Captain Ultra

Development

Concept and creation

Roy Thomas asserted, "Captain Ultra was a parody character that George Perez and I made up for FF #177, in our own spoof of DC's auditions for the Legion of Super-Heroes (it had that quasi-legion of rejected heroes, remember?). We deliberately gave him what I've always called a "church-window" costume... one that has a zillion design pieces, and nearly as many colors, with nothing to really focus the eye. But of course, since he was a virtual Superman, we had to give him a "Kryptonite," so we made it fire, as a sort of homage to the Martian Manhunter. The joke was that the Frightful Four, if they had let him join, would have been going up against the Fantastic Four--with its Human Torch--aided by a man who passed out in the presence of any kind of flame."

Publication history

Captain Ultra debuted in Fantastic Four #177 (December 1976), and was created by Roy Thomas, George Pérez, and Joe Sinnott.

Fictional character biography

Griffin Gogol is a plumber who underwent psychological treatment and hypnosis to cure his smoking habits. Unbeknownst to him, his psychologist is an alien, and the hypnosis unlocks his innate superhuman abilities. Donning a clashing, colorful costume, Gogol became the superhero Captain Ultra. However, it is revealed he suffers from severe pyrophobia (fear of fire) as a side-effect.

Captain Ultra subsequently applies to join the Frightful Four. They eagerly accept him, but reject him after he faints in the presence of a match. Ultra also works with the Defenders in New York, but never considers joining them.

Soon after, he moves to Chicago. He has since had a minor career as a solo superhero, often teaming up with heroes like Thor to battle minor villains.

Ultra overcomes his pyrophobia after undergoing therapy with Doc Samson and becomes a comedian. His comedy career takes him across the country. Superheroics interfere with this, such as when the underground dirt creature Mud Pi kidnaps the citizens of Wash Basin, Texas. Captain Ultra manages to rescue them all.

Captain Ultra becomes the leader for the Nebraska team of the Initiative program, part of a government-controlled superhero program. After his teammates Paragon and Gadget are killed, Captain Ultra briefly fights Iron Man to protect the rest of his group. He is seen investigating the circumstances of Paragon and Gadget's deaths with Samson and Iron Man. During their investigation, it is revealed that there are two new Initiative recruits in the process of being fast-tracked to the Nebraska team, although Captain Ultra expresses irritation at the prospect of having to "babysit the punks".

Captain Ultra is recruited by Wonder Man to join his Revengers. During the Revengers' attack on Avengers Mansion, he is scared off when Doctor Strange uses an illusion spell to make him believe he is on fire. He and the rest of the Revengers are defeated by all three Avengers teams and remanded to the Raft. It is revealed that Captain Ultra joined the Revengers because he resents being disrespected despite having as much power as an Avenger.

Powers and abilities

Captain Ultra acquired a range of superpowers through hypnosis by an alien. He possesses superhuman attributes, such as superhuman strength, speed, durability, and stamina. He also gained the psionic ability to become intangible at will, see through substances (X-ray vision), and the ability to project his breath forward with great concussive force — among others. Captain Ultra has the power of flight.

Reception

Critical response

Daniel Jurlan of Comic Book Resources ranked Captain Ultra 4th in their "15 Obscure Marvel Characters Who Deserve Their Own Movie" list.

In other media

• Captain Ultra appears in the Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes episode "The Cure", voiced by Paul Dobson. This version is a failed applicant to the Fantastic Four.
• Captain Ultra appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Damage", voiced by Cam Clarke. This version is a spokesperson for Damage Control.

References

References

1. Stone, Sam. (May 31, 2020). "The Revengers: What Is Marvel's Anti-Avengers Team?".
2. Bjork, Juliette. (July 1, 2018). "The 20 Weirdest Marvel Characters That Even The MCU Couldn't Sell To Fans".
3. Ridgely, Charlie. (November 9, 2017). "Who Are The Real Revengers?".
4. Allan, Scoot. (April 2, 2022). "Every Team Venom Has Joined In The Comics".
5. (January 2020). ""Hero Envy" the Blog Adventures: THE ROY THOMAS MARVEL COMICS CHARACTERS, CONCEPTS AND CREATIONS PART 1".
6. (2015). "The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half Baked Heroes from Comic Book History". Quirk Books.
7. ''[[Fantastic Four (comic book). Fantastic Four]]'' #177 (December 1976)
8. ''[[The Defenders (comic book). The Defenders]]'' #62-64 (August - October 1978)
9. ''[[Thor (comic book). Thor]]'' #336 (October 1983)
10. ''[[Marvel Comics Presents]]'' #50 (May 1990)
11. ''[[Marvel Holiday Special]]'' (January 1994)
12. ''[[The Invincible Iron Man (comics). The Invincible Iron Man]]'' #22 (November 2007)
13. ''The Invincible Iron Man'' #24 (February 2008)
14. ''[[New Avengers]]'' Annual (vol. 2) #1 (November 2011)
15. ''[[The Avengers (comic book). The Avengers]]'' Annual (vol. 4) #1 (March 2012)
16. Kurland, Daniel. (January 23, 2023). "15 Obscure Marvel Characters Who Deserve Their Own Movie".
17. (July 12, 2007). "Marvel Animation Age - Fantastic Four (2006)".
18. "Captain Ultra Voices (Marvel Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors.