Bedlam (Jesse Aaronson) is a mutant superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He originally possessed the mutant ability to create and project a bio-EM field. This has the effect of temporarily disabling any similarly powered technology in the vicinity. He can also utilize his power to scan the environment for other pre-existing energy fields. After the High Evolutionary reset the mutant genome in every mutant on the planet, Jesse's abilities expanded to be able to affect the human brain's neural chemistry, thus allowing him to project the illusion of pain and confusion into other people.
The character made his live-action cinematic debut in the film Deadpool 2, portrayed by Terry Crews.
Fictional character biography
Jesse Aaronson was orphaned at the age of 5 after his parents were killed in a car crash. After that, he and his brother Christopher were put into foster care separately. Jesse went through multiple foster homes due to his emotional instability and was forced to go through many therapists before being placed in a psychiatric hospital at 13. He was exploited during that time by one of the doctors, who wanted to use Jesse's burgeoning powers for a book and performed experiments on him, and tried to convince Jesse that his brother was simply a figment of his imagination. Jesse was eventually rescued by Lucas Whyndam and ended up in the hands of the Professor Charles Xavier's Mutant Underground Support Engine (M.U.S.E.), a group based out of Montana with the goal of rescuing mutants and training them as field agents.
When he reached the age of 19, Jesse decided to leave M.U.S.E. in order to track down his brother once and for all. He enlisted the help of the mutant spy and former X-Force member, Domino. He offered her information regarding the whereabouts of the Prime Sentinel unit named Ekaterina Gryaznova in exchange for Domino's help. Gryaznova, now calling herself Gryphon, had implanted a device in Domino's body several months ago, which severely diminished her mutant powers. Upon entering the base, Domino was captured but Bedlam managed to escape. Using his resources from M.U.S.E., he managed to track down X-Force in San Francisco and break into their headquarters, in order to ask them for help. The team managed to free Domino and apparently kill Gryphon. In the process, Bedlam used his power to short circuit Domino's implant.
Keeping up her end of the bargain, Domino managed to find information regarding his family. His parents were actually information analysts at the National Security Department. They paid a visit to his parents' former supervisor, Dabney Saunders, who was residing in a retirement home, babbling incoherent sentences. Domino, however, discovered the orderly in charge of Saunders informing an unidentified man about their visit. Both Bedlam and Domino broke into the mysterious man's home using Jesse's power and were subsequently attacked by Magma and Paradigm. Bedlam used his powers to disrupt Paradigm's electronics, knocking out Magma in the process. However, they were subdued by none other than Jesse's brother, Christopher. Christopher, calling himself King Bedlam, has the power to disrupt the higher functions of the brain. Chris was tagged as a mutant at the age of six by the N.S.D. and was taken into a research center after their parents' death. At age 13 he fled, destroying Saunders mind in the process. He had now founded a new team of Hellions and offered an invitation of membership to Jesse, who gladly accepted. The group's true intentions, however, were to reanimate the Armageddon Man in order to blackmail the U.S. government into paying one billion dollars. X-Force managed to subdue the Armageddon Man, but the New Hellions managed to escape. Jesse was invited back to join X-Force, as he had discovered that it was his brother responsible for their parents' death.