| Thunderball | |
|---|---|
 Thunderball. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Defenders #17 (Nov. 1974) |
| Created by | Len Wein Sal Buscema |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Eliot Franklin |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Team affiliations | Wrecking Crew Frightful Four[1] Masters of Evil Secret Empire Illuminati Lethal Legion |
| Abilities |
|
Thunderball (Eliot Franklin) is asupervillain appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. He is a frequent enemy ofThor and a reluctant ally of theWrecker and theWrecking Crew.
The character made his live-action debut in theMarvel Cinematic Universe television seriesShe-Hulk: Attorney at Law, played by Justin Eaton.
Thunderball was created byLen Wein andSal Buscema and first appeared inThe Defenders #17 (November 1974).
Phillip Lamarr Cunningham identifies how black supervillains are often forced to choose between great power and great intellect: "Thunderball, who despite his genius-level intellect relies primarily on his strength, has resorted to utilizing a ball and chain as a weapon, and commits crimes with his band of ruffians, The Wrecking Crew."[2]
Eliot Franklin was born inBuffalo, New York. He becomes a brilliant physicist and engineer, inventing a miniature gamma bomb that he provides to Richmond Enterprises. However, Richmond executive J. C. Pennysworth steals the bomb and fires Franklin. Franklin attempts to recover the bomb, but is caught and imprisoned. In prison, he meetsDirk Garthwaite,Henry Camp, andBrian Calusky. Garthwaite's magicalcrowbar empowers all four men, who form theWrecking Crew.[3]
As a member of the Wrecking Crew, Thunderball has faced many of Marvel's superheroes, including Thor,Iron Man, theAvengers, and theHulk. They have also been part of other "supervillain" organizations, but they always stayed together as a team. Thunderball has occasionally operated on his own, working as a scientist for criminal organizations, including theMasters of Evil, theSecret Empire, andthe Hood's gang.[4][5][6]
Thunderball possesses superhuman strength and a high degree of durability thanks to theAsgardian magic imparted by theWrecker's crowbar. His superhuman abilities are currently four times greater than when he originally shared the Wrecker's power, making him more powerful than an Asgardian god.[7]
Thunderball possesses a virtually indestructible wrecking ball attached to a 4-foot-long (1.2 m) chain, enchanted by Wrecker's crowbar. The wrecking ball, when thrown, can return to Thunderball in a similar fashion as Wrecker's crowbar and Thor's hammerMjolnir.
In addition, Thunderball is highly intelligent. He is a scientificgenius in the field ofengineering andphysics, specializing ingamma radiation. He is a gifted physicist with aPh.D. in physics as well as an experienced planner and tactician.
An alternate universe variant of Thunderball from Earth-58163 appears inHouse of M as a member of the Hood's Masters of Evil.[8]
An alternate universe variant of Thunderball from Earth-1610 appears in theUltimate Marvel imprint.[9]
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