Captain America: Civil War
The awed issue that kicked off Marvel’sCivil Warsent the once happy - go - lucky hero Speedball down a path that take him years to recover from . But as it turns out , Robbie Baldwin called his dark phase out years before he would ever don the identity of Penance .
lover may recall Speedball being a central human body to theCivil Warstoryline , with the Stamford Incident being the instigate case that begin the discussion on the Superhero Registration Act . With over 600 people pop off in a superhero stunt gone wrong , and the world mould incrimination on him , Robbieditched his Speedball mantleand took on the role of Penance . With a causa lined with spikes for every Stamford dupe , Baldwin tortured himself as self - punishment , with one spike for every living lose . Though he eventually made peace with what had happened , the entire experience pass on the once peppy Marvel Italian sandwich with a injury he had to severely work on .
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In a moment that comes off much more prescient that it was intend , Speedball unknowingly depict his own future tense while joking around with his teammates . fresh Warriors one-year # 1features the news report " To Bounce or Not to Bounce " by Dan Slott , John Calimee , Don Hudson , Kevin Tinsley , and Rick Parker . Speedball trains with Night Thrasher on how he can easily use his power to fight . Ever the joker , Robbie slickly note he could add together spikes to his costume as a way of help him oppose . The off - the - cuff remark may seem funny , but a piddling over a decennium and a half later , Baldwin would throw out his costume for an turnout that was chock-full of ear that , indeed , assist him when he was fighting crime .
While Speedball ’s crack more than likely was n’t a pinch at the horrendous future for Marvel , it ’s interesting to see how Robbie did wind up incorporating spike heel into offence - combat . AsPenance , however , the spikes in his outfitwere stand for to hurthimrather than any villains he fought . The cuts helped activate his powers after they were altered in the Stamford explosion while also giving him the penalisation he felt he deserved .
Robbie ’s Penance phase was reviled by many longtime fans of the grapheme , who extract that putting a traditionally leisurely hero sandwich through so much trauma was edginess for inquietude ' interest . It catch to a stop where even Squirrel Girl , who had longtime crushed on the fighter , tried to tear him out of his dark full stop by telling him penitence was n’t genuine to his nature . look back onSpeedball and seeing him jokinglysuggest spikes is humourous in retrospect , but it ’s also a reminder of why his time as Penance was not very well - loved and why many fans were happy to see him finally leave the identity behind , as even Speedball originally seemed to call back hisCivil Wartransformation was needlessly grim and coarse-grained .
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