WARNING: The following contains spoilers for S.W.O.R.D. #2 by Al Ewing, Valerio Schiti, Marte Gracia, Ariana Maher, Annalise Bissa, and Jordan D. White on sale now.
There is a seemingly infinite number of superpowers that have been featured in comic books since their inception decades ago, and among these jaw-dropping abilities one power in particular is so incredibly strong that it has caused a complete shift in the universe on multiple occasions -- telepathy. Characters with the power of controlling minds are, without opposition, some of the most powerful heroes and villains in any comic book universe. However, not every telepath can be a Charles Xavier or Jean Grey, and it takes much more than just the ability to control minds to be a respected telepath. One such character that has gotten the short end of the stick in power-leveling is Marvin Flumm, known by his alter-ego, Mentallo.
Saying that Mentallo isn't respected as a supervillain is an understatement. The poor guy has been somewhat of a laughing stock in the Marvel Universe since he was first created in 1966 for Strange Tales #141 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. And yet, from time-to-time he was given a chance at greatness by someone far more powerful than himself. In The Incredible Hulk #403 by Peter David, Glynis Oliver, Joe Rosen, Bobbie Chase, Tom DeFalco, Gary Frank, and Cam Smith, the evil mastermind, Red Skull, captured the Hulk and then utilized Mentallo's powers to brainwash Hulk into fighting his allies. Red Skull does his best to intimidate Hulk, but as soon as Mentallo enters the room -- sporting his tight red jumpsuit and silly red helmet -- Hulk bursts out in laughter exclaiming, "Mentallo? That Loser? I Love it!"
Mentallo lives up to his reputation at first, failing to overpower the Hulk, but eventually he taps into one of the only parts of the Hulk's life that he is still weak to -- his abusive father. The Hulk is overcome by the illusion of his father's abuse, and it seems like Mentallo might actually be successful for once... that is until Hulk manages to break through the illusion and fight back so strongly that he broke the connection between him and Mentallo and knocked out everyone else in the room for good measure. Mentallo's poor power level and ability potential led to him being known as a loser among Marvel's heroes and villains, but that might be a thing of the past as Mentallo has gotten another chance at success in the new series, S.W.O.R.D.
The second issue opens with the Earth in a terrible position as the Venom Symbiote material has literally sprawled across the entire planet, cutting off communication between those on the surface with the rag-tag group of mutants positioned on the S.W.O.R.D satellite base. Team leader Abigail Brand isn't happy being stuck with Mentallo as her team's telepath, but she still pulls him aside and puts him in charge of single-handedly saving the X-Men's highly valued resurrection team.
Mentallo might seem like little more than a poor excuse for a telepath, but he held his own against the Hulk, worked alongside Red Skull and Juggernaut, and is now one of the last remaining hopes against the evil primordial god of darkness, Knull.
If there was ever a chance for the character to ascend beyond all expectations and become a genuinely interesting hero or villain, this is it. It's not beyond reason to expect that his fellow S.W.O.R.D. teammate, Fabian Cortez, could use his mutant augmentation abilities to increase Mentallo's power level enabling him to become a telepath to rival Xavier himself. This action alone has the potential to elevate this one-time joke to the status of serious universal threat, especially considering his new position aboard the S.W.O.R.D. space station.