Mantis (Marvel Comics)
Mantis | |
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Notable aliases | Willow Lorelei Mandy Celestine Celestial Madonna |
Abilities |
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Mantis is a character appearing in
Pom Klementieff portrayed the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).
Creation
In an interview Englehart commented on the character's creation: "I wanted someone to shake up the Avengers, so I came up with a femme fatale, but right after I did, I also came up with the Avengers-Defenders Clash, and I needed to use my femme as a solid team player, not a disrupter. I found that interesting – a character I'd created for a purpose who now had no purpose, and as a young writer exploring my parameters, I started letting her tell her own story – meaning, every issue I'd tell my overall Avengers story, with my various character developments, and things then would happen that she had to react to. Those reactions – or what I conceived her reactions to be – revealed her character for me, step-by-step, as the worlds I was definitely creating grew bigger and bigger, and in that way the femme fatale became the Celestial Madonna."[1]
Publication history
Mantis first appeared in The Avengers #112 (June 1973), drawn by Don Heck and created by writer Steve Englehart, beginning the "Celestial Madonna" saga.[2] After leaving Marvel Comics, Englehart carried Mantis's tale through three other companies before returning to Marvel,[3] moving from Marvel to DC to Eclipse to Image and finally back to Marvel again.[4]
In DC Comics' Justice League of America #142, she appears as Willow. Asked where she came from, Willow replies, "This one has come from a place she must not name, to reach a place no man must know." (Mantis refers to herself in the third person as "this one"[5][6][7]) By the end of the issue, she leaves to go give birth.
In the Eclipse Comics series Scorpio Rose #2, the character calls herself Lorelei.[8] By this time, she has given birth to a son. What would have been issue #3, a "lost" Lorelei/Scorpio Rose story was later published in Coyote Collection #1 from Image Comics, the character's fourth company. Lorelei is later mentioned in Englehart's 2010 novel The Long Man (page 355, mass market paperback edition).
Fictional character biography
Mantis is the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter of Gustav Brandt—
She excels in her
With the Avengers, Mantis has many adventures. She battles the original
Mantis becomes taken with the
After she bears her child
The fragments arrive on Earth and one version of Mantis rejoins the
Aside from mentions by Silver Surfer, Mantis does not reappear until 1995's controversial Avengers crossover story "The Crossing". In "The Crossing", Mantis returns as the villainous bride of Kang the Conqueror with the intention of bringing death to the Avengers; her father Libra (who by now was going by the name "
The storyline was controversial, so much so that Kurt Busiek, in
Eventually, Mantis reappears in the Steve Englehart written Avengers: Celestial Quest limited series. She returns to Earth and merges with her remaining fragmented portions of her personality (which we learn represent "freak, mother, prostitute, mystic, and Avenger") after the first four are killed by Thanos (later retroactively declared to be a clone of the real Thanos).[volume & issue needed] The final Mantis merges with them to become a "complete" Mantis for the first time since her dispersion. Thus reformed, she and a group of the Avengers go into space to stop "Thanos" from killing her son, Quoi, who by this time is a rebellious teenager desperate to leave the isolation of the Cotati home-world and travel the stars. During the adventure, Mantis flirts with Vision (with the implication that she has sex with him), but ultimately ends the flirting when she realizes that he has feelings for his estranged wife Scarlet Witch, who is jealous of Mantis and Vision's friendship. Mantis also appears in the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline, although many occurrences in that storyline are illusions.[volume & issue needed]
Mantis appears in the 2007 miniseries Annihilation: Conquest: Star-Lord, where she is shown as a Kree prisoner who volunteers for a mission led by Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord.[26]
After the defeat of Ultron and the Phalanx, Mantis takes up residence on the Knowhere station with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.[27] She has assumed the role of counselor for the group, using her knowledge of the mind to maintain a balance with all the very eclectic personalities of the group.[27]
During the Secret Invasion storyline, it was discovered that Star-Lord had Mantis use her mental powers to manipulate the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy to join the team against their will. Overhearing Mantis and Star-Lord converse about their deception, Drax shared this knowledge with the rest of the team. This caused most of the members to leave. Mantis was promoted to field status by Rocket Raccoon.[28]
Mantis was apparently killed by the
Mantis later rescues Peter Quill from a group of pursuing Spartax soldiers. Though she refuses to join his new incarnation of the Guardians, she helps him track down the source of mysterious "time quakes" that have been plaguing him in the wake of the Age of Ultron storyline.[31]
During the "Empyre" storyline, Mantis returns to Earth upon being contacted by Black Panther about the Cotati invasion and plans to reason with her son.[32]
Characterization
Powers and abilities
Mantis has attained a mastery of meditational disciplines, giving her an unusual amount of control over her body, including autonomic functions like heartbeat, bleeding, and breathing, as well as awareness of pain, allowing her to more quickly heal injuries through sheer force of will and affording almost superhuman reflexes and reactions. She also had psychic empathy, a telepathic power that allowed her to sense the emotions of others.
Mantis gained additional abilities as a result of communion with the Prime Cotati. Her empathic ability enabled her to communicate with the plant-like Cotati and with plant life.[33] She has the power of astral projection.[34] To travel in space, Mantis had the ability to separate her physical and astral forms, projecting her consciousness from her body, allowing her to travel interplanetary distances. She also had the ability to transfer her astral form to any place where plant life exists. She could form and inhabit a plant-like simulacrum of her human body for herself out of the destination planet's local vegetation. Her fighting skills remained intact, and her empathic abilities were heightened to a superhuman degree and extended to the planet's flora and biosphere. She could control the vegetation within her vicinity.
During her confrontations with a powerful Thanos clone, she displayed superhuman strength, a talent to simultaneously inhabit multiple simulacra, and the ability to project strong blasts of energy. She has not been seen using these powers since.[35]
As of her appearance in Annihilation Conquest: Star-Lord, Mantis also appears to have gained telepathic and precognitive abilities, and apparently now labors under a constant awareness of future events.[36] During the series, Mantis displayed pyrokinesis.[37] She can remain invisible to the Phalanx and extend her power to cloak others.[38]
Additionally, Mantis was trained by the Priests of Pama to become a grandmistress of the martial arts, demonstrated as capable of defeating opponents as skilled as Captain America (although he was distracted while fighting a dragon).[39] She could also instinctively sense weak points in an opponent and with her skills in pressure points, knock out beings as powerful as the thunder god, Thor.[39][40]
Personality
In her first appearances, Mantis represents the "Dragon Lady" archetype, that of a mysterious Eastern seductress whose sexuality causes tension among the male Avengers.[41] She is assertive and confident in her powers, and while she appeared somewhat arrogant at first (as illustrated by her breakup with Swordsman when she chose Vision over him),[42] she renounced her pride after Swordsman's tragic death.[43] Mantis is highly intelligent, with her deductive skills rivaling those of Vision's;[42] in Vision's own words, she has a "remarkable mind".[44]
She almost always refers to herself in the third person as "this one", "she", and occasionally "Mantis",[6][7] which has to do with her upbringing at the Temple of the Priests of Pama (her husband the Cotati Elder, who spent a significant part of his life at the Temple, also referred to himself as "this one" instead of "I").[20][5] This speech mannerism is of importance for her, for when the Silver Surfer asked her to stop speaking in the third person, she refused to comply.[45]
Costumes
She wears a green-and-yellow dress,[41] a hairstyle which mimics insectile antennae,[42] and goes barefoot.[46]
Reception
Accolades
- In 2011, Comics Buyer's Guide ranked Mantis 99th in their 100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.[47]
- In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Mantis 43rd in their "Let's rank every Avenger ever" list.[48]
- In 2019, CBR.com ranked Mantis 10th in their "10 Most Powerful Telepaths In The Marvel Universe" list.[49]
- In 2019, Sideshow ranked Mantis 6th in their "Top 10 Bug-Themes Comic Book Characters" list.[50]
- In 2020, Scary Mommy included Mantis in their "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic" list.[51]
- In 2022, The A.V. Club ranked Mantis 86th in their "100 best Marvel characters" list.[52]
Other versions
Heroes Reborn
In the Heroes Reborn reality, the alternate version of Mantis is the woman Kang the Conqueror loves, and Kang's motive to attack the 20th Century and the Avengers is to show that he is worthy of her love. Mantis recognizes her love for Kang after he is killed by Loki, who kills her shortly after.[53]
House of M
In the
Old Man Quill
During Old Man Quill, Mantis continues to work with the Guardians for decades, long after Quill drops out. The main threat they encounter in this timeline is the Universal Church of Truth, which commonly destroys entire planets.[56]
In other media
Television
- Mantis appears in Universal Believers. In the first season episode "Don't Stop Believing", she attempts to assassinate Emperor J'son of Spartax, but is thwarted by Star-Lord. In the second season, Mantis and the Believers seek to revive Adam Warlock and bring about a golden age, only to be foiled by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Upon learning J'son is the Believers' leader, she works with him to steal Nova Corpshelmets, only to be turned to ash by one after failing to control its power.
- Mantis appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes - Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat, voiced again by Jennifer Hale.[57]
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Mantis appears in media set in the
Video games
- Mantis appears as a playable character in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon.[citation needed]
- Mantis appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers, voiced by Ali Hillis.[citation needed]
- Mantis appears as a playable character in Marvel Future Fight.[65]
- Mantis appears as a playable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.[66]
- Mantis appears in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Mel Gorsha.[citation needed]
- Mantis appears in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, voiced by Sumalee Montano.[57]
- Mantis appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, voiced by Arina Ii.[citation needed]
- Mantis appears in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez.[57][67]
- Mantis appears in Marvel Snap.[68]
- Mantis appears as a purchasable outfit in Fortnite: Battle Royale.[69]
- Mantis will be appearing in Marvel Rivals.[70]
Miscellaneous
Mantis, based on the MCU incarnation, appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, portrayed again by Pom Klementieff.[71]
References
- ^ ""I Liked Superheroes the Best": An Interview with Steve Englehart". 21 September 2020.
- ISBN 978-1605490564.
- ^ "DOING COMICS THE STAINLESS STEVE ENGLEHART WAY". angelfire.com.
- ^ "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #16! - Page 3 of 3 – Comics Should Be Good @ CBR". Comics Should Be Good @ CBR. Archived from the original on 2016-05-10.
- ^ a b Guardians of the Galaxy: 15 Things You Never Knew About Mantis
- ^ a b Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Turned Mantis Into the Butt of a Joke
- ^ ISBN 9781302497019.
[Mantis] often referred to herself in the third person as "this one"
- ^ http://www.steveenglehart.com/Comics/Scorpio%20Rose.html
- ISBN 978-1465455505.
- ISBN 978-1465455505.
- ^ The Avengers #114. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #120-124. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #125 Captain Marvel #33. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #126. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Giant-Size Avengers #1. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #127; Fantastic Four #150. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #129; Giant-Size Avengers #2. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #130-132; Giant-Size Avengers #3. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #133-135. Marvel Comics.
- ^ a b Giant-Size Avengers #4. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Quoi at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
- ^ Silver Surfer vol. 3 #4-5
- ^ Fantastic Four 324
- ^ Fantastic Four 323
- ^ Fantastic Four #325. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord #1. Marvel Comics.
- ^ a b Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #1. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #4-6. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #19 (Dec. 2009). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Guardians of the Galaxy #22
- ^ Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 #5 (July 2013). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Empyre: Avengers #1. Marvel Comics.
- ^ jbindeck2015 (2017-05-05). "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Who is Mantis?". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Wickline, Dan (2016-12-04). "The Comic Book History Of Mantis". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
- ^ Avengers: Celestial Quest #1-8 (2001). Marvel Comics.
- ^ Mithaiwala, Mansoor (2017-05-04). "20 Powers You Didn't Know The Guardians Of The Galaxy Had". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
- ^ Annihilation: Conquest #5
- ^ Annihilation: Conquest - Starlord #3-4
- ^ a b The Avengers #114
- ^ The Avengers #123. Marvel Comics.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4773-1897-3.
- ^ a b c Mantis at Writeups.org
- ^ The Avengers #130. Marvel Comics.
- ^ The Avengers #134. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Silver Surfer vol. 3 #6. Marvel Comics.
- ISBN 978-1-9352-5935-0.
- ISBN 978-1-4402-2988-6.
- ^ April 29, Darren Franich Updated; EDT, 2015 at 12:00 PM. "Let's rank every Avenger ever". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Natividad, Sid (2019-06-20). "The 10 Most Powerful Telepaths In The Marvel Universe, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
- ^ "Top 10 Bug-Themes Comic Book Characters". Sideshow Collectibles. August 30, 2019.
- ^ "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic". Scary Mommy. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
- ^ "The 100 best Marvel characters ranked". The A.V. Club. 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
- ^ The Avengers vol. 2 #2-8. Marvel Comics.
- ^ House of M: Avengers #2
- ^ House of M: Avengers #4. Marvel Comics.
- ^ Old Man Quill #7 (2019)
- ^ a b c d "Mantis Voices (Guardians of the Galaxy)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 2, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
- ^ Lincoln, Ross (October 29, 2015). "'Compton's Neil Brown Jr. Signs On For 'Sand Castle'; Pom Klementieff Joins 'Guardians Of The Galaxy 2'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ^ Romano, Nick (January 28, 2017). "Avengers: Infinity War adds Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy 2". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
- ^ Hood, Cooper (April 27, 2019). "Every Character In Avengers: Endgame". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ McCreesh, Louise (December 22, 2020). "New Guardians of the Galaxy star linked to Thor: Love and Thunder". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ Hood, Cooper (April 18, 2017). "James Gunn Starting Work on Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Soon". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ Oddo, Marco Vito (October 20, 2021). "Will Poulter Comments on Adam Warlock Casting for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3': "I Feel Very Lucky"". Collider. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ Elvy, Craig (September 22, 2021). "Every MCU Easter Egg In What If? Episode 7". ScreenRant. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ "MARVEL Future Fight - mobirum". Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ Morse, Ben (June 21, 2016). "GO INSIDE AVENGERS ALLIANCE: SPEC OP 35". Marvel. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ "Guardians of the Galaxy Game Connects Gamora to Nova & Mantis". Screen Rant. 23 August 2021.
- ^ Adler, Kai (2022-11-29). "Marvel Snap: All Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy Cards, Ranked". DualShockers. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
- Game Rant. Archivedfrom the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
- ^ "Marvel Rivals Characters: Every Superhero And Supervillain Revealed So Far". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
- ^ Yee, Lawrence (May 26, 2017). "'Guardians of the Galaxy' Cast Celebrate Opening of New Disney Attraction". Variety. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
External links
- Mantis at the Marvel Universe wiki
- Mantis at Writeups.org