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Madman (Marvel Comics)
Encyclopedia
Madman is a supervillain
within the fictional Marvel Comics
universe
. The character is portrayed as one of the Hulk's
enemies, and as the brother of Samuel Sterns
, better known as The Leader
. He first appeared as Philip Sterns in Incredible Hulk #363 (December 1989), and as Madman in Incredible Hulk #364.
Calling himself Madman, Sterns hatches a plot to kill the Hulk, giving him a poison injection that rapidly deteriorates his physical state. This puts the Hulk in conflict with various members of his rogues’ gallery, most notably the Abomination
, turning weaker and more emaciated for every battle. Samuel Sterns, the Leader and Phillip's brother, comes to the Hulk's aid and helps him track down Madman to find the antidote. He explains that Madman "scares him," but can’t force himself to kill his brother. During the ensuing battle, Madman suffers a psychological breakdown, completely submerging his original personality, and Hulk manages to cure himself, as well as poison Madman, leaving the latter on the verge of death, with the remedy dropped barely out of reach.
Later Madman reveals that he simply increased his mass to grab it, and used the time to masquerade as a researcher in the Red Skull's
"New World Order" organization. Here he helped to engineer the transformation of a captured S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent into the power-mimicking creature known as Piecemeal, and installed a safety override, making it answerable only to himself.
When tracking the creature, he finds it in confrontation with the Hulk in the vicinity of Loch Ness, and knocks out his enemy from behind. He dumps the Hulk into the lake saddled with iron weights, but is disappointed when the latter takes longer than expected to escape. During the ensuing gang-up, Madman continues to make disorderly, deranged remarks. When Perseus, a retired Pantheon member the Hulk was visiting, tries to intervene, Madman indifferently kills him, but the Hulk punches him away.
While the Hulk seemingly kills Piecemeal, Madman decides to take off in a stolen jet. The Hulk overtakes and starts to dismantle the jet, and Madman triggers a pilot-chair parachute, remarking that he's not interested in killing Hulk, since it would be dull to not annoy him anymore, and detonates the plane.
After landing in London, where the two superhumans called Killpower and Motormouth happen to be staying, he immediately holds the British prince Charles hostage on top of Buckingham Palace
, and demands to be declared king of England. As Hulk comes to the rescue Madman states that the latter should understand the demands to use great power and shifts from crying to irreverently upbeat within seconds, dropping the prince towards the ground. The Hulk catches up to him, while Madman, after being knocked back by Motormouth, is in the middle of a temper tantrum about everybody "ganging up on him", and manages to knock him down. Madman once again voices his "love"/admiration for Hulk/Banner, but takes the opportunity to escape as the London Bridge
collapses underneath them.
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
within the fictional Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
. The character is portrayed as one of the Hulk's
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
enemies, and as the brother of Samuel Sterns
Leader (comics)
The Leader is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62, and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In 2009, The Leader was ranked as IGN's 63rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.Actor Tim Blake...
, better known as The Leader
Leader (comics)
The Leader is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62, and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In 2009, The Leader was ranked as IGN's 63rd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.Actor Tim Blake...
. He first appeared as Philip Sterns in Incredible Hulk #363 (December 1989), and as Madman in Incredible Hulk #364.
Fictional character biography
A former schoolmate of Bruce Banner, Sterns develops a deranged love/obsession with Banner's "career" as the Hulk. Sterns subjects himself to a multitude of experiments involving gamma-radiation to emulate his "hero." This results in Sterns turning into a distorted monstrosity possessed of vast superhuman strength, and develops multiple personality disorder. From this point, a much stronger, arguably deranged, personality gives him ‘orders’ to carry out.Calling himself Madman, Sterns hatches a plot to kill the Hulk, giving him a poison injection that rapidly deteriorates his physical state. This puts the Hulk in conflict with various members of his rogues’ gallery, most notably the Abomination
Abomination (comics)
The Abomination is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics...
, turning weaker and more emaciated for every battle. Samuel Sterns, the Leader and Phillip's brother, comes to the Hulk's aid and helps him track down Madman to find the antidote. He explains that Madman "scares him," but can’t force himself to kill his brother. During the ensuing battle, Madman suffers a psychological breakdown, completely submerging his original personality, and Hulk manages to cure himself, as well as poison Madman, leaving the latter on the verge of death, with the remedy dropped barely out of reach.
Later Madman reveals that he simply increased his mass to grab it, and used the time to masquerade as a researcher in the Red Skull's
Red Skull
The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general....
"New World Order" organization. Here he helped to engineer the transformation of a captured S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
agent into the power-mimicking creature known as Piecemeal, and installed a safety override, making it answerable only to himself.
When tracking the creature, he finds it in confrontation with the Hulk in the vicinity of Loch Ness, and knocks out his enemy from behind. He dumps the Hulk into the lake saddled with iron weights, but is disappointed when the latter takes longer than expected to escape. During the ensuing gang-up, Madman continues to make disorderly, deranged remarks. When Perseus, a retired Pantheon member the Hulk was visiting, tries to intervene, Madman indifferently kills him, but the Hulk punches him away.
While the Hulk seemingly kills Piecemeal, Madman decides to take off in a stolen jet. The Hulk overtakes and starts to dismantle the jet, and Madman triggers a pilot-chair parachute, remarking that he's not interested in killing Hulk, since it would be dull to not annoy him anymore, and detonates the plane.
After landing in London, where the two superhumans called Killpower and Motormouth happen to be staying, he immediately holds the British prince Charles hostage on top of Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, and demands to be declared king of England. As Hulk comes to the rescue Madman states that the latter should understand the demands to use great power and shifts from crying to irreverently upbeat within seconds, dropping the prince towards the ground. The Hulk catches up to him, while Madman, after being knocked back by Motormouth, is in the middle of a temper tantrum about everybody "ganging up on him", and manages to knock him down. Madman once again voices his "love"/admiration for Hulk/Banner, but takes the opportunity to escape as the London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
collapses underneath them.
Powers and abilities
Like the Hulk, Madman has enormous superhuman strength. Unlike the Hulk, Madman is unable to become stronger as he becomes angrier, but he is capable of creating significant boosts in his size, density and power, being able to reach at least twice of the "calm strength level" of most incarnations. He once knocked out the Hulk with a single punch to the head through the advantage of surprise. He has also claimed to be able to assume many different appearances, including the scientist spying on the "New World Order".Television
- A vial of red gamma-irradiated blood labeled "Madman" is seen in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesThe Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is an American animated television series by Marvel Animation in cooperation with Film Roman based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The show debuted on Disney XD in Fall 2010 starting with a 20 part micro-series. A second season has been...
episode "Hulk Vs. the World". The samples are organized by Doc SamsonDoc SamsonDoc Samson is a fictional character, a superhero and psychiatrist in the Marvel Comics universe, known as a supporting character in stories featuring the Hulk.-Publication history:...
and it hints at Madman being an inmate in the CubeCube (comics)-History:The Cube was built as a prison for irradiated supervillains. The location the Cube is unknown as only high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents know of its existence. Its "villain rehabilitation program" brainwashes the inmates to serve S.H.I.E.L.D...
(a prison for gamma-powered villains).
Video games
- Madman appears as one of the major bosses in the HulkHulk (video game)Hulk is a video game based on the 2003 movie of the same name. It was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Games. A signature feature has Eric Bana reprises his role of Bruce Banner...
video game voiced by Paul Dobson. He works with his brother, The Leader to create a world ruled by gamma creatures (Freehold). Madman first appears kidnapping Betty Ross, and putting her in a gamma chamber. The Hulk comes to rescue Betty and battle him. He returns near the end of the game, in the Leader's base, and teams up with HalflifeHalflife (comics)There are two fictional characters in the Marvel Universe that are named Halflife with two distinct origins. They are detailed separately below.- Halflife :...
to kill Bruce Banner. However, Banner turns into the Hulk, and battles the duo. Madman flees in the middle of the boss fight, leaving Halflife at the mercy of the Hulk. When the base is collapsing, he tries to battle the Hulk one more time. He is presumably killed in the final fight, after the Leader's base was destroyed, and he was left behind.