killing her before he reveals the truth. However, Cyclops recognizes the patterns of Mastermind's power, and the X-Men defeat him in a short battle.[16]
Mastermind later dies of theLegacy Virus. Before dying, he asks Jean Grey's forgiveness for what he did to her in an attempt to gain control of the Phoenix Force. She forgives him and he dies peacefully after using his final act to save Grey from dying alongside him.[17]
Prior to Mastermind's death,Lorna Dane inadvertently killed her mother and stepfather when her powers first manifested.Magneto, Lorna's father, had Mastermind use his powers to rewrite Lorna's memories, leaving her to believe that her parents died in a plane crash.[18]
Years after his death, Mastermind is resurrected bythe Five during theKrakoan Age. During the "Empyre" storyline, Mastermind is among the psychic mutants who assistMagik in dealing with aCotati seed pod.[19]
Mastermind has themutant ability to cast exceptionally realistic psionic illusions.[20] He can psionically cause other people to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste things that do not actually exist.[21] For example, he can make himself look and sound like a different person, or look and feel like a wall, or even seem invisible. He can use his powers to duplicate himself.[9] The range of Mastermind's powers is wide enough to affect an entire city.[8] He is even capable of affecting telepaths as powerful asProfessor X andJean Grey, although to manipulate Dark Phoenix he required an amplifying device called a "mind-tap mechanism" provided by theWhite Queen that enabled him to project illusions directly into the entity's mind, so that the entity "saw" them, and to monitor the entity's thoughts, both over great distances.[14]
Mastermind's name and powers still live on through his daughters:Martinique Jason andRegan Wyngarde. Both appear to be stronger than the original Mastermind; Martinique can create citywide illusions that even hypnotize people to believe they are in a whole new era and Regan's lethal illusions can continue even after she has been rendered unconscious.[volume & issue needed]
In the second issue ofX-Men: Pixie Strikes Back, the mother of X-ManPixie, Mrs. Gwynn, teleports herself to the Wyngarde Mansion, where Regan is fighting with Martinique and reveals Pixie is their half-sister. Teaming up with Mrs. Gwynn who offers the sisters power in exchange for their help, they attempt to track down Pixie after being kidnapped bySaturnine. During the final confrontation with the demon, Pixie teleports both Regan and Martinique away when X-23 attempts to attack them.[22]
An alternate universe version of Mastermind appears inAge of Apocalypse. This version was experimented on bySugar Man, leaving him mute. After being rescued byX-Man, Mastermind goes on to joinForge's Outcasts, a resistance cell traveling under the cover of a theater troupe. He is later killed by the bounty hunterDomino.[volume & issue needed]
In theUltimate Marvel reality, Mastermind is a member ofMagneto's Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy. In the seriesUltimates 3, Mastermind attacksValkyrie, who kills him with her sword.[31]
An alternate universe version of Jason Wyngarde appears inX-Men: Noir as a member of Eric Magnus's group of detectives.[volume & issue needed]
Mastermind appears as a playable character andboss inLego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced again by Travis Willingham.[32] This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants.[34][35]
Jason Wyngarde appears inWolverine: The Lost Trail, voiced byBill Irwin.[36]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)