WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Avengers #27 by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, Jason Keith, VC’s Cory Petit, Val Staples, Nick Bradshaw, and Rachele Rosenberg, on sale now.
Since his introduction in X-Men #107, Gladiator has been one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe. A staunch member of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, he's gone toe-to-toe against powerhouses such as The Thing, Rogue, Juggernaut and even Thanos.
With his magnitude of strength and power, every part of his body is a potential weapon, a principle that rings true for Kallark's unfortunate victim in Avengers #27, where all it took to obliterate his opponent was... hocking a loogie.
A DANGEROUS BROOD
The issue begins with Gladiator, the Majestor of the Shi'ar Empire, assessing a tragic situation concerning an intergalactic prison. The source of the explosion is determined as a transport ship, one which contained new prisoners intended for the jail. One of the few survivors of the incident arrived via an escape pod. This survivor was a stowaway member of the parasitic Brood species, who had previously been convicted of merely being a Broodling.
The Broodling's translated -- yet still animalistic -- dialogue with Gladiator is meant as a threat to the Shi'ar, and his venom-tipped words take on a literal meaning when he spits his acidic bile onto Gladiator. Though his suit has a small burn, Gladiator is otherwise unphased, taking the time to reevaluate the Broodling's life sentence. Shifting this life sentence into a death sentence, Gladiator mercilessly and effortlessly executes the creature.
The method? Spitting at him.
Gladiator summons a rather thin spitball to spew in the Broodling's direction, and the next panel shows the Brood member's collapsed bleeding body. It's almost unclear that it was the spitball that killed him, all save for the rather large "bullet hole" in the middle of his head. The curled-up form of his body suggests that the Broodling's brain took a direct hit, instantly killing him.
THE POWER OF GLADIATOR
Gladiator's immense powers stem from his alien biology, giving him incredible strength, endurance, durability, speed and flight. The editorial origin of the character explains his humbling array of abilities: The Imperial Guard is made up of characters based off of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes, and Gladiator was specifically based off of the young Superman, Superboy. Even his real name, Kallark, is a combination of Superman's names: Kal-El and Clark Kent.
Being based on the Pre-Crisis -- and arguably overpowered version of the character -- meant that his powers could essentially encompass whatever the plot required. Gladiator has, in the past, ripped apart black holes and taken full force attacks from the likes of Thor, Odin and the Phoenix Force itself! With all of that raw power, it's actually not much of a stretch that any of his body parts or, for that matter, bodily fluids could be weaponized with ease.
Given his various vision-based powers, it also makes sense that he could target and direct such a projectile with as much precision as he displays in Avengers #27. Hopefully, for his other enemies' sake, the alien doesn't sneeze anytime soon.