Monica Rappaccini

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Monica Rappaccini
Monica Rappaccini (2011 Design).webp
Monica Rappaccini alongside A.I.M. troops.
Textless cover of Ant-Man & Wasp #3
(January 2011).
Art by Salva Espin and Guru-eFX.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7
(2005)
Created by Fred Van Lente
Leonard Kirk
In-story information
Alter egoDr. Monica Rappacini
Species Human
Team affiliations H.A.M.M.E.R.
J.A.N.U.S.
A.I.M.
Notable aliasesDoctor Rappaccini
Scientist Supreme
Abilities
  • Engineering, biochemist, cybernetics, physics, and robotics expert
  • Genius-level intellect
  • Teleportation belt

Monica Rappaccini is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Fred Van Lente and Leonard Kirk, the character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7 (2005). [1] Monica Rappaccini is a genius-level biochemist and the Scientist Supreme of the supervillain organization A.I.M. [2]

Contents

Publication history

Monica Rappaccini debuted in Amazing Fantasy vol. 2 #7 (2005), [3] created by Fred Van Lente and Leonard Kirk. [4] She appeared in the 2007 Super-Villain Team-Up MODOK's 11 series. [5] She appeared in the 2017 The Unstoppable Wasp series. [6] She appeared in the 2020 Ravencroft series. [7]

Fictional character biography

Monica Rappaccini went to New Mexico's Desert State University to study and shared a brief relationship with physics student Bruce Banner while enrolled as a biochemistry student at the University of Padua. She used their relationship to exploit Banner's radiation expertise for her own research. Upon attaining her doctorate, Rappaccini quickly became a world-renowned innovator of antitoxins and antidotes for various environmental poisons and nearly won a Nobel Prize. [8]

Recognizing the many environmental and political failings of Western civilization, Rappaccini decided that it was too corrupt to exist. She joined a series of terrorist organizations, such as the pan-European leftist group the Black Orchestra, and then Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), where she had a brief relationship with fellow agent George Tarleton. [9] Making poisons instead of curing them, Rappaccini's expertise with toxins allowed her to rise quickly through A.I.M.'s ranks. She implanted her own daughter and several other newborn children of A.I.M. members with memetic antibodies. She released them into the world as A.I.M. Waker agents with no knowledge of their heritage. They programmed to travel instinctively to the nearest A.I.M. biohaven when their antibodies activated at age 16. Her daughter was raised in Vermont by undercover A.I.M. agents as Carmilla Black. [10]

Monica Rappaccini went underground for nearly two decades and studied potential power sources such as the sentient Uni-Power. She orchestrated attacks on capitalism, such as the dioxin-based gas attack on Hong Kong. When the A.I.M. Scientist Supreme was slain by renegade A.I.M. creation MODOK, Rappaccini became head of a splinter faction of A.I.M. that remained independent from MODOK's control. Following his numerous defeats, Rappaccini's splinter group absorbed more cells into a sizable rival faction. She was made Scientist Supreme of this "true" version of A.I.M. [11] She rarely did field work as A.I.M.'s leader, preferring to act through agents and proxies.

When she led an A.I.M. attack on the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, it was thwarted by her estranged 19-year-old daughter, who had since joined forces with S.H.I.E.L.D. and became the costumed superheroine the Scorpion II. Monica Rappaccini eluded capture and soon attempted to harness the malfunctioning Uni-Power, but her plans were thwarted by the Scorpion II and several superheroes who bonded with the Uni-Power.[ volume & issue needed ]

Her A.I.M. faction was involved in an A.I.M. civil war against MODOK's faction that drew in several of the Marvel superheroes, prominent among were Ms. Marvel [12] and the Hulk. [13] Following Ms. Marvel's thwarting of a plan to turn MODOK into a bomb, Rappaccini reunited the organization under her control. [14]

She infiltrated the supervillain group MODOK's 11 with A.I.M.'s new robot the Ultra-Adaptoid, which was impersonating the Chameleon. She attempted to prevent MODOK from obtaining a weapon called the Hypernova and using it to erase all life on Earth. She had a stated aim to stop A.I.M. from creating "inventions that turn around and try to destroy us." In the end, MODOK gained the Hypernova, and Monica gave him $1 billion dollars in exchange for it - which, unknown to her, had been MODOK's plan all along, as he had already worked out that the Hypernova would grow unstable and explode anyway. A.I.M.'s base was destroyed in the explosion and MODOK believed Monica was dead. [15]

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, it is revealed that Rappaccini survived and came into conflict with Mockingbird and Ronin. [16] She also hired Deadpool to retrieve a batch of baby M.O.D.O.C.'s enhanced to warp reality from H.A.M.M.E.R. headquarters. [17]

After a failed attempt to persuade Hank Pym to join A.I.M., she and her followers were stranded on Earth-Charnel when the Wasp deactivated her facility's dimensional screen. [18]

Monica and A.I.M. later sided with Norman Osborn after he escaped from prison and reformed H.A.M.M.E.R. [19] Following Osborn's defeat, she and A.I.M. end up retreating. [20]

During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Noh-Varr located a secret A.I.M. base where Rappaccini and the A.I.M. agents that escaped following Osborn's defeat were hiding out. The Avengers raided the base and arrested Monica and the other A.I.M. members that were present at the time. [21]

She then escaped from prison and fought the new Wasp. Monica Rappaccini was later seen as a member of J.A.N.U.S. [22]

Powers and abilities

Monica Rappaccini is an expert in robotics, chemistry, physics, engineering, biotoxins, and biochemistry. [23] Her inventions include the enhanced lymphatic system of the A.I.M. Waker agents that granted them total immunity to all biological, chemical and radiological weapons, memetic antibodies, synthetic microbes that attack the human psyche and trigger pre-coded memories and impulses, hallucinogenic drugs that deliver programmed hallucinations before being absorbed into the system; and many innovative weapons of mass destruction, from gas attacks to nanobacterial bombs.

Her A.I.M. uniform belt contains a phasing device that allows her to teleport. [24] She keeps many different devices at hand, varying upon her situation and opponent. When facing a captured Hank Pym, she boasts that she kept 157 methods of containing him on hand. [18]

Reception

Melody MacReady of Screen Rant called Monica Rappaccini one of the "most ruthless villains of the Marvel Universe," writing, "Monica is manipulative, prejudiced, murderous, and proud of what she does; this was best shown when she was one of the best villains in the game Marvel's Avengers." [25]

Other versions

House of M

An alternate version of Monica Rappaccini appears in the "House of M" storyline. [26] She worked alongside the Scorpion II and the Hulk to overthrow Governor Exodus' fascist mutant government in Australia when Scarlet Witch reality-warped Earth into a mutant-dominated society,. When the Hulk became Australia's new leader, she secret plan to create a cybernetic army to overthrow Earth's mutant rulers was exposed. Denying any knowledge of the army, she promised to restore the cyborgs' humanity. When this warped reality was undone, the disoriented Rappaccini found herself stranded in Australia alongside Bruce Banner. Evading the Scorpion II's attempt to arrest her, Rappaccini returned to A.I.M.

Death's Head 3.0 (Earth-6216)

An alternate version of Monica Rappaccini appears in the alternate future timeline in Death's Head 3.0. She created the Uni-Alias, an artificial variant of Captain Universe's Uni-Power. [27] Decades later her granddaughter Varina Goddard, a Senior Scientist in the future A.I.M., used the Uni-Alias as a power source for the Death's Head robot in her attempt to assassinate the United Nations Secretary General.

Ant-Man: Natural Enemy

An alternate version of Monica Rappaccini appears in the Ant-Man: Natural Enemy. She captures the shrunken Scott Lang and was going to make her pet, but later attempts to kill Lang by flushing the latter down the toilet. It is revealed that Rappaccini murdered animals when she was a child, especially ants.

In other media

Television

Video games

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References

  1. ↑ Sakellariou, Alexandra (September 19, 2020). "What AIM's REAL Plan Is In Marvel's Avengers". Screen Rant . Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  2. ↑ Serrano, Ryan (2020-09-07). "Marvel's Avengers: Everything You Need to Know about Monica Rappaccini". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  3. ↑ Moore, Brandon (August 21, 2020). "What is A.I.M. in Marvel's Avengers?". Gamepur. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  4. ↑ Meisfjord, Tom (2021-05-21). "Every Marvel Character Referenced In MODOK Episode 1". Looper . Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  5. ↑ Meisfjord, Tom (2021-04-16). "The Untold Truth Of Marvel's Monica Rappaccini". Looper . Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Bacon, Thomas (July 1, 2020). "Marvel's New DARK Illuminati Have Been Revealed". Screen Rant . Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  8. ↑ Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #7-12. Marvel Comics.
  9. ↑ Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 #1, page 1. Marvel Comics.
  10. ↑ Scorpion debut story in Amazing Fantasy. Marvel Comics.
  11. ↑ Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 #1, MODOK profile. Marvel Comics.
  12. ↑ Ms. Marvel #5, 7 and 9-10. Marvel Comics.
  13. ↑ Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #287-290. Marvel Comics.
  14. ↑ Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #15-17. Marvel Comics.
  15. ↑ Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK's 11 #1-5. Marvel Comics.
  16. ↑ New Avengers: The Reunion #2-4. Marvel Comics.
  17. ↑ Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #40-41. Marvel Comics.
  18. 1 2 Ant-Man & Wasp #3. Marvel Comics.
  19. ↑ New Avengers (vol. 2) #18. Marvel Comics.
  20. ↑ Avengers (vol. 4) #24. Marvel Comics.
  21. ↑ Avengers (vol. 4) #25. Marvel Comics.
  22. ↑ Ravencroft #5. Marvel Comics.
  23. ↑ O'Brien, Megan Nicole (2021-05-09). "Marvel: 10 Smartest Female Characters". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  24. ↑ Chrysostomou, George (2020-10-14). "Marvel's Avengers: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Scientist Supreme". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  25. ↑ MacReady, Melody (September 15, 2022). "10 Characters Gal Gadot Could Play In The MCU". Screen Rant . Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  26. ↑ Kurland, Daniel (January 17, 2021). "10 Marvel Characters The Hulk Had A Relationship With". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  27. ↑ Amazing Fantasy #18. Marvel Comics.
  28. ↑ "Monica Rappaccini / Scientist Supreme Voices (Marvel Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 21, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  29. ↑ Lealos, Shawn S. (June 12, 2021). "Hulu's MODOK: The 10 Best Characters". ScreenRant. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
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  32. ↑
  33. ↑ Feyrer, Avery (September 10, 2021). "The Best Marvel Villains Featured In Video Games". TheGamer. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  34. ↑ Oloman, Jordan (August 6, 2020). "First Look: 'Marvel's Avengers' is super, but I'm worried about the end game". NME . Retrieved 2020-08-15.
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