Juggernaut has been an enemy of the X-Men almost from the beginning. The stepbrother of Charles Xavier, Cain Marko is not a mutant but someone who discovered the Crimson Ruby of Cyttorak. Imbued with its power, Cain became a gigantic, unstoppable powerhouse who regularly fought the X-Men to a standstill. In some modern stories, Juggernaut has mellowed – even joining the X-Men at times, but in general, he’s seen as the bad guy.
In one alternate future, however, Juggernaut reformed for good and married a district attorney. The two had a son who did not look like he shared a single gene with his father. At least… not at first.
In the late 1990s, Marvel attempted to reach out to younger readers by creating a new line of comics set in the alternate “MC2” future. In this world, many classic heroes had already retired, allowing a new generation of fresh new heroes like Spider-Girl, the daughter of Spider-Man, and Wild Thing, the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra, to take center stage.
Meet Zane Yama
The original lineup included the J2 comic book which introduced Zane Yama, the half-Japanese son of Cain Marko who grew up to be the spitting image of… a young Peter Parker. That’s right – Zane was originally depicted as a 98-pound weakling without a single ounce of superhuman muscle mass. Despite this, Zane is fully aware of his parentage and even has some fond memories of his dad – before he disappeared years ago on a mission with the X-Men.
Turns out, Cain was actually a good dad (possibly because he wanted to spare his son from being raised by a monster like his abusive father), who enjoyed taking Zane to the park when he was still around. When he vanished, however, his wife went back to using her maiden name “Yama” (another irony, considering that “Yama” is the Japanese word for “mountain” – something Zane is definitely not). Since none of the bullies at school know about Zane’s unstoppable father they pick on him mercilessly – especially Zane’s own “Flash Thompson,” Miller Hallendale.
When Miller threatens to give Zane a major beating one day, however, Zane starts experiencing a major headache – and soon learns that he can access some of his father’s power and transform into a 1000-pound powerhouse dubbed “J2” or “Juggernaut Jr.” While not quite as unstoppable as his dad (J2 doesn’t have the original Juggernaut’s forcefield and periodically reverts to his teenage form after a certain amount of time), Zane quickly learns to enjoy his vast superhuman strength and joins a new generation of Avengers.
Zane’s costume incorporated elements from his dad’s classic outfit with a few sentimental touches. His helmet is actually his father’s (giving Zane protection from psychic attacks) which Zane spray-painted silver for a shinier look. Zane also wears his father’s old shirt around his waist to honor the original Juggernaut (although he later trades it for a pair of cargo shorts).
The JOLLY Juggernaut
While Zane initially mirrored Peter Parker in looks, once he got his powers, his superhero life was nothing like Spider-Man’s. Unlike Peter, Zane had a very carefree attitude toward being a hero. His superhuman strength and near-invulnerability made catching most criminals easy. Moreover, once he joined the Avengers, his public image was very positive, preventing him from becoming the pariah Spider-Man once was.
Zane’s lighthearted approach toward super-heroics was likely due to his comic being aimed at younger readers. Most of his tales were fun, short romps that usually involved J2 going up against silly villains like a talking gorilla and solving his problems by punching his way through them. Nevertheless, there was a constant sense of fun in Zane’s exploits thanks to his enthusiasm in the face of all the weirdness he encountered (one story had him team up with Howard the Duck who trained J2 in the ways of “Quack Fu” for a martial arts tournament).
J2’s adventures in the MC2 comic A-Next had a slightly more serious edge. Here, Zane was part of the new Avengers (essentially taking over the role of the Hulk as the team’s powerhouse) and had to deal with alien invasions and Asgardian plots with potentially long-range consequences. He also developed a huge crush on his teammate Stinger – who turned out to be Scott Lang’s grown-up daughter Cassie! Considering Cassie was several years older than the adult-appearing J2, Zane basically experienced a superhero version of the Tom Hanks’ movie Big (or DC’s Shazam!)
Whatever Happened To J2?
Unfortunately, poor distribution led to poor sales and Zane’s comic (along with A-Next) was cancelled after only twelve issues. In his final issue, however, Zane got to do something he wanted to do all of his life – rescue his father from the alien dimension he’d been trapped in after helping the X-Men escape on their last mission together. Where other storylines would have dragged the plot out for a good four or five issues, Cain was rescued within the span of a few pages and happily reunited with his wife and son.
J2 continued making back-up appearances in the Wild Thing comic book series (featuring Wolverine’s daughter), which showed him reconnecting with his dad after so many years. Zane also teamed up with Spider-Girl in her book when it turned out he was related to one of her classmates. Eventually, Zane and his Avengers’ teammates got to go out in one final adventure when A-Next came back as a miniseries. Still the same enthusiastic powerhouse he was from the beginning of his adventure, Zane took to his new exploits with his customary zeal.
Unlike many Marvel characters, Zane didn’t really change that much from his original depiction. Thanks to the intentionally lighter tone of his adventures and his massive superhuman strength, J2 didn’t really have much to challenge himself with – at least physically. Mentally and emotionally, Zane showed that he was concerned with living up to his father’s unstoppable reputation and being seen as a kid by his teammates (who all learned about his true age early on, removing any potential tension there). Even so, there was an undeniable appeal to finally seeing a happy Juggernaut breeze his way through life in a world where most heroes seem dead set on being weighed down by personal drama.