Chris Bradley

Chris Bradley
Chris Bradley as he appeared on the cover of X-Men Unlimited volume 1 issue 8 Art by Adam Polina and Ian Arkin.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	X-Men Unlimited vol. 1 #8 (October, 1995)
Created by	Howard Mackie (writer), Tom Grummett, Dan Lawlis (co-artists)
In-story information
Alter ego	Christopher "Chris" Bradley
Species	Human Mutant
Team affiliations	New Warriors Underground Gene Nation
Notable aliases	Bolt, Maverick
Abilities	Able to generate and control electricity (electrokinesis)

Christopher Bradley, formerly known as Bolt and Maverick, is a fictional comic book character who appears in books published by Marvel Comics, in particular those featuring the X-Men. He is a young mutant who first appeared in X-Men Unlimited #8.

Fictional character biography

Legacy Virus

Chris Bradley was first introduced as a young boy who began suffering from increasingly painful headaches. The headaches resulted from his electrical mutant powers, which manifested and grew out of control in the middle of a class at school, leaving him unconscious. He was rescued by Jean Grey and Gambit, who had been sent by Professor Xavier to keep an eye on him and approach him should his powers reveal themselves. After taking him home, the X-Men offered him training at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. At first Chris was reluctant, but after being shunned by his best friend, agreed to join the school.^[1]

Chris spent several weeks at the school, quickly developing close friendships with the X-Men, particularly Iceman, whose own youthful personality seemed to connect well with Chris'. However, when the Beast ran a medical test on Chris, it was revealed that he was infected with the Legacy Virus, which would eventually kill him. Chris was afraid of what his future would hold, but Iceman and the other X-Men offered him aid should he ever need it.^{[volume & issue needed]}

During the "X-Men: Zero Tolerance" storyline, in which the mutant hating Bastion began to target the X-Men, they lost touch with Chris. This left Bradley hurt with feelings of abandonment, particularly as his illness was growing steadily worse.^{[volume & issue needed]}

New Warriors/Bolt

He soon found a mentor in Maverick who was also suffering from the Legacy Virus.^[2] Chris stayed with him for a while before joining the New Warriors.^{[volume & issue needed]} After the break-up of his New Warriors team, he teamed up again with Maverick.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Maverick

When Maverick disappeared and was believed dead, Bolt took the Maverick alias for himself and joined the Underground, a group founded by Cable to battle Weapon X and expose its existence. Following the group's defeat, Chris remained in the Underground, though it was taken over by Marrow and remade into a new incarnation of the extremist mutant supremacist group Gene Nation. Chris did not leave as he wanted to undermine Gene Nation from within and preventing its terrorist attacks, though he was ultimately killed by his former mentor himself, now bearing the codename "Agent Zero", who did not find out Chris had been the new Maverick until it was too late. Ironically, disgusted by Agent Zero and not wanting to know his true identity, Chris died in his arms, stating that he took on Maverick's persona in order to ensure that his mentor's name would live on and that he wanted his mentor to be proud of him.^[3]

During the Necrosha storyline, Chris is later resurrected by means of the Transmode Virus to serve as part of Selene's army of deceased mutants. Under the control of Selene and Eli Bard, he takes part in the assault on the mutant nation of Utopia.^[4]

Powers and abilities

Bolt can project and control electricity, an ability he primarily manifests as devastating electrical blasts which he fires from his hands, but he can also surround himself with an energy shield that shocks anyone who touches, conduct electricity through metal objects, or short-circuit electronic devices. When he fully powers up his body is surrounded by a blazing aura that obscures his features, giving him the appearance of being composed of electricity, which appears as blue flames. When he originally manifested his powers he surrounded his entire high school in a massive electrical field, but has not shown that level of power since, ever since being cured of the Legacy Virus (which boosts mutant power levels while it kills them).

In other media

Dominic Monaghan plays Chris Bradley/Bolt in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It was initially reported that he would play Barnell Bohusk.^{[dead link][5]} Bradley is not mentored by David North, but is his teammate. Bradley is a part of Team X, alongside James Howlett, Victor Creed, Agent Zero, Fred Dukes, John Wraith and Wade Wilson, and is led by Col. William Stryker. He has the ability to control anything electric, and in that capacity pilots the airplane that transports him and his teammates. Six years after the events in Africa, Bradley works in a circus in Springfield, Ohio. He is visited by Victor Creed, who kills him in his trailer, causing all electronic hardware to shutdown in the surrounding area. Bradley's electrical capabilities are later used for the mutant killer, Weapon XI/Deadpool, for him to be communicated with via a computer. Bradley speaks with Monaghan's own English accent, which differs from the comics origin of the character as an American from Dutchess County, New York.

References

1. ^ X-Men Unlimted #8 (October 1995)
2. ^ Maverick #1 (September 1997)
3. ^ Weapon X (2nd series) #20-21
4. ^ X-Force (3rd Series) #22, February 2010
5. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}

External links

• UncannyX-Men.net Spotlight On... Bolt