Thunderball (Eliot Franklin) is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. He is a frequent enemy of

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

and a reluctant ally of the Wrecker and the Wrecking Crew. The character made his live-action debut in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

television series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'', played by Justin Eaton.

Publication history

Thunderball was created by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...

and

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...

and first appeared in '' The Defenders'' #17 (November 1974). Phillip Lamarr Cunningham identifies how black supervillains are often forced to choose between great power and great intellect: "Thunderball, who despite his genius-level intellect relies primarily on his strength, has resorted to utilizing a ball and chain as a weapon, and commits crimes with his band of ruffians, The Wrecking Crew."

Fictional character biography

Eliot Franklin was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. He becomes a brilliant physicist and engineer, inventing a miniature gamma bomb that he provides to Richmond Enterprises. However, Richmond executive J. C. Pennysworth steals the bomb and fires Franklin. Franklin attempts to recover the bomb, but is caught and imprisoned. In prison, he meets Dirk Garthwaite, Henry Camp, and Brian Calusky. Garthwaite's magical

crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially gooseneck, or pig bar, or in Australia a jemmy, is a lever consisting of a metal bar with a single curved end and flat ...

empowers all four men, who form the Wrecking Crew. As a member of the Wrecking Crew, Thunderball has faced many of Marvel's superheroes, including Thor,

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

, the

Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

, and the

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

. They have also been part of other "supervillain" organizations, but they always stayed together as a team. Thunderball has occasionally operated on his own, working as a scientist for criminal organizations, including the

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 ...

, the

Secret Empire Secret Empire may refer to: * Secret Empire (organization), an evil organization in Marvel Comics ** Secret Empire (1974 comic), comic book storyline ** Secret Empire (2017 comic) "Secret Empire" is a 2017 Marvel Comics crossover storyline pu ...

, and

the Hood The Hood (Parker Robbins) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan, and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell (comics), Eric Powell, the character was introduced in his own sel ...

's gang.

Powers and abilities

Thunderball possesses superhuman strength and a high degree of durability thanks to the Asgardian magic imparted by the Wrecker's crowbar. His superhuman abilities are currently four times greater than when he originally shared the Wrecker's power, making him more powerful than an Asgardian god. Thunderball possesses a virtually indestructible wrecking ball attached to a chain, enchanted by Wrecker's crowbar. The wrecking ball, when thrown, can return to Thunderball in a similar fashion as Wrecker's crowbar and Thor's hammer Mjolnir. In addition, Thunderball is highly intelligent. He is a scientific

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

in the field of

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, specializing in

gamma radiation A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...

. He is a gifted physicist with a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in physics as well as an experienced planner and tactician.

Other versions

''House of M''

An alternate universe variant of Thunderball from Earth-58163 appears in ''

House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of an eight-issue comic book limited series with a number of crossover tie-in books written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel. Its first i ...

'' as a member of the Hood's Masters of Evil.

Ultimate Marvel

An alternate universe variant of Thunderball from Earth-1610 appears in the

Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the ...

imprint.

In other media

Television

* Thunderball appears in ''

The Super Hero Squad Show ''The Super Hero Squad Show'' is an American superhero animated series produced by Marvel Animation that aired from 2009 to 2011. It is based on the Hasbro toyline " Marvel Super Hero Squad", which portrays the Avengers, the X-Men, and various ...

'', voiced by

Alimi Ballard Alimi Ballard (born ) is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as FBI agent David Sinclair on the CBS police procedural thriller ''Numb3rs'' (2005–2010), as well as the Quizmaster from ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. Earl ...

. 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 credits or other reliable sources of information. * Thunderball appears in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'', voiced by

Gary Anthony Williams Gary Anthony Williams (born March 14, 1966) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He has voiced the character Uncle Ruckus on ''The Boondocks'', General Horace Warfield in '' StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'' and Dr. Richard Tygan in '' ...

. * Thunderball appears in the ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate Ma ...

'' episode "Damage", voiced by

Chi McBride Kenneth "Chi" McBride ( ; born September 23, 1961) is an American actor. He has appeared in films, where he is known primarily as a character actor, and in television, where he has had numerous starring roles. In film, he has played prominent ro ...

. * Thunderball appears in '' Avengers Assemble'', voiced by

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore ( , , born June 13, 1967) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk, Volstagg, and Beast in various Marvel media and ...

. * Thunderball appears in '' Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.'' episodes "The Skaar Whisperer" and "The Big Green Mile", voiced by

in the former and Jonathan Adams in the latter. * Thunderball appears in '' Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers''. * Thunderball appears in the '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'' episode " The People vs. Emil Blonsky", portrayed by Justin Eaton. This version wields an Asgardian

flail Flail may refer to: * Flail (tool), an agricultural implement for threshing * Flail (weapon) A flail is a weapon consisting of a striking head attached to a handle by a flexible rope, strap, or chain. The chief tactical virtue of the flail i ...

Video games

* Thunderball appears as a collective boss alongside the Wrecking Crew in '' Marvel: Ultimate Alliance'', voiced by

. * Thunderball appears as a boss in '' Marvel: Avengers Alliance''.

References

External links

Thunderball
at Marvel.com * Thunderball at the Marvel Comics wiki {{Iron Fist African-American characters in comics African-American characters in television Characters created by Len Wein Characters created by Sal Buscema Comics characters introduced in 1974 Fictional characters from New York (state) Fictional physicists Marvel Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics mutates Marvel Comics scientists Thor (Marvel Comics) fr:Démolisseurs#Boulet / Dr. Eliot Franklin