Elektra in the MC2

 

After my recent post covering Wolverine in the MC2 thanks to the new Deadpool & Wolverine movie ushering the pair into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it feels like the right time to detail Logan’s romantic life partner in the MC2 Universe so today’s post will be all about Elektra in the MC2.

 

Elektra Natchios first appeared in Daredevil #168, and reportedly she was intended to be a one-off character, former love interest and foil for Matt Murdock aka Daredevil, according to creator Frank Miller. Elektra proved popular enough to make regular appearances in the series until her death at the hands of Kingpin’s assassin  Bullseye in Daredevil #181. Elektra returned from the dead by ninja cult The Hand soon after in Daredevil #190 and eventually went on to be a consistent fan favourite character.

 

A part of Elektra’s published history which proves very relevant to the MC2 begins in Wolverine #100 (written by long-time Wolverine scribe and MC2 alumni Larry Hama) where Natchios begins a mission to help restore Logan after the loss of his Adamantium left him in a feral and bestial state. With the backdrop of the Onslaught event raging, Elektra helps re-train and guide Wolverine back to himself and the two grow close as they begin to understand each other resulting in a friendship that continued into Elektra’s own series (Wolverine #100-#106).

 

Now, on to the MC2 proper! With the introduction of Rina Logan aka Wild Thing we also saw the arrival of her mother, Elektra Natchios in J2 #5. Here we learn that the relationship between Elektra and Logan has developed into a long-term romantic one resulting in the couple raising their teenage mutant ninja daughter together. Elektra informs Logan their daughter is pursuing J2, leading him to head to New York to find her.

 

We get our first glimpse of the relationship between Rina and her mother in a two page story from J2 #7 where we learn she and Elektra sometimes fight crime together, discuss weaponry, attend international mercenary conventions and build bombs together and have apparently even clashed with notable villains such as the ninja cult The Hand and Bullseye.

 

In J2 #11, alongside Cyclops, Logan and Elektra watch on as Rina runs the gauntlet against Jubilee’s team, the X-People. After Wild Thing proves herself, Jubilee declares she has passed the initiation and may join the X-People as a probationary member. Rina declines, stating she only did it because her father asked her to which Cyclops remarks she reminds him of Logan, who asks Elektra if she thinks he’s mellowed with age.

 

While at the Mall with her daughter Rina, Elektra visits a local martial arts dojo for some training. Targeted by her old enemy Kuroyama, the villainous assassin of the Hand, now rebuilt as a cyborg with a built-in attack computer that uses a virtual reality matrix. Elektra battles her old foe until Kuroyama is inadvertently defeated with one hit after appearing within Rina’s hacked video game (Wild Thing #2).

Elektra Natchios is seen alongside various other major Marvel female heroes in Spider-Girl #60 on both the issue’s cover and within the thoughts of May ‘Mayday’ Parker as the latter reflects on her place amongst the other superheroines who came before her. The real-world reasons for these cameos was to acknowledge prior female heroes as the Spider-Girl title reaching its 60th continuous issue, something only one other solo female superheroine title at Marvel had achieved, that being none other than Sensational She-Hulk. The Spider-Girl title would go on to surpass this, reaching issue 100, a feat still unbeaten to this date.

 

While temporarily working with the crime lord The Black Tarantula, Spider-Girl receives martial arts training from Elektra. While rocking a black variant of her classic costume, Elektra educates Spider-Girl by noting she is telegraphing her moves and repeating patterns. After correctly deducing she is the daughter of Spider-Man based on her mannerisms and body language, Elektra advices Spider-Girl she must not hold back if she hopes to defeat Lady Octopus (Spider-Girl #75).

 

Spider-Girl demonstrates she has quickly improved under Elektra’s tutelage by running a gauntlet without a single nick. Despite Spider-Girl’s confidence in her ability to defeat Lady Octopus, Elektra warns the heroine that there will be more challenges ahead, seemingly alluding to the threat of her employer the Black Tarantula (Spider-Girl #77).

 

With Spider-Girl parting ways with the Black Tarantula shortly afterwards, Elektra was not seen again in the MC2. Thus, we come to the end of today’s post with a bit of an anticlimax. As such, I would love to see the Greek assassin make her return to the MC2 someday, perhaps in a tightly plotted Wild Thing revival series?

 

Until I commit to watching the Director’s Cut of the Elektra movie, I remain

 

frogoat

Son of the Hulk

 

Today’s post will again be something a little different, a look at something we did not see in the MC2. For this entry in what I am still calling the Untold Tales of the MC2 which looks at costumes, concepts, story ideas and characters that never made it to the printed page, we first need to talk about someone who did make it into the MC2: the Son of the Hulk.

 

Making his first and only appearance in the pages of A-Next #3 is the young son of the Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk, David Banner. In this issue we learn that Bruce Banner has retired to Denver, Colorado and he indicates he is finally rid of his alter ego for good and has not seen Doctor Strange in years. When Strange appears unexpectedly to reform the Defenders, he takes complete mental control of Banner and forces Bruce to once more transform into the Hulk. Concerned for his son as he begins to change into the Hulk, Bruce shouts for his son to run but Doctor Strange assures him that David is in no danger. David Banner is left stunned and confused, and this is all we see from the boy in the published works of the MC2.

 

Now, let us take a look at the unpublished side of things for David, thanks once more to MC2 co-creator, artist and ideas man, Ron Frenz. On his official Facebook page, Ron shared the following image with this description:

 

Davey and (the Green) Goliath!

An un-used MC2 idea for Bruce Banner and his young son David involving an accidental gamma mind link and ensuing hi-jinks!

 

While it is just a concept that never saw publication, Mr Frenz evidently put some thought into this, going so far as to clarify why ‘Davey’ has green hair in his sketch when asked:

 

The “gamma mind link” turned his hair green.

 

It sounds like this unpublished story idea would have been a lot of fun. As I mentioned in my She-Hulk post, we don’t know who would have looked after David Banner after his father was sent to Limbo by Loki and it’s never mentioned who his mother is or even if she’s still alive. Perhaps that is a topic for another time?

 

Until I stop exploring every corner of the MC2 and finding more reasons to love it, I remain

 

frogoat