Blackout (Human)

Real Name
Marcus Daniels
 
Occupation
Criminal; (formerly) research assistant
 
Citizenship
U.S.A.
 
Place of Birth
Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York
 
Known Relatives
None

Group Affiliation
Formerly Hood's Gang, Initiative, Thunderbolts, Masters of Evil, partner of Moonstone

Education

MS in Physics

Height
5' 10"

Weight
180 lbs.

Eyes
Grey

Hair
Brown

Powers
Blackout had the power to tap into the Darkforce--a source of infinite dark energy--and to manipulate it in various ways. He could create solid geometric shapes, such as cubes and spheres, blast opponents with the energy, and open portals to and from the dimension. By riding disks of Darkforce, Blackout could fly.

Abilities
Daniels was a physicist with rudimentary scientific skills. These were lost after the accident which caused his powers robbed him of his sanity.

Other Info 
Marcus Daniels was a laboratory assistant to Dr. Abner Croit--a physicist hoping to build a device capable of tapping into energies from other dimensions. Dr. Croit coerced Daniels into being a subject for his experiments where he bombarded Daniels with unknown cosmic radiation--later identified as the "Darkforce." Now charged with this energy, Daniels soon learned he could project it from his body as quasi-solid blackness. Therefore, Croit created a bodysuit that curtailed Darnels' body in addition to building a stabilizing device that could keep Daniels' body from shifting totally into this energy dimension. Dr. Croit attempted to cure Daniels; however, Daniels escaped and fled from the labs. (Click on the highlighted name above to learn more about the Darkforce.)

Soon after, however, Daniels--now calling himself "Blackout"--started to feel the energies within him becoming increasingly unstable; therefore, he decided to return to the laboratory to retrieve the stabilizer. On his way to the labs, Blackout encountered Nova (Richard Rider) and he easily defeated the young hero. And before Nova could catch up with him, Blackout had returned to the labs and presumably killed Dr. Croit and his new assistant by shunting them into the Darkforce dimension. This led to another skirmish between Blackout and Nova. However, this time, Blackout himself vanished into this other dimension after accidentally destroying the stabilizer. (To learn about Nova, click on the highlighted name above.)

At one point, the stabilizer ended up at Project: PEGASUS (the governmental energy research laboratory). The stabilizer was activated again during an attack on the facility by the Lava Men, which resulted in Blackout returning to Earth from the Darkforce dimension. He tried to escape; however, while escaping, Blackout was coerced by another Project: PEGASUS captive, Moonstone, into freeing herself and two other superhuman villains including Electro and Rhino. The Avengers showed up and stopped some of the fugitives; however, Blackout and Moonstone eventually escaped together through another aperture into the Darkforce dimension. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the project, teams, and/or characters. Note: Beware of the very form-fitting outfits on Moonstone's bio pages.)

While in the dimension, Moonstone helped Blackout navigate themselves through it. The eventually found their way out and arrived on the surface of Earth's moon. Once on the moon, Moonstone hoped she could find another stone similar to the one that gave her powers. However, before she could do so, they encountered the Inhumans and their mutant ally, Dazzler, who overpowered the two escaped criminals. Therefore, Blackout and Moonstone were taken back to Earth and were returned to Project: PEGASUS. (To learn about the race and/or character highlighted above, just click on their names. Note: Beware of the revealing and form-fitting outfits on both the Inhumans and Dazzlers' bio pages.) 

Later on, Moonstone joined Baron Zemo in his new Masters of Evil, and persuaded the Baron to free Blackout from Project PEGASUS. However, by this time, Blackout's mental condition was so unstable that at times he sank into a nearly catatonic state, only responsive to Moonstone's commands. Fearing the combined powers of Blackout and Moonstone would threaten his leadership of the team, Zemo had another member of the Masters of Evil, the Fixer, create a device to mentally force Blackout to obey his commands. In fact, Blackout was instrumental in Zemo's takeover of the Avengers Mansion by sending the entire mansion into the Darkforce dimension. However, it was Doctor Druid who eventually used his psychic ability to break through Zemo and Moonstone’s manipulations; thus, restoring some of Blackout’s mental faculties. Now with relative sanity, Blackout resisted Zemo's mental commands; however, the strain of resistance was too great for Blackout to bear, and he collapsed from a massive brain hemorrhage. Afterward, Blackout’s body was taken into the custody by the Commission on Superhuman Activities. However, it was soon after that his comatose body eventually slipped away into the Darkforce dimension. (To learn about the highlighted characters, teams, and/or organizations above, just click on their names. Note: Beware of the revealing outfit worn by one on the Masters of Evil's bio page.)

Years later, Zemo retrieved Blackout's body from the Darkforce dimension by using a Kree Lifestone. Zemo needed Blackout's powers to help him destroy Genis-Vell. Now manipulating Blackout's body like a puppet on strings, Zemo used Blackout to serve as a member of his team of Thunderbolts in an attack against Songbird's Thunderbolts. With Blackout's power, Zemo was able to destroy Genis-Vell of Songbird's team. After the battle, Zemo relinquished his control over Blackout and he left the Thunderbolts. (To learn about the above highlighted race, characters, and/or team, just click on their names above. Also, a picture of Blackout during his time in the Darkforce dimension is shown in the fourth picture posted above.)

Later, Blackout regained his mental faculties and eventually joined up with the Hood's Gang of criminals. When the Hood Gang members discovered that the Hood had began working with Norman Osborn after the Skrull's Secret Invasion, they decided to fight against him. Their new leader, Jonas Harrow, devised a plan to oust the Hood and renegotiating any deal the Hood had made with Norman Osborn. In fact, Harrow ended up negotiating a deal with Osborn wherein their team would join the Initiative and masquerade as government-sponsored heroes to the public and officially work for Norman Osborn. However, during a meeting of the new team, the Hood arrived and reclaimed leadership of his group and killed Harrow. The Hood then reprimanded his team for making the mistake of not believing in him and as a result they were now stuck working for Osborn instead (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the characters, race, event, and/or team.)

More recently, the Hood was approached by Loki who gave him Asgardian Norn Stones. Receiving mystical abilities from the stones, the Hood used the Norn Stones to also help boost his team's powers significantly. Blackout, now mystically powered, took part in Norman Osborn's Siege on Asgard. During the Siege, Blackout fought against Mockingbird and Ronin. However, in the end, he was defeated when Loki took the Norn Stones back from the Hood which resulted in the team losing their boosted powers. Deciding to cut his losses, the Hood abandoned Blackout and the rest of his team. This lead to most of the team, including Blackout, being arrested. (To learn about the characters, race, item, and/or events, just click on their highlighted names above.)

To learn more about the human Blackout, click on the following Marvel.com link, http://marvel.com/universe/Blackout_%28Marcus_Daniels%29.

Marcus Daniels appears in the TV series, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. When HYDRA takes over the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility known as the "Fridge," Marcus Daniels escapes from the facility and causes problems for Agent Coulson and his S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.