With WandaVision now on Disney+, the Marvel Universe is once again the talk of the entertainment industry. You may have forgotten that these characters brought to life in the movies and television started in comic books. What is impressive about the Marvel Universe is that each character has a backstory, no matter how small. That backstory helps to understand everyone's psychology, which helps to explain their actions.

 

It's mind-blowing to think that there is a database of characters that not many people know that all have origin stories.  Among them are at least three who's life somehow intersect with the Treasure Valley.  The Marvel Universe stars may not have links to Idaho, but some of the people they interact with do.  Three characters tied to Boise by either birth or residence.  The first of those characters is Edward Cobert, later known as Gargantua.

Edward Cobert's tie to the area is that he was born in Boise. The comic version of the city was probably very proud of him. A graduate, not of Boise State, but of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, where he earned a Ph.D. in
Biochemistry. Cobert was a successful S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, a super smart scientist, was in charge of the Olympus Project, where he was trying to create a superhuman race that would answer directly to the President of the United States. Cobert decided to experiment on himself, and as often happens in comic books, it went terribly wrong. He became a giant and went on an evil rampage. He has superhuman strength, but his intelligence is now limited.

The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't stop him, so the Defenders were called in, who ultimately captured him, after his name was changed to Leviathan. Leviathan was in and out of the Marvel superheroes' custody, having had dust-ups with the likes of Captain America and the Guardians of the Galaxy. He became a part of the Mad Thinker's crew, who costumed him and gave him his new name, Gargantua. He is believed to currently reside in Pleasant Hill, a prison for supervillains.

While Gargantua may not be in any movies, he's still had quite a career in villainhood. It's cool to know that such a character was born in the Gem State.

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