- Name: Jason Wyngarde
- Code Names: Mastermind
- First Appearance: X-Men #4 (March ’64)
- Powers: Illusions
- Teams Affiliation: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Factor Three, The Hellfire Club
About
Life is a perception of your own reality. You interpret what you see and define your entire existence around it. You become your own person because of how you analyze each choice, each action around you and make your own choices because of what you define as important. But what if your perception of reality was skewed? What if you weren’t able to tell truth from fiction? What is someone, somehow, was crafting everything you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel to suit their nefarious goals? Jason Wyngarde held such a power. He could create convincing illusions to manipulate others, to bend them to his whims. His horrifying abilities and lofty goals made him into one of the X-Men’s most important, and dangerous, enemies.
A creation of the most dynamic duo in comicbook history, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Mastermind debuted as a member of the first incarnation of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and was instrumental in the group’s takeover of the South American nation of Santo Marco. He was the source of much of the Brotherhood’s tension as he tried to woo the Scarlet Witch and undermine Magneto. He used his illusion abilities in battles against the X-Men often in their early days until the Brotherhood tried to recruit a cosmic Elder known as the Stranger. Mastermind demonstrated his abilities on the Stranger but he didn’t realize that the Stranger would react rashly and turn the illusionist to stone.
Art by Jack “The King” Kirby and Paul Reinman
Mastermind eventually recovered and joined the villainous Factor Three for a short time but eventually went back to Magneto and the Brotherhood. He was approached by a government official with an interesting job for him. The official had a vendetta against The Sentry and wanted to get rid of him. Mastermind implanted an illusion, committed inception on the man. He made the Sentry believe the devil would undo everything the Sentry did. He made him believe there would be no good or bad to come from the Sentry, only emptiness. The Sentry had a mind so powerful that he made the illusion real and created one of the most powerful evils the world had ever known. Mastermind created The Void.
Art by Steve McNiven, Mark Morales, and Morry Hollowell
This taste of his true power left the Mastermind wanting more. He wanted to join the upper echelon of powerful mutants, the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club. To prove his worth to the group he targeted a powerful mutant to manipulate and control, a mutant who had recently lost her friends and her support system, Jean Grey. He began to make sure they ran into each other, giving her visions of the Victorian life of an “ancestor”, making her fall in love with him. Jason brought Jean’s inner most desires to the forefront, he freed Jean from her inhibitions and continued detethering her from reality. The illusions escalated until Jean believed she was so truly in love with Wyngarde that the two should be wed. She joined Mastermind in marriage, and the Hellfire Club as their Black Queen.
Art by John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Glynis Wein
The Club had made the first move against the X-Men, and Xavier’s mutants struck back with vengeance. They mounted an assault on the Inner Circle and Mastermind pulled his trump card, the Dark Phoenix. She quickly dispatched her former friends and gave the Hellfire Club the edge they needed to stop the X-Men. Cyclops tried to use Jean and his psionic rapport to help Jean overcome the manipulation and was met by Wyngarde. In the Astral Plane Jason dueled with Scott for Jean. The battle was fierce but Cyclops was no match for the master illusionist, Jason Wyngarde ran his blade through Cyclops and destroyed the last connection Jean had to the X-Men.
Art by John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Glynis Wein
The Hellfire’s victory looked complete until Wolverine burst in and ruined the moment. The distraction was enough to loosen Mastermind’s hold on Jean and allow her to help the X-Men overcome the club. Though her own woman again, Jean felt the lingering effects of the illusion and her darkness was growing. She was not one to be manipulated, nor to let slights go unpunished. She cornered Wyngarde, and he felt fear, he knew what he had unlocked in Jean and knew what that power could do if it was unleashed on him. He had desired phenomenal cosmic power and the Phoenix gave him a taste. Jean left him catatonic and charged forward in her desire for more of the power that Mastermind had given her.
Art by John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Bob Sharen
Eventually Jason recovered from his experience and desired revenge against the woman who destroyed him. The results of his tampering, however, had left Jean dead and he turned his vengeance on the next best thing, Cyclops’ new red headed love Madeline Pryor. He convinced Cyclops that Madeline was truly the Phoenix reborn and that she was a danger. The X-Men were able to break this illusion and sidelined Mastermind from further revenge.
Art by Paul Smith, Bob Wiacek, and Glynis Wein
He made an attempt to steal the Phoenix Force from Rachel Summers, but Excalibur was able to thwart the foe. Soon he contracted the Legacy Virus, an illness that was deadly to mutants, and sought penance. He approached the risen Jean Grey and asked forgiveness, an old dying man regretting the folly of his youth. She granted this and he let the curse take him. The Legacy of Mastermind would live on in the daughters who inherited his gift for illusion, Martinique Jason and Regan Wyngarde. They were not his only progenies as, surprising as it may be, the X-Man Pixie was revealed to be his daughter, but that is a tale for a different time.
Art by Sara Pichelli and Christina Strain
Must Read
Is there any other choice? The Dark Phoenix Saga is the definitive X-Men story and Mastermind played an instrumental role in it. The tale took a Silver Age miscreant and turned him into a devilish, power hungry, mad man, bent on subjugating others to his will. Chris Claremont and John Byrne were at the peak of their creative prowess in this era and that is lofty praise for two of the greatest names in superhero comics. This story has been adapted or eluded to in every adaption of X-Men for good reason, it is a superb tale and I could say nothing about it that hasn’t been said one-thousand times over. Find the trade on Amazon or pull this up on Marvel Unlimited, you won’t regret it.
Art by John Byrne
Ranking
What a hard one to pin down right? Mastermind isn’t a deep character, he wants power and is willing to step over anyone to get it. He has an interesting, if generic, power set but he is a very forgettable character. While he kicked off the whole sage, he is far from the most memorable villain from the Dark Phoenix arc. He is an excellent plot mover but he isn’t much more than a tool for the story. For a comparison the villains on this list are pretty sparse but I think Mastermind has to go below Exodus because Exodus has a personality you could get invested in. Similarly Frenzy has such a strong individual character arc that I would rather read her more. Looking around that area of the list, Sage sticks out to me as someone I would rather not see again as opposed to Darwin who has an interesting personality, but is underutilized. For that the Mastermind will slot in between those two as the new number 31 in the Xavier Files.
Mastermind was requested by Michael from the Patreon, thanks for the request! If you want to cut to the front of the line like Michael, we have a Patreon if you want to support it and get a line cutting reward for just a $1 pledge. Our first goal is only $15 and it gets rid of those ads and makes the hosting for Xavier Files entirely reader supported.
Xavier Files is opening itself up for guest articles. If you have something you would like to pitch send an email to Zachary.Jenkins@Xavierfiles.com and we will be in touch. So far this has generated us hosting an amazing web comic called Bish & Jubez, a eulogy on Harry Leland, and the best new readers guide out there.
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— Xavier Files (@XavierFiles) August 11, 2016
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
