The Wrecking Crew are formed when Dirk Garthwaite—theWrecker—is approached byEliot Franklin in prison and asked to retrieve a gamma bomb Franklin had designed, with the intent of ransoming New York for millions of dollars. The Wrecker had formerly been a violent criminal who demolished crime scenes with his crowbar, but gained his power when he was mistaken for Loki and given mystical powers byKarnilla the Norn Queen. Garthwaite manages to retrieve his enchanted crowbar. During a lightning storm, Wrecker tells Franklin and fellow prisonersHenry Camp andBrian Calusky to grip the weapon simultaneously. A lightning bolt then strikes the crowbar, increases the Wrecker's power and transforms him and the other three men into the Wrecking Crew. Franklin became Thunderball, Camp became Bulldozer, and Caluski became Piledriver. They promptly escape from prison and, in the course of searching for the gamma bomb, are defeated by theDefenders andLuke Cage.[3][4]
Over the years the Wrecking Crew have followed a very familiar cycle—escape from prison, fight (and subsequently lose to) superheroes, and be returned to prison. The Wrecking Crew have battled theAvengers, theFantastic Four,Captain America,Iron Fist, theRunaways,Spider-Man,Namor the Sub-Mariner,Doctor Strange,Daredevil,Alpha Flight,Hulk,She-Hulk, theThunderbolts and theX-Men, but their main foe isThor. When the Wrecking Crew first battle Thor, they are confident that it will be a quick victory. Thor, however, infuriated by the fact that one of the Wrecker's offensives has killed an innocent bystander, defeats them all in moments and critically injures the Wrecker.[5] Thunderball escapes and, several weeks later, recovers the Wrecker's crowbar, going on to form his own gang before being defeated by Spider-Man.[6] The Wrecking Crew is later chosen by the being known as theBeyonder to participate in theSecret Wars against a team of select superheroes.[7] The Wrecking Crew's most notorious act was to participate in the near-fatal beating of the heroHercules during a siege ofAvengers Mansion by the fourth incarnation ofMasters of Evil led byBaron Helmut Zemo. With Thor's assistance, Hercules eventually confronts the Wrecking Crew and defeats them, restoring his confidence in himself.[8] The Wrecking Crew were briefly joined by Piledriver's son Excavator who helped them in their fight against theRunaways.[9] The Wrecking Crew was imprisoned in theRaft whenElectro freed the inmates inNew Avengers.[10]
During theCivil War crossover event, the Wrecking Crew is forced to join theThunderbolts Army or face additional jail time.[11] The Wrecking Crew later escape to Canada to avoid the Superhuman Registration Act. The Wrecking Crew's most despicable act was murdering nearly everyone inside a Canadian bar all because of an "annoying" cell phone ringtone. They then join forces with the mythicalGreat Beasts and battle the superhero teamOmega Flight.[12] After being defeated by Omega Flight, they are imprisoned in a jail in Manitoba, but manage to escape[13] and return to the United States, where they are recruited to join theHood's crime syndicate.[14] The Wrecking Crew were later hired byJigsaw to kill thePunisher during Jigsaw's revenge plot against him. However, before the Wrecker can deliver the final blow, he is defeated by theRhino, who owed the Punisher a favor after he spared the Rhino's life. During the "Secret Invasion" storyline, the Wrecking Crew are among the many supervillains who rejoined the Hood's crime syndicate and attacked an invadingSkrull force.[15]
At the time when Bulldozer died of an unknown cause, his daughter Marci became the second Bulldozer.[16] During theAvengers: Standoff! storyline, Wrecker, Piledriver, and a somehow-revived Bulldozer appear as inmates of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established byS.H.I.E.L.D.[17] During the "Search for Tony Stark" story arc, the Wrecking Crew rejoin the Hood's gang as they attack Castle Doom.[18] The Wrecking Crew later joined Baron Zemo's third incarnation of the Masters of Evil. The Hydra Supreme version of Captain America persuaded Zemo to have the Masters of Evil be part ofHydra's Army of Evil by the time ofHydra's takeover of the United States.[19] The Wrecking Crew were hired by MayorWilson Fisk to demolish P.S. 20. As Thunderball was unavailable, they gained Demolisher as a substitute member. The Wrecking Crew were defeated byMoon Girl andDevil Dinosaur.[20] During the "Devil's Reign" storyline, the Wrecking Crew were shown as inmates of the Myrmidon. When8-Ball offered to sit with them, they turn him down.[21]
Excavator (Ricky Calusky) — The teenage son of Piledriver and a temporary member. The Excavator wielded an enchanted shovel that broke in his very first battle when he smashed it overMolly Hayes' head (which only irritated her).
Bulldozer II (Marci Camp) — The daughter of Henry Camp, the original Bulldozer, who inherited the villain's powers as well as his training. She now works alongside her father.
Demolisher (real name unknown) - A female mercenary who filled in for Thunderball as a member of the Wrecking Crew when they were working on a job for Mayor Wilson Fisk.
^abcdef"Wrecker Voices (Thor)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedAugust 10, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^abcde"Thunderball Voices (Thor)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedAugust 10, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^abcde"Bulldozer Voices (Thor)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedAugust 10, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^abcd"Piledriver Voices (Thor)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedAugust 10, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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