MULTITUDE
Real Name: Ward
Identity/Class: Humanoid synthetic
being
Occupation: Soul Stone host;
former researcher
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Captain America (Steve Rogers), John Cray, Iron Man (Tony Stark)
Enemies: The Sapien League
Known Relatives: Inapplicable
Aliases: "Kid," "Little Fella"
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout the USA
First Appearance: Avengers VII Annual#1 (October, 2021)
Powers/Abilities: Prior to hosting the Soul
Stone, the synthetic lifeform Ward presumably possessed enhanced
calculatory and data processing capabilities.
After being possessed by the Soul Stone
consciousness, Multitude gained the ability to generate massive bursts
of energy, which could tap into to generate semi-solid soul projections
of other beings. The more projections he created, however, the less
powerful and solid they became. The closer in proximity that he was the
other beings hosting Infinity Stones, the more powerful he would become.
He was also capable of hovering in the air.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'5")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 135 lbs.)
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: None
History:
(Avengers VII Annual#1 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the synthetic
lifeform Ward became curious about the concept of souls and decided to
travel the country doing research on people of all walks of life in an
effort to gain a better understanding of the concept. While sitting in
a booth at the Marvel Gas diner, the synthetic lifeform Ward was
confronted by a group of tough-looking men associated with the bigoted
Sapien League about his robotic appearance.
(Avengers VII Annual#1) -
Angering the men while attempting to explain how the term "robot" was
slightly reductive despite being firmly rooted in the public
consciousness and how he preferred to be called a "synthetic person,"
Ward was saved from the men by the arrival of truck driver John Cray,
who beat the attackers before offering to have Ward travel with him to
escape the Sapien League. Accepting Cray's offer, Ward soon began
discussing his research into the concept of souls and whether synthetic
beings like himself possessed souls with Cray, a discussion that
continued into the
Route 66 Burger restaurant, where the two stopped to eat. As the
two continued into a discussion of Ward's preference for the term
"synthetic person," Cray was happy to call Ward whatever he preferred.
The Sapien League soon caught up the two at the restaurant and opened
fire on the duo, hitting Cray. Before the League could kill Ward,
however, his body became host to the cosmically powerful Soul Stone and
Ward uncontrollably emitted a large burst of energy that knocked out
the Sapien League members and caused extensive damage to the inside of
the diner. At first unable to move, Ward began telepathically
communicating with the Soul Stone's consciousness and learned that it
hosted billions of souls that it wished to protect, having no concern
for any other life.
Refusing to be used as a tool or
machine, Ward fought against the Soul Stone's consciousness and
regained control of his body, at which point he immediately tried to
get the injured Cray to safety. When he exited the diner, however, he
was confronted by the Avengers Iron Man and Captain America, who had
been drawn to the area by the Infinity Stone's energy signatures and
wished for Ward to accompany them into their custody. Insisting that
the Avengers had misunderstood the situation, Ward attempted to calm
the situation but the Soul Stone consciousness, claiming that the
Avengers would disassemble Ward, took over Ward's form once more,
announcing itself as Multitude and attacking the Avengers with soul
projections of various superhumans. During the battle, Ward noticed
that the subsequent soul projections became weaker as more were created
and he suggested the Soul Stone focus the projections into only two:
one of Captain America and one of Iron Man.
As Multitude continued having the
soul projections battle the Avengers, Ward became worried about the
dying Cray despite the Soul Stone's suggestions that he forget about
Cray. When Ward threatened to retake control of his body and turn
himself in the Avengers unless the Soul Stone helped Cray get medical
attention, Multitude halted the fight to seek the Avengers' help in
stabilizing Cray. Admitting that he would not go into Avengers custody,
Multitude agreed to stop fighting if the Avengers would take care of
Cray. The skeptical Avengers replied by asking what exactly the
Infinity Stones wanted by taking humanoids as hosts and Multitude
revealed that the Stones wished to become something more than what they
had been. He then generated a soul projection of dragon-like creature
and departed, leaving Cray to the Avengers. As he departed, the Soul
Stone consciousness noticed that Ward seemed troubled and Ward admitted
that he was unsure what to do next since his life's purpose to learn
about souls had been fulfilled now that his consciousness hosted the
billions of souls inside the Soul Stone. The Soul Stone then informed
Ward that their next step would be locating the other Infinity Stone
hosts, revealing that Multitude's power would grow in close proximity
to other Infinity Stone hosts and only by being in that proximity would
they learn what the final product of their synthesis would be and how
they would change the world.
Comments: Created by Jed McKay and Travel Forman.
I found it interesting that the
Soul Stone-created images of the Avengers' enemies that Multitude first
generated were that of Juggernaut, Blackheart, Magneto, Venom, Omega
Red, Doctor Doom, Shuma-Gorath, Iron Man, Captain America and
Wolverine, all characters that were playable in Capcom's Marvel video games from the 1990s &
early 2000s. Perhaps Ward was a fan of the games?
The Soul Stone mentioned playing
hosts to thousands of souls and it seemed that Multitude was able to
generate projections of souls within the Soul Stone. If that's truly
the case, then how did the souls of the above mentioned characters wind
up inside the Soul Stone, especially considering that those beings were
alive and still in possession of their souls? Perhaps they are the
souls of beings from other realities? Maybe the Soul Stone possessing
Ward was from an alternate reality (by the looks of things,
Reality-30847)?
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Multitude should be distinguished from:
| --Avengers VII Annual#1 |
| --Avengers VII Annual#1 |
Appearances:
Avengers VII Annual#1 (October, 2021) - Jed McKay (writer), Travel
Forman (art), Nick Lowe (editor)
First posted: 04/22/2023
Last updated: 04/22/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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John Cray
Route 66 Burger