JUGGERNAUT

Fresh off wearing the Uni-Power as Captain Universe, Cain Marko was a shadow of his usual catastrophe. The cosmic detour had disrupted his connection to Cyttorak, leaving the Juggernaut weakened, imprisoned on the Raft, and — for the first time in his career — containable. That weakness is exactly what made him eligible for parole of a very particular kind.

After the Siege of Asgard, Luke Cage took charge of a new Thunderbolts program: convicted super-criminals earning their way out of the Raft one supervised mission at a time. Cain's file landed on Cage's desk, and the loudest objection came from family — Professor X telepathically contacted Cage to argue against taking his stepbrother. Then Xavier surprised everyone, Cage included, by asking him to reconsider: he believed Cain still had a genuine chance at redemption.

So the Juggernaut signed on, in Thunderbolts #144 (2010), agreeing to do whatever Cage said. The trust only went so far, though. Sleeved inside the weakened Cain were nanomachines that could bite into him in his diminished state — a technological leash on a man whose whole legend is that no leash exists. The unstoppable force had voluntarily reported for duty, with an off switch installed.