Kevin Masterson (Earth-616)

I used to look up to you Avengers guys. I thought you were heroes. My dad always taught me that violence never really solves anything! Only a bully picks on someone who's weaker! That's exactly what you are -- a big costumed bully!

—Kevin Masterson^[src]

History

Early Life[]

Kevin is the only child of Eric and Marcy Masterson. He is one of the few people to whom his father revealed his dual identity as Thunderstrike. Circumstances brought Thor into their lives and saw his father become increasingly involved in a world of gods and supervillains. This went so far as to have Eric become Thor when the actual God of Thunder disappeared; however, all of this strained Eric's ability to be a father to Kevin, and it was not long before custody of him was taken by his mother and her new husband, Bobby Steele, quarterback for the New York Smashers.^{[citation needed]}

Thunderstrike[]

At the Maria Stark Academy, long after his father died, Kevin Masterson is apparently at it again, fighting another student. After his mother and stepfather pick him up, they try to talk to him, but he's again not listening. After walking off alone, he is met by Sharon Carter, who takes him to meet Captain America. Rogers informs him that he recently came into possession of an item and believed it should be given to its rightful owner - the Thunderstrike mace. Kevin picks it up expecting to be transformed, but nothing happens. Feeling like he's being taken advantage of, he has Sharon drop him off. As Kevin tries to figure out what to do now, the Rhino attacks an armored vehicle, causing a woman and her child to become trapped in a flaming car. While trying to use the mace as a prybar to help get the child out after another bystander has saved the mother, the car explodes. Strangely, Kevin is all right and has protected the child, but he has also transformed, into seemingly his father Eric Masterson's Thunderstrike form.^[2]

Determined to avoid the fate of his father, Kevin considers his options until he receives a visit from the beautiful Gruenhilda the Valkyrie who has been sent to teach him the proper way to use an Asgardian super-weapon, knowledge that he field-tests when a mysterious collector sends a high tech strike-force to steal the mace.^[3] With Gruenhilda criticizing his every move, the man who would be Thunderstrike begins a quest to recover his stolen mace. Along the way, he adopts a daring different persona, uncovers a plot to invade Mount Olympus, and soon finds himself in a fight for his life against a super-powered Demigod who is on a mission of vengeance.^[4] Thunderstrike and Gruenhilda are traumatized by an unexpected death when they suddenly run into one of the greatest super-menaces of all Mangog the merciless.^[5] To save the universe from the Mangog, he must now join forces with the Mighty Avengers, the team that he believes betrayed his father.^[6]

Fear Itself[]

Kevin ends up teleported onto a station in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with Spider-Girl, Víctor Álvarez, Amadeus Cho, and X-23. They arrive on the Hell-Carrier, a Helicarrier that was used during World War II. Amadeus and Kevin were initially antagonistic towards each other and would have likely come to blows except for the intervention of Victor, who separated the two, at least for a time, until Amadeus managed to cause the Thunderstrike mace to tap the ground, thus changing Kevin back to his non-powered state. Angered, Kevin struck Amadeus' head, changing back to his Thunderstrike state. Anya tried to step between them while X-23 watched, but all were interrupted when Victor screamed in pain.

Kevin Masterson (Earth-616) from Thunderstrike Vol 2 4 001

Victor explained that he had tried to use his powers to absorb the ambient chi in order to power up, but since there was no actual ambient life force around them, he instead suffered a backlash. He did, however, detect a message in a bio-electric frequency being transmitted in a language he had never heard before. The message was translated for them by the Shark Men as; "In their Dread House the warriors of the king of darkness wait dreaming."^[7]

They continued their message saying that now that the stars were right, they rise with the king and make them their first sacrifice to him. Differences momentarily set aside due to the emergence of a common enemy, the five young heroes join together to fight off this new threat. While they fight, Amadeus explains to them that the Shark Men came into being after they sensed the presence of the Old One they called the 'Dark King' and worshipped him. They became the enemies of the Atlanteans, and were defeated by Namor the Sub-Mariner during World War II and driven back to their city, where waited for their dark god to return.

Amadeus managed to convinced the others to follow his lead as he directed them in combat. They manage to defeat the initial wave of enemies, only to realize that the carrier is picking up speed. Lamenting that they should all be elsewhere, Amadeus reveals to them that the five of them are each the latest manifestation of an eternal archetype's and that they must work together as a team. He also reveals that his research has uncovered that the Hell-Carrier was trying to complete its final mission and that they needed to work together to stop it. At that point the other four realized it was Amadeus himself who had pulled them from where they were and brought them to the carrier. As they seized him, he quickly explains that the carrier is on a collision course for Honolulu and will crash there, killing everyone on board unless they stop it.^[8]

Realizing they have no other choice, Spider-Girl asks Amadeus how to proceed. He informs them that the whole ship is powered by a kind of anti-life force called Vril. Victor detects that the source of it was directly below them, but that since none of them could fly, they had no way of getting to it. X-23 then begins to rip into the ship with her Adamantium claws. Amadeus then directs Victor to try to use his powers to power up X-23, which he does, causing another painful backlash on both of them but, allowing them to get below deck quicker.

While X-23 and Victor continue to make their way to the source, Thunderstrike, Amadeus, and Anya were forced to repel another attack of the Shark Men. Despite their best efforts, the three would have been overwhelmed, but X-23 and Victor reached the source in time, and Victor unloaded all of his remaining Chi energy into it, causing it to explode before it could hit Honolulu, and the five landed into a media frenzy, which, in turned out, Amadeus knew would be there and it was why he had chosen that particular moment to bring them altogether.

Amadeus says that they had scored a major PR victory and that the people wanted them to stay together, at which point X-23 kicked him in the groin from behind and the other four walked away, leaving the question of whether or not the five would continue as a team unanswered.^[9]

Avengers Academy[]

Kevin briefly appeared as part of the new class of students when the Avengers Academy moved to the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers.^[10]

Attributes

Power Grid^[13]

Powers

Transformation: When tapping into the Thunderstrike mace, Kevin can transform at will between his Thunderstrike form and his normal form.
- Superhuman Strength : Kevin has superhuman strength after inheriting the Thunderstrike mantle and mace, and is able to lift 50 tons.^[1]
- Superhuman Speed: Kevin is capable of running and moving at speeds greater than even the finest human athlete.
- Flight: Kevin is capable of flying without the use of his mace.^[11]
- Superhuman Stamina: Kevin's musculature produces considerably fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of a human being. His physical stamina is equal to that of the average Asgardian male and he can exert himself at peak capacity for about 24 hours before fatigue begins to impair him.
- Superhumanly Dense Tissue: Kevin's skin, muscle, and bone tissues has 3 times the density of the same tissue of a human being. This contributed, somewhat, to his superhuman strength and weight.
- Superhuman Durability: Kevin's body is far more resistant to physical injury than the body of an ordinary human. He was capable of withstanding great impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes, and powerful energy blasts without sustaining injury.^[1]
- Regenerative Healing Factor: If injured, Kevin's body can heal itself with superhuman levels of speed and efficiency. However, he would not have been able to regenerate missing limbs or organs without magical assistance.
- Superhuman Longevity: As Thunderstrike, Kevin has immunity to all Earthly diseases, even though he is not immortal.

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Thunderstrike

Links and References

References

[Thor_Asgard's_Avenger_Vol_1_1-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Thor: Asgard's Avenger #1

[Thunderstrike_Vol_2_1-2] Thunderstrike (Vol. 2) #1

[Thunderstrike_Vol_2_2-3] Thunderstrike (Vol. 2) #2

[Thunderstrike_Vol_2_3-4] Thunderstrike (Vol. 2) #3

[Thunderstrike_Vol_2_4-5] Thunderstrike (Vol. 2) #4

[Thunderstrike_Vol_2_5-6] Thunderstrike (Vol. 2) #5

[Fear_Itself_The_Home_Front_Vol_1_5-7] Fear Itself: The Home Front #5

[Fear_Itself_The_Home_Front_Vol_1_6-8] Fear Itself: The Home Front #6

[Fear_Itself_The_Home_Front_Vol_1_7-9] Fear Itself: The Home Front #7

[Avengers_Academy_Vol_1_20-10] Avengers Academy #20

[Annihilation_-_Scourge_Omega_Vol_1_1-11] Annihilation - Scourge Omega #1

[12] Thor: Asgard's Avenger #1

[13] Thor: Asgard's Avenger Vol 1 1

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