Make My Marvel! – Mastermind

A very minor character on his own, this week’s spotlight character played a pivotal role in one of the greatest tales in comics history. Let’s reminisce about the glory days of the X-Men with Mastermind!

Last week’s poll re-cap: With 50% of the vote you chose the Wendell Vaughn Infinite version of Quasar as the version of the character you most want made for Marvel Legends. Coming in second with 25% was Quasar in his Annhilation duds.

Make My Marvel! – Mastermind

Jason Wyngarde was first introduced as a carnival mentalist. His mutant ability to create complete illusions around any persons he chose brought him to the attention of Magneto, who recruited Mastermind to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Mastermind was one the Master of Magnetism’s most powerful lackeys until the Brotherhood encountered the Stranger and Mastermind found himself turned to stone.

Wyngarde eventually freed himself and became an occasional threat to the X-Men on his own. In a bid to prove himself worthy to the infamous Hellfire Club, Wyngarde used his powers to mentally seduce the Phoenix force, at the time posing as Jean Grey. The pseudo-Jean became twisted by her dark desires and became the first black queen of the Hellfire Club. When Phoenix was freed of his influence, she took her revenge on Mastermind by expanding his mind to the entirety of the universe. The experience turned Wyngarde into a complete vegetable.

Again, Mastermind recovered and sought revenge. He, like the rest of the world, believed Jean Grey had perished and decided to inflict his wrath on her friends in the X-Men. He influenced Mariko Yashida into not marrying Wolverine and, for a time, managed to convince the X-men that Madeline Pryor was Dark Phoenix resurrected.

Later, Mastermind became one of the first mutants to fall prey to the Legacy Virus. With the help of the X-Men, he escaped death at the hands of the X-cutioner. He sought forgiveness from Jean Grey shortly before succumbing to the virus.

Jason was survived by two daughters, one of whom, Regan, took her father’s title. She shared his gift for illusion as well as his nefarious nature. She too attempted acceptance into the Hellfire Club by enacting the Club’s vengeance on the X-man Sage. Following her spectacular failure, Regan became one of Pandemic’s victims, but was rescued by the Rogue’s team of X-Men. She joined the team for a short period, but it was later revealed that she had done so solely to serve the purposes of Mr. Sinister’s Marauders. She met her end when Wolverine impaled her on his claws. Sinister’s predilection for cloning his minions could still mean that Regan might return in the future.

How to make it: Classic Mastermind could use the Professor X body with a new headsculpt and soft plastic overcloak. Other versions would require unique sculpting for the majority of the figure. A two-pack with his 18th century guise would be ideal, though extremely unlikely.