Supreme Intelligence

The Supreme Intelligence is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Supreme Intelligence is an artificial intelligence that rules the fictional alien race known as the Kree.

Publication history

The Supreme Intelligence first appears in Fantastic Four #65 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography

The Supreme Intelligence, also known by the honorific title Supremor, was created more than a million years ago on the planet Kree-Lar by the extraterrestrial race known as the Kree to help them create a Cosmic Cube like their enemies the Skrulls had once created. The Supreme Intelligence is composed of the brains of the greatest Kree minds (namely the Kree's thinkers, generals, philosophers, scientists, and so on), removed upon their deaths and assimilated by the computer, adding their knowledge and experience to its own.

Eventually, the Intelligence developed a mind of its own and refused to create the cube knowing the dangers that could be wrought by an evolved Cosmic Cube, which was what had destroyed massive parts of the Skrull Empire.

Despite this, it was allowed to continue to exist to serve the Kree with its wisdom. Its influence eventually grew to the point where it replaced the Kree government as Ruler of the Kree Empire, although it has occasionally been subsequently deposed for periods of time. Most of the Kree are fanatically devoted to it, and its worship is an organized religion.

Early in the career of the Fantastic Four, the Supreme Intelligence sent Ronan the Accuser to execute them.^[1] It later discovered the treachery of Zarek and Ronan, and then honored Kree hero Mar-Vell with a new uniform.^[2] The Supreme Intelligence was deposed as the leader of the Kree Empire by Ronan.^[3] The Supreme Intelligence was revealed to have mentally influenced the human Rick Jones and the U.S. Alien Activities Commission from behind the scenes in order to regain its power.^[4] It stimulated Rick Jones's psionic potential, the evolutionary potential of the human race, otherwise known as the Destiny Force, to end the Earth vicinity campaign in the first Kree-Skrull War. The Supremor revealed that it realized long ago that the Kree were at an evolutionary dead-end. Its main concern became to find a way to jump-start its race's evolution, and its manipulations of Rick Jones and Mar-Vell were part of this process. The Supreme Intelligence then regained leadership of the Kree Empire.^[5] Later, it mentally dominated Ronan, and used Ronan as a pawn in battle against Rick Jones and Captain Marvel.^[6] It attempted to absorb the minds of Rick Jones and Captain Marvel, and employed the remote control Supremor androids as a housing for its consciousness.^[7]

The Supremor understood that the Skrulls lost their ability to shapeshift, and plotted a new campaign for a second Kree-Skrull War.^[8] During this war, the Supreme Intelligence acquired the Soul Gem, which the creature used to maintain peaceful balance between its blue and pink Kree components. It used the Soul Gem to absorb the soul of the Silver Surfer.^[9] The Silver Surfer's soul escaped from him and removed the Soul Gem, causing the Supreme Intelligence to lose its sanity.^[10] Afterwards, Nenora, a Skrull spy in the guise of a high ranking Kree official, took command of the Kree empire. The war ended with Nenora being exposed as a Skrull. The Contemplator later began restructuring the Supreme Intelligence's scrambled consciousness.^[11] It was then taken over by the mind of the Contemplator.^[12] It was soon liberated from the Contemplator's control by a Cotati wizard, although under the Cotati's influence the Supreme Intelligence appointed the alien "Clumsy Foulup" as the supreme Kree Leader.^[13] The Supremor was restored to power a while later.

During the Operation: Galactic Storm storyline, the Supremor secretly arranged to have a "Nega-Bomb" (a device producing a special kind of radiation gathered from the Negative Zone) detonated in the Kree Galaxy, hoping its energies would reactivate the Kree's genetic potential. But in the process, billions of Kree were killed. This led a group of Avengers to decide to execute it for genocide, against the wishes of the rest of the team.^[14]

Supremor wasn't killed; prior to the death of its host computer, it beamed itself to an awaiting starship hidden from the conflict between the Kree and Shi'ar. This ship later was damaged and found by S.H.I.E.L.D., who captured the small computer Supremor was now residing in. S.H.I.E.L.D. kept the Supreme Intelligence on the Earth's moon for study, as Supremor bided its time.

The Kree Empire fell after the Kree-Shi'ar War, with the Kree Empire placed under the rule of the Shi'ar Imperium, ruled by Deathbird. The Kree Star Force were her enforcers, now turned into a branch of the Imperial Guard. The Supremor android on the Star Force acted as the Supreme Intelligence's spy into the workings of the remaining Kree Empire.

The Supreme Intelligence soon escaped after it possessed the minds of some S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and had its body taken to Manhattan, where it planned to explode another Nega-Bomb, this time in the sewers of Manhattan. The Supremor witnessed the first Kree mutation when it encountered one of the Kree Imperial Guard Commando who underwent his mutation when he sought to destroy the computer housing the Supreme Intelligence; however, it was this act that freed Supremor, allowing it to return to the depths of space.

Supremor reached the Kree Empire and had a new housing constructed for it, as it soon managed to obtain the Forever Crystal, a very powerful mystical artifact, from Kang the Conqueror,^[15] and used it to advance the Kree's evolution, creating a supposedly new race, the Ruul. Through them, it manipulated the Intergalactic Council into turning against the Earth, but its plans were stopped by the Avengers.^[16]

Later on the Intelligence got its wish for more genetic stock for the Kree, when some of the Inhuman tribes reunited with the regrowing Kree Empire. Combined with the Ruul and the mutated Kree, the Kree Empire would soon rise again after throwing off the shackles of the Shi'ar Empire. After the universe was destroyed and recreated by Genis-Vell and Entropy: Son of Eternity, the Kree race was restored to its original form and to an evolutionary dead-end.

As of Annihilation #2 it has been declared that the Supreme Intelligence is not in command of the Kree Empire, having been replaced by the merchant House of Fiyero. House Fiyero, in fact, placed the Supreme Intelligence in a state of "living death" and ruled the Kree without its consent. Ronan The Accuser is told by the being's caretakers that it longed for Ronan to return and set the Kree on the correct path against the Annihilation Wave. Realizing that there was nothing to be done to restore the creature to life, Ronan instead shattered the tank and left it to die rather than live in pain, after deposing House Fiyero for their treachery.

The Supreme Intelligence was seen in Annihilation Conquest where his remains had been retrieved by the Phalanx who are attempting to reactivate him. By reactivating the Supreme Intelligence the Phalanx plan to send a mental echo across space containing a message that will invade the minds of the Kree, turning every Kree in the galaxy into Phalanx at once. This was foiled by the arrival of the being Wraith, who allowed the weapon to activate, and used his exolon swarm to absorb the soul of Supremor, essentially housing the spirit within himself.^[17]

On Earth, Noh-Varr (who was the warden of the superhuman prison The Cube at the time) devotes most of his resources into trying to revive the Supreme Intelligence in order to realize his dream of a New Kree Empire.

An alternate reality Supreme Intelligence appears in the form of a holographic message that tells Noh-Varr that the actions of the Skrulls during Secret Invasion have left Earth in more danger than ever before and that he is the planet's new protector. The Supreme Intelligence then grants him the power needed to carry out his mission in the form a set of Nega-Bands, more advanced than the ones worn by Captain Marvel. The bands also provide him with a new costume and prevents the Dark Avengers from detecting his presence.

Ronan the Accuser later resurrected the original Supreme Intelligence by melding two alternate reality Reed Richards with the Supremor Seed (a small portion of the Supreme Intelligence held dormant in the Accuser's hammer), a plan devised by the Supreme Intelligence himself 300,000 years ago when he calculated his possible defeat and death in the future.^[18] He later informs Noh-Varr of the coming of the Phoenix Force to Earth and orders him to help his Avengers teammates intercept the entity. However, he also must contain it at all costs, even if it means eliminating his teammates.

During the Infinity storyline, the Supreme Intelligence and Ronan the Accuser appeared as members of the Galactic Council.^[19]

Powers and abilities

The Kree Supreme Intelligence is a vast cybernetic/organic computer system composed of 5,000 cubic meters of computer circuitry incorporating the disembodied brains of the greatest statesmen and philosophers in Kree history, preserved cryogenically. This aggregation of brains creates a single collective intelligence able to use the vast information storage and processing capabilities of the computer system in a creative way. When wishing to interact with it, the Kree address it within its terminal chamber, where a holographic image is projected on a gigantic monitor screen.

The Supreme Intelligence possesses an immeasurable intellect, with vast knowledge, far surpassing that of present-day Earth. It possesses information storage and processing abilities far above that of the human brain, and has access to the total resources of the Kree Empire. Despite being stationary and basically immobile, the Intelligence possesses all known psionic powers, such as telepathy, future predicting, telekinesis, cosmic awareness, sensory link, information absorption, postcognition, precognition etc.

Supremor is also capable of manipulating energy and matter, as well as create up to three remote controlled android servitors as surrogate bodies, that act as its eyes and ears when away from itself. These androids, called Supremor also, possess some degree of independence when created, but are totally loyal to Supremor.

It projects images of itself across space, Cyberspace and even into the Astral Plane, in the form of a huge, amorphous, greenish, humanoid face, with tentacle-like "hair", to communicate with its agents scattered across the cosmos. It has even assumed the form of an orange-dragon with a green-skinned octopus as its head, called the Multitude.

Its power was enhanced when it merged with an inert Cosmic Cube, which now serves as its true housing, kept in a separate room from the organic computer facade it created to fool would-be assassins. Upon assuming its new housing, Supremor was now able to control reality within a limited distance of itself, as well as able to open up portals between dimensions, most notably the Astral Plane and the dimension of Death.

Other versions

Marvel Boy

The Marvel Boy mini-series by Grant Morrison featured an alternate version of Supremor from a parallel universe. This entity served as a database and ally for Noh-Varr, the last survivor of a Kree ship that crashed to Earth. Known as Plex, this Supreme Intelligence displayed a type of multiple personalities with each type of mind being able to dominate in specific situations (i.e. "Plex-Soldiers," "Plex-Scientists" even "Plex-Murderers" and "Plex-infants") to advise the ship in which it was housed. Given that Plex resided on the starship Marvel it is uncertain whether or not it was as central to Kree society as Supremor is.

During the series it didn't display any psychic powers but it was not clearly stated that it did not have these abilities. It did, however, show an ability to dominate Earth technology remotely and to teleport itself and the ship short distances. It was also shown to control insectlike creatures that inhabited the ship. All these powers were achieved via transmission of a signal called "The Omni-Wave."

Ultimate Marvel

Though the Supreme Intelligence has yet to appear in the Ultimate Marvel universe, he was mentioned in Ultimate Secret.

In other media

Television

• The Supreme Intelligence appeared in an episode of X-Men, voiced by Len Carlson. He and the Skrull Empress are consulted by Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra Neramani about the fate of the Dark Phoenix.
• The Supreme Intelligence appears in the Silver Surfer episode "The Forever War", voiced by David Hemblen.
• The Supreme Intelligence appeared at the end of the Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes episode titled "Trial by Fire", voiced by John Novak. Speaking for the people, it suspended Johnny Storm's death sentence and forcibly removed Ronan the Accuser from the execution area. The Supreme Intelligence did this partly in hopes that the Fantastic Four might be helpful against the Skrull. He reappears in the episode "Contest of Champions" where he tries to help Ronan win by cheating in the Grandmaster's Contest of Champions using a ray that increases his strength while he battles the Thing.
• The Supreme Intelligence appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by David Kaye. He first makes a cameo appearance in the episode "459" when Mar-Vell talks about the Kree and the Skrull. The Supreme Intelligence officially appears in the episode "Live Kree or Die." When the Avengers crash-landed on Hala, Captain America, Wasp, Ms. Marvel, Captain Mar-Vell, and Peter Corbeau are brought before the Supreme Intelligence. Captain Mar-Vell tries to get the Supreme Intelligence to spare the humans and to not invade Earth. The Supreme Intelligence agrees with Captain Mar-Vell while bringing up the Avengers actions towards the Kree Empire that the Skrull or the Shi'ar weren't able to accomplish. The Supreme Intelligence then has the humans experimented upon to see what the humans are capable of. When Captain Mar-Vell tries to plead to the Supreme Intelligence to spare them from the experiments, the Supreme Intelligence states that "traitors to the Kree Empire have no say." While Thor deals with the Kree and their Sentries, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hawkeye, and Vision free their captive teammates and make their way towards the Supreme Intelligence. The Avengers make their way to the Supreme Intelligence's chamber where they end up fighting the Supreme Intelligence. When the Supreme Intelligence attacks Ms. Marvel, Captain Mar-Vell ends up protecting Ms. Marvel from the Supreme Intelligence's attacks. After taking down some of the Avengers, the Supreme Intelligence tells Captain Mar-Vell that he has chosen poorly and that Earth is filled with test subjects, making them expendable. After his glass chamber is shattered by Thor, Vision attempts to connect to the Supreme Intelligence. It shuts down and starts rebooting. Captain Mar-Vell then shoots the Supreme Intelligence, severing the connection between its organic and machine parts, rendering it harmless for a while.
• The Supreme Intelligence appears in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., voiced by Clancy Brown.^[20] In the episode "It's a Wonderful Smash," he and Lilandra Neramani were in the discussion of a peace treaty between the Kree and the Shi'ar that involved the Guardians of the Galaxy bringing them the Orb of Truth. After the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and the Guardians of the Galaxy escape from Collector and bring them the Orb of Truth, the peace treaty between the Kree and the Shi'ar is a success. In the two part series finale "Planet Monster", the Supreme Intelligence leads the Kree armada into invading Earth in retaliation for Ronan the Accuser's incarceration. After Kree soldiers free Ronan the Accuser and Leader, they are brought before the Supreme Intelligence where he absorb's Leader's knowledge. During the fight between the Kree, the Avengers, and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., the Supreme Intelligence begins to absorb the knowledge of everyone on Earth. Hulk throws himself in front to the knowledge-absorption device where he gets absorbed into the Supreme Intelligence as the result of this. Later, A-Bomb enters the Supreme Intelligence's tendrils and manages to get Hulk and Leader out. Upon the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and the Avengers being ejected from the Kree ship, the Supreme Intelligence and Ronan the Accuser plan to destroy the Earth. The Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and the Avengers receive help from Spider-Man, Hercules, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange, Deathlok, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Inhumans, Mainframe, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, Thing, and Goom to fight the forces of the Supreme Intelligence. With help from A-Bomb piloting Ego the Living Planet, Hulk was able to send the Supreme Intelligence's ship flying into space.
• The Supreme Intelligence appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy episode "Accidents Will Happen," voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.^[21] He is shown as the Kree's representative on the Galactic Council at the time when he meets with J'son, Thor, Irani Rael, and the High Commissioner of Rigel. Following a "compliment" from Star-Lord, the Supreme Intelligence demands a reparation from Spartax. J'son plans to give the Kree Empire one of its refineries as he sends Star-Lord and Captain Victoria to prep it. Meanwhile, Ronan the Accuser and Nebula plan to rig the asteroid refinery to explode so that it would destroy the Supreme Intelligence's ship as Ronan the Accuser claims that the Supreme Intelligence is not worthy to rule the Kree Empire. After having the miners evacuated while fending off Ronan the Accuser and Nebula, the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Victoria have the refinery somehow redirected away from the Supreme Intelligence's ship.

References

External links

• Supreme Intelligence at Marvel.com
• Leader's Lair, Supreme Intelligence