Nitro (character)

Nitro (Robert Hunter) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in 1974.^[3]

Nitro
Nitro Cover to Captain Marvel #34, by Jim Starlin.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974)[1]
Created by	Jim Starlin (writer) Steve Englehart (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Robert Hunter
Species	Human mutate
Team affiliations	Hardcore's Untouchables[2] Army of Evil
Notable aliases	Exploding Man Living Bomb
Abilities	Self-detonation and reformation

Nitro is known for playing a part in the death of the Kree superhero Mar-Vell. He is also known for being responsible for the Stamford, Connecticut tragedy that started Marvel's Civil War crossover.

Publication history

Nitro first appeared in Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974) and was created by Jim Starlin.^[4]

Fictional character biography

Robert Hunter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was an electrical engineer. Due to genetic alteration performed by the Kree Lunatic Legion, Hunter gained the ability to explode and reform himself at will and became a professional criminal.^[5][6] In his first appearance, he exposes Captain Marvel to a carcinogenic nerve gas, which later causes him to develop cancer and die.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Since then, Nitro has clashed with Earth's superhumans, who have found creative ways to defeat him, such as preventing him from reforming his body after exploding.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

In Civil War, the New Warriors confront Nitro and several other villains after they escape from Ryker's Island. Namorita battles Nitro, who causes a massive explosion that kills Namorita, Night Thrasher, Microbe, sixty children at a nearby elementary school, and 600 people in Stamford, Connecticut.^[5][6][15] Soon afterward, he is captured by Wolverine, who cuts off his right arm.^[16]

In later appearances, Nitro joins the Hood's crime syndicate and Helmut Zemo's Army of Evil.^[17][18][19]

Powers and abilities

Nitro can forcefully convert his whole body into gas, resulting in a violent explosion. This transformation could be limited to discrete portions of himself, such as his fist and aim the force in a specific direction. While in a gaseous form, he cannot reform if any fraction of his body is separated from the rest and must completely reconstitute himself before detonating again. The process does not have any healing qualities, so any wound received due to the explosion would be present when he reforms.^[20]

In other media

Television

Nitro appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men episode "Time Bomb", voiced by Liam O'Brien. This version is a mutant who is willingly imprisoned by the Mutant Response Division (MRD) due to lacking control of his powers.^[21]

Video games

• Nitro appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Steve Blum.^{[citation needed]}
• Nitro appears as a boss in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.^{[citation needed]}