Weapon X is best known for Wolverine, but it has also been tied to other Marvel heroes and villains in the past. Across the course of the Marvel Universe’s history, various figures have been retconned and revealed to be tied to one of the most nefarious organizations: the Weapon Plus program, an institution that has experimented on figures from all over the universe to transform them into living weapons.
The artificially created mutants of The World have been among their products, with Deadpool and Wolverine — dubbed Weapon X — among their more renowned success stories. However, the program has revealed several more well-known Marvel characters, all of whom are significantly more terrifying than Wolverine.
When Thorton, an American military-civilian advisor, visited a freed concentration camp and discovered the enigmatic scientist Mister Sinister’s hidden laboratory in 1845, the clandestine Weapon X Program was born. Based on Sinister’s study, Thorton, better known as the Professor, devised the Weapon Plus Program at the behest of the US government.
Weapon Plus was a company that specialized in the creation of super-soldiers. Over the next decade and a half, the program went through numerous stages of development. In Weapons II and III, animals were employed as test subjects, whereas in Weapons IV, V, and VI, racial minorities were used. Starting with Weapon VII, superhuman mutants were chosen as test subjects, and this trend continued through Weapon VIII and Weapon IX. The Professor continued to work as a scientist throughout various iterations of Weapon Plus.
By the 1960s, the program had proceeded to Weapon X, and the Central Intelligence Agency was in charge of it. The program is regarded as one of the most diabolical in the Marvel Universe’s history due to its total contempt for life, whether human or animal. This program did, however, succeed in generating terrible superhumans, and here we present the Top 10 most terrifying Weapon X products that make Wolverine look harmless.
Weapon V – Project Venom
Weapon V, also known as Project Venom, was the codename for the Weapon Plus Program’s fifth installment, a top-secret supersoldier program. S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered an alien dragon formed of living darkness trapped on a glacier in 1965, and nicknamed Grendel.
A group led by Nick Fury began experimenting with Grendel samples, discovering that they could be attached to host organisms to create predatory monsters. Fury began a symbiote-supersoldier program in 1966, under government pressure to create a replacement for the M.I.A. Captain America, and field-tested it during the Vietnam War, with devastating results.
Weapon Plus secretly took over the Sym-Soldier Program when S.H.I.E.L.D. declared it a failure and shut it down, renaming it “Weapon V” or “Project Venom” and taking staff, research, and symbiote samples while claiming Fury as the founder.
Weapon V kept a careful eye on later Sym-Soldier Program offshoots created by the US government, such as Project Rebirth 2.0 and the Mercury Team, throughout the next few decades.
Seven weeks after the Grendel symbiote-dragon reawakened and attacked Manhattan, Carnage, a symbiote-augmented serial killer who had bonded to a sample of the Grendel symbiote and been greatly empowered by its connection to Knull, the dark elder god who had created the symbiotes billions of years ago, attacked the Weapon V Headquarters.
The majority of the soldiers were slain, but Robert Urquhart’s Mars Team managed to escape and plot retribution by enlisting the help of fellow Weapon Plus experiment Weapon H. However, Dr. Andrew Breen, Weapon V’s chief of research and development, went insane and disrupted Mars Team’s fight against Carnage, allowing him to kill them all.
What makes the operatives of Weapon V truly dangerous is that they are attached to symbiote bio-armor made from Grendel symbiote-dragon samples. Current-generation Sym-Suits have been virally changed to be immune to the symbiote hive-corrupting mind’s influence. Weapon V operatives can use their symbiotes to manifest claws, teeth, spikes, tentacles, and blades in addition to brandishing military ordinance.
Weapon III – Harry Pizer, aka the Skinless Man
Weapon III, which was first revealed in New X-Men to be mostly focused on animal test subjects, was revealed to have only one successful graduate: Harry Pizer, dubbed the Skinless Man. Harry had elastic and flexible skin, which the Weapon Plus program strengthened when he first appeared in Uncanny X-Force #21 by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini. After being skinned by the Captain Britain Corps, the nefarious Pizer learned to control his muscle ligaments like tendon. The Skinless Man was a hated nemesis of Fantomex who even killed him before being killed by Deadpool.
During the Cold War, Harry Pizer worked as a barrister. His mutant power, elastic and multi-sensory skin enabled him to excel at espionage, and he was very effective at his work. The Professor, who had granted him a position in the Weapon Plus program to help his country during the Cold War, was suspicious of his background.
The Weapon Plus program boosted his strength and improved the flexibility and longevity of his skin. He was dubbed “Weapon III” because he obtained intelligence from Soviet soldiers and then killed them. He was tasked with recovering a relic known as The Orb of Necromancy, and he traveled to Otherworld to do it.
Fantomex shot him and left him for dead. He was eventually discovered by the Captain Britain Corps, who had his skin peeled as a punishment for all the individuals he killed in order to obtain the Orb. This skin was later stolen by Fantomex, who utilized it to manufacture sentient bullets that never miss.
When Fantomex was taken before the Britain Corps to face his crimes, he was acquitted. Weapon III, also known as the Skinless Man, subsequently discovered that Fantomex had returned to Otherworld and stolen his unique skin. He taught his muscle to perform what his skin used to do in order to exact vengeance. The Skinless Man was also enlisted by the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, a group of mutants that shared a personal hatred for X-Force.
Weapon IV – Man-Thing
Weapon IV was later discovered to be linked to Project Sulfur in Wolverine & Captain America: Weapon Plus.
Dr. Ted Sallis worked at Empire State University as a biochemistry professor. He was recruited by the US Army for Project Sulfur, which attempted to help soldiers survive biochemical warfare. Sallis created the SO-2 Serum with the army, which provided immunity to all known harmful biochemicals.
It was rendered useless, however, when it was discovered that it had a side effect that turned its users into monsters. He discussed with Ellen the possibility of moving to the Everglades to be closer to Curt because his own study needed to be transferred somewhere more private. Sallis was then transferred to Project: Gladiator, a S.H.I.E.L.D. research program based in the Everglades of Florida.
Sallis tweaked his SO-2 recipe to create the Super-Soldier Serum. The nefarious AIM sought the serum, and they teamed up with a vengeful Ellen, whom Ted had ignored since their honeymoon. Ted committed the formula to memory and destroyed his records after finishing his new serum.
Ted ran and sought to reach Curt Connors’ lab after Ellen led him into an AIM ambush. Just before his automobile crashed into the swamp, he injected himself with the single remaining sample of the serum. He was supposed to die, but the swamp’s magical forces, combined with the serum and some of Curt Connor’s regeneration serum, changed him into the monstrous creature known as the Man-Thing.
The Man-Thing is extremely dangerous as it possesses various powers and abilities including superhuman strength, the ability to secrete corrosive acid, and superhuman durability. Sallis would eventually escape into the Marvel Universe, but his experiments led to the creation of characters like Man-Slaughter.
Weapon VII – Frank Simpson
“Project: Homegrown” is the name given to the project. Weapon VII was first presented in Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil story arc “Born Again.” The lone survivor of the process was the vicious Frank Simpson, who was eventually discovered to be a member of the Weapon Plus program.
Frank Simpson was the troubled son of an upper-class mother in Ohio who was affluent, abusive, and alcoholic. Frank developed an unhealthy attachment to his babysitter, his only true maternal figure in his life.
The young woman, who had affections for his father Charles, took advantage of Frank’s affection and persuaded him to murder his mother. Wolverine, who was working for the deadly group Weapon X at the moment, had been dispatched to capture Frank. Logan dressed up as a cop and showed up.
After stalking Charles Simpson and the babysitter, he shot the girl with Charles’ revolver, prompting Charles to commit suicide. After that, Wolverine went to Frank’s house and kidnapped him for Project: Homegrown.
Frank was dispatched into the Vietnam War as a black-ops operative years later. Frank was kidnapped by the Viet Cong and tortured by Logan, who shattered Frank’s still-unbalanced mind. Logan implanted the phrase “No V.C.!” as a trigger word, coupled with the impulse to kill anyone who said the words gruesomely in vengeance for the tortures he had endured.
He then let Frank go, putting his work to the test with a hamlet of peasants who sought to calm him down and persuade him to spare them by shouting “No V.C!” However, in reaction to the trigger word, Frank set fire to the village, murdering everyone who lived there. Logan was then appointed as the human weapon’s handler once the experiment was deemed a success.
Codename Nuke became a useful agent for darker government activities after being enhanced with armored implants into his skin and conditioned with a regimen of adrenaline pills. Following his encounter with Daredevil in “Born Again,” he was thought to be dead but was subsequently found to be alive, prompting him to join the Thunderbolts.
Weapon VI – Luke Cage
Noah Burstein, a Vietnam War veteran, was revealed to be a member of Weapon Plus in Wolverine & Captain America: Weapon Plus. Weapon Plus was so fascinated by his experiments on Mitchell Tanner, who subsequently became the crazed and racially driven villain Warhawk, that they encouraged him to do more.
His second batch was put to the test on inmates at Seagate Prison. Luke Cage, who was subjected to a higher dose of the experiment and was given much-improved strength and durability, went on to become a major Marvel hero in his own right.
Carl Lucas, the man who would become known as “Luke Cage,” was born and reared in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. Lucas had a troubled childhood, spending time in and out of juvenile detention centers. Lucas was later apprehended and sentenced to prison. Lucas was obsessed with wrath and hatred while in prison as a result of his friend’s betrayal and the alleged death of his father.
He spent his time getting into fights and attempting various escapes. As a result, he was transported to Seagate Prison, which is located off the coast of Georgia and is one of the hardest prisons in the country.
Dr. Noah Burstein arrived in the prison to conduct secret medical research and recruited Lucas. He was clandestinely working on a variation of the Super-Soldier technique for experimental cell regeneration. He was previously employed to bolster Warhawk’s abilities.
He submerged Lucas in the “Electro-Biochemical System,” a device that contained an organic chemical compound that conducted an electrical field. Rackham tampered with the controls when he left the device alone in the hopes of killing Lucas.
The procedure, however, was expedited beyond its intended purpose, producing mutagenic changes throughout Lucas’ body and reinforcing his cells, giving him superhuman power and endurance. Lucas used his newfound abilities to get free from the prison and return to Harlem. He was encouraged to use his new abilities for profit after a fortuitous encounter with crooks.
Weapon XII: Huntsman
Huntsman was part of the Weapon Plus Program’s most recent generation of living weapons, dubbed Weapon XII. He was born and artificially “developed” in The World, a man-made environment created to generate Super-Soldiers using Sentinel technology, just like Fantomex (Weapon XIII). He was supposed to be a member of the Super-Sentinels, a group of mutant hunters created by John Sublime as a publicity ploy to convince the public to accept the elimination of mutants.
Huntsman possessed a hive-mind mentality that caused anyone who came into contact with him to adopt his mindset and motivations. He transforms his foes into himself, as Fantomex phrased it. Huntsman, on the other hand, has a fail-safe device that allows his handlers to kill him instantaneously if necessary.
Thus, The World’s England-based labs, Weapon Plus manufactured Weapon XII, called Huntsman, whose real name is Zona Cluster 6. He was the first living weapon made using nanosentinel technology and artificial evolution. Cannonball, M, Darkstar, Rictor, Siryn, and Multiple Man were among the X-Corporation members who were “accidentally” unleashed on the Channel Tunnel. With the help of Jean Grey and Professor X, Fantomex was able to defeat Weapon XII, but at the cost of Darkstar’s life.
Weapon IX – Typhoid Mary
Except for the fact that it took place in Wolverine & Captain America: Weapon Plus, little is known about Weapon IX’s full history. Project Psyche was the last program before the Wolverine, and it is still completely unknown.
Given the images associated with the program and the fact that Michael Hunt, a psychiatrist with a connection to Typhoid Mary, was ostensibly in charge of the project, Weapon IX is clearly linked to Daredevil’s ex. Mary is a powerful mutant with numerous identities, and her volatile abilities and training qualified her for the program.
Mary Walker’s father began assaulting her in her crib shortly after she was born. Mary retreated deeply into her thoughts one night when her father came into her bed to molest her again, and a new alter ego arose to fight her father. Her father never touched her after that. Mary’s drive to protect herself led to the development of latent mutant abilities like mind control, telepathy, and pyrokinesis in her second persona.
Mary finally ended up in a mental institution, where she was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder but not with the source of her abilities. Because she had a persistent fever, her second identity was dubbed “Typhoid.” Typhoid ultimately made her way out of the facility, dragging Mary with her.
She ended up working as a prostitute in a brothel, where she met Matt Murdock, who was then known as Daredevil. He’d come to assassinate a bad guy at the brothel where Mary worked. The girls who worked there surprised him by defending him. In a frenzy, he slammed his fist into the woman, throwing Mary out the window. Mary determined then and there that she would never again allow a man to hurt her, taking on the name ‘Typhoid Mary’.
Weapon I – Project Rebirth
You would never guess who is also the result of the Weapon Plus Programme. It is none other than the Winter Soldier himself! According to Frank Tieri and Tom Mandrake in Weapon X #23, the Weapon Plus program arose from the government’s enthusiasm after the findings of Project Rebirth, which gave Steve Rogers improved physical abilities and transformed him into Captain America during World War II.
This accomplishment prompted the program’s developers to try new things. When the Weapon Plus program began in earnest, Captain America was retrospectively designated as Weapon I.
Project: Rebirth, also known as Operation: Rebirth and Project: Super Soldier, was a World War II-era US government project led by the US Army to develop a new line of Super-Soldiers. Its success allowed the concept to grow and spread, eventually becoming Weapon Plus, a larger operation.
Dr. Abraham Erskine, Professor Hans Bruder, and Professor Eric Schmitt, Nazi scientists, worked on Project Nietzsche in February 1941. Dr. Erskine, however, defected to the United States of America, and they were unable to construct the first “Ubermensch.” Both the chemical element of the project, the Super-Soldier Serum, and the Vita Ray used in the Vita-Ray Chamber treatment were produced by him.
Erskine proceeded to perfect the method until he was able to transform the feeble Steven Rogers into the first Super Soldier. Rogers assumed the title of Captain America and became the first Weapon ever to be successfully created.
Weapon XV: Ultimaton
Ultimaton was a human weapon manufactured by Weapon Plus, an anti-mutant supersoldier program, and was given the designation Weapon XV by his makers. Ultimatum was born and artificially “developed” in The World, a man-made environment created to generate super-soldiers using Sentinel technology, much as Fantomex (Weapon XIII) and Huntsman.
Ultimaton was several generations ahead of the previous living weapons due to the World Facility’s temporal manipulation capabilities. Ultimaton was intended to be the Super-Sentinels’ powerhouse, a team of mutant hunters invented by John Sublime as a publicity ploy to help the public accept the elimination of mutants.
When the facilities were attacked by agents of Advanced Idea Mechanics, who wanted to reclaim the technology Weapon Plus had stolen from them, Ultimaton was freed from the World.
Ultimaton defeated the assailants and went on to fight Wolverine, Fantomex, and Cyclops before being murdered by Wolverine. Ultimaton was just resurrected in The World, and Fantomex charged him with guarding a concealed chamber containing a young Apocalypse clone generated from a blood sample taken from the one who was executed on the Celestial Ship before.
He is extremely strong and lives up to being a weapon in his own right. Ultimate has the ability to both make and absorb massive amounts of radiation, which he normally emits in the form of electricity.
He can also fly since he has the ability to propel himself through the air at incredible rates. Ultimate is a superhumanly strong being whose upper limits are unknown. During physical exertion, Ultimaton’s musculature releases far fewer fatigue toxins than the musculature of a normal human.
Weapon XIV: Stepford Cuckoos
Weapon XIV was created in The World by John Sublime, who used Emma Frost’s ovaries to create the Stepford Cuckoos’ daughters/clones. There were once thousands of them, but just 5 were still operating. They were designed to capture the Phoenix Force and use its power to feed their psychic talents in order to exterminate all mutants on the planet.
Emma Frost was put into a coma for a year after the fight with Trevor Fitzroy. Dr. John Sublime took almost 1000 eggs from her while she was unconscious in order to begin experiments. The Weapon Plus program then used the eggs to generate thousands of identical mutant girls in the hopes of creating a strong weapon that could kill every mutant on the planet by combining their telepathic talents.
Weapon XIV was the name given to the project, and the females were nurtured and artificially matured at The World’s underground level. While the majority of the girls remained dormant, five were sent to the Xavier Institute as student sisters to polish their skills in preparation for Sublime’s mission.
The orphan quintuplet sisters Sophie, Phoebe, Mindee, Celeste, and Esme were enrolled once the Xavier Institute was made public. To keep their secret beginnings hidden, the girls inadvertently created mental barriers in the brains of the teachers, prohibiting them from looking into their past. The girls were instantly dubbed “The Stepford Cuckoos,” despite the fact that their codename was the Five-In-One.
The Stepford Cuckoos are mutants with psychic abilities akin to Emma Frost, their biological mother. They have a linked hive mind that allows them to communicate thoughts and maintain a telepathic connection at all times. Cuckoos have the ability to read people’s minds and transfer their thoughts to others.
They may also manipulate people’s thoughts and memories, as well as produce realistic psychic illusions and force individuals to experience events that are not truly occurring. Other sentient entities can be detected and tracked via their distinct psionic emanations or thought patterns. When they’re together, all of their abilities are at their peak, allowing them to access insane quantities of power and making them virtually unbeatable.
With this, we come to the end of this video. The Weapons Plus program has created terrifying and uber-powerful mutants during its course of activity and many of them have gone on to be heroes while others have devolved into villains. Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!