Name: Brandt (first name unknown)

Superhero Name: Mantis

Created By: Steve Englehart

Played By: Pom Klementieff

Powers: Telepathy, empathy (as in sensing the emotions of others), astral projection, control of vegetation in her vicinity (including helping Groot’s cellular growth rate, and changing his sap so it’s flammable), pyrokinesis (as in she once set Groot alight using just her mind), precognition, enhanced durability, regeneration and the ability to cloak herself from detection. On top of this, Mantis is a master martial artist.

Mini Bio: Mantis was born to human parents in Vietnam, and because she was thought to be the Celestial Madonna, destined to give birth to Celestial Messiah, Sequoia, she was sent to the Temple of the Priests Of Pama – a Kree sect.

There, she was trained in martial arts, where she earned the nickname Mantis. During this time, she was also given telepathic abilities. The Priests wiped her mind on her 18th birthday, wanting Mantis to have a normal human life to aid her in becoming the Celestial Madonna.

This lead to Mantis becoming a bar maid in Vietnam, where she met Swordsman. The two became friends, and when he rejoined the Avengers, Mantis went with him. As part of the team, she helped defeat Thanos (which lead to her meeting Drax for the first time), Loki and Dormammu, among others.

She became close to Vision, which caused problems between her, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Swordsman, though they managed to put it behind them during important battles. Swordsman remained jealous of Mantis’ growing affection for Vision, and she only realised she loved him when he was killed during battle.

Swordsman was buried in Vietnam, and when Mantis discovered that he was actually buried where the eldest Cotati (the species the Priests Of Pama protected) was also buried, and when that Cotati possessed Swordsman’s body, Mantis agreed to marry him, accepting her destiny as the Celestial Madonna. The marriage was a wedding shared also by Wanda and Vision.

Mantis gave birth and raised her son, Sequoia, for a year in Conneticut, before handing him to his father’s people. She then headed to space with the Silver Surfer, and found that her skin was turning green, and she was becoming invulnerable as a side effect of giving birth to the Celestial Messiah.

She grew depressed and angry with having to give up her son, and her mind fragmented after being caught in an explosion during battle. These fragments scattered across the galaxy, some ending up on Earth. One fragment joined the West Coast Avengers, reuniting her with Vision, Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye, though she had no memory of what had happened since leaving the main Avengers team.

The other fragments slowly joined together, to create five distinct personalities. Each one was hunted down and killed by Thanos, forcing the essence of each body to merge with the surviving ones. The now whole Mantis fought Thanos after realising that he was after her son, but the fight ended in a draw.

To save her son, Mantis and the Avengers flew to the homeworld of the Cotati, where Sequoia was living, and the battle continued, again to end in a draw. Mantis then decided to leave the Avengers, as she was the Celestial Madonna, and her son the Celestial Messiah.

Years later, she joined Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, Drax and several others against the Annhilation wave. After her team won, she helped Star Lord psychically influence the rest of the proposed Guardians of The Galaxy team into joining. When this was found out, the team disbanded, but eventually came together again to save the galaxy.

Interesting trivia: Mantis speaks solely in the third person, as she sees herself as part of a greater whole. This is also a tradition among the Preists Of Pama, along with The Elder Cotati.

First Comic Appearance: Avengers issue 112 (1973)

Most Common Team Ups: Guardians Of The Galaxy, Avengers

Comic Recommendations: Giant Sized Avengers (1974) by Steve Englehart, Avengers: Celestial Quest (2001) by Steve Englehart, Annihilation Conquest (2007) by Keith Giffen