Blockbuster (DC Comics)

Did You Know?

• An alternate universe version of Blockbuster appears in Just Imagine... as Brock Smith, a murderer and death row inmate who is rescued and empowered by Dominic Darrk and joins the Doom Patrol.
• The Mark Desmond incarnation of Blockbuster first appeared in Detective Comics #345 (November 1965), created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino.

Fictional character biography

The original Blockbuster is Mark Desmond, a chemist who wanted to boost his physical power. After testing a formula on himself, he gained massive size and strength but lost most of his mental capacity, becoming a near-mindless brute. His brother Roland, a small-time crook, took care of him and hid the truth from their mother. Roland used Mark as a weapon for his own criminal plans, which eventually put them up against Batman and Robin. Years earlier, Bruce Wayne had saved a young Mark from drowning, and Batman learned he could calm the raging Blockbuster simply by showing his face. Mark fought Batman several more times after that. Blockbuster later absorbed energy from the Alfred Memorial, gaining extra abilities. He was once swapped with the undead powerhouse Solomon Grundy from Earth-Two by a machine that exchanged people between worlds. Green Lantern forced the two monsters to fight, and they knocked each other out. The Justice Society returned Grundy to Earth-Two, while the Justice League handed Blockbuster to the police. He briefly joined the Secret Society of Super Villains in a fight against the Justice League. Amanda Waller later recruited him for her new Suicide Squad, and he died battling Brimstone, a creation of Darkseid. In 2011, the New 52 reboot changed the origin. Mark Desmond was reintroduced as a patient of Dr. Phayne, receiving intelligence-enhancing treatments through a green compound given intravenously. Another patient, thinking he was in pain, caused an accident that made Desmond overdose on the compound, transforming him into Blockbuster. Roland Desmond became the second Blockbuster after a serious illness forced him to take experimental steroids. Like his brother, Roland turned into a childlike, super-strong monster. He went on a rampage in the Southwest until Batman and Starman (Will Payton) stopped him. Mark Desmond grew obsessed with rising above his damaged mind. He made a deal with the demon Neron, trading his soul for restored intelligence. Even after getting his soul back, he returned to a life of crime and destruction. He started his new criminal spree by causing chaos in Manchester, Alabama, but his plans were foiled by Impulse.

In other media

The Mark Desmond version of Blockbuster has appeared across several animated series and films. In Justice League Unlimited, Dee Bradley Baker provided the voice for this character, who was a member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society until Darkseid killed him. The Batman featured a different take on Mark Desmond in the episode "Meltdown," with Kevin Michael Richardson voicing him as an African-American scientist employed by Wayne Enterprises. Batman: The Brave and the Bold presented yet another version, voiced by both James Arnold Taylor and Kevin Michael Richardson; this incarnation was a young genius who stole chemicals from S.T.A.R. Labs to brew a strength-enhancing serum. Young Justice gave Mark Desmond a more complex role, with René Auberjonois initially providing the voice, and Dee Bradley Baker taking over after Auberjonois' death; sound effects were used for the transformed Blockbuster. This version was a senior figure in both Project Cadmus and the Light, and his design was altered to avoid resemblance to Marvel's Hulk, with his transformation showing the Blockbuster form tearing through his human skin. In The Flash episode "Funeral for a Friend," an uncredited actor played Mark Desmond as a criminal using an exo-suit stolen from Ivo Laboratories. Batman: Caped Crusader featured Zach Lazar Hoffman voicing a Mark Desmond whose powers came from a toxin developed by Hugo Strange. An unproduced Green Arrow screenplay by David S. Goyer, titled Escape from Super Max, reportedly included Blockbuster as an inmate of the prison. Justice League: Gods and Monsters introduced an alternate universe Blockbuster, voiced by Marcelo Tubert, who fought alongside terrorists against his world's Justice League until Batman killed him. The Roland Desmond version of Blockbuster had a minor role in Batman: Bad Blood. Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold featured the Mark Desmond incarnation voiced by Fred Tatasciore. Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay presented the Roland Desmond Blockbuster, voiced by Dave Fennoy, as a henchman for Professor Zoom who was killed by Killer Frost. In the video game Young Justice: Legacy, Mark Rolston voiced the Mark Desmond Blockbuster as a boss. Finally, Batman: The Telltale Series included the Roland Desmond version, voiced by Steve Blum, with blue skin and membership in the Children of Arkham.