Recaps

Mark found Orson Randall and told him the Hand had returned to Manhattan to seize the Dragon Bone, persuading him to go back and confront them. A week later, Orson reached Central Plaza and absorbed leaked Dragon Bone energy as he charged the Hand’s fortified defenses.

• Mark destroyed the stolen white powder at the coast, where Orson Randall tracked him down and demanded to know who he was.
• Mark told Orson that the Hand was trying to break the Seal on the Dragon Bone in Manhattan and asked him to help drive them out.
• Orson refused to let anyone take the Dragon Bones but agreed to return to Manhattan and clear out the Hand.
• After Orson smuggled into Manhattan, Mark continued absorbing sunlight to strengthen his Super Physique.
• Orson sensed the Hand’s decaying ninjas at Central Plaza and absorbed energy leaking from the Dragon Bone, restoring his body as he approached.
• Central Plaza’s guards spotted Orson and shouted that an enemy had arrived.

Orson attacked the Hand’s Central Plaza and fought his way through its ninjas, but Madame Gao’s stronger qi drove him toward defeat. Mark intervened with Heat Vision, forcing Madame Gao to recognize him as “Superman.”

• Orson fought through the Hand’s ninjas, using golden qi to withstand their bullets and concealed weapons.
• Mark woke to the sounds of battle, recognized Orson, and followed him into Central Plaza without joining the fight.
• Madame Gao confronted Orson, recalling their past and attacking him with powerful qi blasts.
• Orson’s energy waned as Madame Gao and the ninjas overwhelmed him, and he admitted that he had grown old.
• Mark struck Madame Gao with Heat Vision, but she raised a qi shield and dodged before identifying him as Superman.

Mark fought off The Hand’s attack alongside Orson, then led him to the Dragon Bone Seal and tried to persuade him to share the Dragon Bone. Orson agreed to verify Mark’s claims, while the police arrived at the scene after Mark left.

• Mark used Heat Vision and his Biological Force Field to kill The Hand’s attackers, while Madame Gao escaped after Mark deliberately let her go.
• Orson and Mark killed the more than two hundred remaining members of The Hand, and Orson thanked Mark for saving him.
• Mark led Orson to the underground Dragon Bone Graveyard, where Orson confirmed that The Hand had failed to break the Seal.
• Mark asked Orson how he would protect the graveyard from The Hand, and Orson refused to hand over its Dragon Bone until he verified Mark’s intentions.
• Mark told Orson that Advanced Idea Mechanics had used a Dragon Bone Fragment to cure hundreds of terminally ill patients, and Orson agreed to consider giving him some Dragon Bone after investigating.
• Mark left Orson his business card and departed, then police arrived and found the bodies and weapons in the building.

Mark learned that the police had written off the Central Plaza massacre as a gang shootout, then bought the building to protect the Dragon Bone beneath it. After a month of guarding the underground Seal, Orson summoned Mark, who met him in person and asked whether he had made his decision.

• The police sealed and searched Central Plaza but failed to find The Hand's underground passages because Orson blocked the entrance with a Seal.
• Alice infiltrated the Manhattan Police Department's network and learned that the department would treat the massacre as a gang shootout while only going through the motions of investigating.
• Over the following month, Orson guarded the Seal and drove off intruders, while Mark raised Super Physique and Biological Force Field to level 12.
• The Manhattan Police Department announced that the dead were gang members and classified the incident as a gang shootout; Central Finance then entered bankruptcy proceedings.
• Mark bought Central Plaza for 450 million dollars and hired Universal Security guards, relying on Orson to protect the building in earnest.
• Orson called Mark to meet, and Mark introduced himself as Central Plaza's new owner before asking whether Orson had made his decision.

Mark persuaded Orson Randall to provide Dragon Bone to Future Pharmaceuticals under supervision, then broke off a piece from the fossilized skeleton. He flew to Texas and called Killian to collect it.

• Orson agreed to hand over small batches of Dragon Bone after investigating Future Pharmaceuticals and set conditions to monitor its medical use.
• Orson opened the sealed stone door and showed Mark the enormous Dragon Bone, explaining that removing it all could trigger an earthquake in Manhattan.
• Mark tried to break a rib, then used freezing breath and Heat Vision to crack its joint and snap it off.
• Mark flew from New York to Texas with the Dragon Bone and called Killian to pick it up.

Mark delivered a massive piece of Dragon Bone to Future Pharmaceuticals, easing the company’s supply crisis, then had Alice complete Captain America’s post-production in a week. After watching the finished film, director Samuel Grant believed it could be released after a month of promotion.

• Mark delivered a nearly four-meter Dragon Bone to Killian, who loaded it into a truck for Future Pharmaceuticals.
• Mark told Killian that more Dragon Bone would arrive and advised the company to lower its treatment prices.
• Mark returned to Payne Manor and learned that Rosalie had finished filming Captain America and that post-production was expected to take at least half a year.
• Mark assigned Alice the film’s special effects and post-production, despite director Samuel Grant’s objections.
• Alice completed the effects, editing, and other post-production work in one week, astonishing Samuel when he watched the finished film.
• Samuel told Mark that Captain America could be released after a month of advertising and promotion.

Payne Pictures secured a favorable distribution deal with Stark Industries, and its massive campaign made Captain America a widely discussed film. On the night of the premiere, Mark and Rosalie arrived at the crowded El Theater with their companions and bodyguards.

• Mark suggested Samuel approach Stark Industries, then called Tony, who agreed to help distribute Captain America.
• Stark Industries president Bruno Sosa signed a distribution agreement with Payne Pictures for a 10% fee without watching the film.
• Stark Industries launched an extensive advertising campaign, drawing praise and skepticism from audiences across the Federation and abroad.
• Mark spent the month absorbing sunlight in space and raised Heat Vision and Super Breath to level 12.
• Rosalie asked Mark to help choose between two gowns before they traveled with their companions and bodyguards to the El Theater premiere.
• Mark and Rosalie arrived to find nearby roads sealed off and reporters and spectators crowding the streets.

At the premiere of Captain America, Mark detected and secretly disabled four emulsion bombs planted in the theater while searching for the culprit. After the film won over the audience, a projectionist named Khalid Gabry identified himself as an Arab immigrant, drawing the crowd’s wary attention.

• Rosalie and Mark entered the premiere, where Mark detected the scent of emulsion explosives in the screening hall.
• Mark found four bombs hidden in decorative vases and froze them, destroying their detonators without alerting the crowd.
• During the premiere interviews, Mark listened for signs of the culprit but noticed no suspicious heartbeat.
• The audience praised Captain America after watching the film, while Mark continued searching for whoever planted the bombs.
• Khalid Gabry rushed out of the projection room, introduced himself as the projectionist and an Arab immigrant, and unsettled the crowd.

Khalid’s attempted bombing at the “Captain America” premiere failed after Mark had already neutralized the bombs, and the incident helped the film become a box-office hit. As Coulson watched the movie in Los Angeles, Nick Fury ordered him to contact Superman as soon as he appeared.

• Khalid pressed his detonator, but the bombs did not go off, and theater security guards restrained him.
• The frightened audience fled the theater, and Rosalie pulled Mark toward the exit.
• Police found four frozen, inert bombs at El Theater but could not explain how they had reached such low temperatures.
• “Captain America” earned $34.27 million on its first day and set a North American weekly box-office record with $250 million.
• Brian and Ivy thanked Mark as the film’s success raised their profiles, while Coulson watched the movie for the third time.
• Nick Fury told Coulson that Superman might have returned to Los Angeles and ordered him to make contact when Superman appeared.

Nick Fury ordered Coulson to approach Superman amicably, while Captain America’s release changed public perceptions of Steve and drew Lieutenant General Ross’s anger over its classified details. Mark continued his Superman patrols and extinguished a major wildfire near the Wilson Mountains, leaving nearby witnesses wondering what had stopped it.

• Nick Fury warned Coulson not to antagonize Superman after learning that Superman had killed gang members in New York.
• Tony watched Captain America at Stark Cinema and, despite initially disliking Brand as Bucky, came away recognizing Steve as a hero.
• Lieutenant General Ross objected to the film’s depiction of the Super-Soldier Serum and ordered his adjutant to investigate Payne Pictures.
• Mark kept collecting Sunlight Value, handling company affairs, and patrolling Los Angeles as Superman became harder for the Federation to conceal.
• Mark flew to a wildfire near the Wilson Mountains and used freezing air to put out the flames while people below watched in confusion.

Mark contained a massive wildfire in the Wilson Mountains and met Coulson, who approached him on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. to learn his origins and intentions. Mark accepted Coulson’s offer of help, then noticed something strange about the business card.

• Mark extinguished the wildfire’s outer flames, creating a firebreak while firefighters rushed to the scene.
• Coulson called out to Mark from the highway, and Mark flew down to meet him and four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
• Coulson introduced himself, praised Mark’s efforts, and asked where he came from and why he had come to Earth.
• Mark said his purpose was to fight crime, stop disasters, and save civilians, while privately remaining wary of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain Marvel.
• Coulson gave Mark his business card and suggested he contact S.H.I.E.L.D. for help, and Mark noticed something was wrong with it.

Mark warned Coulson against S.H.I.E.L.D.’s tracking tricks, then welcomed two young Mutants into Payne Pictures after Lina assessed their character. As more superpowered people joined the group, Mark appointed Lina to lead a new department to manage them.

• Mark detected a tracking scent on Coulson’s business card, warned him, and left after sending the card slicing past him and into a car window.
• A month later, Captain America had passed $1.2 billion at the U.S. box office, and Rosalie had risen to second-tier actress status.
• Brian brought Leo Marshall and Luca Barnes, two teenage Mutants from the United Kingdom, to Payne Manor to seek work at Payne Pictures.
• After Lina found no major character concerns, Mark offered Leo and Luca intern contracts, which they signed.
• Mark told Lina that she would lead a new department managing the group’s growing number of Mutants and other superpowered people.

Mark established a five-rank system for superhumans under his group and appointed Lina and Li Qianhuan to manage their files. He also prepared two Mutant-led films and approved Future Hospital’s large-scale admissions of terminally ill patients at a reduced price.

• Mark appointed Lina to manage the superhumans and assigned Li Qianhuan as her assistant, then taught them to create files and rank each person’s abilities.
• Mark decided Payne Pictures would produce Windwalker starring Brian and Heart Whisperer starring Ivy, and told Archer to begin preparations for both films.
• Archer announced the two projects, attracting both criticism and interest from potential investors as Captain America continued its successful run.
• Killian told Mark that Future Hospital was ready to admit terminally ill patients and proposed a five-hundred-thousand-dollar treatment fee, which Mark approved.
• Killian asked how to handle Jonah Owen, who had come to supervise the Dragon Bone, and Mark allowed him to do so as long as he kept company secrets confidential.
• Killian announced that Future Hospital had begun admitting patients at the reduced fee.

Future Pharmaceuticals’ price cut brought in patients and profits as Mark upgraded his Super Physique and expanded his film company’s investment plans. After two Mutants took shelter at Future Film Company, Lawrence ordered Nolan and two powerful Wolverine clones to capture them and the company’s Mutant actors.

• Future Pharmaceuticals lowered its treatment fee to $500,000, treated more than a thousand patients, and saw its valuation rise to $120 billion.
• Mark upgraded Super Physique to level 13, greatly increasing his strength, durability, and senses.
• Mark told Archer to raise half the funding for Windwalker and Heart Whisperer from outside investors.
• Lawrence learned that Targets No. 5 and No. 6 had joined Future Film Company and ordered Nolan to capture them and the Mutant actors Brian and Ivy.
• Lawrence sent clones -23 and -24 and two armed squads, warning them not to bring network-connected devices.
• Nolan entered Trask’s underground prison and called -23 and -24 to their mission.

Nolan led two clones and armed squads from Trask Industries to attack Payne Pictures, where Mark and the Mutants prepared to defend themselves. Mark intervened after the assault began, and Nolan’s forces opened fire on him as he attacked -24.

• Nolan unlocked -23 and -24’s cells and took them with armed squads from Trask Industries toward Payne Pictures.
• Alice alerted Mark to the convoy, and Mark warned Brian and the others before flying to Payne Pictures.
• Nolan’s force jammed communications and stormed the building, where -24 broke through the gate and withstood the security guards’ bullets.
• Brian’s wind blades killed two armed personnel, and Luca transformed into a giant bear and fought -24.
• Mark attacked -24 with Heat Vision, and Nolan ordered his armed personnel to shoot Mark.

Mark defeated -24 and Nolan’s armed group, then captured -23 and learned she was a clone from Trask Industries’ Biological Laboratory. -23 offered to lead Mark to the hidden laboratory if he could first remove the bombs implanted near the clones’ hearts.

• Mark’s attacks burned away -24’s flesh and destroyed him, while Luca fought -23 to a standstill and the Biological Force Field blocked Nolan’s gunfire.
• After -24 died, Nolan ordered a retreat, but Mark killed Nolan and the armed personnel with Heat Vision as -23 fled.
• Mark caught -23 and flew away with her, ordering Brian to collect and hide -24’s Adamantium skeleton before the police arrived.
• Mark interrogated -23, who identified herself as a Trask Industries Biological Laboratory clone sent to capture Targets No. 5 and No. 6.
• -23 refused to reveal the laboratory’s location because miniature bombs near the clones’ hearts threatened to kill them, but offered to guide Mark there if he removed the bombs.

Mark used Alice to disable the bomb chips controlling -23 and the other Mutants, freeing -23 to reveal Trask Industries' hidden biological laboratory. They broke into the facility, where -23 began attacking its guards.

• Mark ordered Alice to infiltrate Trask Industries' network and take control of the server that could detonate the bomb chips.
• Alice seized the server before it could activate -23's bomb and altered the logs to conceal the intrusion.
• -23 removed the bomb implanted near her heart and confirmed it no longer worked, then agreed to take Mark to Trask's laboratory.
• Mark followed -23 to a concealed cave in the Santa Monica Mountains and smashed through the laboratory's alloy entrance.
• Laboratory guards fired at Mark and -23, but Mark blocked the bullets while -23 charged the guards and cut them down with her Adamantium claws.

Mark and -23 freed the Mutant clones from Trask’s underground laboratory and prepared to expose the company’s crimes. The clones agreed to serve as witnesses, while -23 left the children behind and escaped with Mark to avoid arrest for the guards and workers she had killed.

• -23 killed the laboratory staff and guards as Mark had Alice review and destroy the cruel cloning research files while preserving evidence of Trask’s crimes.
• -23 reached the clone cells, freed the children and adults, and explained that Mark had disabled the chip bombs in their bodies.
• Mark proposed using the preserved evidence and the clones’ testimony to bring down Trask Industries, promising to contact the media if the government tried to hide the truth.
• The clones agreed to stay and testify, and Mark told -23 she could not remain because she had killed too many people.
• -23 reluctantly left the children behind after Mark promised she could visit them at an orphanage, then followed him out of the laboratory.

Mark brought Laura to Payne Manor and recruited her into the Payne Group after she chose a name and signed a contract. Meanwhile, reports exposed Trask Industries’ crimes, and Mark ordered Alice to find out what had happened to the rescued Mutant clones.

• Mark invited -23 to join the Payne Group, and she accepted before he flew her to Payne Manor and revealed his true appearance.
• Mark introduced -23 to Lina and Li Qianhuan, and Lina classified her as a Level 4 Mutant and confirmed that her nature leaned toward kindness.
• -23 chose the name Laura Kinney, signed the group contract, and officially joined the Payne Group.
• Mark reviewed the news exposing Trask’s cloning crimes and learned that the FBI and Congress had begun investigating the company.
• Mark ordered Alice to investigate where the police had taken the Mutant clones, and Alice infiltrated the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters.

Mark learned that the cloned children were safe in witness protection, while Trask Industries faced ruin and Captain America broke box-office records. At a Virginia laboratory, Doctor Banner objected to a dangerous gamma experiment, but General Ross demanded that it proceed toward human trials.

• Mark reassured Laura that the cloned children were safe under police protection and in the witness protection program.
• Lawrence was arrested after a congressional hearing, and a federal court froze his assets and Trask Industries' accounts as evidence mounted against him.
• Captain America left theaters with $2.1 billion, boosting Payne Pictures as filming began on Windwalker and Heart Whisperer; Lina rejected one of five Mutants seeking work and hired the other four.
• Madame Gao reported Orson's seizure of the Dragon Bone Graveyard to The Hand's leaders, and Alexandra proposed leaking Orson's whereabouts to the Seven Cities of Heaven.
• Doctor Banner watched a gamma-ray experiment make a monkey aggressive and rapidly heal, warned against continuing, and heard General Ross demand that the project move to human trials.

Doctor Banner volunteered to be the first human subject in the military’s gamma-ray experiment rather than let others be forced into it. After Banner received the Super-Soldier Serum and gamma irradiation, General Ross ordered Stern to increase the output, putting Banner’s life in danger.

• Doctor Banner objected to General Ross’s order to begin human trials, then volunteered to be the first test subject.
• General Ross accepted Banner’s offer, and Betty failed to persuade her father to reconsider.
• Betty had the Super-Soldier Serum injected into Banner, who recognized it as the military’s flawed version of the serum.
• Betty ordered the gamma rays fired, and Banner’s body began reacting as the radiation combined with the serum and his growing fury.
• Impatient after half an hour, General Ross secretly ordered Stern to increase the gamma-ray output, and Stern turned up the machine despite the danger to Banner.

Banner transformed into the Hulk during the gamma experiment and rampaged through the laboratory as General Ross tried to capture him. Betty calmed Banner and urged him to flee, and he escaped onto the Culver University campus as students and teachers panicked.

• General Ross watched Banner's gamma exposure and welcomed the transformation as the biological weapon he wanted.
• Banner became a towering green monster, smashed through the radiation chamber, and wrecked the laboratory.
• General Ross ordered soldiers to capture Banner with tranquilizers, then authorized lethal weapons when the darts failed.
• Banner shrugged off bullets, knocked soldiers aside, and shattered the glass separating him from General Ross.
• Betty pleaded with Banner not to hurt her father and urged him to leave the Federation, so Banner ran from the laboratory.
• Teachers and students at Culver University screamed and fled as Banner charged onto campus.

After Hulk appeared at Culver University, Mark and General Ross tracked Banner to Henry Port as Banner tried to flee to Mexico. Ross’s task force surrounded the harbor, leaving Banner trapped as Ross ordered him to surrender.

• Mark recognized Hulk in the broadcast footage and ordered Alice to track him.
• Alice followed Hulk toward Port Charles, then lost Banner after he changed back and evaded surveillance.
• Alice found Banner at Henry Port, and Mark flew there while General Ross mobilized his task force.
• Banner boarded a passenger ship bound for Mexico, but General Ross arranged a temporary harbor closure.
• Banner disembarked and tried to leave by taxi, but Ross’s armored vehicles and helicopters surrounded him.
• General Ross ordered Banner to surrender and return with the task force.

Banner tried to escape by sea, but tranquilizer rounds sent him underwater and triggered his transformation into Hulk. After Hulk destroyed much of General Ross’s force and escaped into the jungle, Mark intercepted him and began a head-on fight.

• Banner jumped into the sea to reach a motorboat, but General Ross ordered soldiers to shoot him with tranquilizer rounds, and Banner sank beneath the water.
• Hulk burst from the sea and fought off General Ross’s forces, wrecking armored vehicles and destroying a helicopter with a thrown fragment.
• General Ross refused to authorize a missile strike because he wanted to capture Hulk alive, but Hulk escaped into the jungle and the helicopters lost his trail.
• Mark, who had watched the battle from above, followed Hulk through the jungle and blocked his path.
• Mark taunted Hulk, then stood his ground and took Hulk’s punches and kicks without retreating.

Mark defeated Hulk and recruited Banner, offering to protect him from General Ross and the military in exchange for his work. He brought Banner to Payne Manor, revealed that he was only seven years old, and introduced him to Brandon, whom Banner already knew.

• Mark overpowered Hulk, struck the back of his neck, and knocked him unconscious, causing him to revert to Banner.
• Mark woke Banner, gave him clothes, and offered to hide and protect him from General Ross if Banner worked for him.
• Banner accepted Mark's offer, and Mark flew him to Payne Manor.
• Mark revealed his true age to Banner and brought him to the manor's laboratory to meet Brandon.
• Banner and Brandon recognized each other when Mark introduced them.