Egghead is an alias used by two

supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero. Supervillains are ofte ...

s appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. The Elihas Starr incarnation has made several animated appearances and was portrayed in live-action by

Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: '' Assassins'', ''Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Passi ...

in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Ma ...

film ''

Ant-Man and the Wasp ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' is a 2018 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Scott Lang / Ant-Man and Hope Pym / Wasp. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is th ...

''.

Publication history

The original version (Elihas Starr) first appeared in '' Tales to Astonish'' #38 (Dec. 1962), and was created by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential c ...

and

Larry Lieber Lawrence D. Lieber (; born October 26, 1931) (Scroll down) is an American comic book artist and writer best known as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superheroes Iron Man, Thor, and Ant-Man; for his long stint both writing and drawing the Marvel ...

. The second version first appeared in ''Dark Reign: Young Avengers'' #1 (July 2009), and was created by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...

and Mark Brooks.

Fictional character biography

Elihas Starr

Elihas Starr was born in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. A gifted government research atomic scientist with an egg-shaped head, Starr was dismissed for espionage and resolved to use his intellect as a criminal mastermind. He was dealt a humiliating initial defeat by Ant-Man when he created a device to communicate with ants and tried to convince them to betray Ant-Man by leading into a flypaper trap. Ant-Man tricked him into thinking the ants had betrayed him before revealing that the ants were friends and would never turn against Ant-Man. Egghead later captured the

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborde ...

to try luring his nemesis into a trap involving several creatures, including an iguana and an anteater, but this failed. Egghead divided his remaining years between attempted world conquest and seeking revenge on his nemesis, often hiding out in the

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "B ...

section of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in between. Egghead teamed up with the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master in a plot to use a laser satellite to blackmail the United States government. He caused the death of Barney Barton, the brother of Hawkeye, who was aiding the Avengers, hired the

Swordsman Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to ...

to kidnap

Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan "Hank" Pym () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, the character first appeared in '' Tales to ...

, and battled Clint Barton again, who had at that time recently adopted the identity of

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Saul ...

. Egghead later kidnapped his niece, Patricia "Trish" Starr, in order to test a device which allowed him to steal other people's intelligence, and wound up battling Pym as Ant-Man again. He would later cause her car to explode, causing her to lose an arm. He then formed the second Emissaries of Evil in an attempt to gain possession of the mystic ruby called the Star of Capistan. This team consisted of himself, the

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

Solarr Sabra Sabreclaw Sabreclaw is a character in the MC2 universe who first appeared in '' J2'' #8 (May 1999). He is the half-brother of Wild Thing and the son of Wolverine. The character has claws (similar to Sabretooth), a healing factor, enh ...

and the Cobalt Man. Egghead and the Emissaries battled the

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

. Egghead also fought

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August ...

on several occasions. Egghead was still obsessed with Pym and engineered the man's disgrace. Egghead approached Pym (who was operating as Yellowjacket at the time) with a prosthetic arm that he wished to give to Trish in order make amends for his previous deeds. After the arm was installed, Egghead informed Pym that the arm contained a bomb that would be detonated unless Pym complied with Egghead's commands. Egghead had Pym attempt to rob a national treasury of

adamantium Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and in various games in the Elder Scrolls franchise. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. In ...

, and Pym was caught and arrested by the Avengers. With Pym apparently out of the way, Egghead then formed the third

Masters of Evil The Masters of Evil is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version of the team appeared in '' The Avengers'' #6 (July 1964), with the lineup continually changing over the years. Publication ...

as part of a plot against the Avengers. Egghead then sent his Masters of Evil to kidnap Pym from his own trial, making it appear as if Pym himself had staged a rescue. The attempt was successful and Egghead instructed Pym to construct an anti-aging device. Subsequently, Pym goaded Egghead into letting him test the machine himself. However, the device turned out to be a weapon system, and he single-handedly defeated the assembled Masters of Evil. The Avengers arrived too late to be of assistance, but Hawkeye arrived at the laboratory in time to see the defeated Egghead about to shoot Hank in the back out of spite with his energy blaster. Hawkeye shot an arrow into Egghead's gun barrel. The gun misfired, causing an accidental explosion of the energy blaster which killed Egghead instantly, with Hawkeye avenging the death of his brother Barney Barton at Egghead's hands years ago. Days later, his ashes were scattered by Pym and Trish in a private ceremony.

Arnim Zola Arnim Zola is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by Marvel Comics. He is a master of biochemistry and a recurring enemy of Captain America and the Avengers. The character first appeared in '' Captain America and the Falcon'' #208 (A ...

later created a proto-husk of Egghead as part of his Corpse Corps.

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadpo ...

fought and killed Egghead's proto-husk, who then had a small bird pop out of its skull. A flashback in '' Fall of the Hulks: Alpha'' showed that Egghead was a member of the Intelligencia. Egghead later turned up alive thanks to a "rejuvetech serum" that was used on him. He was behind the A.I.Vengers that he had computer technician Raz Malhotra activate after placing a neural override on the man. Egghead's activities attracted the attention of Pym in his alias of Giant-Man and

Ant-Man Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in '' Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) but first appeared in costum ...

. After breaking free of the neural override, Raz shuts down the A.I.Vengers, and Egghead is knocked out by Pym. Egghead is later hired by

Darren Cross Darren Agonistes Cross is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the archenemy of Scott Lang (the second superhero to be called Ant-Man), and the cousin of Crossfire. The character was ...

to work for Cross Technological Enterprises. To help control Cross's Pym Particle-related abilities, Egghead provides the

Yellowjacket Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genus, genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of ...

armor for him to wear. Egghead later accompanies Cross and

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

into attacking Scott Lang's trial.

Robot

A robot version of Egghead appears as a member of the new

Young Avengers The Young Avengers are the names of two fictional superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first team, created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, features numerous adolescent characters who typically have ...

. Although his original programming was "to respect all human life", the female

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...

Big Zero (who seems to have a relationship with him) has reprogrammed him to hate several minorities. Egghead is later recruited by the villain

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The path ...

(who was the benefactor of the Young Masters) to join his army. In the pages of '' Avengers Undercover'', Egghead is with the Young Masters when they are seen in Bagalia as members of the Masters of Evil. During the "

Iron Man 2020 Iron Man (Arno Stark) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a superhero appearing as the counterpart of the superhero Iron Man in the (then) future year of 2020 set in the multiverse world ...

" event, Egghead was seen as a member of the A.I. Army.

Powers and abilities

Although he had no superhuman powers of his own, Eilhas Starr's genius level intellect made him a formidable foe. He was particularly skilled in the fields of robotics and engineering, and could absorb new ideas and knowledge at a seemingly superhuman rate. He had a degree in atomic science, and extensive knowledge in a wide variety of scientific and technological disciplines. Starr designed a wide variety of sophisticated weapons and technological paraphernalia. As of ''Dark Reign: Young Avengers'' #1, the robot's powers have not been fully revealed. He has so far demonstrated the ability to fly and the power to phase his hand through a person's skull.

In other media

Television

* The Elihas Starr incarnation of Egghead appears in '' The Avengers: United They Stand'' episode "Egg-Stream Vengeance", voiced by Robert Cornell Latimer. This version is a rival of

's * The Elihas Starr incarnation of Egghead appears in ''

The Super Hero Squad Show ''The Super Hero Squad Show'' is an American superhero animated series produced by Marvel Animation. It is based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad action figure line from Hasbro, which portray the Avengers, the X-Men, and various other characters ...

'', voiced by

Wayne Knight Wayne Elliot Knight (born August 7, 1955) is an American actor. In television, he played Newman on ''Seinfeld'' (1992–1998) and Officer Don Orville on ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' (1996–2001). He also voiced Igor on '' Toonsylvania'' (1998 ...

. This version is a member of

Doctor Doom Doctor Victor Von Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in '' The Fantastic Four'' #5 in July 1962. The monarch of the fi ...

Lethal Legion The Lethal Legion is the name of seven teams of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The first version of the Lethal Legion appeared in '' The Avengers'' #78 (Jul. 1970). The secon ...

. * The Elihas Starr incarnation of Egghead appears in '' Avengers Assemble'', voiced by

Yuri Lowenthal Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971)Birthday references: * * * is an American voice actor, producer and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime and video games. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include ...

. * The Elihas Starr incarnation of Egghead appears in the ''

'' episode "Soup Time", voiced by

Sam Riegel Samuel Brent Oscar Riegel, sometimes credited as Jack Lingo, is an American voice actor, director, and writer. He is a regular cast member of the web series ''Critical Role'', in which he and other fellow voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons' ...

Film

* Elihas Starr appears in '' Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher'', voiced by

Hiroki Tōchi is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator affiliated with Office Osawa. He has frequently appeared in many anime and video games mainly created by tri-Ace. He won a Male Character Voice Prize in the 2011 Famitsu Awards. Some of his major ch ...

in the Japanese version and by Grant George in the English dub. * Elihas Starr appears during flashbacks depicted in the

film ''

'', portrayed by

. This version was a

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often deals ...

scientist and colleague of

and Bill Foster. After being fired by the former, Starr stole technology to create a portal to the

Quantum Realm Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

to redeem his scientific reputation and brought his wife Catherine (portrayed by

Riann Steele Riann Steele is an American/English actress. Biography After studying at Arts Educational Schools, London, she appeared in various Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', '' Love's Labours Lost'' and ''Ham ...

) and daughter Ava (portrayed by RaeLynn Bratten) with him for support. However, the portal malfunctioned, killing Elihas and Catherine in the resulting blast while Ava was afflicted with "molecular disequilibrium", which eventually led to her becoming the

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to r ...

Video games

The Elihas Starr incarnation of Egghead appears as a playable character in ''

Lego Marvel's Avengers ''Lego Marvel's Avengers'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows, ...

''.

Newspaper comic strips

The Elihas Starr incarnation of Egghead appears in the 2016 ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly ...

'' comic strip by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Alex Saviuk. This version married J. Jonah Jameson's estranged sister and inherited her share of the ''

Daily Bugle The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, most ...

'' upon her death.