*Since TheRealTomServo's taking his time, figured I'd beat him to the punch on this one.*
In 1969, then-Avengers creative team Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema introduced readers to a half-homage-to, half-riff-on the headlining heroes of Marvel's Distinguished Competition in the form of a quartet called the Squadron Sinister, made up of Hyperion, Nighthawk, the Whizzer (who'd later go on to be Speed Demon), and Doctor Spectrum. The four were assembled by the Grandmaster in order to face off with the Avengers, acting as the champions of the Elder of the Universe's rival in the contest, Kang the Conqeror. Two years later, Thomas and Sal's brother John Buscema introduced a heroic version of the group as the Squadron Supreme, the greatest heroes of Earth-712.
The 70's saw more members of the group unveiled as the team became embroiled in one plot after another, usually as pawns of an outside sinister force. A 1976 Avengers arc (which saw the addition of Beast and Hellcat to the team) saw the Squadron fall under the control of the mystic artifact the Serpent Crown; a Thor story from that same period had the team attacked by the Squadron Sinister version of Hyperion; a 1982 Defenders plot saw the team as mind-slaves of the Overmind and his master Null, the Living Darkness. The Defenders free the Squadron and together they defeat the villains, but Earth-712 is left in an almost post-apocalyptic state. That state of affairs formed the basis for the most well-known Squadron story that followed, the self-titled 1985 maxi-series written by the late Mark Gruenwald and illustrated by the late Paul Ryan.
This is a story that I think would make for a great animated adaptation, specifically in a miniseries format (which would be able to combine 2 issues of the maxiseries each into six hour-long episodes). If you had to ask me what my favorite of the legendary superhero stories of 1985-86 would be, Squadron Supreme would be it, beating out Watchmen (my least favorite). How would such an animated spectacle look? Here's how I envision it.
Voice direction: Jamie Simone
Mid-credits message: Dedidcated to the memories of Mark Gruenwald and Paul Ryan.
Plot (taken from the TPB collection):
On an Earth much like our own, the world's greatest superhuman champions are confronted by a society in ruins. Faced with the possibility of a new dark age for mankind, they choose the only course available to them - and take control of the world's governments themselves! Now, they have one year in which to completely restructure human society. Can their plan succeed? Will a renegade member bring about their downfall? And what will happen when this Earth's mightiest heroes find themselves becoming instead its all-powerful, totalitarian overlords?
Voice Cast:
+Squadron Supreme (analogue of the Justice League)
-Hyperion/Mark Milton - George Eads
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0247040/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
The last Eternal of this universe, he was rocketed to Earth as a baby and adopted by a kindly farm couple from Texas. His adoptive parents raised him very well, instilling in him certain values that led to his career as a hero and proactive approach towards human affairs. Upon finishing college, Mark Milton decides to become a costumed hero to use his powers to protect others, he chooses the name Hyperion, after the greek titan. Mark chooses to move to the city of Cosmopolis and gets a job as a newspaper's staff cartoonist. Mark would later start a relationship with his work colleague Lonni Lattimer. While living a life of heroic adventure and crime-fighting, Hyperion meets many other metahumans, several of them decide to join forces and form the superhero team Squadron Supreme. Hyperion is chosen as the leader of the Squadron.
Hyperion proposes the implementation of the Utopia Program, and all but two members of the Squadron back him. Around this time, he and Lonni break up, and later on begins a romantic relationship with teammate Power Princess (after an incident involving his Squadron Sinister counterpart). After the final battle between the Squadron and Nighthawk's Redeemers, Hyperion realizes he was wrong about everything and promptly dismantles the Utopia Program.
Analogue of Superman.
*Given Hyperion's Earth background, it makes sense to have a natural-born Texan voice him, especially with one who's dabbled in the superhero game on a number of occasions (as Captain Atom in Justice League Unlimited and the Flash/Barry Allen in Young Justice).*
-Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond - Edward Burns
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122653/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
The master tactician of the Squadron, some time before the events of the Overmind incident, Richmond had retired from superheroics to become a politician, feeling he could better serve the public good in political office. Eventually he successfully runs for, and is elected, president of the United States, only to be the first to fall prey to the Overmind's control. When the rest of the Squadron decided to implement the Utopia Program, Nighthawk (and fellow member Amphibian) opposed it, believing that the team should serve and not rule. He first resigns from the team in protest, and then as Kyle Richmond, publicly resigns from the presidency at the same time the Squadron announces their plans, beginning with the reveal of their secret identities. Nighthawk almost tries to assassinate Hyperion then and there, but cannot bring himself to do it. Predicting that no good would come of the Utopia Program, he seeks out the counsel of his Earth's sorceror supreme, Professor Imam. He then journeys to the universe of the Avengers, seeking their aid and that of the Fantastic Four. While there, he discovers three of his own foes (the Mink , the Remnant, and Pinball) had escaped to this universe to flee the reach of the Utopia Program. Nighthawk convinces them to join forces with him, and he brings them together with a group of newly-emerged superhumans (along with an ex-Squadron member) to form the Redeemers, a resistance group to fight against the Squadron's control.
Analogue of Batman.
-Power Princess/Zarda of Utopia Isle - Sonequa Martin-Green
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2792296/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Zarda grew up as princess of the far-off Utopia Isle, located somewhere in the South Seas. The Utopians believed that their race was created by the Kree through genetic experimentation, making them the equivalent of Earth-616's Inhumans. As a result, the Utopians were far more advanced while the rest of the worlds' humans were in their early stages of development. During Earth-712's equivalent of World War II, Power Princess helped the side of the Allies against Germany and Japan, and served as a member of the Golden Agency; around this time, she met and fell in love with a sailor named Howard Shelton, who became her common-law husband. When "man" started playing around with atomic and nuclear bombs, the Utopians felt the world was threatened. Being a peaceful race, they found the easiest solution would be to simply leave Earth. They built a spaceship and left; however Zarda stayed behind as Power Princess and served as the Utopian's emissary. She became a founding member of the most renowned team of heroes on her world: the Squadron Supreme.
The principles of Zarda's people formed the basis for the Utopia Program the Squadron implements. During the days of its implementing, Hyperion is temporarily displaced by his Squadron Sinister counterpart, who finds himself attracted to Zarda and secretly suffocates Shelton to death in order for them to be together. The real Hyperion returns and defeats his impostor, but is blinded in the process. Although initially confused about her feelings for her teammate, Zarda and Hyperion eventually began a romantic relationship, and he hands her leadership of the Squadron. In the wake of the battle against the Redeemers, Zarda makes the decision to disband the Squadron.
Analogue of Wonder Woman. Her membership in the WWII-era Golden Agency is based on the Golden Age Wonder Woman's membership in the Justice Society of America.
-Amphibian/'Kingsley Rice' - Imari Williams
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Imari-Williams/
An aquatic mutant, Kinglsey Rice was a founding member of the Squadron Supreme. When the team proposed the Utopia Program, Amphibian (along with Nighthawk) dissented. In particular, he took issue with one aspect of the program: 'behavior-modification' machines developed by teammate Tom Thumb that would be used on supervillains and regular criminals. He believed these were innately wrong and went against the natural balance of mankind. At one point, he decides to take matters into his own hands and secretly visits Tom's lab, where he destroys every one of the 'b-mod' machines. He resigns from the team shortly after, seeing that the Utopia Program was merely superhumans taking over the world 'for the greater good'.
Analogue of Aquaman.
-The Whizzer/Stanley Stewart - Dan Gilvezan
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Gilvezan/
Mail carrier Stanley Stewart, while jogging late one night, accidentally passed through a strange, luminescent fog bank. When he emerged from it, he discovered he now possessed super-speed, and went on to become the hero known as the Whizzer, later helping to found Squadron Supreme. Alongside his teammates, the Whizzer helped to enact the Utopia Program in order to solve their world's problems, effectively taking control of the governments in an attempt to eliminate crime, war, sickness and even death.
Like the rest of the Squadron, he revealed his identity to the public, a decision that later came back to haunt them, as their loved ones were abducted by their old foes in the Institute of Evil. Seeing his wife Maddie and daughter Tina in great danger, the Whizzer deserted his teammates, and attempted to attack the Institute on his own. While the Squadron was able to defeat the Institute, and Hyperion forgave Whizzer's rash actions, he found himself doubting that his teammates would ever trust him again.
Analogue of the Flash (Barry Allen).
*A favorite of mine in the business of voiceover, Gilvezan, had his career started just a bit farther back, would've been a great voice for the Flash in the old Super Friends cartoons. Not to discount the talent of the actual voice actor (and Gilvezan's future fellow G.I. Joe and Transformers cast member) Jack Angel.*
-Doctor Spectrum/Joseph Ledger - David Lodge
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/David-Lodge/
Joseph "Joe" Ledger was on top of the world, literally. Joe was an accomplished astronaut working for NASA. He was young, handsome, and loved the ladies and the ladies loved him. Joe Ledger, the hottest young astronaut in the program. Joe was fulfilled. However on one mission to space Joe found the wrecked ship of an alien Skrull named Skymax. When Joe saved the Skrull's life, he was awarded with the Power Prism, a powerful energy synthesizer the Skrulls had created. Joe was awestruck by the experience and decided that once he returned to Earth he would reevaluate his idea of "fulfillment". With the new amazing abilities from the Power Prism, he became the superhero Doctor Spectrum, and later helped found Squadron Supreme. [Skymax would also become a founder under the alias of the Skrullian Skymaster, and serve on the team for a number of years until he went into a state of self-seclusion.]
During the implementing of the Utopia Program, Joe was sent to track down his AWOL teammate Nuke, who'd been missing for several weeks. After tracking Nuke down to his hometown, Joe went to the hospital Nuke's parents had been staying at. Finding out that Nuke's parents had passed away from radiation poisoning Nuke inadvertently had given them, Joe went looking for him. Finding him, he tried to convince him to return to the Squadron for help. However, Nuke went on a rampage, and Joe accidentally restrained him in a force bubble, causing Nuke to suffocate while trying to break free. Nuke's death greatly perturbed Joe and motivated him to vow that he would no longer use his powers in violent ways if he could avoid it. At one point, Joe became romantically involved with Foxfire, a member of the Institute of Evil reformed by the 'b-mod' process. Joe had to abandon his pacifistic views during the final battle between the Squadron and the Redeemers.
Analogue of Green Lantern (Hal Jordan).
-Blue Eagle/James Dore, Jr. - Lex Lang
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Lex-Lang/
A second-generation superhero, James Dore, Jr. is the son of the WWII-era American Eagle, a member of the Golden Agency. The senior Dore had high expectations for his son. Having a rather uncomfortable relationship with his father over the years, James Jr. became the new American Eagle and became his city of Mayflower Freedonia's local hero. James became the third recruit to join as a member of the Squadron Supreme and fought alongside their ranks for years to come. Due to political differences with his father, James Jr. abandoned the identity and costume of American Eagle and took up the identity of Cap'n Hawk. During the period where the Overmind controlled the Squadron, James Sr. passed away. Jr. was then given by his mother a new costume and battle gear, which James Sr. had left for his son, never being able to say goodbye. His current costume in tatters, both in its material and reputation, the Cap'n became the Blue Eagle. Honoring his father's past, while forging his new future with the colors of a formerly glorious nation, both headed to a new era.
During the early stages of the Utopia Program's implementation, Blue Eagle and his teammate Lady Lark began to grow closer, causing her to grow distant to her then-lover and teammate Golden Archer. Things took a turn for the worse when he discovered that Golden Archer abused the 'b-mod' tech to force Lady Lark to keep loving him. He then called for Golden Archer to be thrown off the team. Over time, Blue Eagle became more suspicious of the villains 'b-modded' into joining the Squadron's ranks, and eventually found himself a pawn of Nighthawk and the Redeemers in their attempt to overthrow the Squadron, leading to fatal consequences in the final battle between both teams.
Analogue of Hawkman.
-Golden Archer/Black Archer/Wyatt McDonald - Paul Blackthorne
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0085860/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
A British cab driver who became a highly-skilled archery expert, McDonald (first under the name Hawkeye and then Golden Archer) fought crime alongside his teammate and on-again-off-again lover Lady Lark in the city of New Babylon. They eventually garnered enough renknown to join the Squadron Supreme. During the early days of the Utopia Program, a mission to dismantle an arms plant nearly proved fatal for Golden Archer when a rebel nearly killed him after his force-field belt shorted out, only for him to be saved by the Whizzer. This brush with death got Wyatt thinking about how he wasn't going to live forever, and so he decided to ask Lady Lark to marry him, since they had been dating for several years now. Unfortunately, Lady Lark had started to develop a crush on fellow teammate Blue Eagle, and was also well aware of the fact that could she lose her powers (which she looked at as a curse), so Wyatt wouldn't be able to connect with her. Therefore, when the Golden Archer did ask her to marry him, she rejected him kindly but firmly. In his rage, and unable to accept that Lady Lark was starting to move on, the Archer used Tom Thumb's recently developed 'B-Modding' treatment to brainwash Lark into loving him. However, a side effect of the B-Modding that Wyatt hadn't counted on was that Lady Lark now loved him too much--she refused to leave his side and wouldn't give him any space. To get away from her and perhaps think about his rash actions, the Golden Archer ran away from the Squadron without telling anyone. Unfortunately, this in turn led to the Institute of Evil, the Squadron's opposite numbers, capturing the Archer. After severely injuring him, the Institute found out about the B-Modder, as well as the location of the Squadron's headquarters, from the Archer, and used the information to seemingly B-Mod the Squadron. Luckily for the Squadron, it turned out that Tom Thumb had guessed that Wyatt had used the B-Modder on Lady Lark, and afterwards had built in failsafes to prevent the B-Modder from altering any members of the Squadron Surpeme. The Squadron were able to defeat the Institute of Evil, and Wyatt was lucky enough that Tom Thumb didn't reveal his suspicions.
This didn't last long, as while the Archer was recovering in hospital, Blue Eagle accused him of using the B-Modder on Lady Lark, having gathered suspicions of his own. When brought before the Squadron, Wyatt admitted what he had done, by now having started to feel guilty about it. The Squadron then had a vote as to what to do with him, and whilst the numbers were close, the Archer was voted out of the Squadron Supreme. Seeking redemption for his mistake, Wyatt changed his codename to the Black Archer, in addition to growing a beard (possibly to help disguise himself from the Squadron). He then joined Nighthawk's Redeemers, most likely being found with the crystal given to Nighthawk by Professor Imam, and participated in the final fight against the Squadron.
Analogue of Green Arrow.
-Lady Lark/Linda Lewis - Carrie Keranen
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Carrie-Keranen/
Linda Lewis was a promising up and coming singer from Franklintown, New Babylon, with a new record release before a tragic accident severed her vocal chords. An enemy of the Squadron Supreme, Doctor Decibel, surgically implanted synthetic vocal chords into her throat. The morbid Doctor's operation ended up giving her the ability to generate a "sonic cry" which could incapacitate opponents, but sadly took away her natural ability to sing. Assuming the name Lady Lark, she set out on a career of heroics alongside the Squadron Supreme. A reluctant hero at best, Linda often wished to return to her singing career, never truly having the heart for adventuring and seeing her ability as a curse. She often fought crime alongside her beau Golden Archer, with the two later joining Squadron Supreme.
During the implementation of the Utopia Program, Linda experienced an emotional tug-of-war as she developed feelings for her teammate Blue Eagle, who she then chose to pursue on the advice of her other teammate Arcanna. This infuriated Golden Archer, who resorted to brainwashing Linda with the b-mod tech into loving him, with the unintended side-effect of giving her a vapid airhead persona severely obsessed with the Archer. Tom Thumb, the inventor of the tech, was unable to restore her to normal without possible brain damage occurring.
Analogue of Black Canary.
-Tom Thumb/Thomas Thompson - Wallace Shawn
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001728/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Thomas Thompson was born a dwarf, and although he lacked strength physically, he was incredibly intelligent, possibly one of the smartest people on Earth-712. At an unknown age, presumably in his 20's or 30's, he started to fight crime, using devices and inventions which he had invented himself. He fought at least one supervillain, named Iron Moth (who has never been seen physically). At some point, Tom was invited to join the Squadron Supreme, to which he happily accepted. Tom presumably spent most of his time with them, as he didn't seem to have any friends or family outside of the team.
As the team's resident genius, Tom was behind many of the operations of the team, and designed many of the devices which the team used, such as the force field belts which protected them from bullets, as well as a supercomputer he named AIDA. He also helped Golden Archer and Doctor Spectrum distribute food amongst the civilians at least once. In the early months of the Utopia plan, Tom was asked by his teammate Nuke to find a cure for cancer after Nuke found out that his parents were dying of cancer accidentally spread to them as a result of his powers. After making a containment suit for Nuke, so that he wouldn't accidentally contaminate anyone else, Tom spent weeks trying everything he could, before confessing to Nuke that he simply couldn't do it. Upon Nuke flying into a rage, Tom travelled to the Scarlet Centurion's time in an attempt to find their cure for cancer. Unfortunately for him, the Centurion would only agree to give the cure if Tom poisoned Hyperion and weakened him enough for the Centurion to defeat him. Seeing the price as too high, Tom refused. Once he told Nuke once again that he had failed to find a cure, Nuke quit the Squadron in anger.
Unknown to Nuke, however, Tom had found something out during his research into cancer: he himself had it, and only had a number of months to live. After this, Tom divided his time between searching for a cure to cancer, even though he suspected that it was pointless, and working on more inventions for the Squadron. He purposely didn't tell anyone other than AIDA, his sentient computer, that he had cancer, as he didn't want anyone worrying about him. Tom soon came to invent one of his most controversial inventions for the Utopia Program: the Behavior Modifier, or B-Modder. This device allowed a user to modify another person's brain, so that a criminal could have their criminal nature removed, and brought into society as an ordinary person. However, it had one major downside: once a person had been B-Modded, the process was irreversible. Around this time Tom also invented a gun which subdued its targets by stimulating the pleasure centers of the brain.
Tom worked closely with Ape-X, one of the reformed villains brought onto the Squadron, who suggested at one point he simply travel into the Scarlet Centurion's future to steal the cancer cure, with another reformed villain, Lamprey, as backup. Once in-hand, Tom realized the cure was merely antibiotics and vitamins, and that people in this time simply had stronger immune systems. Tom decided to live out the rest of his life as best he could, before succumbing to his cancer and dying one week later. Prior to his death, he had created a device called a Hibernaculum, which was intended to cryogenically freeze someone, so that if they had any diseases they could be placed into one until a cure had been found in the future. Tom was placed into the very first Hibernaculum after death.
Loose analogue of the Atom/Ray Palmer.
-Arcanna/Arcanna Jones - Anna Torv
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1396022/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Originally a hedonistic sorceress, Arcanna used her mystic talents as a medium. Arcanna was born with an aptitude for magic and various psychic powers that developed as she matured. Some time later, when she became an adult, Arcanna decided to become a professional crime fighter and began to capture criminals for profit. This was at the persuasion of her husband Phil Jones. They decided that Phil would stay home to raise their children Drusilla, Katrina and Andrew. Making their home in a small forest within Pommerschen, New York. Arcanna cast an illusion to hide the residence from the outside world for her family. Sometime later Arcanna's success as a crime fighter came to the attention of the members of the Squadron Supreme. Arcanna accepted an offer of membership into the Squadron Supreme, making Arcanna the fifth recruit.
During the implementing of the Utopia Program, Arcanna divided her time between contributing to the efforts and visiting her family. At first she, like Amphibian, objected to the b-mod tech, but was won over by Tom Thumb when he proved that it wouldn't destroy brain cells. At one point, Arcanna becomes pregnant again; later, she and her family moved out of their secret house located in the woods and into Squadron City with the rest of the other families of the Squadron Supreme, as she used her same illusion casting powers to conceal the whole massive complex.
Arcanna would flee the final battle between the Squadron and the Redeemers, during which time she went into labor, eventually giving birth to a boy, Benjamin Thomas Jones.
Analogue of Zatanna.
-Nuke/Albert Gaines - Kyle McCarley
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Kyle-McCarley/
An ordinary worker at a nuclear power plant, Albert Gaines was accidentally exposed to nuclear waste products, and in the most unlikely of origins, gained superhuman powers as a result. Sometime prior to the Squadron Supreme being controlled by Overmind and Null the Living Darkness, Albert was asked to join the Squadron, and happily accepted. For unknown reasons, he chose to keep his identity secret from the rest of his family. Nuke was shown to be very caring of his family, and wasn't shown to speak up much when in the Squadron, highly likely due to depression from his parents' illnesses. However, Nuke was shown to have a near-unstoppable rage when something could provoke his anger. Nuke would later discover that his own powers had given his parents their cancer, and turned to Tom Thumb for help. Upon Tom admitting that he hadn't found a cure for cancer, Nuke snapped, and started shouting threats at Tom, even though Tom had tried his best to help Nuke. He also got into a violent fight with Doctor Spectrum, which only ended when Spectrum accidentally killed Nuke. Doctor Spectrum later visited Nuke's younger brother Scott, who he apologized to for his actions.
Analogue of Firestorm.
+The Institute of Evil (analogue to the Secret Society of Super-Villains)
-Ape-X/Xina - Diane Delano
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Diane-Delano/
After her trainer died, the mind-enchanced Ape-X turned to a life of crime with the Institute Of Evil. She later received behavior-modification by the Squadron Supreme and joined the team, though the treatment eventually led to a psychotic reaction. While a member of Squadron Supreme, she formed a close relationship with Tom Thumb, assisting in developing and implementing technology essential in reaching the Squadron's goals. After Tom died of cancer Ape X began to create a robotic version of him, presumably out of a longing for his company. She was unable to complete the project do to a psychotic reaction triggered by conflicting imperatives forced on her by the Squadron's behavior modification process, triggered when she observed a new member of the Squadron Supreme breaking team policies.
Analogue of Gorilla Grodd (and some Ultra-Humanite).
-Doctor Decibel/Anton Decibel - Corey Burton
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Corey-Burton/
Nothing is known of Dr. Anton Decibel's early life, aside from the fact that he supposedly became a medical doctor, before being lured into a life of crime. At some point after becoming a criminal, he altered Linda Lewis's vocal chords so that she could produce a hypersonic scream. His motives for doing this are unknown, although as she was a popular and well-known singer, it is possible that he did it out of jealousy of her fame, or out of spite. At some point Dr. Decibel joined the Institute of Evil, as part of a game between the Grandmaster and the Scarlet Centurion, to fight the Squadron Supreme.
He, along with the rest of the Institute, was eventually b-modded by the Squadron, and Doctor Decibel became the team's resident quiet and studious medical doctor, mostly overseeing Arcanna's pregnancy. Towards the end of the Squadron's reign,Quagmire was rendered in a coma thanks to some gas he had inhaled whilst saving some factory workers. Whilst Dr. Decibel was watching over Quagmire, he noticed some extra-dimensional slime, which Quagmire could produce as a result of his powers, beginning to appear, showing that Quagmire's higher brain functions were returning. Unfortunately, the slime kept appearing at an alarming rate, eventually flooding the entire hospital. Dr. Decibel didn't escape in time, and was suffocated before Quagmire could be stopped.
Analogue of Sonar.
*Burton's casting is a nod to his voicing Sonar in Justice League Unlimited.*
-Quagmire/Jerome Meyers - Diedrich Bader
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0046033/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
The young punk and former street urchin calling himself Quagmire's past was a mystery before he joined the Institute of Evil, a group of criminals first organized by the time traveling conqueror form the future the Scarlet Centurion. As a major member of the group, he acted as their field leader during most of the team's exploits, as they undertook numerous acts of crime against humanity for some time. He often battled the Squadron Supreme, having to out-maneuver them on several occasions with little success. He and the rest of the Institute would later be b-modded by the Squadron after an incident where they abducted the Squadron's loved ones.
He and fellow reformed villain Ape-X were sent along with Blue Eagle for a promotional tour of the plant producing the pacifier gas invented by Tom Thumb, nearly getting into a scuffle with Blue Eagle over his flirting with a female plant worker. During that time, there was an accidental explosion at the plant and Quagmire accidentally inhaled a poisonous gas, saving thirty factory workers from certain death in the process. Blue Eagle was shocked at Quagmires heroics and ashamed at his own actions. Quagmire went into a coma and was placed in a life support machine in the hospital of Squadron City, under the supervision of former teammate Dr. Decibel. The dimensional portal that was contained within his brain suddenly activated and he began creating extreme amounts of black gunk from his ears. The entire hospital was filled with the gunk and Dr. Decibel drowned in it. Hyperion entered the hospital through the gunk and realized that the only way of stopping Quagmire from producing more gunk was by pulling his connection to the life support machine and thereby killing him. He did so and the black gunk completely disappeared, but together with Quagmire himself.
-Lamprey/Donald McGuiggin - Steve Blum
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Steve-Blum/
The Australian-born Lamprey was an original member of the Institute of Evil and battled the Squadron Supreme on several occasions. Lamprey has remained quiet about his past and how he obtained his powers before joining the Institute of Evil, a group of criminals first organized by the time traveling conqueror from the future called the Scarlet Centurion. As a member of the Institute he undertook numerous missions of crime against humanity for some time. He often battled the Squadron Supreme members, having to out-maneuver them on several occasions with little success.
His behavior would be modified by a device created by Tom Thumb and would get elected to Squadron membership. Lamprey accompanied Tom Thumb to the 41st Century after Tom was diagnosed with cancer to search for a cure. Lamprey would return to villainy when a new Squadron recruit named Haywire (secretly undercover for the Redeemers) tricked him into undergoing behavior re-modification under device created by Master Menace. Lamprey would battle the Squadron Supreme alongside the Redeemers in an attack upon Squadron City. Lamprey is killed when he tries to absorb too much energy from Dr. Spectrum's power prism and explodes.
Analogue of the Parasite.
-The Shape/Raleigh Lund - Frank Welker
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Frank-Welker/
How the Shape got his stretching powers is unknown. Judging by his limited intelligence, it is possible that he was experimented on, and that his intellect was affected as a result. This is, however, just speculation. At some point after receiving his powers, he was recruited into the Institute of Evil, the opposite numbers of the Squadron Supreme, as part of a game between the Scarlet Centurion and the Grandmaster. He stayed with the Institute of Evil after the game, probably because they were the closest things he had to friends or family. When he and the rest of the Institute were b-modded, Shape was happy as a member of the Squadron, quite possibly the happiest he'd been in his entire life. He now had friends and family who cared about him. Even better, since all of his former allies of the Institute of Evil had been B-Modded too, he could still stay friends with them. Unlike the rest of the Squadron Supreme, Shape didn't seem to get any assignments related to the development of the proposed utopia, spending more time looking after and playing with Arcanna's children, who liked him for his rubbery body.
Towards the end of the Squadron's reign, Shape was kidnapped by Nighthawk's Redeemers alongside the rest of the former Institute of Evil members, and B-Modded to his original personality. However, due to his low intelligence, it didn't work as well on him, and Shape still felt loyalty towards the Squadron Supreme. In response, Moonglow created an illusion of Ape X telling Shape to betray the Squadron, which seemed to work in convincing him to help the Redeemers. However, during the final fight between the Redeemers and the Squadron, Shape hardly participated, torn between the two teams. When he encountered Moonglow fighting Arcanna, who had been pregnant and was going into labour, Shape distracted Moonglow for long enough for Arcanna to defeat her. He then helped Arcanna get to the hospital, as despite Moonglow's efforts, he was still loyal to the Squadron, and preferred Arcanna over Moonglow anyway.
Analogue of Clayface, though after his b-modding acted more like Plastic Man.
-Foxfire/Olivia Underwood - Kimberly Brooks
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Kimberly-Brooks/
As Foxfire, Olivia Underwood was a career criminal who eventually joined up with the Institute of Evil to further her goals. She and the rest of the gang were eventually beaten by the Squadron Supreme and b-modded into joining them. During this time Olivia and the founding Squadron member Doctor Spectrum developed a flirtation with one another, which further developed into a strong romance. This romance was the turning point in helping Doctor Spectrum deal with his involvement in the accidental death of Nuke, a former member of the Squadron. She, like Lamprey and Shape, were later captured by the Redeemers and, with help from a device developed by Master Menace, she was restored to her former self, though not without complications. Olivia had strong doubts about the attack on the Squadron, believing they had truly helped her and that her feelings towards Doctor Spectrum were deeply sincere. During the final battle, Foxfire, grieving over Doctor Spectrum's injuries, used her powers to give Nighthawk a fatal heart attack, killing him in the process. Her victory was short-lived, as his fellow Redeemer Mink ran her claws through Foxfire as payback, causing her to die in the arms of the man she loved.
+The Redeemers (loosely analogous to the Outsiders)
-The Mink/Julie Steel - Jennifer Hale
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Jennifer-Hale/
The Mink is a bored, rich heiress who became a criminal for the excitement and to feel special. She developed her skills and abilities as a cat burglar, her usual MO being to steal the most valuable gems. She was a longtime foe of Nighthawk's. After the Squadron Supreme took over the world, Mink felt threatened by them, particularly after they perfected their Behavior Modification, or "B-Modding", system, which would allow them to essentially brainwash criminals into renouncing their criminal inclinations and thereby altering their behavior into wanting to do good. This worldwide forcible brainwashing in the criminal community caused Mink to go into hiding alongside her criminal associates Remnant and Pinball. Mink than contacted Master Menace and persuaded him to send them to another dimension, which coincidentally turned out to be the world of the Avengers.
Unknown to the trio, Nighthawk was also travelling to that same world around the same time as they were, having been told by Professor Imam that he would find allies for his crusade against the Squadron Supreme there. After contacting the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men for help and getting rejected, Nighthawk heard rumours of Pinball, Remnant, and Mink all going on a crime spree in order to establish themselves on this Earth. He managed to track the three of them down, and got into a fight with them, which was broken up by Captain America. With things calmed down, Mink and her allies explained to Nighthawk why they had fled to the Avengers' world. Nighthawk convinced the trio to return to their own universe with him, and aid him in opposing the Squadron. They agreed, and so a spell which Professor Imam had placed on Nighthawk automatically returned them to their home world. Over the next few months, Nighthawk's team, which soon became known as the Redeemers, aided him in finding new superhumans with which to infiltrate the Squadron Supreme, capturing former members of the Institute of Evil for the Redeemers to de-brainwash after getting the schematics for the B-Modder, and training in preparation for the inevitable fight with the Squadron. During this time, Mink often trained with Nighthawk on purpose, as she had started to develop a genuine crush on him. Upon the Redeemers confronting the Squadron Supreme, a fight erupted between the two teams, despite Nighthawk's protests and attempts to prevent it. Towards the end of the battle, with Hyperion too weak to even stand, Nighthawk was attacked by Foxfire, a member of the Squadron Supreme who had supposedly been working for the Redeemers, but had never really changed sides as she had fallen in love with Doctor Spectrum. Foxfire's powers gave Nighthawk a heart attack which killed him almost instantly. In revenge, Mink stabbed Foxfire with her claws from behind, killing her instantly as well.
Analogue of Catwoman.
-The Remnant/Frank Edwards - Jason Spisak
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Jason-Spisak/
A minor foe of Nighthawk's often seen in the company of fellow criminals Mink and Pinball, possessing the ability to manipulate small or large amounts of cloth into various shapes and sizes. He and the other two fled their home universe after the Squadron implemented the Utopia Program, fearing for their free will, and wound up in the universe of the Avengers, where they went on a crime spree. They were ultimately stopped by Nighthawk and Captain America, the former of whom convinced them to return with him to their world and overthrow the Squadron, forming the Redeemers.
-Pinball/Chester Freeman - Billy West (imitating Larry Fine)
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Billy-West/
An early foe of Nighthawk's, Pinball possessed a suit that could inflate into a ball shape that would let him literally roll over his enemies. It's uknown if he invented the suit or hired someone to make it. He appeared to be fairly incompetent as a criminal, often having his suit punctured, or being attacked before he could roll over someone. This may be why he was said to often work with Remnant, who appeared to be much more dangerous and competent. The two of them, along with the Mink, fled their universe when the Utopia Program began, and wound up in the Avengers' universe. They were found by Nighthawk, who convinced them to join him in overthrowing the Squadron as the Redeemers. In the final battle between the two teams, when Lamprey used his energy-draining powers to cut out the power source of Blue Eagle's wings, Blue Eagle found himself rapidly falling to the ground, with his death seemingly imminent. Pinball was the only soft surface around, and so Blue Eagle managed to maneuver himself so that he landed on Pinball. Unfortunately, in doing so, Pinball's lungs were punctured, and he died near-instantaneously. What's more, despite his best efforts, Blue Eagle was still killed as a result of this crash, breaking his neck in the process.
-Redstone/Michael Redstone - Adam Beach
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063440/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
An Apache-born American superhuman, Redstone was one of the newfound superhumans recruited by Nighthawk into the Redeemers, with powers derived from the Earth; the extent of these powers depended on his contact with the Earth and its atmosphere. He and four other previously-unknown supers were sent undercover as new recruits of the Squadron Supreme, with the goal of striking when the time was right. In the final battle, Redstone and Lamprey managed to bring Hyperion to his knees.
Analogue of Geo-Force.
-Moonglow/Melissa Hanover - Caitlin Glass
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Caitlin-Glass/
Little is known about Melissa Hanover's life before being recruited by Nighthawk to serve in the Redeemers. Moonglow is a highly manipulative member of the team, a powerful illusionist to the point where both sides are convinced of various things about herself which she has created with her illusions. She creates a statuesque, blond, and beautiful woman as a guise to be amongst both groups. In reality Melissa's a portly woman who spends all her time hiding in the background of actual fights, because she can't handle them physically. She's also shown as one of the nastier characters on the Redeemer's side. When Moonglow (undercover as a new recruit) snuck into the Squadron’s labs to find, retrieve, and transmit data on the Behavior Modification Devices to her fellow Redeemers, AIDA notified Ape-X of the transgression. Because Ape-X’s own behavior modification included a clause that she could never turn on or act against a fellow Squadron member, her mind was trapped in the contradiction of the necessity of betraying Moonglow’s actions and the impossibility of her being able to do just that. Her mind shut down and she became a vegetable. She even manipulates the retarded Shape into serving her needs when he came to visit Ape-X. During the final battle, Melissa was knocked unconscious and her true figure was revealed to be an overweight, frumpy woman. Embarrassed by her true form, Melissa remained invisible while the Squadron began dismantling the Utopia Program.
-Haywire/Harold Danforth - Will Friedle
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Will-Friedle/
Harold Danforth, known as Haywire, was discovered by the Redeemers and asked to join them in opposing the Squadron Supreme's rule over Earth. He has the power to emit limitless steel-like wires from his fingertips. Acting as an infiltrator in the Squadron Supreme on behalf of Nighthawk and the Redeemers, he eventually came to join the Squadron Supreme properly and fell in love with fellow undercover Redeemer Inertia.
-Inertia/Edie Freiberg - Michelle Tratchenberg
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005502/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Not much is known about Edie's past, or how as Inertia she gained her abilities of inertia absorption, invulnerability, and superhuman strength. She was one of the Redeemer recruits sent undercover as a new member of the Squadron Supreme. During this deep-cover mission, she and fellow infiltrator Haywire began a relationship. During the final battle between both teams, she went up against Power Princess, only to be defeated by Doctor Spectrum. In the aftermath, she and Haywire joined the Squadron for real.
-Thermite/Sam Yurimoto - Eric Bauza
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Eric-Bauza/
A pyro-and-cryo-kinetic, Thermite was another Redeemer sent undercover into the Squadron Supreme. During his brief time with the Squadron, Thermite reveals a penchant for being a trickster as he plays multiple practical jokes on his teammates including interrupting a romantic moment in a hot tub between Haywire and Inertia by freezing the water solid. In the Squadron Supreme's final, violent battle with the Redeemers, Thermite is seemingly killed by mistake by Haywire as Haywire uses his powers to trip up the Whizzer who, moving too fast to stop, kicks Thermite's equipment that's mounted on his back with such force that it explodes, freezing Thermite in a giant block of ice.
+Other Earth-712 Characters
-Master Menace/Emil Burbank - Wayne Knight
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001431/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
The arch-foe of Hyperion, Burbank's (genius brother of a famous film director) grudge against the hero stems from an incident where allegedly Hyperion's 'flash vision' caused Burbank's hormones to run wild, causing his hair to continuously grow. He at one point allied himself with the Squadron Sinister Hyperion in a plot to destroy both the heroic version and Thor. Burbank (as Master Menace) only found out about the Utopia Program after he had been conquering the Middle East. Seeing that it clashed with his own world-domination plans (including his own 'b-mod' tech), Master Menace began working on ways to undermine the Utopia Program after first sending the Mink, Pinball and Remnant to another universe. He freed the Squadron Sinister Hyperion and trapped the heroic one in a limbo dimension, only for the plan to unravel when the impostor double-crossed him in order to cover up his act (and preserve the romance he was building with Power Princess); Master Menace was forced to team up with his Hyperion in order to return to their own dimension and stop the impostor.
Later on, Master Menace reluctantly supplied Nighthawk and the Redeemers with his b-mod equipment, but opted to stay out of the final fight, preferring to defeat the Squadron on his own terms.
Analogue of Lex Luthor; the origin of his beef with Hyperion is a clever reverse-riff on the Silver Age origin of the Superman/Lex Luthor rivalry, where as teenagers Superboy's super-breath accidentally blew all of Lex's hair out while he tried to put out a fire in Luthor's lab. Master Menace is even assisted by a robot named Cerebrax [analogue of Brainiac; voice actor--Corey Burton, who fittingly voiced Brainiac in a number of shows].
-Professor Imam - Hector Elizondo
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001185/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
The enigmatic Professor Imam was the holder of title of Sorcerer Supreme for the dimension of Earth-712, also home to the Squadron Supreme. For his early years he was part of the U.S government's secret team of special operatives against Nazi takeover codenamed the Golden Agency. Alongside the original American Eagle and Power Princess, he would assist in fighting wartime treats. Reaching a different understanding about his duties as Sorcerer Supreme he became reclusive, refusing to involve himself in much of the worlds affairs. Keeping his mystical third eye on the motivations of leading team of Earth-712 heroes, the Squadron Supreme, he did not intercede in their affairs. Instead, he claimed that much of his strength was spent and he must conserve what remained to train his successor in 443 years.
After the Overmind had taken control of his Earth's governments and the Squadron itself, Imam was confronted by the renegade hero and former Squadron member Nighthawk. Nighthawk told Imam that he was searching for allies to help him oppose the Squadron's Utopia Program. The radical approach the Squadron had decided to administer as a new way of life to the people of Earth had been proposed by the Imam's former college Power Princess. but Imam refused. He agreed, however, to send him to the "mainstream" Earth to search for allies there. When Nighthawk returned, Imam again helped him to search for other super-humans on their native Earth.
Analogue of Doctor Fate.
-Bollix - Rob Paulsen
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Rob-Paulsen/
A frequent foe of the Whizzer.
-The Rustler - John DiMaggio (imitating Slim Pickens)
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/John-DiMaggio/
A frequent foe of the Whizzer.
-The Scarlet Centurion - Jonathan Adams
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Jonathan-Adams/
A version of Kang the Conqueror who opted to keep this identity, he conquered the far future of the Squadron Supreme's Earth and at one point challenged the Grandmaster to a wager that pitted the Squadron against the Institute of Evil. During the implementing of the Utopia Program, Tom Thumb visits the Scarlet Centurion to find a cure for cancer, and is given an offer by the despot: he would receive the cure, but only if Tom would take out the Squadron for him. Tom refused and returned to his own time, and later would head back again to steal the cure from under the Centurion's nose. The Centurion himself knew it would happen, since he also knew of the discovery Tom would make, proving his actions futile.
Could be seen as analogous to the old Justice League villain the Lord of Time.
*Considering Adams did voice Kang in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, it should be fitting he voices another incarnation of the villain.*
+Additional Voices
-Family of the Squadron
1. Madeline Stewart (analogue of Iris West-Allen) - Jodi Benson
2. Phil Jones - Bob Bergen
3. Howard Shelton (analogue of Steve Trevor) - Michael Bell
-The Avengers and Fantastic Four
1. Captain America - Brian Bloom
2. Photon (Monica Rambeau) - Kimberly Brooks
3. The Wasp - Kari Wahlgren
4. The Black Knight - Greg Ellis
5. Hercules - John DiMaggio
6. Mr. Fantastic - Timothy Omundsen
7. The Invisible Woman - Susan Eisenberg