| Monica Rappaccini | |
|---|---|
.webp) Monica Rappaccini alongsideA.I.M. troops as seen on the textless cover ofAnt-Man & Wasp #3 (January 2011). Art by Salva Espin and Guru-eFX. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7 (2005) |
| Created by | Fred Van Lente Leonard Kirk |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Dr. Monica Rappacini |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | H.A.M.M.E.R. J.A.N.U.S. A.I.M. |
| Notable aliases | Doctor Rappaccini Scientist Supreme |
| Abilities |
|
Monica Rappaccini is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byFred Van Lente andLeonard Kirk, the characterfirst appeared inAmazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7 (2005).[1] Monica Rappaccini is a genius-levelbiochemist and theScientist Supreme of the supervillain organizationA.I.M.[2]
Monica Rappaccini debuted inAmazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7 (2005),[3] created byFred Van Lente andLeonard Kirk.[4] She appeared in the 2007Super-Villain Team-Up MODOK's 11 series.[5] She appeared in the 2017The Unstoppable Wasp series.[6] She appeared in the 2020Ravencroft series,[7] and the 2020–2021 miniseriesM.O.D.O.K.: Head Games.[8]
Monica Rappaccini went toNew Mexico's Desert State University to study and shared a brief relationship with physics student Bruce Banner while enrolled as a biochemistry student at theUniversity of Padua. She used their relationship to exploit Banner's radiation expertise for her own research. Upon attaining her doctorate, Rappaccini quickly became a world-renowned innovator of antitoxins and antidotes for various environmental poisons and nearly won aNobel Prize.[9]
Recognizing the many environmental and political failings of Western civilization, Rappaccini decided that it was too corrupt to exist. She joined a series of terrorist organizations, such as the pan-European leftist group the Black Orchestra, and thenAdvanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), where she had a brief relationship with fellow agentGeorge Tarleton.[10] Making poisons instead of curing them, Rappaccini's expertise with toxins allowed her to rise quickly through A.I.M.'s ranks. She implanted her own daughter and several other newborn children of A.I.M. members with memetic antibodies. She released them into the world as A.I.M. Waker agents with no knowledge of their heritage. They programmed to travel instinctively to the nearest A.I.M. biohaven when their antibodies activated at age 16. Her daughter was raised inVermont by undercover A.I.M. agents asCarmilla Black.[11]
Monica Rappaccini went underground for nearly two decades and studied potential power sources such as the sentientUni-Power. She orchestrated attacks on capitalism, such as the dioxin-based gas attack onHong Kong. When the A.I.M.Scientist Supreme was slain by renegade A.I.M. creationMODOK, Rappaccini became head of a splinter faction of A.I.M. that remained independent from MODOK's control. Following his numerous defeats, Rappaccini's splinter group absorbed more cells into a sizable rival faction. She was made Scientist Supreme of this "true" version of A.I.M.[12] She rarely did field work as A.I.M.'s leader, preferring to act through agents and proxies.
When she led an A.I.M. attack on the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, it was thwarted by her estranged 19-year-old daughter, who had since joined forces withS.H.I.E.L.D. and became the costumed superheroine the Scorpion II. Monica Rappaccini eluded capture and soon attempted to harness the malfunctioning Uni-Power, but her plans were thwarted by the Scorpion II and several superheroes who bonded with the Uni-Power.[volume & issue needed]
Her A.I.M. faction was involved in an A.I.M. civil war against MODOK's faction that drew in several of the Marvel superheroes, prominent among wereMs. Marvel[13] and theHulk.[14] Following Ms. Marvel's thwarting of a plan to turn MODOK into a bomb, Rappaccini reunited the organization under her control.[15]
She infiltrated the supervillain group MODOK's 11 with A.I.M.'s new robot theUltra-Adaptoid, which was impersonating theChameleon. She attempted to prevent MODOK from obtaining a weapon called the Hypernova and using it to erase all life on Earth. She had a stated aim to stop A.I.M. from creating "inventions that turn around and try to destroy us." In the end, MODOK gained the Hypernova, and Monica gave him $1 billion dollars in exchange for it - which, unknown to her, had been MODOK's plan all along, as he had already worked out that the Hypernova would grow unstable and explode anyway. A.I.M.'s base was destroyed in the explosion and MODOK believed Monica was dead.[16]
During the "Dark Reign" storyline, it is revealed that Rappaccini survived and came into conflict withMockingbird andRonin.[17] She also hiredDeadpool to retrieve a batch of baby M.O.D.O.C.'s enhanced to warp reality fromH.A.M.M.E.R. headquarters.[18]
After a failed attempt to persuadeHank Pym to join A.I.M., she and her followers were stranded on Earth-Charnel when the Wasp deactivated her facility's dimensional screen.[19]
Monica and A.I.M. later sided withNorman Osborn after he escaped from prison and reformed H.A.M.M.E.R.[20] Following Osborn's defeat, she and A.I.M. end up retreating.[21]
During theAvengers vs. X-Men storyline,Noh-Varr located a secret A.I.M. base where Rappaccini and the A.I.M. agents that escaped following Osborn's defeat were hiding out. The Avengers raided the base and arrested Monica and the other A.I.M. members that were present at the time.[22]
She then escaped from prison and fought the newWasp. Monica Rappaccini was later seen as a member of J.A.N.U.S.[23]
During the "Stark-Roxxon War" storyline, Monica leads A.I.M. in collaborating withRoxxon in wanting to do a merger with Stark Industries.[24] When Iron Man arrived at A.I.M.'s facility in Caspen, Colorado and fought the secondForce, Monica sent her scheduler out to break up the fight and invite Iron Man to a luncheon. While trying to get Stark to allow the merger to happen, Monica states that she did not sanction the revivedJustine Hammer into attacking him and rigging his armors. In addition, she has also enlisted the services ofDoctor Druid who states to Tony that he is now working for them by choice. Monica orders Doctor Druid to do something scienceless to Iron Man as he is subjected to illusions of being called a failure by Howard Stark, Captain America, and Emma Frost. She also allowed Force to delay Iron Man when he recovers so that the merger can happen.[25] Monica Rappaccini was present at the board meeting to vote on the merger. After the fight between Iron Man and Justine Hammer'sIron Monger form, Doctor Druid to them, Monica, and the board members to meetBelasco in Limbo. Because of Belasco's involvement, the merger deal fell through after Iron Man persuaded the board members to change their votes in exchange that Belasco doesn't claim their souls.[26]
Monica Rappaccini is an expert in robotics, chemistry, physics, engineering, biotoxins, and biochemistry.[27] Her inventions include the enhanced lymphatic system of the A.I.M. Waker agents that granted them total immunity to all biological, chemical and radiological weapons, memetic antibodies, synthetic microbes that attack the human psyche and trigger pre-coded memories and impulses, hallucinogenic drugs that deliver programmed hallucinations before being absorbed into the system; and many innovative weapons of mass destruction, from gas attacks to nanobacterial bombs.
Her A.I.M. uniform belt contains a phasing device that allows her toteleport.[28] She keeps many different devices at hand, varying upon her situation and opponent. When facing a capturedHank Pym, she boasts that she kept 157 methods of containing him on hand.[19]
Melody MacReady ofScreen Rant called Monica Rappaccini one of the "most ruthless villains of the Marvel Universe," writing, "Monica is manipulative, prejudiced, murderous, and proud of what she does; this was best shown when she was one of the best villains in the gameMarvel's Avengers."[29]
An alternate version of Monica Rappaccini appears in the "House of M" storyline.[30] She worked alongside the Scorpion II and the Hulk to overthrow Governor Exodus' fascist mutant government inAustralia whenScarlet Witch reality-warpedEarth into a mutant-dominated society,. When the Hulk became Australia's new leader, she secret plan to create a cybernetic army to overthrow Earth's mutant rulers was exposed. Denying any knowledge of the army, she promised to restore the cyborgs' humanity. When this warped reality was undone, the disoriented Rappaccini found herself stranded in Australia alongside Bruce Banner. Evading the Scorpion II's attempt to arrest her, Rappaccini returned to A.I.M.
An alternate version of Monica Rappaccini appears in the alternate future timeline inDeath's Head 3.0. She created the Uni-Alias, an artificial variant ofCaptain Universe's Uni-Power.[31] Decades later her granddaughter Varina Goddard, a Senior Scientist in the future A.I.M., used the Uni-Alias as a power source for the Death's Head robot in her attempt to assassinate theUnited Nations Secretary General.
An alternate version of Monica Rappaccini appears in theAnt-Man: Natural Enemy. She captures the shrunkenScott Lang and was going to make her pet, but later attempts to kill Lang by flushing the latter down the toilet. It is revealed that Rappaccini murdered animals when she was a child, especially ants.