In the Marvel Universe, exposure to gamma radiation changes a person, and this change is usually dictated by subconscious desires. The most famous gamma mutate, the Hulk, is a raging force of destruction - the expression of Bruce Banner’s deep-seated anger towards his abusive father. But what if gamma radiation expanded someone intellectually instead of physically? Enter the Leader - a gamma irradiated mastermind who is the Hulk family’s greatest nemesis.
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the Leader first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62 and continues to menace the Hulk to this day. Despite being the least physically imposing gamma mutate, the Leader's enhanced intellect has made him a relatively versatile figure in the Marvel Universe, with stints serving as a reluctant hero on the Thunderbolts and as an eager villain in the Intelligencia - Marvel's premier villain team for the more intellectually-minded fiend.
The Origin of The Leader in Marvel Comics
Born Samuel Sterns in Boise, Idaho, the Leader began life with a less than average intellect and lived in the shadow of his physicist brother Phillip, who would later become the super villain Madman. As an adult, Sterns found employment in a chemical facility where his brother worked, and there he was exposed to gamma radiation when some waste containers he was transporting exploded. As is often the case with gamma radiation exposure in Marvel Comics, his mind and body began to change.
Sterns began devouring every book he could, and his knowledge retention reached superhuman levels. His body began to change too; his skin turned green and his cranial area expanded upward. His changes resulted from a subconscious desire to be smarter than his brother, and the gamma radiation was granting him his wish. He christened himself the Leader and began planning world conquest, which quickly brought him into conflict with the Hulk.
Later events in The Immortal Hulk suggested that gamma transformation also has a spiritual side, connecting anyone who undergoes it to the One Below All, a nightmarish consciousness that exists on a plane below even the traditional idea of hell. This helps to explain the way in which gamma radiation tends to grant the subconscious wishes of those it mutates, as well as positioning the Leader as something even more disturbing than a simple mutated genius.
The Leader's Superpowers Explained
The Leader possesses an intellect far exceeding normal human levels, putting him into play with the likes of Reed Richards and Tony Stark. He has doctorate-level knowledge of many fields and can recall any event that has happened to him since his accident. At times, the Leader seems to possess clairvoyance, but this is the result of his ability to read a situation and consider all possible outcomes. His intuition is also second to none. His mental powers have manifested in other ways too: at times the Leader has been able to control weak minds, and he has also exhibited signs of telekinesis.
The Leader has used his super intellect to develop a large arsenal of weapons, many of them gamma powered. In Incredible Hulk #115, he even has a “Revivio-Beam” that he uses to restore life. He often uses a legion of robots he designed, called Humanoids, to carry out tasks as well as fight. These Humanoids have been able to subdue the Hulk on occasions. Like all gamma mutates, the Leader has access to the Green Door, which grants him the ability to return from death. And like many others, he had a "Red" phase, during which he served as tactical support for Thunderbolt Ross' Thunderbolts team. As the Red Leader, Sterns was able to shoot gamma radiation from his body in addition to his enhanced intellect.
How the Leader Became the Hulk Family's Greatest Villain
The Leader is the Hulk’s opposite. The Hulk is all brute strength and power, and the Leader is intellect and cunning. The Hulk is a (mostly) good guy, and the Leader is evil, and is not above destroying whole towns to further his goals, as he did with the town of Middleton, Arizona in Incredible Hulk #344-345. The Leader has attempted world domination on several occasions, and it was the first of these schemes that brought him into contact with the Hulk. He has tried numerous times since then, each time foiled by Hulk and his allies. On a few occasions, he has tried to mutate humanity using gamma radiation, going so far as to poison Manhattan’s water supply in Incredible Hulk Annual #11.
While these deeds set him among Marvel's nastiest villains, it's the Leader's investigation of the One Below All and the gamma mutate Green Door that make him such a threat to not just the Hulk, but other gamma mutates like She-Hulk and Doc Samson. In The Immortal Hulk #25, the Leader is able to capture an emissary from a future timeline in which the Hulk has become a more brutal version of Marvel's planet-devouring Galactus, beginning an investigation into the source of gamma immortality. In The Immortal She-Hulk #1, She-Hulk encounters the Leader in the Below Space, and he informs her of his ability to take control of the Green Door. Not only does this render him immortal, it also gives him control over the resurrection of all the Hulks. Worse, with the knowledge Sterns has collected, he has the potential to become a galaxy-ending threat.
Overall, it's not just the Leader's intelligence that renders him such a huge threat, but also his ambition. Where villains like Doctor Doom have set goals they want to accomplish, the Leader has no limits - his deepest wish was to know more than his brother, and that wish has mutated along with his body, turning him into a villain who will bring about incalculable disaster just to learn something he didn't already know. Coupled with the disrespect he feels at being beaten so often by the brutish Hulk, it's easy to see why the Leader is among the most dangerous villains Marvel has to offer.