Our dynamic creative minds leave no stone unturned when it comes to superheroes. Every single character is so well-developed that you can not help but become drawn to them. Hello to all of our comic book enthusiasts, particularly those who are Marvel fans. Welcome back to Marvelous Videos for another fantastic history lesson. We have the backstory of a superhero who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics for today’s video.
Now that we have had your attention, I would like to point out that this character is most commonly connected with the X-Men franchise. Despite being a member of the X-Men squad, this guy has his own sense of cool and charm. In 2002, he made his first appearance in New X-Men #128. Fantomex is a character created by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey and is based on the major character from the Italian comic book Diabolik and the film adaption Danger: Diabolik. He also bears a striking resemblance to Fantomas, the character on which Diabolik is based.
Fantômas is the topic of a story arc in early twentieth-century French detective thrillers, as well as a popular Mexican comic book adaptation, the name of which is reflected in Fantomex’s own name. Fantomex’s name, Jean-Phillipe, is a nod to Danger: Diabolik actor John Phillip Law. Aside from that, his Weapon X title—”Weapon XIII”—refers to the main character in the Franco-Belgian comic XIII, who is a secret operative.
Marvel announced Fantomex MAX, the character’s first solo series, in July 2013. Andrew Hope penned the story, which Shawn Crystal illustrated. The series, however, is not based in the contemporary Marvel universe, and the protagonist is unrelated to any other Marvel characters. Fantomex has a far more valid vision of the Diabolik persona in this series, with a storyline that is less influenced by traditional superhero stories and more influenced by theories of mystery and adventure, similar to James Bond.
Let us dig a little deeper into his past and see where he came from in the Marvel and X-Men realms.
Charlie Cluster AKA Fantomex
Fantomex, also known as Weapon XIII, was created as a result of the Weapon Plus Program’s research into technological-human hybrids. His artificial existence was developed in Weapon Plus which is a man-made environment created with Sentinel technology in order to develop Super-Soldiers. And while his real identity stayed unclear, he did go by the name of “Jean-Phillipe”, and his experiment identification at The World facility was “Charlie Cluster-7.”
The origins of the Weapon Plus Program can be traced back to 1945, when Truett Hudson, a civilian adviser to the United States Army known as Professor Thorton, found out about Dr. Nathaniel Essex’s secret research lab just underneath a liberated concentration camp. So, Thorton founded Weapon Plus, a program developed for creating super-soldiers by the U.S. Army’s Project Rebirth, that also gave life to our all-time favorite hero Captain America, also called the Weapon I.
Now, this is where we eventually get the Weapon X Program from. This program is responsible for conducting the experiment that successfully created the Adamantium bonding process on the mutant Logan. He did, however, escape the Weapon X Facility later on. Weapon Plus also built a high-tech research facility called The World, which is based in the United Kingdom and can reshape time to create and develop an entirely advanced civilization exclusively for the production of super-soldiers. This is where they created Weapon XIII.
Now, due to the heavy French accent of Fantomex, and also the fact that his villa is very close to Paris, it was initially assumed that Fantomex was French. He did, however, clarify that he was not French, but instead just spoke with a French accent since that irritated and disturbed other people when they spoke to him, but mostly because he also liked that accent. So, it would appear that he is someone who can probably handle covering his tracks.
Now probably begins the web of lies that Fantomex is going to spread. In order to flee from the authorities, Fantomex took shelter at the X-Corporation in Paris. Later on, he declared that he was a mutant thief with an ill-defined power of misdirection and Superhuman intellect. He was in a pretty bad condition due to bullet wounds, so he requested permission to stay with Professor X. Fantomex then informed Professor X and Jean Grey that he was being pursued by the authorities as he is one of Europe’s most wanted thieves.
A piece of information like this does raise a bit of suspicion but neither Professor X nor Jean Grey was able to use their telepathic powers to confirm his statements. This happened due to his ceramic mask, which is a device that blocked their mental queries.
Fantomex, later on, used E.V.A. to transport Professor X and Jean Grey to his “home” in France. You will find more information about the E.V.A later in the video. So, Fantomex decided to introduce them to his “mother”. He even told the pair that while being in the Chunnel, he had confiscated confidential material about the Weapon Plus project and presented it to Professor Xavier for one billion dollars.
He then asked Professor X and Jean Grey to assist him back to the Chunnel to bring down Weapon XII. After the three of them leave, it becomes pretty clear that both the house and the woman were a part of an elaborate ploy cooked-up by Fantomex to cover up his true origin.
Fantomex starts telling Professor Xavier and Jean Grey about the Weapon Plus program, which also includes the Weapon X program. Until now, it was assumed that the program that developed Wolverine was known as Weapon X. Fantomex threw some light on this matter and explained that it wasn’t an ‘X,’ but rather the Roman Numeral for 10.
It means that Wolverine was not the only one they created as a living weapon, but rather it was the program’s tenth generation of living weapons. He then informed them of the Huntsman, who was Weapon XII. Huntsman possessed a bacterial mind that supposedly enabled him to merge with any living being whom he touched and turned them into an extension of his body.
When the three reached the Chunnel, they found out that Weapon XII had managed to transform people and animals into mindless slaves. Fantomex then had to kill Darkstar and any other people who had been mentally linked to the creature. There was no coming back from what Weapon XII had done to them. So, Fantomex used a remote detonator to destroy Weapon XII. After that, he discovered two empty Weapon Plus transport tubes in the Chunnel. One of them had been used to contain the brutal Weapon XII and another one carried something called Weapon XIII.
Due to the effects of the battle, Fantomex’s ceramic mask had a bit of an opening at the back, which allowed Jean Grey to use her telepathy to figure out who he was. It turns out Fantomex was actually Weapon XIII, and he fled during the incident that occurred in the Chunnel, after which he reached the X Corporation building. He admitted to Jean that he was not the master thief as he had said before, but that he was now determined to achieve that reputation. He promised Jean that he would not be someone else’s soldier. After that, she let Fantomex slip into the Chunnel before the authorities came.
Like many other Marvel superheroes, even our mutant hero Fantomex has a lot more stories to tell us. Let us find out what else happened to him.
Fantomex Various Story Arcs
Now, later into the story, Fantomex takes the help of Wolverine to destroy the last creation of Weapon Plus, which is Weapon XV. So, along with Cyclops, they go to The World but unfortunately are beaten by Ultimatum, also known as Weapon XV. After recovering they chased Ultimaton all the way to the Weapon Plus Space Station, where Wolverine activated the space station’s self-destruct mechanism before killing Ultimatum.
Scott and Fantomex flee before the space station bursts into flames. Fantomex then assists the X-Men in their fight against Xorn and his newly formed Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. After that Fantomex hunted down John Sublime, the director of the Weapon Plus project, but upon reaching his grave, he found nothing except a message that said “Roanoke.” He went to Roanoke with Wolverine and Agent Zero to find out the answers. But then they are attacked by Sublime’s men, and Fantomex gets shot and is believed to be dead. However, he soon comes back and helps Mystique in her fight against Quiet Man.
The next story arc is about Fantomex’s plan to destroy a team of Norman Osborn’s robotically resurrected corpses when he meets Wolverine and Noh-Varr. Wolverine’s mind was taken over by a robotic entity posing as God, which was actually created by Osborn.
Now, because neither Fantomex nor Noh-Varr believed in a higher power, they were unaffected. Fantomex managed to keep the corpses and Wolverine at bay long enough so that Noh-Varr could approach the entity. Turns out that kissing the entity was indeed the only way to calm it down as it was imitating a female’s hormonal changes. Noh-Varr eventually agreed to do it, and the danger no longer existed. Fantomex then went away.
Fantomex runs into the X-Men once again after a group of Predator-Xs is brought in to murder them. A group of humans with mutant abilities were controlling the Predators-Xs. This group was led by Lobe, who planned to utilize the creatures as spies to research mutants in order to improve all humans to their level. He knew all there was to know about the X-Men but did not know about Fantomex, giving Fantomex an advantage. E.V.A succeeded in disabling Lobe’s database systems, which contained all of his obtained mutant knowledge.
Fantomex then joined X-Force and during their mission to kill Apocalypse, he discovered the location of Apocalypse on the blue side of the moon. Along with the X-Men, he lifts off in the E.V.A. They are ambushed by War upon arrival, who damages E.V.A’s brain, and they crash onto the moon. Wolverine then tries to keep War occupied long enough for Fantomex to blast him with a grenade. After which they are sadly defeated by Death and the rest of the Horsemen who have reassembled.
Due to Wolverine’s quick healing ability, he is able to take them on as Psylocke helps Fantomex recover by shutting down his pain receptors. Fantomex and Wolverine now make their way towards the Apocalypse and are joined by Archangel and Deadpool. They break into Apocalypse’s chamber and discover that he is just a child. Archangel takes charge and rushes toward the kid. Warren is eventually unable to murder the child. The group is now considering sparing the life of the kid, but just then Fantomex shoots a bullet between his eyes and kills him.
Later on, a Deathlok army assaults Fantomex, murders his mother, and steals the miniature World, where Fantomex was researching an experiment that he felt would help save the world. It was eventually found that this experiment was actually another Apocalypse that Fantomex was creating in his facility in The World, called Genesis.
Now, as a result of murdering Apocalypse, X-Force member Archangel started to transform into the new Apocalypse as a result of the Succession Protocol, which was put in place to make sure that after Apocalypse’s death, one of his Horsemen of Death would have to succeed him. Along with Dark Beast, X-Force traveled all the way to the Age of Apocalypse, an alternate dimension, in search of a Celestial Life Seed that could be used to stop the transformation that Archangel was going through.
Through the help of the X-Men of that universe, they were able to obtain a Life Seed. When they arrived on their home planet, they discovered that they had been deceived by Archangel. It turned out that he had already finished his transformation and only needed the Life Seed in an attempt to recreate The World.
So, in order to stop Archangel and recover The World that he had taken, Fantomex had to retreat so that he could bring the A of A X-Men as a backup. Fantomex then also had to reveal his ultimate secret weapon, the clone of Apocalypse, so that he could use it to buy them enough time to beat Archangel.
After the events of the Dark Angel Saga, Fantomex was captured by the Captain Britain Corps and sent to the Otherworld to face trial for the murder of the child Apocalypse. Fantomex has to be put on trial because he is an Omni-versal anomaly. There are no other versions of Fantomex in the whole Marvel multiverse. Psylocke then comes to the rescue and utilizes the incredible strength from her stolen Captain Britain outfit to take Fantomex away. In order to carry out his sentence, they injected him with the anti-reality serum. To prevent the serum from entirely destroying him, Psylocke takes him to the Forest of Sorrows, where she strikes up a deal for his life.
Fantomex then tells Logan that he has decided to leave the X-Force and go to Paris. There, he is visited by Psylocke, but he soon realizes that this is not Psylocke, in fact, it is Mystique in disguise. Mystique ends up poisoning Fantomex with a toxin that entirely disables his abilities. Shadow King, on the other side, was mind-controlling Psylocke. In order to save her, Fantomex pulls off his mask, which has his mind shields, and hands it to Psylocke, releasing her from the grip of the Shadow King. But this left him exposed, and he was killed by the Brotherhood.
The X-Force heads to the White Sky Facility, where they discover that E.V.A has somehow managed to bring Fantomex back to life. But there was a mistake in this process because as it turns out, all three of his brains, now have a separate clone body of their own. After this, Fantomex along with Psylocke goes back home to meet his mother.
A few months later, Fanotmex joins a new incarnation of the Uncanny X-Force, which is led by X-woman Storm. The main motive of the group was to find the Bishop, which they did. They also completed several missions together before meeting Cable’s new X-Force team, which is an entirely different team. Both teams then joined forces to create the new X-Force group, which included Fantomex.
During his time with the new X-Force squad, which included Cable, Marrow, Dr Nemesis, and Psylocke, it slowly became evident that Fantomex was turning mad. He started plotting against the whole team because he was obsessed with being the greatest. When the group defeated a guy called the Volga, who had invented a superhuman enhancement, Fantomex decided to take it for himself, which in turn made him even stronger.
He began fighting his own teammates ruthlessly. Eventually, Cable’s adopted daughter Hope was able to free Fantomex from the enhancement, and Psylocke stabbed his brains with a psychic knife, knocking him out. He was then chained and put away, but it is believed that he made a quick recovery and also got his head back on course.
After the collapse of X-Force and the events of Secret Wars, it was discovered that Magneto had recruited Fantomex to join his new squad of X-Men. Despite being a member of the team, that included M, Sabretooth, and Psylocke, he continued to remain a secret spy, with half of the team unaware of his recruitment. When Psylocke heard that Fantomex had joined the squad, she was furious with Magneto. It eventually led to a fight between the two, during which an angry and upset Fantomex even attempted to murder Psylocke. Although, he eventually left her alone when he realized that an even greater threat was fast approaching.
What makes Fantomex so dangerous?
By now we have kind of already established that Fantomex can be a liar about his abilities as and when he sees fit. But he is known as quite a genius at misleading people. Fantomex has demonstrated several mental powers, which also include the capacity to place himself into a phase of “auto-hypnosis,” which basically puts his body on auto-pilot so that he can do surgery and other delicate procedures on himself. He once showed this power by causing it in order to remove multiple bullets from his body. Fantomex also has a moderate healing element, but it lacks the ability to restore injured or destroyed body tissues such as the face or the heart.
Now, let us talk about the E.V.A. Fantomex has an external nervous system whose name is E.V.A. He manufactured E.V.A. through his mouth one day while still in The World when he lost his voice. She eventually grew and transformed into a flying saucer. Fantomex’s principal external nervous system is EVA, which is capable of independent thought. So, Fantomex and EVA are linked and can share emotions with one another.
EVA functions as an Externalized Picotech Neuro weapons System, capable of changing and transforming its shape and size, coming from his mouth as the size of an apple and expanding to a gigantic mass the size of a swimming pool.
Fantomex can also use EVA as a dischargeable artillery system, using her coils to grip and viciously attack their opponents while she is still inside his body. She can also emit a bio-electric discharge that sets the nervous systems of those impacted on fire. Fantomex can even use it to travel around as his mini-saucer, which functions similarly to a hoverboard. She also acts as his medical support unit, allowing him to neuropsychologically cleanse his body of physical and mental diseases that might jeopardize his structural health.
His secondary nervous system is present in his body, but it is not very developed. When he uses his secondary nervous system exclusively, he can only see in black and white. Apart from this, Fantomex has several other abilities that are enhanced beyond those of a normal individual.
He possesses strength, speed, stamina, and agility that no one in the world can match. He is an excellent marksman, and he can employ this skill even while doing complex athletic stunts during a battle. He is also an expert in hand-to-hand combat. Fantomex has previously declared that he no longer has any scent. Due to this, even Wolverine has trouble tracking him down.
The Pico technology installed in his body forbids him from believing in anything higher than himself or worshipping anything seen as almighty. This makes him an atheist. However, this works as a double-edged sword because he is unable to accept anyone being better at anything than him. It then forces him to go insane whenever anything contradicts that concept.
Being a half mutant and half Sentinel hybrid comes with its own uniqueness. And what is most surprising about Fantomex is that he actually has three brains. And that is not where it ends. He can even switch between his brains whenever he feels it is necessary. He can also utilize them to perform certain tasks on their own. In the end when EVA created three different bodies for his three brains, one of them successfully retained Fantomex’s original personality, while another became a female assassin named Cluster and the last one became an evil version of him named Weapon XIII.
He uses various types of weapons and equipment that help him during his fight against the enemy forces. Fantomex dresses in a carbon fiber polymer full-body suit that serves as both his personal clothing and his battle gear. The ballistic armor he wears is both bulletproof and lightweight, which gives him near-perfect agility when out in the field. It also features many holsters for storing various weapons, equipment, and devices that he can use while working both as a thief and a mutant murdering assassin.
The helmet he wears to conceal his identity is fitted with telepathy-blocking ceramics. This, combined with his Misdirection abilities, allows him to avoid mental scanning by high-level psychics such as Jean Gray and Charles Xavier. For a thief, that definitely has to be extremely handy for him. Cluster’s mask also includes goggles with infrared and night vision capabilities.
Charlie cluster is a skilled weaponeer with extensive knowledge of artillery and weaponry usage. He frequently employs a pair of portable firearms during battles. He also carries a variety of different weapons such as laser pistols, high-caliber assault rifles, rocket launchers, hand grenades, and so on.
Fantomex owns a shrink ray that he stole from Dr. Doom, the reformed supervillain and lord of Latvia. He used it to shrink the World in which he was created down to pocket size, which he did to take it with him everywhere he went.
Insane Versions of Fantomex in Various Forms Of Media
In one variant of the Days of Future Past timeline, which is titled Days of Future Now and featured in Frank Tieri’s Weapon X series, Weapon X and the Sentinels are at war with Wolverine’s X-Men and several other mutant factions, including Excelsior and Gene Nation. In this version of events, Fantomex has become the host of Sublime and, when infected by the sentient bacteria, he tries to sabotage Wolverine’s efforts to destroy Weapon X.
In the Here Comes Tomorrow plot, the whole world is dominated by Beast, who is possessed by Sublime. It takes place in an alternate reality 150 years into the future. Wolverine, Tito (Beak’s grandson), Tom Skylark and his Sentinel known as Rover, Three-in-One (the Stepford Cuckoos), No-Girl, and a reformed Cassandra Nova are the members of this era’s X-Men, along with EVA. E.V.A. has now taken on a humanoid shape but refuses to link with anybody else’s nervous system after “what happened to Fantomex”.
Whatever happened to Fantomex is never clearly addressed in the plot. However, it is heavily implied that Beast’s U-Man follower, Apollyon the Destroyer, is truly Fantomex.
Fantomex also makes a cameo in X-Men: The End as part of X-23’s dream, which was created by the Ladies Mastermind, since she is said to be in love with him in this universe. In X-23’s dream, they are seen together in their backyard, playing with a little daughter.
Now with that, guys, we have come to the end of another origin video with Marvelous Videos. We hope you enjoyed watching it, as much as we enjoyed making it for you. Make sure to drop a like and hit that subscribe button on your way out. Until then everyone, stay safe, take care and see you in the next video. Hope you have a fantastic day!