WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Infinity Wars: Sleepwalker #2 by Chad Bowers, Chris Sims and Todd Nauck, on sale now.
Marvel Comics' latest cosmic event, Infinity Wars, hasn’t been shy about doling out new, inventive and very frequently bizarre Infinity Warps, characters that have been fused together after Gamora folded the universe over on itself upon collecting all six Infinity Stones. Among those Infinity Warps are the characters that received their own series, like Arachknight (the fusion of Moon Knight and Spider-Man) and Ghost Panther (Ghost Rider and Black Panther mashed together), as well as a few that have cropped up along the way, like Little Monster (Hulk and Ant-Man). Infinity Wars: Sleepwalker #2, however, has introduced the Infinity Warp version of an entire Marvel team -- the Thunderbolts.
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The reveal comes after Sleepwalker and Little Monster have successfully entered the Arena, the Power Stone's Soul World equivalent. Little Monster does battle with the inhabitants of the Arena, as is the way of this particular dimension, only to be pulled back to the waking world by the team in question (Sleepwalker is a dream cop who interacts best with people when they're asleep, thus he recruited "Scott Banner" while he was napping). As it turns out, this Thunderbolts team is quite different. The team is made up entirely of women who have either had their pasts rewritten to line up with the team's criminal origins, or whose Infinity Warp combos tend more towards the villainous side. So, why are they trying to help Little Monster save a school full of kids?
Well, the Thunderbolts moral alignment has always been somewhat questionable. First introduced in Incredible Hulk #449 and created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley in 1997, the Thunderbolts were envisioned as the successors to the supervillain team the Masters of Evil. The Masters of Evil go all the way back to Avengers #6 in 1964. Appropriately, the team was largely put up against the Avengers, though, if it gives you any idea about where the Thunderbolts eventually ended up, the Masters of Evil would find themselves pitted against the Thunderbolts in time. This acted as a source of conflict for the Thunderbolts, as the team was originally made up of Masters of Evil alumni.
Despite their supervillain origins, the Thunderbolts were destined to be heroes, likely because they posed as them for so long. Formed by Baron Zemo, the origin intent of the Thunderbolts was to masquerade as superheroes when several key members of Marvel's pantheon seemingly fell in battle. Zemo wanted access to the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret files, which he could sell on the black market and make a chunk of change. When Zemo eventually announced the jig was up, several Thunderbolts realized that they'd become too attached to their hero personas (or just plain ol' thought Zemo was the pits) and turned on the villain. This little coup led to the modern incarnation of the Thunderbolts, a team with a rotating roster that acts kind of like a second chances program.
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The Thunderbolts are known for recruiting former villains to their side when the going has got genuinely tough, and things seem to have gotten pretty darn tough in Infinity Wars: Sleepwalker #2. So, who did Gamora mash together to make these new rogues? Let's find out!
Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='Let’s Break Down Each Thunderbolt Infinity Warp to Their Component, Uh, People']
Bullsai
Perhaps the most high-profile Infinity Warp in Infinity Wars: Sleepwalker #2, Bullsai is the clever combination of Bullseye and Elektra, both of whom are former members of the Thunderbolts. The warp's name is the combination of Bullseye's supervillain persona and Elektra's weapon of choice, the sai. The details given for Bullsai are apt, revealing that she is an assassin, but that her real name is unknown. While we know that Elektra's civilian name is Elektra Natchios, Bullseye's real name remains a mystery to this day. All we know for sure is that the psychopathic villain's first name is Lester… probably.
There is also some interesting history contained within the weird bundle that is Bullsai, chief among them being that the Infinity Warp's name actually has an even deeper meaning. After all, Bullseye is the hired gun who killed Elektra with her own sai at Kingpin's behest in Daredevil #181. There's a certain amount of irony in "sai" being so prominent in the name of the duo's Infinity Warp, given that bloody history. As for Bullseye, his Infinity Warp's appearance finally answers where the character has been since serving as Turk Barrett's bodyguard in the lead-up to Infinity Wars proper.
Poltergeist
The Infinity Warp Poltergeist is also the combination of two former Thunderbolts members, though these two are decidedly less prominent. Poltergeist, otherwise known as Melissa Morley, is the Infinity Stone-powered union of Ghost and Songbird (formerly known as Screaming Mimi before common sense prevailed). While Ghost's true name is unknown, one of his many aliases is John Morley. Songbird's real name is Melissa Gold.
Of the three Thunderbolts, Poltergeist might be the most powerful, boasting matter-phasing technology and the ability to lob deadly sonic blasts at her foe. While we might not know much about Ghost's personal life, comic readers will know that the villain was once a data engineer for a company that built its fortune on manufacturing intangible computer chips. When the company no longer needed him, they killed his lover and cast him aside, causing their former employee to fuse the company's tech with his body, becoming the vengeful Ghost.
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Songbird, on the other hand, has deep ties with the Thunderbolts, as she was a founding member and former member of the Masters of Evil. The villain-turned-sorta-hero is capable of shredding her foes with sonic attacks. She has also consistently been a Thunderbolts member throughout the team's many iterations.
The Beetle
The Infinity Warp named Janice Jones (otherwise known as the Beetle) is a very curious warp, indeed. Seemingly the fusion of Janice Lincoln and Jessica Jones, there doesn't actually seem to be very much Jessica Jones in the character. Instead, it is the aspects of the lesser-known Janice Lincoln that are most prominent in the characters' fusion. First introduced in Captain America #607 and created by Ed Brubaker and Mitch Breitweiser, Janice Lincoln is the daughter of the villain Tombstone. Her ties to the Thunderbolts are subtle, as she received her Beetle armor from Baron Zemo, the team's founder.
Jessica's influence can be seen in the suit worn by Janice Jones, which is close enough to Jessica's Jewel costume to be remarkable, though it has been heavily mixed with Janice Lincoln's Beetle armor. Little else of the hero remains, though, as even Janice Jones' description pegs her as a tech genius named The Beetle, which is Janice Lincoln's actual supervillain moniker. There's nothing about super-strength or detective skills mentioned, which is a suspicious omission. Perhaps Beetle's biggest link to Jessica Jones is her drive to do good, as she is the one who convinces Little Monster to aid them in thwarting the Headman's diabolical plans.