UATU THE WATCHER

Real Name: Uatu

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial Watchers (Counter-Earth/Franklin)

Occupation: Watcher

Group Membership: Watchers

Affiliations: Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom), Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Woman/Sue Storm, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards), Tony Stark (see comments)

Enemies: Blastaar, Deadpool (formerly Swordsman) of Counter-Earth

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
                                  formerly observatory in the Blue Area of the Moon

First Appearance: Heroes Reborn#1/2 (September, 1996)

Powers/Abilities: Uatu possessed all the conventional powers of a member of the Watcher race, which were considered well beyond human comprehension. Among his recorded abilities were telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, astral projection and clairvoyance. Uatu could generate powerful energy blasts of unrevealed composition (possibly the Power Cosmic). Like all Watchers, Uatu is virtually immortal and no longer has to eat or sleep. Curious by nature, he was considered something of a rebel for breaking his oath of non-interference on more than one occassion. Uatu had a self confessed love for humanity, often finding himself moved by man's actions.

History:

(Onslaught: Marvel Universe#1 - BTS) - In order to save his family and their friends from the being known as Onslaught, Franklin Richards used his reality altering powers to create a pocket universe (Counter-Earth or Franklinverse) where they could survive. This universe was like Earth-616 in many ways, including the presence of the Watcher Uatu.

(Heroes Reborn#1/2) - Uatu observed the plight of the young teenage girl Rikki Barnes who was destined to become Captain America's sidekick Bucky.

(Fantastic Four II#7 - BTS) - Somehow becoming aware of the true nature of Counter-Earth, Uatu decided to convince the Earth-616 heroes they needed to take action.

(Fantastic Four II#7) - When three of the Fantastic Four entered the Negative Zone, they were attacked and almost killed by Blastaar. Uatu came to their rescue, engaging the villain and even forcing him to flee. The Watcher then showed Reed, Sue and Johnny emotional moments from their old lives in an attempt to get them to remember who they used to be. Before leaving, he told them they had to fight for this world they all know exists before time runs out.

(Iron Man II#11) - Uatu warned the Counter-Earth versions of Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic that Galactus was coming and that their only hope of defeating the devourer lie in reuniting all the heroes. As if on cue, the Hulkbusters (Hulk, Doc Samson and She-Hulk) showed up.

(Captain America II#12) - Uatu commented on the unquestioning nature of heroism, after Counter-Earth's heroes saved Earth from Galactus following several failed attempts that forced Doctor Doom to go into the past no less than three times to try again.

(Heroes Reborn: Remnants#1) - After learning he was created as part of a small boy's imagination, a deranged Deadpool decided to end all existence. He launched SHIELD's entire nuclear stockpile at Uatu's lunar observatory. The Watcher apparently perished in the explosion, that also tore a massive rip in the fabric of the universe.

Comments: Created by Jeph Loeb (writer), Rob Liefeld (pencil & inks).

Some believe the Watcher appearing during the 1996-1997 Heroes Reborn project was "our" Uatu. However, since Rob Liefeld went out of his way to establish the existence of the Watcher in this new universe, not to mention the fact he dies, it's safe to assume this Uatu was also dreamed up by Franklin. It stands to reason he discovered his true nature thanks to his insights into parallel worlds and dimensions, just like the original.

As for his affiliations... Uatu really only interacted with Earth-616 heroes who through no fault of their own found themselves recast as Franklinverse counterparts. Except for Blastaar... but he might also be the one fans of Earth-616 are familiar with, considering some have suggested there's only one Negative Zone (like the Mojoverse or Otherplace). Which means this particular plane of existence intersects with all myriad alternate Earths.
--A silly concept in my opinion. Does Annihilus actually fight and lose to the Fantastic Four in the same or similar fashion to the way his he was foiled by the -616 FF? Yes, Immortus is a unique being; so is the Living Tribunal; there's a few of them, but Annihilus and Blastaar and everyone else in the Negative Zone are not unique to the multiverse. We have seen a few examples of alternate realities crossing over into the Negative Zone-616, but we see alternate realities crossing over into the mainstream universe-616 as well.
--Snood

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Uatu should not be confused with

• Uatu the Watcher, his Earth-616 counterpart @ Fantastic Four I#13
• Ute the Watcher, Uatu's similarly unfortunate alternate @ Avengers I#363
• Aron the Watcher, Earth-616's less than dutiful nephew @ Captain Marvel I#39
• "Watcher", benevolent shapeshifting alien @ Amazing Adventures I#5
• Critic, a slightly more vocal Watcher @ Sensational She-Hulk#14
• or any other "Uatu" or "Watcher" characters
  

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four II#7, p19, pan1 (main image)
Fantastic Four II#7, p12, pan5 (intervening)
Iron Man II#11, p21, pan1 (warning the heroes for Galactus)

Appearances:
Heroes Reborn#1/2 (September, 1996) - Rob Liefeld & Jeph Loeb (writers), Rob Liefeld (pencils & editor), Mário Alquiza (inks)
Onslaught: Marvel Universe#1 (October, 1996) - Scott Lobdell & Mark Waid (writers), Andy Kubert & Joe Bennett (pencils), Dan Green, Art Thibert, Tim Townsend, Jesse Delperdang (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Fantastic Four II#7 (May, 1997) - Jim Lee & Brandon Choi (writers), Brett Booth (pencils), Tom McWeeney (inks), Mike Heisler (editor)
Iron Man II#11 (September, 1997) - Jim Lee & Jeph Loeb (writers), Whilce Portacio & Terry Shoemaker (pencils), JD & Homage Studios (inks), Ruben Diaz (editor)
Captain America II#12 (October, 1997) - Jeph Loeb (writer), Tom Bennett & Ed Benes (pencils), Homage Studios (inks), Mike Heissler & Mike Rockwitz (editors)
Heroes Reborn: Remnants#1 (January, 2000) - Joe Kelly (writer), Ethan van Sciver (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)