| The Leader | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Variant cover art ofSkaar: Son of Hulk #6 (Dec. 2008), art byFrancis Tsai | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales to Astonish #62 (December 1964)[1] |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Steve Ditko (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Samuel Sterns |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Team affiliations | Intelligencia Humanoids Freehold / New Freehold Riot Squad Lethal Legion Thunderbolts[2] |
| Partnerships | Abomination Madman |
| Notable aliases | The Red Leader[2] |
| Abilities |
|
TheLeader (Samuel Sterns) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The Leader first appeared inTales to Astonish #62 (December 1964), created by writerStan Lee and artistSteve Ditko as thearchenemy of theHulk.[3][4] He has mainly appeared in Hulk-related comic books over the years and was one of the featured characters in theMarvel NOW!Thunderbolts relaunch.
Sterns worked as a janitor inBoise, Idaho when he was exposed togamma radiation. This mutated him into a green-skinned, super-intelligent entity who named himself the Leader, embarking on a career of attempts at world domination. He is repeatedly foiled by the Hulk, who overcomes all of the Leader's schemes, as well as his artificial henchmen known as the Humanoids. Sterns would later be further transformed, causing his cranium to change into the shape of an oversized brain. As part of the Intelligencia, he is an integral part of theHulked Out Heroes storyline.
The character has been adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including television series and video games. Samuel Sterns made his cinematic debut in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmThe Incredible Hulk (2008), portrayed byTim Blake Nelson, and returned inCaptain America: Brave New World (2025). In 2009, the Leader was ranked asIGN's 63rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[5]
The character first appeared inTales to Astonish #62[6] (December 1964), and was created byStan Lee andSteve Ditko.[7]
Born inBoise,Idaho, Samuel Sterns lived in the shadow of his brilliant brother Phillip, and he worked in a menial capacity for achemical plant where Phillip was employed as a researcher. While Sterns was transporting radioactive materials, an explosive accident bombarded him withgamma radiation, which turned his skin green, abnormally enlarged his cranium and brain, and granted him a superhuman intellect that reflected his subconscious desire to be smarter than his brother.[8][9]
Renaming himself the "Leader", he forms an espionage ring to overthrow theUnited Statesfederal government and enlists theChameleon to steal high-level secrets.[10] After his plans are duly thwarted by theHulk, the Leader takes an interest in the Hulk's abilities and captures him with a new invention, the android "Humanoids".[11] However, the Hulk breaks free and destroys the Leader's laboratory, forcing his retreat.[12] The Leader then switches tactics by manipulating the Hulk into helping him steal theWatcher's "Ultimate Machine", a device containing all knowledge in the universe.[13] After obtaining the device and visualizing its contents, the Leader apparently dies of shock, with even his enhanced brain unable to comprehend the knowledge that the Ultimate Machine contains.[14]
The Leader is later resurrected by a Humanoid designed specifically to do so. Months later, he resurfaces to engage in a number of plots against the Hulk, including an alliance withGeneral Ross.[15] He also attempts to steal the U.S. Army's Tripod Observation Module (TOM), nicknamed the Murder Module and then, with the help of theRhino, interrupts the wedding of Bruce Banner (the Hulk's alter ego) andBetty Ross by shooting Banner with a ray which restores the Hulk to his savage state,[16] gamma-irradiates Manhattan's water supply to transform its inhabitants into loyal servants,[17] and clashes with the Hulk and theAvengers twice.[17][18] Eventually, the Leader's mutation destabilizes and he reverts to the form of Samuel Sterns. He convinces the Gray Hulk to transfer the gamma radiation from the recently Hulk-likeRick Jones into himself, and the Leader is restored with a new appearance and a psychic link to Rick.[19] The Leader subsequently detonates a gamma bomb in a small Arizona town, killing over 5,000 people. The survivors, now enhanced, provide him with valuable research subjects and a group of superhuman enforcers called theRiot Squad.[20] With their help, he builds a self-sufficient society called "Freehold" inAlberta, populated with civilians dying from radiation poisoning. When the Leader's brother Philip Sterns becomes theMadman, the Leader deems him a threat and sends the Hulk to eliminate him.[21]
When Freehold is targeted byHydra, the Leader sends his followers to invade the covertPantheon organization and coerce them into aiding Freehold. To the Hulk's chagrin, the Leader and the Pantheon's head Agamemnon ultimately form an alliance. At the same time, the Leader is experiencing Rick's grief over the recent death of his girlfriendMarlo Chandler. The Leader offers to revive Marlo by using the power of his follower Soul Man, hoping to use Rick as a pawn against the Hulk and taking the opportunity to analyze Soul Man's power in a bid to achieve immortality.[22] Marlo's revival is interrupted by a two-pronged attack on Freehold by the Hulk and Hydra, and the Leader is apparently killed in the crossfire.[23] The now-incorporeal Leader controls his follower Omnibus and attempts to throw the world into a state of war. Omnibus is eventually exposed by his fellow Freehold citizens, exiled into the Arctic, and is eaten by apolar bear.[24]
When Banner is dying fromALS, the Leader summons the Hulk to give him a cure in exchange for witnessing his ascension from the mortal plane.[25] However, he explodes in the process and is reduced to a disembodied head in a tank within a hidden California base.[26]
After the Leader regains his body through unknown means, he is captured byS.H.I.E.L.D. and brought to trial for his crimes, but his attorney manages to have him found not guilty by reason of insanity.[27] Shortly afterward, the Leader discovers he is dying and builds a dome in a Nevada desert to survive.[28] Upon recovering, he joins theIntelligencia and takes part in the creation of the Harpy (Marlo Chandler), theRed Hulk (Thunderbolt Ross), theRed She-Hulk (Betty Ross), and A-Bomb (Rick Jones).[29][30] However, when Ross discovers that Red She-Hulk is his daughter, he drains the gamma radiation from the Leader's body, depriving him of his super-intelligence and reverting him to his human form.[31]
Subsequently, taken into custody so that he may divulge information on the Intelligencia's plans,[32] Sterns is subjected to a dose of red gamma radiation by the Red Hulk, who intends to make Sterns his intelligence agent.[33] However, Sterns is shot and killed when thePunisher discovers him.[34] The Red Hulk further exposes his body to gamma radiation, which revives him and transforms him into the Red Leader.[35] Initially forced to work forRoss's Thunderbolts, the Red Leader manages to escape and begins to rebuild his criminal empire, but is recaptured. He makes a pact withMephisto to free himself, and is later dragged to Hell.[36]
After somehow escaping from Mephisto's captivity, the Red Leader is tracked down by "Doc Green", an ingenious and ruthless new personality of the Hulk, and is deprived of his powers. However, the Red Leader had previously taken possession of an artificial intelligence created by Banner, which restores his intellect, powers and original green-skinned complexion.[37]
In the miniseriesHulkverines, the Leader is shown to be detained at Shadow Base Remote Facility 43B using Big Bob's Lumber Lounge in Akron, Ohio as a front. He is approached by Agent Castillo, who informs him that the Hulk has returned from the dead and they need his help to kill him. The Leader accepts, but stabs Agent Castillo, stating that he would rather do it himself. The Leader arrives at the area where the Hulk andWeapon H are fighting each other, until Shadow Base agents led by Agent NG catch up to him. As the Hulk starts sneezing, the Leader states to Agent NG that he infected Clayton Cortez with a gamma-altering virus. Arriving where Weapon H had knocked the Hulk unconscious, the Leader begs for Weapon H to finish him off. When the Leader threatens his family as part of Plan C, he detonates some bombs near Weapon H to get away. Clayton chases after the Leader untilWolverine arrives.[38] The Leader brings out the Humanoids, only for them to be regressed back to their pods by reverse-engineered Humanoids when formerWeapon X Project scientist Aliana Alba shows up. She advises the Leader to leave the disposal of Wolverine to her. After a brief fight, the Leader explains that he was pursuing the Hulk, while Alba states that she was pursuing Wolverine. They come to a conclusion that they were manipulated bysomeone who wants Weapon H dead. This leads to them making plans to capture the Hulk to collaborate on a project. The Leader and Alba later attack Shadow Base's Remote Facility FN34.[39] After the larger Humanoid abducts Wolverine and Bruce Banner, it brings them to Shadow Base as they begin the experiment that gives the Hulk the claws of Wolverine and Wolverine the strength of the Hulk. The Leader and Alba unleash the mutated Hulk and Wolverine on a Shadow Base in Ohio using Green Energy Corp as a front. Weapon H arrives and lures them towards the Leader and Alba. When Weapon H destroys the remote control in the Leader's hand, Alba withdraws the nanobots that were placed in Wolverine and Banner and places them in Weapon H. It does not work on Weapon H, as the Leader repairs his teleporter enough to get himself and Alba away from Weapon H. After watching the aftermath from afar, the Leader and Alba share a kiss as they embrace each other.[40]
After the Hulk left after finding thatXemnu devoured the Minotaur and transformed him into a Xemnu/Minotaur hybrid, the Leader visits him. While controlling Rick Jones when spying on the Hulk, the Leader advises the Minotaur to leave the Hulk to him.[41]
The Leader later studies the Below-Place, where gamma mutates travel to after dying and before resurrecting. He harnesses theOne Below All's power and transforms into a crab-like monster before the Hulk defeats him.[42]
During the "Empyre" storyline, it is revealed that the Leader also used the Green Door to resurrect the She-Hulk after she was possessed by aCotati.[43]
The Leader has superhumanmental acumen as a result of his exposure to an explosion of gamma-irradiated waste. He is capable of knowledge and comprehension that is beyond the human ability to understand. Just as the Hulk has the potential for limitless strength, the Leader has the potential for limitless intelligence, being capable of mastering every worldly subject and adopting concepts completely foreign to his environment. His higher brain functions, including pattern recognition, information storage/retrieval and logical / philosophical structuring have been enhanced to inhuman levels. He also has total recall of every event he has witnessed since the accident that transformed him and can calculate possibilities and outcomes so accurately that it borders on predicting the future. Despite his limitless intelligence and supreme knowledge, his effectiveness as a villain is greatly hampered by his own arrogance, immaturity, impatience and obsession with killing the Hulk, which constantly causes him to lose sight of necessary details and act prematurely, causing the ruin of his schemes. Hisegotism also briefly led him to embark on two mad and impractical schemes to turn the rest of humanity into gamma mutates like himself.[17][18]
He has also unlocked latent telekinetic and telepathic powers within himself. He is able to control the minds of ordinary humans by merely touching them (aside from gamma-mutated individuals like the Hulk or the Abomination), mind-wipe the memories of several humans at once, createillusions to trick others or disguise himself, and project telekinetic blasts potent enough to topple a very weakened Hulk.
The Leader is also a technological genius that specializes in gamma radiation. He has created technology that is beyond human ability, including vehicles, weaponry, computers, laser pistols, pulse weapons and kinetic gauntlets, and is particularly adept at genetic engineering and manipulating radiation for many nefarious purposes. The Leader has created an army of synthetic henchmen at his disposal called the "Humanoids" that have served him throughout his career of world domination, mainly as bodyguards, soldiers and laboratory servants. They have versatile programming capacities to allow them to perform any task, do not tire, talk or need sustenance and have elastic-like bodies that make them immune to blunt impacts. They range in size from microscopic to hundreds of feet tall. The Humanoids are usually controlled directly through the Leader's own mental commands, but can also be pre-programmed to carry out a certain directive. The Leader has also developed gamma bombs, shield generators to cover large areas, cages for holding the Hulk, powered armor, teleportation devices, android duplicates, a means of controlling the minds of the Hulk or theRhino through technological devices,[26][44] a special Humanoid which was programmed to bring him back to life in the event of his death by using a device called the Revivo-Beam that was also made to do so[15] and Omnivac, a sentient computer that maintains the enormous space station that he has used as a base of operations.[44]
On occasion, the Leader has been shown to have the ability to change himself back into Samuel Sterns, but this ability resulted in him losing all memory of his identity as the Leader, as Sterns' mind was ill-equipped to cope with the Leader's intellect (although he always remembered everything when he changed back into the Leader again). It has been revealed when the Leader changes back into Sterns, Sterns gets a little smarter each time this happens (although Sterns isstill nowherenear the Leader as far as intellect is concerned).[45]
Although the Leader can be killed, being a gamma mutate, he is able to resurrect himself each time he is by passing through the Green Door, which makes him virtually immortal.[45]
A zombified alternate universe variant of the Leader from Earth-2149 appears inMarvel Zombies.[46][47]
Two characters based on the Leader appear in theUltimate Marvel universe: Samuel Sterns is an elderly doctor and member ofRoxxon Energy Corporation'sbrain trust,[48][49][50] whilePete Wisdom is a former member ofMI6 who transformed himself using the "British Enhancile Program".[51][52] He has psychic and mental abilities similar to the original Leader, but requires a wheelchair and ahalo-like brace to support his head.[53]
In 2009, the Leader was ranked asIGN's 63rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.[54]
The Leader appears in several drafts for unproduced scripts for aHulk film, including one penned byJohn Turman seeing him renamedEdward Leder.[57][58]
Dr. Samuel Sterns appears in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed byTim Blake Nelson.[59] This version is aHarlem-based university professor who, while helpingBruce Banner find a cure for his transformations, replicates various samples of Banner's blood. After being forced to transformEmil Blonsky into the Abomination, the latter injures Sterns, who is cross-contaminated with one of Banner's blood samples. First appearing in the filmThe Incredible Hulk (2008), Sterns makes subsequent appearances in the tie-in comicsFury's Big Week and the filmCaptain America: Brave New World (2025).[60][61]
The Leader appears in the X-Men/Avengers crossover trilogyGamma Quest byGreg Cox.[citation needed] He allies with theSuper-Skrull to enhance the latter's abilities with the powers of various other superhumans. However,Rogue borrows enough of the Leader's intellect to reverse the procedure and return the Super-Skrull to his usual power levels.
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