Weapon Plus
Weapon Plus is a fictional clandestine program appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It was created by Grant Morrison during their run in New X-Men. The program's purpose is the creation of super-soldiers intended to fight the wars of the future, especially a mutant-human war. Weapon X, the organization's most well-known program, was originally the tenth installation, but eventually it branched off and became an independent program with similar purposes. Morrison's introduction of Weapon Plus also shed new information about the origins of Weapon X, Captain America, and other Marvel Comics supersoldiers.
Fictional team history
During the 1940s the existence of mutants was not yet known to the general public. A few individuals were aware of the coming of Homo superior and the fact that they had the potential to replace baseline humans as the dominant species of Earth. Thus Weapon Plus was created to address the so-called mutant problem. What was unknown by everyone involved in Weapon Plus is that its mastermind, John Sublime, was actually the host body for a sentient bacteria present in every living creature on the planet, save for mutants, who were genetically immune to the Sublime infection.The first nine instalments of Weapon Plus were partially successful. Weapon X produced a number of agents, though it branched off and even became opposed to Weapon Plus's interests. To prevent subsidiary programs from going rogue, Weapon Plus directly oversaw the creation of the last living weapons operating in the clandestine facilities of The World, employing Bolivar Trask's Sentinel technology.
Throughout the decades, Weapon Plus has used increasingly more extreme methods to create its super-soldiers. Captain America was enhanced to peak human levels. Weapon X employed genetic alteration, brainwashing and memory implants. The latest creations were bred specifically to become mutant-hunting weapons much deadlier than Sentinels.
Following M-Day, most mutants are rendered powerless, and mutants as a race are on the brink of extinction. Weapon Plus appears again as Sublime attempts to use the Stepford Cuckoos to wipe out the surviving mutants.
Programs
Before Weapon I
Project: Rebirth began as a collaboration between American, British and German eugenicists led by Josef Reinstein and Koch. When World War II began, Koch took over the German program, and Reinstein moved to the American program.John Steele, also known as American Soldier, was a Super-Soldier of unknown origin who fought in World War I. His body was kept in stasis by Nazi scientists, including Abraham Erskine, who sought to replicate his abilities as part of Project: Nietzche, but with little success.
Weapon I
Project: Rebirth, headed by Abraham Erskine, managed to produce Captain America. However, Erskine was murdered moments after Rogers was successfully enhanced. The refinements he introduced which made the process successful were lost with his death. With his demise, Koch took over the American program.Two other subjects, Clinton McIntyre, a.k.a. Protocide, a failed experiment who was placed in suspended animation and was revived in the modern era by AIM, and the first mutant experiment designated Queen seem to have occurred prior to the Super Soldier Serum being tested on Steve Rogers.
Early attempts to recreate the formula resulted in African American super soldiers. Three hundred African-American soldiers were taken from Camp Cathcart and subjected to potentially fatal experiments at an undisclosed location, as seen in Truth: Red, White & Black in an attempt to recreate the Super Soldier formula. Only five men survived the original trials; hundreds of test subjects left behind at Camp Cathcart and the camp's commander were executed by US soldiers in the name of secrecy, the families of the three hundred were told that they had died in battle. Isaiah Bradley was the lone survivor.
Although there were many later attempts to recreate or reverse-engineer Project: Rebirth's Super-Soldier Serum, none are known to have been involved with Weapon Plus except for the attempt that resulted in the creation of Isaiah Bradley's son Josiah X. Weapon Plus considers Captain America as its most successful creation, despite the fact that Rogers has been at odds with the United States government a number of times. Project: Rebirth was retroactively made a part of the Weapon Plus after WWII when Weapon Plus was formed.
Weapon II
Weapon II experimented on animals. It was implied by Grant Morrison that these animal weapons were the animal cyborgs in the comic We3, not published by Marvel.Weapon II was later captured as part of a group of semi-animal characters including Howard the Duck, Squirrel Girl, Beast, and Rocket Raccoon. He appeared as a squirrel with Wolverine's "Adamantium skeleton, claws, intelligence, and healing factor". Weapon II also sports a visor and many of Wolverine's mannerisms.
In Wolverine and Captain America Weapon Plus #1, it is implied that the team Brute Force, made of animal cyborg hybrids, was part of the Weapon II program.
Weapon III
Like Weapons II and IV, Weapon III was originally said to be experiments on animals, however, this was later retconned.Weapon III was a mutant with elastic multi-sensory skin. Originally a barrister, he was recruited by the Weapon Plus program to help protect his nation from the approaching Cold War. His skin's durability and elasticity was enhanced. He originally worked in espionage, gathering intelligence from the Soviets.
He was eventually sent to Otherworld to retrieve the Orb of Necromancy. However, he was stopped by Fantomex and, for the many deaths he caused, subsequently punished by the Captain Britain Corps and flayed alive, his skin machined off and used to create sentient bullets. He survived, however, and taught his muscles to function in a similar manner to his skin.
He later worked with Black Air and the Brotherhood of Mutants and was known as the Skinless Man. He developed a hatred of Fantomex, who he blamed for his current state. He later murdered Fantomex by ripping out his heart. He was later killed in retaliation by Deadpool.
Weapon IV
Weapon IV, was said to be employed on various criminals that were ethnic minorities as test subjects. However, Weapon IV is actually 'Project Sulfur' - the project spearheaded by Ted Sallis, whose research led him to become the Man-Thing.Weapon V
Weapon V was originally believed to have been performed on ethnic people, but then during the Vietnam War, then S.H.I.E.L.D sponsored program under the pseudonym of Sym-soldier used pieces of the ancient symbiote named Grendel and bonded them to various able bodied operatives to fight in the conflict. However, the program was shut down after said enhanced specimens were driven mad by their second skins, having later been captured by Nick Fury and Logan.When the government got hold of the Venom symbiote, they decided to use it as part of Weapon V under the name of Project Rebirth 2.0 to create a new soldier with symbiote augmentation. They bonded the suit to former veteran Flash Thompson which resulted in the creation of Agent Venom.
Project Rebirth 2.0 is later shut down by Captain America.
The project would resume behind closed doors under the Weapon + director William Junger's supervision. Supplanting volunteers from a mercenary unit hailing out of Eaglestar International as waiting test subjects for virochemically neutered symbiote samples. The Klyntar used would purposely have their hive link severed so that the presence behind their proginator wouldn't irrevocably madden its hosts. But it was again put on ice when the demiurgically anointed Dark Carnage went on a killing spree, collecting & harvesting Klyntar derived codex samples from the project, Mars Team and its supervisor Dr. Breen. Whom offered himself and what remains of the symbiote clad armorines in willing sacrifice to Knull's chosen after being corrupted by the Grendel samples he'd used on himself.
Weapon VI
Weapon VI was led by Dr. Noah Burstein and was responsible for giving Luke Cage his powers.Weapon VII
Weapon VII, a.k.a. Project: Homegrown, experimented on human soldiers during the Vietnam War. Some of the known participants who died in Project: Homegrown included Andrew Perlmutter, Michael Labash, John Walsh, James MacPherson and fourteen other unknown recruits. The only known successful subject of Project: Homegrown was Nuke, who had armored implants under his epidermis and was addicted to powerful narcotics. Logan, who would later become one of Weapon Plus' victims, kidnapped Nuke as a child, and oversaw his conditioning.Weapon VII also experimented with adamantium bonding, which helped create Cyber.
The United Kingdom also had its own version of Project: Homegrown, a.k.a. the Black Budget, which managed to create the team known as the Super Soldiers: Dauntless, Gog, Dreadnaught, Revenge, Victory, Invincible, Challenger, and some unnamed super-soldiers.
The Mercy Corporation, an offshoot of S.H.I.E.L.D. that worked on super-soldiers and eventually broke off, also had its own unit of super-soldiers, using a serum similar to previous derivatives of the Super-Soldier Serum from Weapon I. Their agents included Jack Reno, Keel, Kyle, Agent Villarosa, Agent Davis and Agent Milo.