They say imitation is the best form of flattery. Actually, I think I've said that before. No character represents imitation than today's Z-Lister: Nightwatch from Marvel Comics!
Nightwatch was created by Terry Kavanagh and Derek Yaniger in "The Web of Spider-Man #97" in 1993. Oh, and just so you know, Todd McFarlane's Spawn was created in 1992 so make of this what you will. Before donning the black spandex, this was Doctor Kevin Trench who had witnessed a battle between several cloaked men and a man wearing the Nightwatch costume. The cloaked men killed the mystery man and ran off. Kevin unmasked this mystery man to find it was an older version of himself. Fearing for his life, Kevin got rid of this older version of himself, stole the costume, and fled to a deserted island.
One day another man washed upon this island and Kevin nurses him back to health and tells him the story about the costume. This man-Alfredo-turns out to be a career criminal and he steals part of the suit. Using the rest of the suit, Kevin is able to defeat Alfredo and stop him from using it's powers for evil. Kevin then comes to terms with his destiny and decides to return to civilization as Nightwatch.
Nightwatch took part in the event "Maximum Carnage" and sparred with Black Cat, Venom, Captain America, and a few other heroes before eventually being hunted by cloaked men, just as his future counterpart had been. Through his investigations, Nightwatch finds a pharmaceutical company that may connected to what's happening. Coincidentally, his ex-girlfriend works at this company. Double coincidentally, his ex-girlfriend married the company's CEO Phillip Morelle. Thrice coincidentally, Phillip and Kevin's ex have a son named Justin who's dying from a disease. In an effort to cure Justin, Phillip created a nanotech skin replacement that could heal the boy. When Nightwatch goes after Phillip seeking answers, he must follow the CEO onto his space station. Yes, this CEO of a pharmacy has a space station. Anyway, after battling more cloaked men and finding Phillip, the men are blindsided by Justin-from the future. Wearing his own Nightwatch suit, Future Justin reveals in the timeline he comes from his father's skin-technology is successful, but creates an unstable time matrix. This time matrix kills millions across the country. After killing Phillip, Justin and Nightwatch destroy the space station so that the cataclysm would never come. Future Justin vanishes and Present Justin gets his skin-tech and begins healing.
Happy with the outcome, Nightwatch uses time travel to assure this cycle comes to fruition. You see, when Nightwatch broke onto the space station, Phillip sent two cloaked men back in time to kill Kevin before he ever got his suit. In order to assure Past Kevin lived and got the suit, Present Kevin/Nightwatch had to go back in time and let the two cloaked men kill him. This allows Nightwatch to become the "future Kevin" that Past Kevin finds and allows Past Kevin to steal the suit and set the previous events into motion.
Now if that story wasn't satisfying or it was too confusing for you, the character reappeared in 2014's "She-Hulk" series. Long story short, Kevin originally used his suit to become a supervillain known as Nighteater. After a long criminal career, Kevin decided he wanted to become a superhero as it came with more respect and could assure he could retire without fear of arrest. Nighteater hired The Shocker, Vibro, and Doctor Druid to help him cast a spell that would change the memories of everyone on Earth. The other villains believed they too would be reestablished as superheroes, but Nighteater had lied to them. She-Hulk, Tigra, Monica Rambeau, and Wyatt Wingfoot tried to stop the spell, but they were unsuccessful. The spell took the lives of hundreds of North Dakota citizens and when it was over Shocker, Vibro, and Druid were charged with the mass murder of hundreds and arrested by "Nightwatch" and his fellow heroes. Years later, She-Hulk discovered a file of what actually happened witnessed by a surviving citizen who didn't get her memory reset. With the truth unlocked, Nightwatch was arrested while the other three villains were lifted of the murders.
At first I really expected Nightwatch to be a straight-up rip-off of Spawn. I'm happy to know that isn't the case. Time travel stories aren't really my thing for obvious reasons, but I'm very impressed Nightwatch's story has a resolution. A beginning and an end for the character. Well, disregarding his appearance in "She-Hulk". While that 2014 version of Kevin Trench is kind of interesting too, I find his original story to be better thought out. Heroes and villains switching places still works, but there's something about this time-based destiny, the corporate Armageddon, and the potential of a helpless child that makes Nightwatch's quest more pure. Which-for a character clearly based off Spawn-is very surprising. If Marvel wants to beat Todd McFarlane to the punch, they could totally do something with Nightwatch. Maybe a movie if they changed the end of his original story, or maybe a Netflix series if they could afford it. I'd be down for a Marvel Cinematic Nightwatch. Then again, I'm the guy who still wants The Demolition Man in the MCU.
Thanks for reading.
One day another man washed upon this island and Kevin nurses him back to health and tells him the story about the costume. This man-Alfredo-turns out to be a career criminal and he steals part of the suit. Using the rest of the suit, Kevin is able to defeat Alfredo and stop him from using it's powers for evil. Kevin then comes to terms with his destiny and decides to return to civilization as Nightwatch.
Nightwatch took part in the event "Maximum Carnage" and sparred with Black Cat, Venom, Captain America, and a few other heroes before eventually being hunted by cloaked men, just as his future counterpart had been. Through his investigations, Nightwatch finds a pharmaceutical company that may connected to what's happening. Coincidentally, his ex-girlfriend works at this company. Double coincidentally, his ex-girlfriend married the company's CEO Phillip Morelle. Thrice coincidentally, Phillip and Kevin's ex have a son named Justin who's dying from a disease. In an effort to cure Justin, Phillip created a nanotech skin replacement that could heal the boy. When Nightwatch goes after Phillip seeking answers, he must follow the CEO onto his space station. Yes, this CEO of a pharmacy has a space station. Anyway, after battling more cloaked men and finding Phillip, the men are blindsided by Justin-from the future. Wearing his own Nightwatch suit, Future Justin reveals in the timeline he comes from his father's skin-technology is successful, but creates an unstable time matrix. This time matrix kills millions across the country. After killing Phillip, Justin and Nightwatch destroy the space station so that the cataclysm would never come. Future Justin vanishes and Present Justin gets his skin-tech and begins healing.
Happy with the outcome, Nightwatch uses time travel to assure this cycle comes to fruition. You see, when Nightwatch broke onto the space station, Phillip sent two cloaked men back in time to kill Kevin before he ever got his suit. In order to assure Past Kevin lived and got the suit, Present Kevin/Nightwatch had to go back in time and let the two cloaked men kill him. This allows Nightwatch to become the "future Kevin" that Past Kevin finds and allows Past Kevin to steal the suit and set the previous events into motion.
Now if that story wasn't satisfying or it was too confusing for you, the character reappeared in 2014's "She-Hulk" series. Long story short, Kevin originally used his suit to become a supervillain known as Nighteater. After a long criminal career, Kevin decided he wanted to become a superhero as it came with more respect and could assure he could retire without fear of arrest. Nighteater hired The Shocker, Vibro, and Doctor Druid to help him cast a spell that would change the memories of everyone on Earth. The other villains believed they too would be reestablished as superheroes, but Nighteater had lied to them. She-Hulk, Tigra, Monica Rambeau, and Wyatt Wingfoot tried to stop the spell, but they were unsuccessful. The spell took the lives of hundreds of North Dakota citizens and when it was over Shocker, Vibro, and Druid were charged with the mass murder of hundreds and arrested by "Nightwatch" and his fellow heroes. Years later, She-Hulk discovered a file of what actually happened witnessed by a surviving citizen who didn't get her memory reset. With the truth unlocked, Nightwatch was arrested while the other three villains were lifted of the murders.
At first I really expected Nightwatch to be a straight-up rip-off of Spawn. I'm happy to know that isn't the case. Time travel stories aren't really my thing for obvious reasons, but I'm very impressed Nightwatch's story has a resolution. A beginning and an end for the character. Well, disregarding his appearance in "She-Hulk". While that 2014 version of Kevin Trench is kind of interesting too, I find his original story to be better thought out. Heroes and villains switching places still works, but there's something about this time-based destiny, the corporate Armageddon, and the potential of a helpless child that makes Nightwatch's quest more pure. Which-for a character clearly based off Spawn-is very surprising. If Marvel wants to beat Todd McFarlane to the punch, they could totally do something with Nightwatch. Maybe a movie if they changed the end of his original story, or maybe a Netflix series if they could afford it. I'd be down for a Marvel Cinematic Nightwatch. Then again, I'm the guy who still wants The Demolition Man in the MCU.
Thanks for reading.
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