MEGAWATTMEGAWATT
Real Name: Dirk Leyden
Identity/Class: Human mutate
Occupation: Movie star
Group Membership: None known
Affiliations: Jonas Harrow, Koolabar films
Enemies: Daredevil, Spider-Man
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Australia, Formerly Peekskill, New York, formerly New York City
First Appearance: Spider-Man Unlimited I#2/2 (August, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: After being empowered by Jonas Harrow, Megawatt had the ability to absorb and store electricity simply by touching a source any source of it, even if it was small (he was seen absorbing from an outlet, microphones, and wires). He could use that ability to electrify things upon touching them, shoot lightning blasts, or utilize it to gain super strength (class 5-10). However, if not in contact with the ground, his electricity would not be very effective because he could not "close the circuit." He also went through his life thinking of himself as in a movie, thereby clouding his logic.
History: (Spider-Man Unlimited I#2/2 (fb)) - Dirk Leyden grew up as a normal kid, who really loved the movies. He would go to them every chance he got and dreamt that one day he would be a movie star like his heroes on the silver screen. Movies began to be an obsession of his, and he started to see his life as if he were a character in a film. One day, he tried to shoplift some gum cards and the store owner spotted him. Dirk ran away, but at that moment, he knew he was destined for a life of crime, because in the movies saw, "you make one mistake and they hound you forever." So he went to New York City and started his life of crime, which was nothing special for a while. Eventually, he met Jonas Harrow, the guy who empowered Hammerhead and the Kangeroo, and Jonas Harrow empowered Dirk as well, giving him powers over electricity and turning him into Megawatt.
Harrow then sent Megawatt and a few other minor thugs to steal
some hi-tech components that Harrow wanted. However, Daredevil dropped in and
knocked out Megawatt in a matter of seconds with a billy club before Megawatt
even had time to power up completely. Megawatt was then taken by the cops, who
couldn't find his rap sheet. He was sure they would find it though, because he
still saw his life as a movie and if they didn't find the sheet, then it would
be a violation of story logic. So Megawatt used the last of his stored power to
break out of prison and fled, winding up in Australia. While there, he found
happiness working as a stuntman for Koolabar films, and eventually landed
speaking roles, starting to realize his childhood dreams of actually being in
the movies (you know, besides the one he thought he lived in).
(Spider-Man Unlimited I#2/2) - After an unknown amount of time, Megawatt was in a movie called "Bush Ranger," and returned to New York city for its premier, thinking that the authorities would have forgotten about him. However, after giving a speech to the audience of the premier about how great the movies were, several federal agents surrounded him. Megawatt panicked. He grabbed the microphones he was talking into and absorbed electricity to power up, and smashed through the wall and flew into a janitor's closet on top of another building. Spider-Man tracked him there and confronted him. Spider-Man realized that Megawatt wasn't an evil guy and just seemed like he was caught up in something too big for him. Spider-Man asked if there was some way he could help Megawatt. Megawatt then revealed his entire origin to Spidey, making several movie references along the way, as well as speaking as if his life were a screenplay. After hearing Megawatt's story, Spider-Man almost persuaded him to just surrender peaceably by telling him that a few misdemeanors were not going to ruin his life. However, the cops surrounded the building and Megawatt panicked and started throwing things out the window at the police. He then started fighting with Spider-Man. They fought back and forth until Spider-Man got Megawatt in a full nelson while he was hanging upside-down from the ceiling. Megawatt unleashed all his power at once in a desperate effort to break free, and ended up powerless, but nearly knocking out Spider-Man as well. Still, Spider-Man knocked out the powerless Megawatt.
As the cops took him away, Megawatt touched some wires from a fallen light pole, powered up back into Megawatt, and escaped. However, due to the controversy of Megawatt and his crimes, the movie he was in was a hit, becoming#1 in the U.S., Australia, and Europe. In addition, Megawatt was signed not only to star in, but to write and executively produce the sequel.
Comments: Created by Kurt Busiek and Steven Butler
Clarifications: Has no known connections to:
images: Spider-Man Unlimited I#2, page 51 panel 1
Spider-Man Unlimited I#2, page 45, panel 2
Last updated: 01/30/04
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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