The cosmos works in odd ways, and a catastrophe can turn one’s world upside down in a matter of seconds. Such misfortunes strike at the most inconvenient moments, and we would never wish such a destiny on anyone. Introducing Madcap, a young man whose life takes a sad turn as a result of a tragic accident.
This terrible villain, created by Mark Gruenwald, originally debuted in Captain America Comics, where he causes mayhem by physically driving people insane. Madcap has incredible abilities, and he is a shamefully underappreciated villain in the Marvel universe. Let us have a look at his backstory and see where he came from as a villain!
Madcap – the Tragic Backstory and the Transformation
Madcap was not raised to be a deadly villain and only ended up in this state due to a tragic accident that cost him his family and normalcy. At a young age, Madcap’s family joined their church group for a trip to the mountains. However, their bus ended up in a devastating crash, which caused many fatalities, including Madcap’s entire family’s death. Madcap, however, ends up falling into a puddle of the chemical ‘Compound X07’ and loses consciousness. When Madcap awakens at the hospital, he finds out that he has been the only survivor at the accident site and gets devastating news about his parents and younger sibling’s death.
Ridden with survivor’s guilt, Madcap tries to self-harm and even attempts suicide, but he recovers within seconds. He also realizes that he is unable to feel any form of pain, which leads him to the verge of insanity. He questions his purpose and tries to look for meaning in these happenings that cost him his entire family but gave him incredible power and immunity.
Unable to make sense of the situation, Madcap eventually decides that there is no purpose behind these happenings and also realizes the full extent of his powers. He gets a grasp on his ability to control other people’s minds and drive them crazy and decides to wreak havoc using his powers. Madcap then begins his transformation into the deadly villain he is today and starts unleashing terror in society. He wanders around New York and causes significant destruction with the help of his powers to get into other people’s minds and also runs into the superhero ‘Nomad.’
Rumors about his powers soon spread, and he was also sought by other supernatural beings for assistance with difficult situations. On one such occasion, the alien ‘Impossible Woman’ sought Madcap’s help in dealing with her daughter. He also frequently ran into trouble with ‘Ghost Rider,’ and they clashed on numerous occasions. Madcap also went against many other superheroes in various storylines; let us have a look at some of them-
The first comic book appearance explored
Madcap was first introduced in the Captain America comics, where he goes up against Nomad, a vigilante who worked as Captain America’s partner. As Madcap tries to understand his newly-gained powers, he takes to the streets to terrorize New York City’s citizens. He uses his mind-control powers to take over the minds of civilians, causing them to experience bouts of crazed happiness and hallucinations.
He also introduces himself as the ‘messenger of meaninglessness’ and the ‘Formentor of fun’ as his actions cause confusion and uncertainty in the city, even leading to traffic messes on the streets. Meanwhile, Nomad escapes from his day job at a supermarket and investigates the source of the madness. He locates Madcap and attacks him while trying his best to contain the chaos that has surrounded him.
However, Madcap is no match for Nomad, and he easily defeats the superhero. Madcap even takes control of his mind, and Nomad experiences hallucinations where he starts seeing Captain America in his reflections. He also starts visualizing himself as half- Captain America and sees illusions of the Captain’s shield in his hand. While the superhero tries to snap out of his current state, Madcap continues to spread chaos around the city.
A defeated Nomad returns to his workplace, where he gets fired for leaving abruptly in the middle of a shift. He returns home while pondering over his abilities and his defeat against Madcap. Offended by the fact that Madcap made him look like an amateur, Nomad decides to keep looking for the villain and make him pay for his crimes. As the segment comes to an end, Nomad wonders about Madcap’s whereabouts while the supervillain lingers in the background and laughs to himself.
Madcap’s insane interaction with She-Hulk
Madcap was also the antagonist in an issue of the Sensational She-Hulk, wherein he confronts She-Hulk regarding a comic. Within the story, Madcap reads a comic book series owned by She-Hulk and decides that he could do a better job at making the storylines more fun and exciting. He ambushes her while she goes for a walk and starts performing tricks and stunts to attract the attention of passers-by. However, he gets carried away and endangers some citizens, compelling She-Hulk to intervene and save them.
As it turns out, Madcap was just waiting for She-Hulk to get involved so that he could take control of her mind. She-Hulk gets caught off-guard and tries to go against Madcap in her weakened state of mind, but is no match for him. He continues to control her mind, and she starts seeing hallucinations of a whale.
She loses her sense of reality as she tries to attack this whale, while Madcap creates more trouble for her by manipulating young boys into attacking her. She tries to snap out of Madcap’s control and slowly but surely gets back to her usual self. She-Hulk then attacks Madcap and engages in physical combat, but her attacks are not of much use since Madcap’s body has regenerative properties.
Eventually, Madcap reveals the reason behind his attacks and demands that she hand over the comics to him. She-Hulk refuses to do so and rips up the comic with Madcap’s character. As she dumps the comic in the garbage, Madcap disappears from the scene while She-Hulk exclaims that it was ‘just a drawing’ and Madcap is not really dead.
The strange Madcap vs. Deadpool story arc explored
Madcap and Deadpool have had many encounters and share quite a history. In one such instance, Deadpool and Madcap end up in a fight when Thor intervenes and uses his lightning powers to put an end to the battle. His attack disintegrates both Deadpool and Madcap into ashes as they fall to the floor.
Even in this fickle state, Madcap manages to cling to Deadpool’s mind while the superhero tries to revive himself. As Deadpool regenerates and returns to reality, his mind is plagued by Madcap’s thoughts, and he begins to hear voices in his head. Madcap’s powers continue to grow even when he exists in Deadpool’s body, and he eventually manipulates Thor into splitting Deadpool’s body open.
Madcap assumes his physical form yet again but starts losing his edge. Since Madcap could feel pain and the full extent of both his and Deadpool’s emotions while being trapped in the superhero’s mind, he has a hard time returning to his normal state. He sets out to tarnish Deadpool’s name and even sends a mercenary named ‘Solo’ to sabotage a mission while being dressed as Deadpool. Madcap’s main aim was to instill fear and give the superhero a lousy reputation, but ‘Solo’ ends up benefiting Deadpool even more.
Madcap decides to take matters into his own hands and decides to infiltrate Deadpool’s newly formed ‘Mercs for Money’ team. Here, he sabotages all his missions and causes trouble right under Deadpool’s eye. He also incites violence in the city while impersonating Deadpool and uses his mind control powers to instill fear among the masses. Though the superhero is oblivious of Madcap’s involvement in these events at first, he soon realizes the reality of the situation. He tracks Madcap down with help from the superhero ‘Massacre,’ and the two physically attack the villain.
However, they do not seem to cause any actual harm since Madcap’s body parts regenerate on their own, as Madcap uses his ability to control even severed body parts. Since Madcap has now managed to stay undefeated even against Deadpool, he decides to use the superhero’s Chitauri weapon on his own self. The weapon blasts in full force and disintegrates Madcap’s being into a molecular form. Since he has no real purpose in life, Madcap then tries to regenerate himself from this molecular form.
He returns to torture Deadpool once again, and the superhero finds himself experiencing hallucinations staged by Madcap. As Madcap revives himself again, he seeks out Deadpool’s long-standing ally ‘Bob’ and takes over his body. He attaches himself to Bobs’ chest and reigns control over all his actions. Madcap also comes up with a plan to expose Deadpool to a virus that will endanger anyone who comes into contact with the superhero.
He lures Deadpool to a zoo with some help from Bob and even harasses him by contacting him through unknown numbers. Unaware of the virus that now plagues him, Deadpool returns from the zoo and decides to visit his family and his daughter. When his family begins to experience the effects of the virus, Deadpool manages to find a cure for it. He also figures out that Madcap is behind these plans and rescues Bob from the villain’s clutches, who leaves Bob’s host body.
Madcap decides to lay low while he returns to his peak self and then ventures out to seek Deadpool again. However, he finds Deadpool weakened due to his involvement with H.Y.D.R.A. The villain exclaims that he no longer desires to ruin Deadpool’s life, as the superhero has already made a mess of his life. When Deadpool catches Madcap, the crazy villain no longer protests or even puts up a fight. Madcap finally ends up with the ‘Collector,’ who had struck a deal with Deadpool to keep the villain in his museum.
What makes Madcap so powerful?
Madcap has the rare ability to recover instantly from any form of injury or even resurrect himself in case of any fatal accidents. This makes him a mighty opponent and gives him an upper hand in physical combat. Along with the ability to heal at the speed of light, he also does not feel pain under most circumstances and thus, cannot be easily defeated.
Moreover, Madcap can also control minds and cause hallucinations or illusions that distract his opponents during a fight. All he needs to do is capture the attention of his target and establish eye contact to gain access to their minds. This explains his bright choice of clothes, as they help him stand out and catch the eyes of his victims.
He also carries a child’s toy gun, also called a ‘fun-gun’ that creates soap bubbles in order to draw more attention to himself. As soon as his victims meet his gaze, Madcap gets in their heads and causes them to experience extreme bouts of crazed happiness or even hallucinations. These experiences leave them weakened and subdued, and he easily defeats them once their defenses are down.
Conclusion
To sum it up, Madcap is one heck of a crazy villain who has fought against many mighty superheroes. Though he remains one of the most underrated Marvel villains, he is a most powerful character who has nothing to lose. It is advisable to stay out of his way and avoid his gaze at all costs!