Geoffrey Wilder

Geoffrey Wilder^[1] is a fictional supervillain in the Marvel Comics series Runaways.^[1] Geoffrey is the leader of the Pride, a supervillain crime ring in Los Angeles.^[2] He is the father of Alex Wilder.^[1]

Fictional character biography

Geoffrey Wilder and his recent bride Catherine were lowly thieves in 1984 Los Angeles. After a heist, they were abducted by the Gibborim, a group of giants who needed them to bring their plan to fruition. Along with five other couples, the Wilders formed the Pride, which was a group dedicated to bringing about the end of the world for the Gibborim. Each couple had their unique powers augmented by the Gibborim, meaning that Geoffrey and Catherine's shrewdness was increased, allowing them to become the Kingpins of the West Coast. They controlled drugs and prostitution in LA as well as controlling the Pride's moles in various police forces. The Gibborim also promised that 6 of the 12 members of the Pride would be saved after the world ended. However, a few years later, the couples decided to each have a single child and have their children be saved.

Nearly two decades later, Geoffrey's son Alex began to get suspicious of his parents' activities. Geoffrey was a strict father to Alex, looking down on his obsession with internet games and computer skills. This may have been responsible for driving Alex to spying on his parents and learning of the Pride. This act led to the creation of the Runaways.

While the children of the Pride were on the run, Geoffrey and the other members of the Pride organized the LAPD to find their children by framing them for the death of a girl killed by the Pride as well as the kidnapping of Molly Hayes, one of the children of the Pride.

Eventually, the Runaways and the Pride met in a final showdown in an undersea structure. The Runaways were able to stop the Pride's plan to offer a sacrifice to the Gibborim, which led to the death of Alex Wilder, who had turned out to be loyal to the Pride. The death of his son left Geoffrey distraught in his last few moments alive, as the Gibborim went on to destroy the structure, killing the entire Pride just after the Runaways made their getaway.

1985 version

A few months later, a few of Alex's friends from his online gaming found out about Alex's death as well as some files from Alex's computer. The files talked about how the Pride was a group of heroes (as opposed to villains as reported by The Daily Bugle), and had a ritual detailing how to bring Alex back. However, when the people performed the spell, they brought Geoff back by accident. The Geoff they raised from the dead is the 1985 version, as he mentions that he was only with the Pride for a year. Geoffrey reformed the Pride using Alex's friends as the other members, planning to use them to regain favor with the Gibborim by sacrificing one of the Runaways (a plot the other members of the new Pride were unaware of). It is revealed that Geoffrey was upset to learn of the future death of his wife and son and wanted the Gibborim to resurrect them. During this period, he temporarily posed as the mutant Chamber to infiltrate the super-team Excelsior and get information on the Runaways, before leaving the team.

Wilder is eventually stopped by the Runaways, but manages to impale and kill Gertrude Yorkes. The Runaways then erase his memory from his time in 2006, and send him back to 1985. It is then revealed he lost his Abstract ring, and that Chase Stein has gained it.

Other versions

Ultimate

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Geoffrey Wilder is the attorney general of the United States under President Steve Rogers.^[3]

References