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| Maximus | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Maximus the Mad byFrazer Irving. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Fantastic Four #47 (February 1966)[1] |
| Created by | Stan Lee (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Maximus Boltagon |
| Species | Inhuman |
| Place of origin | Attilan |
| Team affiliations | Cabal[2] |
| Notable aliases | Maximus the Mad Maximus the Magnificent |
| Abilities |
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Maximus (also known asMaximus the Mad) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character has been depicted both as a member of and antagonist to theInhumans. Created by writerStan Lee and artistJack Kirby, he first appeared inFantastic Four #47 (February 1966).[3]
Iwan Rheon portrayed Maximus in theMarvel Cinematic Universe miniseriesInhumans. Additionally,Mark Hamill,Nolan North, andDiedrich Bader have voiced the character in animation.
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Maximus first appeared inFantastic Four #47 (February 1966), and was created byStan Lee andJack Kirby.
Maximus, anInhuman, was the second son of two ofAttilan's top geneticists,Agon, the head of the ruling Council of Geneticists, andRynda, director of the Prenatal Care Center. Subjected to the DNA-altering Terrigen Mist when he was an infant, Maximus peculiarly showed no outward sign of any mutagenic change. As he matured, he hid his developing psionic powers from the community, but was less successful at disguising his antisocial tendencies.[4]
When he was about sixteen, his elder brotherBlack Bolt was released from the protective chamber in which he had been confined since birth due to the destructive nature of his powers. One of Maximus's first responses to his brother's freedom was an unsuccessful attempt to make him release his power and prove Black Bolt could not control his sonic powers, and thus lose his freedom.[5] A month later, Black Bolt witnesses Maximus making a treacherous pact with an emissary of theKree, the alien race responsible for genetically accelerating the Inhumans eons before. In an attempt to stop the fleeing emissary so that he could be questioned by the ruling council, Black Bolt uses his forbidden power of the quasi-sonic scream and blasts the alien ship out of the sky. When the ship crashes to Earth, it landed on the parliament building, killing several key members of the Genetics Council, including the boys' parents. The reverberations of Black Bolt's voice also affects Maximus, addling his sanity and suppressing his nascent mental powers. When Black Bolt assumes the throne shortly thereafter, Maximus vows to oppose his brother and eventually usurp his rule.[6]
Maximus stages his first successful coup a few years later. By performing an illegal experiment on theAlpha Primitives, the subhuman worker clones that once served the Inhumans, Maximus creates the Trikon, three bodiless energy beings of great destructive power. While the Trikon wreaks havoc in Attilan, Maximus successfully drives the Royal Family of Inhumans out of the city. Maximus later sendsGorgon in search of the amnesiacMedusa. In the several-year interval before Black Bolt and his cousins locate her in America, Maximus rules Attilan in Black Bolt's stead. Secure in his position, Maximus has his servant, theSeeker, locate the Royal Family and bring them back to Attilan.[7] Upon doing so, Black Bolt seizes the crown back, to Maximus' dismay. Maximus also encounters theFantastic Four for the first time. Maximus, hoping to win back the public's affection, activates the Atmo-Gun device he has been working on, a machine he believes will kill the human race and leave all other living beings intact. Maximus miscalculates, however, and the device has no effect. Out of spite, Maximus uses the device to erect a barrier around Attilan, imprisoning the entire race inside.[8] Black Bolt liberates his people by using his quasi-sonic voice to destroy the barrier, at the price of devastating Attilan's ancient architecture.
Maximus then allies himself with six Inhuman criminals, sentenced for their treachery and subversive acts by Black Bolt with his verdict being interpreted by Oracle. FreeingFalcona,Aireo,Stallior,Nebulo,Leonus, andTimberius from their place of imprisonment with theHulk's aid, Maximus then tricks the Hulk into breaching the protective barrier guarding a forbidden chemical substance created by the Inhuman scientist Romnar centuries ago. This substance had certain highly unstable energy absorbing capacities and Maximus intends to use it to usurp the throne again, but Black Bolt overpowers him before he can do so.[9]
Maximus succeeds in bringing about his second coup some months later. Drugging the Royal Family with will-deadening "hypno-potions", Maximus takes the crown from Black Bolt and has the Royal Family imprisoned. Before he can activate his Hypno-Gun, which he believes will make all mankind surrender to his will, the Royal Family escapes and subdues him. Escaping Attilan with his band of renegades in a rocket, Maximus lands in the South American country of Costa Salvador, and attempts to build a will-deadening device similar to his Hypno-Gun. His plans are opposed by the Hulk and the United States Army, however, and he and his allies are forced to flee again.[volume & issue needed]
Maximus later foments a battle between the Royal Family and the Fantastic Four.[10] Returning to Attilan, Maximus is welcomed back by his brother Black Bolt, who prefers Maximus to be somewhere he can be watched. Black Bolt detects that Maximus's psionic powers, suppressed since he was an adolescent, are beginning to return. Offering no explanation, Black Bolt has Maximus placed in a suspended animation capsule, inside which he cannot use his powers. Black Bolt's cousinGorgon, however, objects to Black Bolt's inhumane treatment of Maximus and frees the latter. Maximus immediately uses his mental powers to subjugate the minds of the Inhuman populace and to give Black Bolt amnesia. Maximus then restores the dark force barrier around Attilan and begins negotiations with theKree to supply them with Inhuman soldiers.[11] Eventually Black Bolt's memory returns, and alongside theAvengers, he returns to Attilan and once again destroys the barrier. The Avengers drive the Kree agent away before he can accomplish his mission and Black Bolt liberates the enslaved Inhumans.[volume & issue needed]
With his mental powers traumatically submerged, Maximus escapes strict punishment for his treachery by feigning insanity. He then begins work on his next project to usurp the throne, the construction of the androidOmega, whose power source is supposedly the collective guilt evinced by the Inhuman populace over their treatment of the subhuman Alpha Primitives. The Fantastic Four helps the Royal Family thwart the construct, and the damage it causes was slight. Maximus stages his fourth successful coup a short time later after the Royal Family briefly leaves Attilan on business. TakingCrystal and her husbandQuicksilver captive, Maximus forces Black Bolt to give him the crown to spare their lives. Black Bolt does so, and allows himself to be placed in captivity. Maximus reestablishes contact with the Kree and negotiates a deal where the Kree would take all of the Inhumans with extraordinary abilities, leaving him the other half of the population to rule.Triton andKarnak rescue most of Maximus's captives and outwit the Kree agent Shatterstar. Unaware of that victory, Black Bolt lets loose with his quasi-sonic scream in agony, once again leveling the city. Angered by what had happened, Black Bolt strikes Maximus for the first time and has him imprisoned.[volume & issue needed]
Maximus then allies himself with theEnclave, a band of human scientists who capture Medusa. The Enclave wants to conquer Attilan and dispatches an aerial strike force. When the Enclave threatens to execute Medusa, however, Maximus turns on them out of unrequited passion for his brother's betrothed. A weapon Maximus is manning overloads, leaving Maximus in a deathlike coma. Black Bolt has his brother's body placed in a special crypt, and when Attilan is transported from the Earth to the Moon, Maximus accompanies it. On the moon, Maximus's mind makes contact with an alien power crystal located there, and it reawakened his dormant mental powers. When Black Bolt next comes to pay his respects to his brother, Maximus is able to use his power to affect a transfer of consciousness between them. For several months Maximus rules Attilan in Black Bolt's body as Black Bolt lay imprisoned. Reestablishing contact with the Enclave, Maximus helps them implement meteoroid launchers with which they intend to bombard Earth. With the aid of the Avengers, Maximus' switch is discovered, and the Enclave's schemes are foiled. Maximus is forced to return to his rightful body and was once again placed in solitary confinement.[12]
His next plot carried out from his prison cell involves the Inhuman Woz, and almost results in Attilan being conquered by Earth forces. It is foiled by Black Bolt and Medusa, who arrange for Attilan to be teleported away before its destruction.[volume & issue needed]
During the 2007 miniseriesSilent War, Maximus again plots his revenge, taunting Black Bolt from his prison and trying to sway a distressed Medusa on his side.[13] He manages to convince Medusa to try to have Luna help "cure" him, only for Luna to realize too late that the "cure" instead allows Maximus to gain control over all the other Inhumans. After the enhanced Marines managed to destroy Attilan, Maximus usurps the throne of the Inhumans from Black Bolt, taking Medusa as his queen, and announcing a new plan to conquer Earth.[14]
During the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Maximus was initially indifferent to the threat of theSkrulls. When it was discovered thatAhura was a Skrull in disguise, however, Maximus defeated it.[15]
In the 2009 "War of Kings" storyline, Black Bolt retakes the throne of the Inhumans. Maximus is still free and serves as Black Bolt's science advisor, devising war machines for the Kree to use against their adversaries, the Shi'ar.[16] After Black Bolt's vanishing, during a time when the ruling of the various empires is up for dispute, Maximus is seen under the close supervision of Gorgon. His desires for something, anything to rule, are swiftly dismissed.[17]
In the "Death of the Inhumans" event, Maximus is brainwashed into serving the Kree as the alleged Super-Inhuman Vox before being killed when his Vox costume malfunctions and teleports him away.[18]
InImperial (2025), Maximus is revealed to be alive and working with theGrandmaster.[19][20] When Grandmaster meets with Maximus on the planet Kal Lak'Thunn, they discuss a recent incident where Skrulls allied with Grandmaster poisoned several galactic royals. Maximus informs him of another key player as Black Bolt arrives withLockjaw. After Black Bolt defeats Grandmaster, he leaves with Maximus and Lockjaw to restore the Inhuman Empire.[21]
As an Inhuman, Maximus possesses superhuman physical abilities and an extended lifespan, as well as psychic abilities that enable him to manipulate and control the minds of others. He is additionally highly intelligent and is a skilled inventor, with advanced knowledge of physics, mechanics, and biology.
An alternate universe variant of Maximus from Earth-295 appears inAge of Apocalypse. This version is a servant ofApocalypse and serves as his Horseman of Death before being killed bySunfire.[22]
An alternate universe variant of Maximus from Earth-2992 appears in the one-shotInhumans 2099. After he kills the Inhuman royal family, Black Bolt is forced to kill him.[23]
An alternate universe variant of Maximus from Earth-1610 appears in theUltimate Marvel imprint. This version is thefiancé ofCrystal, though she refuses to marry him due to his insanity.[24]
I thought the reveal that the Grandmaster (an obvious choice) was working with Maximus the Mad was done well, and I enjoyed the twist that Maximus is actually working with his brother, Blackagar, even more.
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