Elijah "Eli" BradleyPatriot

Inspired by his grandfather Isaiah Bradley’s time as Captain America, teenage Elijah takes a growth hormone to become the superpowered Patriot! He eventually gets caught when his teammates the Young Avengers discover the truth, but then promptly saves Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, from a fatal blow. Receiving a life-saving transfusion from his grandpa, he’s granted real superpowers!

Family Legacy

Elijah “Eli” Bradley is the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the “Black Captain America” and last known survivor of immoral United States Army attempts to recreate the Super-Soldier formula, which had previously empowered Rogers, by experimenting on large numbers of African-American soldiers. In February 1942, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Isaiah enlisted in the Army and was sent to Camp Cathcart, Mississippi for basic training, leaving behind his wife Faith, pregnant with their daughter, Sarah Gail. Alongside hundreds of other black soldiers, Isaiah was chosen to undergo inhuman and mostly lethal chemical trials; meanwhile Faith was informed that her husband had been slain in an explosion that left his remains unidentifiable. A few months later, Isaiah was sent behind enemy lines on a suicide mission to disrupt the Nazis’ own super-soldier experiments; he stole a spare Captain America costume, and though he successfully completed his mission, when he finally made it back to Allied territory, he was rapidly court-martialed and placed in solitary confinement at Leavenworth. Denied proper medical treatment, the still imperfect formula ultimately left him both sterile and brain damaged, with the mind of a child. Faith was eventually informed he was alive, but only allowed to visit three times a year.

During the early 1950s, the Army tried to create new super-soldiers, using surrogate mothers to carry children created from sperm harvested from Isaiah before he became sterile, mixed with genes secretly taken from Faith; there was only one success, subject A-39, a boy named Josiah. The surrogate learned the military’s true intentions and escaped with the child, bringing him to Faith. Aware the military would be hunting for the child, and fearing for her daughter’s safety, Faith abandoned Josiah where he would soon be discovered, and hopefully adopted. He grew up to inherit his father’s powers and become a minister, Josiah X, later working alongside James Rhodes’ vigilante “crew.” Meanwhile, Faith wrote President Eisenhower a letter a month for three years, until finally, on the day of Kennedy’s inauguration, Eisenhower pardoned Isaiah. The family was sworn to secrecy, and Isaiah was released. Though his mind is damaged, his body remains in peak condition to this day, a legacy of the formula within him.

Sarah Gail Bradley went on to have several children of her own. She recently remarried and moved to Scottsdale. Not wishing to interrupt her 16-year-old son Elijah’s junior year at Bronx Science, Sarah left “Eli” behind with his grandparents. After being assaulted by local hoodlums who had taunted his grandfather, Eli was approached by drug dealers who offered him a steroid known as MGH (Mutant Growth Hormone) to gain powers to defend himself. When the thugs later ambushed Eli to finish the job, Isaiah stepped in to defend his grandson, making short work of them. Impressed, Eli wanted to be like Isaiah and carry on his legacy.

Soon afterward, the teen hero Nathaniel Richards, AKA Iron Lad, came to their house, seeking to recruit Josiah as an ally against Kang the Conqueror, Iron Lad’s future self. Eli informed Iron Lad that Josiah had vanished more than a year earlier, but then claimed to have powers of his own, supposedly as a result of an emergency blood transfusion from Isaiah; he joins Iron Lad’s team as Patriot alongside Billy Kaplan, AKA Asgardian (later Wiccan) and Teddy Altman, AKA Hulkling (a Kree/Skrull hybrid). In truth, Eli was taking MGH, raiding drug houses and apprehending suppliers to steal fresh supplies when needed. Iron Lad’s team made their public debut rescuing people from an apartment fire, and the press dubbed them the Young Avengers.

Enhanced Physiology

Born human without any powers, Eli uses a growth hormone to gain superhuman abilities. After receiving a blood transfusion from his grandfather Isaiah, Elijah’s physiology mutates from the effects of Isaiah’s Super Solider Serum. Afterward, he possesses nearly peak human strength (lifting 700 lbs.), stamina and speed, superhuman hearing and bulletproof skin. Elijah is a skilled fighter and natural tactician, uses throwing stars in combat, carries a triangular shield, and wears a bullet-resistant uniform.

Family, Friends, and Foes

Elijah spends a lot of time with his grandparents Faith Shabazz and Isaiah Bradley, and eventually comes to learn that his grandfather was Captain America! He honors him by wearing a uniform inspired by his time fighting for justice.

After joining the Young Avengers, Eli’s natural leadership skills made him de facto team leader, but resentment over his grandfather’s mistreatment and lack of recognition, exacerbated by the MGH drugs, often made him brash, reckless and short-tempered. The team was soon joined by Kate Bishop, AKA Hawkeye, and Cassie Lang, AKA Stature, and an argumentative attraction developed between Eli and Kate. The pair dates for a few months and then make their relationship more clear.

Alongside the Young Avengers, Eli fights Hydra agents, Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin’s team of Young Avengers—who he tries to work alongside by having them try out for his original team—and Victor von Doom, AKA Doctor Doom!

A Patriot’s Path

Jessica Jones, Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, and Captain America, tracked the Young Avengers team down and insisted they disband for their own safety; after defeating Kang they reluctantly did so, but a few weeks later Kate convinced them to re-form. They made the papers yet again capturing Herman Schultz, AKA Shocker; Isaiah recognized Eli in the newspaper, and despite his communication problems, made it clear he was proud of him. Unfortunately, Captain America also saw the headline, and informed Faith of Eli’s actions, learning that Eli’s supposed blood-transfusion origin was false. Meanwhile, running out of MGH, Eli tried to steal more, but ran afoul of superhuman drug chemist Calvin Zabo, AKA Mister Hyde; luckily, Eli had missed a meeting with the other Young Avengers, who came looking for him in the nick of time. While they battled Hyde, Eli surreptitiously injected himself with MGH, but was caught in the act by Wiccan. Even though Eli took a massive MGH dose, Hyde still proved too powerful to subdue, until Eli brought him down by injecting him with an MGH overdose. After the battle Eli, ashamed of his actions, admitted the true source of his powers to his teammates and Captain America, and abandoned his Patriot identity.

The team tried to convince Eli to rejoin and lead them, but he declined. Before he could walk away, however, Kl’rt, AKA Super-Skrull, attacked, trying to capture Hulkling. The youths fled, and once he believed they were clear, Eli left them, insisting they were better off without him; however, the Skrull briefly took Eli hostage and then kidnapped Hulkling. Re-donning his costume, Eli led his teammates to find new members Jonas, AKA Vision, and Speed and rescue Hulkling, but competing alien Kree and Skrull forces also turned up to claim Hulkling. The Young Avengers held them off until the Avengers arrived, but when the Kree opened fire on Captain America, Patriot leapt between them; the Kree weapon cut straight through Eli’s shield, severely injuring him. After the Avengers and the Young Avengers resolved the Kree-Skrull hostilities, Captain America offered to give the gravely injured Eli a life-saving blood transfusion, only to discover that Isaiah had already done so. Eli soon made a full recovery, inheriting his grandfather’s powers in the process, and resumed his leadership of the Young Avengers, leading them into battle when the current Zodiac incarnation took the United Nations hostage.

Around Christmas time, Eli, Kate, and Vision briefly teamed with James Barnes, AKA Winter Soldier, who, as Bucky, had been Cap’s wartime partner. When the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA) was passed, the Young Avengers swiftly became fugitives. Captured within a day by S.H.I.E.L.D. “Cape-Killers,” the team was broken out en route to prison by Captain America and Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon, and joined Cap’s Secret Avengers resistance. Learning that the West Coast teenage heroes, the Runaways, were in danger of capture, Eli disobeyed Cap’s orders and led the Young Avengers to Los Angeles, where they fought alongside the Runaways against Noh-Varr, AKA Marvel Boy, and the corrupt Warden of the Cube super-prison.

Returning to New York, Eli was among those who witnessed Bill Foster, AKA Goliath’s death in battle against the SHRA’s cloned Thor, and later took part in the final battle of the heroes’ civil war outside the Baxter Building, when Captain America surrendered upon realizing the American public supported the SHRA. Though most of Cap’s resistance disbanded and registered, the only Young Avenger to do so was Stature; the others remained outlaws, allied with a similarly unregistered renegade Avengers faction, and Eli and Kate frequently patrolled as a duo.

Shortly after his arrest, Steve Rogers was assassinated; though Eli had initially resented Rogers because of how his grandfather had been treated, he had swiftly come to admire Cap, and his death moved Eli deeply, the more so because of how he had initially treated Rogers. After he and Kate stopped Russ Broxtel, AKA Firebrand, from holding up a gas station, they were observed by Iron Man and the resurrected Clint Barton, formerly Hawkeye, whom Iron Man was trying to convince to become the new Captain America. Confronted by Iron Man, Eli and Kate evaded him, but Barton blocked their escape, somewhat annoyed to discover Kate had taken his old codename. Unaware of his true identity, Eli angrily berated Barton for wearing Cap’s costume, his words unconsciously echoing Barton’s own doubts on the matter and convincing him to turn down Iron Man’s offer. Barton let the pair go, running interference for them with Iron Man. Shortly afterwards, Iron Man arranged a truce that allowed the Young Avengers to attend Cap’s funeral. Perhaps because of this, and their minor status, Iron Man seemingly decided to turn a partial blind eye to the Young Avengers; despite his knowing their civilian identities, they were able to return to their families, only risking arrest if and when they went out in costume.

Eli continued to have doubts about whether Patriot was the right name for him, as he had chosen it largely to honor his grandfather and found the identity hard to reconcile with his own doubts about some of America’s historical transgressions, such as slavery and the Tuskegee experiments. Learning Bucky had visited Isaiah, Eli tracked Barnes down to discuss his recent misgivings. Bucky convinced Eli to represent the dream America aspires to, and not to be discouraged by the times it had failed to live up to it. He also told Eli that the wartime costumed hero Patriot, the late Jeff Mace, would have been proud of Eli upholding his legacy.

After helping Cassie come to terms with having injured a police officer while fighting crime, Eli took Kate out on an awkward “non-date” which was interrupted by Clint Barton as Ronin, his new alter ego. Disappointed that Kate seemed reluctant to be more than a friend, Eli angrily told her off when he later learned she had allowed Barton to confiscate her bow and had forbidden her from using the Hawkeye identity. Later, having reclaimed both bow and name, Kate admitted she did have feelings for Eli, but asked him to give her time; Eli happily agreed. Eli later joined other heroes in impersonating Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man to help the wall-crawler beat a civil case brought against him, and the Young Avengers fought alongside the Runaways again during the Skrull invasion of Earth.

Eli and the Young Avengers went up against Norman Osborn’s New Young Avengers, but Eli wasn’t having it. He coordinated a try out to see if the members on this other “team” was worthy of joining the original Young Avengers. The new group struggled to agree to the pressures put on them, and eventually the bulk of them departed, leaving Eli wondering if some would choose to be on their side one day. They then team up with Captain America and the Asgardian gods against Osborn and his insane allies, the Wrecking Crew. Eli and Kate get separated and trapped from the group, and Eli kisses her. Though she pushes him away, she has a better reaction later.

Eli then helped his fellow Young Avengers break Wiccan out of Avengers holding—who was being kept under observation since his powers overloaded. The Young Avengers searched for Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch, with the help of her father Max Eisenhardt, AKA Magneto. Eli expressed doubts privately to Kate, but still went with the group. They all travel to Transia where they discovered Wanda with her brother Pietro, AKA Quicksilver, except that Wanda was in fact a Doombot in disguise. They eventually found her in Latveria depowered and engaged Doctor Doom, with amnesia no less. The Avengers arrived and a battle broke out, until Iron Lad teleported the Young Avengers and Wanda away through the timestream. Wanda then remembered who she was and they then returned to their time. She also revealed that Wiccan and Speed were her sons, reincarnated. They all then teamed up with the Avengers and the X-Men, defeating Doom but losing Stature in the process, whom Doom killed. Eli departed from the Young Avengers and afterward, in moving to Arizona, worked there in voter registration. He stayed in touch with his former teammates, attending Wiccan and Hulkling’s elopement and wedding.