The original Thunderbolts team started with ten members: a group of villains, one woman hoping to be a hero, and eventually Hawkeye, who joined to guide them toward redemption. They first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449 in 1997 and quickly gained their own comic series. This team emerged after Onslaught defeated the Avengers and Fantastic Four, leaving the world with a severe shortage of heroes. The surprising part? These weren’t new heroes at all, but reformed villains using new identities, all under the leadership of Baron Zemo, a notorious Hydra villain. The team’s members had a wide range of abilities and power levels.
This details the first ten members of the Thunderbolts, including those from the initial lineup and the additions made when Hawkeye took on a leadership role to reform the group.
10) Blackheath (Plantman)
Despite appearing in Marvel Comics since 1963, Plantman isn’t one of the most famous Thunderbolts members. His real name is Sam Smithers, and he originally worked as a lab assistant. He invented a special gun hoping to be able to talk to plants, but a lightning strike changed it and gave him the power to control plant life. Smithers was in prison with Hawkeye when he was recruited to join the Thunderbolts after helping Hawkeye foil a plan by Justin Hammer. This led to both of them receiving pardons and Smithers becoming the hero known as Blackheath. Plantman’s body is made of plant material, which gives him the ability to change size, incredible strength, and a fast healing ability.
9) Charcoal (Charlie Burlingame)
Charcoal originated as a fan submission for a villain contest hosted by Wizard Magazine and Marvel Comics. The character, a teenager named Charlie Burlingame, had the ability to turn his body into a super-heated, charcoal-like material. Initially activated and used as a weapon by Arnim Zola to fight the Thunderbolts, Charcoal later sought to make amends by joining the team as a member.
8) Hawkeye
Hawkeye doesn’t have any superpowers, but he’s Marvel’s best archer, known for his incredible accuracy. He’s also the most seasoned member of the Thunderbolts, having spent years fighting alongside the Avengers. When the Thunderbolts decided to become true heroes instead of following Baron Zemo, Hawkeye stepped up as their leader. It was a tough job – the team members were all wanted criminals – and Hawkeye constantly had to defend them, ultimately sacrificing his own freedom to do so. While he may not be physically powerful, his experience and leadership helped transform the Thunderbolts into genuine heroes, demonstrating his influence and strength.
7) Jolt
Jolt was unique among the original Thunderbolts team members because she wasn’t a villain when the group first came together. Unlike the others who were former criminals trying to reform, Jolt was a teenager who developed powers after the attack on New York led by Onslaught, which also left her without parents. Scientist Arnim Zola then experimented on her and other children, giving her the ability to transform into living electrical energy. This allows her to fly, fire energy blasts and electric shocks, and move with incredible strength and speed. Jolt acted as the team’s conscience, providing a moral center and balancing out the villainous Baron Zemo.
6) Techno (Fixer)
Techno, formerly known as the Fixer, was a highly intelligent inventor with a special tech-pack connected to his nervous system. This pack allowed him to create any gadget he needed from its own material. For years, he worked as a mercenary, building weapons for other villains or carrying out acts of sabotage. He’d battled heroes like Iron Man and Captain America before joining Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil after the Onslaught event. As part of the team, he switched sides and became a member of the new, disguised hero group, the Thunderbolts. He used his inventive skills to enhance Songbird’s powers and constantly improve the team’s equipment.
5) Songbird (Screaming Mimi)
Songbird originally appeared as the villain Screaming Mimi in 1979’s Marvel Two-in-One #54. She has modified vocal cords that allow her to create powerful sonic blasts and control minds, much like a siren. Later, while a member of the Thunderbolts, Baron Zemo upgraded her with technology from Klaw and Project Pegasus, including a Sonic Carapace harness. This upgrade enabled her to create solid objects made of sound, such as shields and weapons. Songbird also became a key figure in the Thunderbolts’ journey toward redemption, even leading the team for a time.
4) MACH-1 (Beetle/Abner Jenkins)
Abe Jenkins started as a villain known as the Beetle, first appearing in 1964. For years, he battled heroes like Spider-Man before eventually joining the Thunderbolts team. Originally a freelance criminal using the Beetle armor, he later teamed up with Techno to create a more advanced suit and became MACH-1. Over time, he continually upgraded his armor, adding a new number to his name with each improvement. Notably, he was the only Thunderbolts member wanted for murder, but Hawkeye persuaded him to turn himself in and face justice. He willingly did so, completing a compelling transformation from villain to hero.
3) Atlas (Goliath/Erik Josten)
Erik Josten has gone by several names, including Goliath, Power Man, and Smuggler. He was a veteran member of the villainous Masters of Evil, and later joined Baron Zemo’s Thunderbolts. As Atlas, he used the same size-changing abilities he had as Goliath, powers originally granted by a machine created by Zemo – the same one that gave Wonder Man his abilities. However, Josten isn’t simply larger; he’s made of ionic energy, making him an incredibly powerful fighter for the Thunderbolts.
2) Meteorite (Moonstone)
Moonstone is a very powerful member of the Thunderbolts, gaining her abilities from a special Kree artifact called the Moongem. By absorbing the gem, she developed superhuman strength, speed, and resilience, along with the power of flight, gravity control, energy blasts, and the ability to become intangible. First appearing in 1975, she adopted the Moonstone persona in 1978 and initially fought heroes like Captain America. While some villains seek redemption, Moonstone consistently embraced her role as a villain, even forming a complex romantic relationship with Hawkeye. She rejoined the Thunderbolts when Norman Osborn rebuilt the team after the “Civil War” storyline and later became a member of the Dark Avengers following the “Secret Invasion” event.
1) Citizen V (Baron Zemo)
After the Onslaught event, Citizen V stepped up as the leader of the Thunderbolts. He presented himself as a patriotic new hero, complete with a red, white, and blue costume, dedicated to protecting America. However, this was a deception – Citizen V was actually Baron Zemo, a member of Hydra who was solely focused on increasing his own power. As the son of the original Baron Zemo and the longtime leader of the Masters of Evil, he had been manipulating villains for years to exploit the weakening superhero population. While not physically the strongest, Zemo was a brilliant strategist and maintained complete control as the team’s leader, making him one of Marvel’s most cunning tacticians.
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2026-05-03 00:43