A Nazi war criminal who became the lover of Silver Sable. After ending their remance, Petrovich became an officer for the criminal group Hydra, but Petrovich's plans failed to succeed or benefit Hydra. Petrovich then joined the Hydra splinter faction Genesis Coalition as an expert in acquisitions, obtaining advanced resources, sometimes by stealing from Hydra; Hydra's leader, Baron Strucker, took both Petrovich's defection and his failures badly.
Impulsive and younger than Coalition leader Ivan Trefkov, Petrovich came into conflict with him several times, especially when Trefkov became dissatisfied with Petrovich's work; but Petrovich gained the support of many Coalition agents, who followed him personally. Several times Petrovich and the Coalition came into conflict with Sable and her group, Wild Pack.
Finally, Trefkov had Petrovich arrested, intending to execute him or hand him over to Strucker just before an ambitious Coalition plan in which he did not want Petrovich to blunder around. However, Petrovich's allies freed him. Petrovich attacked Sable hoping that she would apprehend him and "force" him to confess where the Coalition's secret lair was, counting on Sable to attack the Coalition and eliminate Trefkov and her allies, after which Petrovich intended to kill Sable. However, another of the Coalition's leaders, Fritz Sablinova, killed Petrovich before he could carry out his plan, to prevent Petrovich from revealing certain information to Sable.
History
Origin and Hydra[]
Dmitri Petrovich was a former Nazi war criminal[5][6] and former lover to Silver Sable.[3][11] Sable knew Petrovich's weaknesses, from the time when they were a couple. After the end of their relationship,[3] Petrovich joined the neo-Nazi criminal organization Hydra,[3][12][13] apparently because it was a professional development opportunity, and he soon rose to the rank of lieutenant. By then, Sable had lost contact with him.[3]
As part of Hydra and leading a group of terrorists, Petrovich kidnapped Cranewood School for Girls, Long Island, threatening to kill the students unless authorities released twenty-seven criminals in various countries. Petrovich was unaware that[3] Silver's cousin, Anna, was one of the students.[3][11] Sable went to the school alone to free Anna; several agents of the mercenary group Wild Pack under her command, including the superhuman Sandman, ignored her orders not to intervene and were to Long Island to help her. At the same time, Spider-Man was covering the news of the kidnapping in his civilian identity as journalist Peter Parker and decided to confront Hydra. Unaware that Sable and Spider-Man were already in the building, attacking its guards, Petrovich ordered the execution of a student, Sarah, to prompt a response from the authorities. Anna witnessed the murder in horror, and from that moment on she insulted and threatened Petrovich even from her position of inferiority. When his people stopped responding, Petrovich realized that they had been compromised and sent his men to defend his position, but Sable and Spider-Man put them into retreat; Anna predicted that Petrovich would fall, and he responded by taking her as his personal hostage, holding a gun to the girl's head. Immediately afterwards, Sable and Spider-Man burst into the room where Petrovich was;[3] Sable was shocked to see that Petrovich had teamed up with Hydra.[3][11] Suddenly discovering that Anna was Sable's relative, Petrovich took advantage to his hostage so that Sable would not attack him; Sable told her that she could kill Petrovich just as well, but Petrovich, fearing his Hydra leaders more than Sable, was willing to fight to the death. Then, Sandman's sudden arrival distracted Petrovich at a key moment; Sable launched a chai that landed on Petrovich's wrist, disarming him; and immediately afterward Anna bit his other hand to free herself from it. Spider-Man wanted to punish Petrovich for hurting a defenseless girl, but Sable demanded to deal with him in person: She pushed him towards where Sandman was, so that Sandman could ensnare Petrovich, and threatened to shoot Petrovich in the mouth. Sable and her allies captured the Hydra terrorists[3] Petrovich's failure at Cranewood was an ignominy for Hydra, and the organization's leader, Baron Strucker, intended to punish Petrovich for this.[14]
Genesis Coalition's South American operation[]
Although Petrovich was arrested,[3] somehow managed to escape or was released, and left the United States.[15] Petrovich joined the Genesis Coalition,[14] a splinter faction[11] of Hydra[16] that had seceded.[14] Petrovich went to the Coalition's secret base in the rain forests of South America, where a group of Nazi geneticists,[16] including old Dr. Franz Lubischt,[7] were conducting experiments to combine humans and animals into hybrid super-soldiers.[16][7] Petrovich's responsibilities included coordinating teams of agents to capture animals in the jungle (and possibly humans too),[16] tracking the progress of experiments, obtaining Hydra technology through his contacts, and also handling security.[7] Among Petrovich's contacts was Leviathan, a smuggler who had had ties to Hydra and who went on to provide Petrovich with weapons and technology stolen from Hydra to prepare for various operations to attack Eastern European countries.[17] Petrovich responded directly to[7] one of the leaders of the Coalition, Ivan Trefkov,[2] also in contact with Leviathan.[18] Being a high-level agent of the Coalition, Petrovich did not need to wear the hood that covered the faces of his subordinates,[16] and he also knew that the Coalition was keeping Ernst Sablinova, father of Silver Sable, whom she believed killed[7][2] at the hands of Trefkov,[3][11][19][20][21] prisoner.[7][2] Another leader of the Coalition was Fritz Sablinova,[11] Ernst's twin brother,[2] with whom Petrovich often worked.[16][7]
Baron Strucker, still leader of Hydra, began a campaign to destroy the Genesis Coalition, branding them as traitors. He specifically wanted to kill Petrovich because not only had Petrovich defected, but he had previously embarrassed Hydra at Cranewood. Strucker's initial operations, however, found another Coalition base where Petrovich was not.[14]
Meanwhile, upon discovering that Petrovich had escaped the country,[15] Sable hired the independent mercenary Paladin to search for Petrovich.[15][5][6] She also attempted to use his diplomatic relations with Doctor Doom to find out more about Petrovich's connection to Hydra,[22] but got nothing that way.[23] Paladin on the other hand found Petrovich in South America, tracking a mutant ape, apparently an escaped experiment subject, in the jungle along with a team of agents. The group carried advanced weapons and had a small flying vehicle. Paladin was detected, after which Petrovich retreated to the secret base on the ship while ordering his agents to stop Paladin; Paladin prevailed and discovered the name of the group, its mission and its capabilities,[16] and even the presence of Lubischt , on whose head there was a bounty;[7] but he did not find out not where the secret base was nor that Trefkov was there. Although he was unable to capture Petrovich,[16] Paladin reported his discoveries to Sable,[16][11] while Petrovich informed the Coalition of the threat. Even if Trefkov was generally pleased with Petrovich's contributions providing assets to the Coalition,[16] he did not like that Sable had tracked him to South America.[7]
Following Paladin's leads,[11] Sable organized a Wild Pack operation, pro bono, to apprehend Lubischt and possibly Petrovich in South America; they also had to free the prisoners and destroy the Coalition base.[7] Their new elite Wild Pack team[11] captured a Coalition patrol and discovered where the Coalition lair was. Oblivious to this, Petrovich and other Coalition leaders met with Lubischt to see the progress of his experiments; Lubischt claimed to be one or two months away from having his agents ready, but Petrovich demanded that he finish them in just a week, even physically pushing the old man to intimidate him. Fritz Sablinova mediated so that Petrovich agreed to wait at least two weeks, claiming that the young Petrovich was too impetuous and impatient. Petrovich accepted, provided that succulent profits were assured and all the blame for their actions fell on Hydra. Lubischt threatened to hand Petrovich over to his superhumanly strong subjects if Petrovich shook him like that again.[7]
The Wild Pack entered the base but were detected. Sablinova and Trefkov reproached Petrovich that security had not prevented an intruder from going that far; Petrovich reassured them, assuring them that he would take care of whoever he was. They discovered that the enemy was Sable, and Petrovich claimed to have unfinished business with her that encouraged him to kill her. Trefkov insisted that Petrovich make sure Sable died. Correctly anticipating that Sable's target would be Lubischt , Petrovich notified the geneticist and met him at the base's main laboratory, where Petrovich could defend Lubischt in person. Lubischt had a man-gorilla hybrid there that he could unleash on an attacker, in addition to his personal weapon. However, this proved insufficient when Paladin and Sable burst in: Although the hybrid kept Paladin busy and Petrovich attacked Sable from behind, Sable easily defeated Petrovich, breaking his nose with a headbutt and injuring his leg. Sable then killed Lubischt . During that brief skirmish, Petrovich recovered and lunged at Sable, falling with her through a window into a lake outside; but once again, she overpowered Petrovich. Seeing that she could kill him, Petrovich offered her valuable information:[7] He told her that her father was alive, in the hands of the Coalition.[7][21][11] The surprise left Sable in shock, and Petrovich took the opportunity to brutally beat her before she regained the initiative. Before he could kill her, however, Paladin came to her aid, and Petrovich, realizing that he was in no condition to defeat Paladin,[7] fled[7][11] in a vertical take-off rocket.[7]
It took Sable a while to recover from Petrovich's blows, which caused injuries. His words were much more hurtful and caused him to become obsessed with finding his father.[19] Searching for clues in this regard,[17] Sable tracked down the smuggler Leviathan, Petrovich's associate, who revealed to him that Trefkov (supposedly the murderer of Ernst Sablinova) had also joined the Genesis Coalition.[17][11]
Cyberwar[]
Petrovich stole a mobile base from Hydra for the Genesis Coalition,[1] and the Coalition bought a shipment of Cyberwarriors, mindless weaponized cyborgs;[8] Petrovich was personally responsible for that acquisition.[24] Trefkov planned to send the Cyberwarriors on an attack on Wundagore Mountain, in Transia,[1] which they intended to use as the Genesis Coalition headquarters from where they could expand their base,.[24] Trefkov was also satisfied with the mobile base stolen by Petrovich, which operated on the Mediterranean Sea while Petrovich and his team were busy reprogramming the Cyberwarriors.[1]
Meanwhile, during an operation in which the Wild Pack met the cyborg Siege, Silver discovered that the Coalition had purchased Cyberwarriors, and decided to focus her efforts on pursuing them.[8] Baron Strucker's Hydra also tracked down the Genesis Coalition,[1] hiring the mercenary group Next Wave to recover the stolen base.[1][25][26][11]
The Wild Pack approached the Mobile Base on a Stealthcraft but were downed by the Coalition's cannons. They did survive and went to the Base cloaked in a submarine. When they were detected -but not identified- in the proximity of the base, Petrovich sent underwater troops to try and stop them, but the Pack defeated them; Sable theorized that, should Petrovich had known it was her, he would have sent better troops. Then, the Pack sneaked into the Base; but Next Wave also entered the base simultaneously, far less stealthily, in Sector 96, the same area the Wild Pack had reached. Informed of that, Petrovich reacted by sealing off the affected areas and sending some of the Cyberwarriors there; Trefkov ordered the area to be flooded during the fighting, since this would kill the intruders while the Cyberwarriors, who did not need to breathe, would survive; but at the same time he assigned another group of Cyberwarriors,[1] thirty in total, to the mission of attacking Transia.[24] However, seeing that there was danger, and although Petrovich insisted that the Cyberwarriors would be enough to end the threat, Petrovich and Trefkov evacuated towards Transia in a mobile battlestation. Trefkov warned Petrovich that, if the battle against the intruders wrecked the station and the Cyberwarriors failed to take over Wundagore, he would break Petrovich's limbs.[24]
In Transia, however, Siege independently attacked the Genesis Coalition Cyberwarriors and, due to his appearance, everyone initially took him for another Cyberwarrior, granting him the element of surprise. Petrovich sent another platoon of Cyberwarriors to attack the mountain, but those then[24] faced the Knights of Wundagore, defenders of Wundagore, and were unable to gain the advantage.[24][11][27][28] Petrovich and Trefkov retreated, with the latter criticizing the former for yet another failure, but they left the Cyberwarriors to end up the fight. The Wild Pack then arrived to help the Knights against the Cyberwarriors. All Genesis Coalition Cyberwarriors were destroyed on Wundagore by the Knights, the Wild Pack and Siege, with the participation of Next Wave. Trefkov was particularly angry at this new failure, blaming Petrovich for it, and insisting that Petrovich would never again have a chance to weaken the Coalition.[24]
Schism, Bosnia operation and defeat[]
The Genesis Coalition settled in an old underground base abandoned by Hydra, and there they set up a plan to cause a war in Bosnia and blame it on Hydra[9] by sending Genesis Coalition agents disguised as Hydra agents to attack the U.S. military. Fritz Sablinova had developed this plan, expecting the world,[2] including SHIELD,[2] to retaliate against Hydra and end that organization, while Hydra would devote their assets to destroy the Genesis Coalition. This strategy would provoke a large-scale war with many collateral casualties. Petrovich[2] and Trefkov both believed that the Genesis Coalition was strong enough to survive and would end up in a privileged position to obtain the spoils of Hydra.[9]
However, Trefkov wanted to get rid of any possible impedance during this operation, including Sable and also Petrovich, whose previous blunders had costed much to the Genesis Coalition; also, Trefkov considered Petrovich too incompetent for the authority he had in the Genesis Coalition. Trefkov[9] sent hitman Deadpool after Sable,[9][11] although Fritz convinced him to[2] order Deadpool to capture her alive, claiming that if she died, her Wild Pack would seek revenge and they would have a bigger problem, while if they captured her, they could hold her hostage; Trefkov begrudgingly accepted, although he would have preferred to see Sable dead. Simultaneously, Trefkov had Petrovich arrested at the base, sending him to a cell until they could decide whether it was better to execute him, or hand him over to Strucker as a bargaining chip. Petrovich promised to get even on Trefkov.[9] Deadpool failed to defeat Silver Sable and revealed to her that the Genesis Coalition had hired him.[9]
At that point, there was a secret conspiracy of Petrovich-ists within the Genesis Coalition conspiracy itself that supported Petrovich[2] and several Genesis Coalition agents on his side helped Petrovich escape, killing his guards in the process, and telling Petrovich that he had a legion of Petrovich-ists at his disposal, ready for his comeback. Stealing a Hydra Issue Fighter and accompanied by two sympathizers,[10] Petrovich attacked Sable in Symkaria[10][11][29] during a ceremony where King Stefan of Symkaria was to decorate her in his Palace. This was a daring plan doomed to failure: Petrovich planned it so that she would defeat him and then he pretended to be intimidated and agreed to take Sable and her Wild Pack to the Genesis Coalition's secret base where her father was. Petrovich hoped that Sable would kill Trefkov for having attacked and kidnapped Ernst Sablinova; and then Petrovich's followers would kill Sable and his Wild Pack, so that Petrovich could take over the Genesis Coalition. The Wild Pack, attending the ceremony, immediately downed the fighter on the courtyard thanks to the efforts of Pack member Douglas Powell using a weapon built by his teammate Quentino and supported by teammates Arnold and superhuman Battlestar. Petrovich and his men left the wreckage; his men were easily defeated by Arnold and Battlestar, and he was overpowered by Sable; then pretended to be scared of dying like that. sable ordered Petrovich to take the Pack to the Coalition's secret base where her father was being held, threatening to not only batter him, but also giving him afterward to his torture-enthusiast agent Crippler; but Sable, warily, ordered the Intruders to follow them as soon as they were ready[10] in another Stealthcraft.[2]
At the Genesis Coalition base, Sable divided the Wild Pack in pairs to explore, with her and Battlestar taking Petrovich as a prisoner. Once there, Fritz appeared in front of them, easily defeating Battlestar and grabbing Petrovich as his own prisoner. He then reminded Sable of his previous warning and revealed his face; Sable initially took him for Ernst,[10] but he immediately told her he was Fritz. He explained how he went undercover in Hydra and the Coalition,[2] becoming one of its leaders.[2][11] The arrival of a platoon of Genesis Coalition soldiers supporting Petrovich, allowed Petrovich to try and escape their captors' grasp; Petrovich intended to use this new information on Fritz's betrayal in his attempt to gain support in the Coalition. However, Battlestar, Fritz and Sable easily defeated the soldiers.[2] Fritz then assassinated Petrovich[2][11] before the latter could insist that Ernst was alive and at the base. Implying that the confusion was due to his own resemblance to Ernst, Fritz falsely told Silver Sable that Trefkov had killed Ernst, and tried to convince her to surrender to him, so that he could protect her and the Pack, while the Bosnia operation continued to destroy Hydra and the Genesis Coalition, along with many innocents. However, the Intruders foiled Sablinova's plan while the Pack escaped;[2] Sable killed Trefkov[2][21][11] and Sablinova was killed by Sable's sometimes ally the Foreigner,[2][29][11] apparently marking the end of the Genesis Coalition. The Wild Pack also rescued Ernst Sablinova[2] and returned him to Symkaria.[30]Personality
Although Petrovich had been a Nazi war criminal,[5][6] he was more interested in wide profits than in the ideals of the Nazis.[7] He was ruthless and willing to murder innocents, either in person or ordering it, if the crime contributed to his goals.[3] Although he and Silver Sable had been lovers,[3] he was willing to kill her[7] (and vice versa)[3][2] as they came to be in opposing sides.[7] As an agent of Hydra, Petrovich knew that Hydra would kill him if he failed him, and was thus willing to fight their enemies to his bitter end;[3] but later he defected to the Genesis Coalition and tried to frame Hydra for the Coalition's crimes.[7] Petrovich believed that the Coalition was a powerful criminal organization that would succeed in destroying Hydra and their other enemies.[2]
Petrovich was accused of being hot-headed[7] and indeed treated his minions harshly,[3] not worrying about their fate.[10]Attributes
Abilities
Dmitri Petrovich was an expert in "acquisitions", meaning obtaining assets for their partners, through moral or immoral means.[1] To that end, Petrovich had a range of contacts, including smugglers like Leviathan that provided him with weapons and technology stolen from Hydra.[17] Within the Genesis Coalition, Petrovich gained an amount of followers who would rather obey Petrovich personally than the Coalition's leadership, and were willing to risk their own lives in the process.[10] Petrovich himself was willing to use these people for his ends, even if he cared little about their survival.[10][2]
Petrovich had also operated in the field as a team leader, including his terrorist operation in Long Island when he was still a member of Hydra.[3] In such situations, he allowed his followers and even himself to run risks that could be avoided.[3][2][2] Petrovich admitted that strategy and tactics were not his expertise,[1] but was competent in the field.[3][7] He could shoot fire weapons alternatively with both hands, and was willing to fight to death if needed.[3] He was also in charge of the security of several secret installations.[7]
Other skills Petrovich showed included programming the Cyberwarriors[1] and piloting high-tech vehicles.[7]Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #10 (Silver Sable's profile) says that Sable assembled her team of elite Wild Pack agents, including Doug Powell, after Hydra's attack on Cranewood School. However, in Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #1, Sable had recruited Powell before the attack on Cranewood - in fact, Powell joins her in the attack.
Trivia
- The Taskmaster's talent pool listed Petrovich's name in a list of former agents of Hydra.[31]
- Baron Strucker repeatedly tried to find and kill Petrovich, calling him by name,[14][1] and Trefkov considered using Petrovich as a bargaining chip to appease Strucker.[9] However, if Strucker and Petrovich had ever met in person, it has been unrevealed.
- When Petrovich was arrested by the Genesis Coalition due to his constant blunders, one of his guards suggested that Petrovich would have allowed Silver Sable to prevail against the Coalition simply because she and Petrovich had been an item,[10] even if Petrovich had repeatedly tried to kill her.[3][7][10]
See Also
- 8 appearance(s) of Dmitri Petrovich (Earth-616)
- 5 mention(s) of Dmitri Petrovich (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Dmitri Petrovich (Earth-616)
- 5 image(s) of Dmitri Petrovich (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #11
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #25
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #1
- ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #18
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #8 ; Paladin’s profile
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z: Update #3 ; Paladin’s profile
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 7.24 7.25 7.26 7.27 7.28 7.29 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #8
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Deathlok (Vol. 2) #19
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #23
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #24
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #10 ; Silver Sable’s profile
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5 ; Hydra’s profile
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #5 ; Hydra’s profile
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Vol. 3) #42
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #3
- ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #6
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #10
- ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack vol 1 10
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #9
- ↑ Avengers NOW! #1 ; Silver Sable’s profile
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Women of Marvel 2005 #1 ; appendix
- ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #4
- ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #5
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 24.6 Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #12
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1 ; Baron Strucker’s profile
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #1 ; Baron Strucker’s profile
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #8 ; New Men’s profile
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #8 ; New Men’s profile
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Marvel Atlas #1 ; Symkaria’s profile
- ↑ Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #26
- ↑ Taskmaster (Vol. 2) #1