Weapon X
This page is about the Phase 2 incarnation of the team. For other uses, see Weapon X (disambiguation).
Weapon X | |
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![]() Portrayed by Various | |
Known Aliases: | William Stryker, Daniel Lyman, Wolverine, Maverick, Deathstrike, Ajax, Slayback, Washout |
Affiliations: | |
Socked By: | Various |
Introduction: | X2 |
A military program experimenting on mutants to create the perfect solider, Weapon X had far-reaching implications and impacted on more than just the actual team.
Roster
Yuriko Oyama - Deathstrike | ![]() PB: Kelly Hu
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Name unknown - Ajax | ![]() PB: Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation.
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Name unknown - Slayback | ![]() PB: Locutus of Borg
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Name unknown - Washout | ![]() PB: Aldis Hodge |
Former Members
William Stryker | ![]() PB: Brian Cox
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Daniel Lyman | ![]() PB: Peter Wingfield
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Logan - Wolverine | ![]() PB: Hugh Jackman.
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David North - Maverick | ![]() PB: Max Ryan
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Wade Wilson - Deadpool | ![]() PB: Jensen Ackles |
Details
Weapon X was the codename of a joint program between the United States government and Canada's Department H, designed to create enhanced soldiers for various military operations. It would later become the operational name for a covert group of agents controlled by William Stryker for his own agenda. The full information about the project is currently known only to a handful of people; what is known through classified government and military records is only that its operatives were used in various covert operations through the 1980s and 1990s.
Weapon X began as part of the WEAPON series of projects; a group of joint initiatives between the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and various domestic and foreign groups exploring the potential effects and applications of mutant powers. At the time, mutants were considered as an element of biological warfare, which required most of the WEAPON projects to be conducted secretly. It is believed that a total of 24 WEAPON projects were funded between the early 80s and into the mid-90s before they were all shut down and research into mutants passed from USAMRIID into regular military channels. Noted geneticist Nathaniel Essex was part of WEAPON IX, XIV, and XIX.
WEAPON X was initially designed to see how technology and genetics could be used to augment existing mutants, to better adapt their powers to covert operations. Department H, the Canadian agency in charge of mutant research paired with USAMRIID on the project, and they attracted noted scientists like Kenji Oyama.
The project was overseen by Colonel William Stryker, a former decorated Vietnam helicopter pilot who had moved into covert operations for the US military. Stryker had already been assembling and using mutant operatives for his own missions, not all of which were known to the US military. Stryker saw great potential in the program, but did not want to see it co-opted out from under his control. As a result, he pushed through an aggressive series of experiments using his own operatives as subjects.
Stryker successfully blackmailed a senator into keeping his funding going, and co-opted the name Weapon X as the title of his personal black-operations squad. In the mid 90s, Stryker would reduce his operations in favour of new programs linked closer to his growing obsession of the mutant threat. Many of his older operatives such as David North found themselves put under deep cover, or quietly retired or eliminated.
One of Stryker's operatives, Wolverine, escaped the Alkali Lake facility not long after his experimental treatments were completed. The backlash from the security breach killed the funding to WEAPON X, and it was officially shut down. However, Stryker had been planning for this very opportunity, putting himself put in charge of securing the remaining assets of the WEAPON X project and making sure the project never became public knowledge. Department H severed ties with the program at this point, believing it to be a failure and that it would be rendered defunct by the US government. Department H currently holds what is believed to be the only surviving official records of the project prior to its termination, secretly archived by Director Malcolm Colcord. It is unknown whether or not Colcord is aware that Logan was a WEAPON X subject.
Stryker relocated all his facilities to Alkali Lake, believed to be completely closed down by the government. There was also considerable research into a second generation of Weapon X operatives, ones more closely controlled and secretly tied to Stryker.
Other individuals with ties to Weapon X
- Jason Stryker (deceased)