Alex Wilder is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is introduced in the series Runaways.
Alex Wilder was portrayed by Rhenzy Feliz in the Hulu television series Runaways, which is connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Publication history
Alex Wilder was created by author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona where debuted in Runaways #1 with most of the other main characters. Like every member of the original Runaways, he is the son of villains with special abilities; in Alex's case, gang mob bosses. Alex is the team's de facto leader in the title's first volume. Unlike the rest of the team, Alex does not possess powers of any kind but is a child prodigy in the fields of logic and strategy. Alex eventually reveals that he is the parents' mole, and meets his demise when he is blown into ashes by the Gibborim.
Fictional character biography
Alex is the first character to be introduced in the series. He is the son of Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder. Alex suggests spying on their parents' supposed charity organization. After witnessing their parents' (who were revealed to be a secret crime ring called "the Pride") murder of an innocent teenage girl, Alex organizes the mass escape from their parents. Alex then obtains the Yorkes' copy of The Abstract, a magical book that records the past, present, and future deeds of the Pride. After a few fights with their parents, Alex and the Runaways escape to Chase's dilapidated mansion hideout called "the Hostel". The group vows to work together and take down their parents' organization. The majority of the group (with the exception of Alex) decide to take superhero codenames for themselves as they begin their new lives as full-time vigilantes.
Alex distances himself emotionally from many of the Runaways, even refusing to take a codename or bond with the rest of the team. Alex spends most of his time deciphering the Abstract, presumably plotting how he will carry out his plan to save his parents from the Dean and Hayes couples. Since he expected that all the other Runaways would die in a few months time, he limited his emotional connection.
Alex eventually deciphers the Abstract and reveals that the Pride works for the Gibborim, three monstrous giants who require the sacrifice of twenty-five innocent souls over twenty-five years to gain enough power to destroy Earth and restore it to the paradise it once was. Alex determines the location for the yearly sacrificial rite and convinces the Runaways that the rite would be the best place to launch an assault. Chase is critically injured, and decides to stay back, and gives Alex his x-ray goggles and Fistigons for the final fight.
He reveals that he'd known about the Pride for over a year and had learned about the Pride's secret previously. Alex then reveals that the Deans and Hayeses had plotted to kill all the human members of the Pride, and take the six seats in paradise for themselves and their daughters. Alex's master plan was to use his friends to take down the entire Pride as a group but save his own parents, thus securing three seats in the paradise the Gibborim had prophetically promised to the Pride previously for himself and his own parents selfishly, and to give the remaining three seats to Nico and her parents, but Nico refuses and Alex quickly loses control over the situation. Gert wakes up, prompting her to reclaim Old Lace, who steals back Nico's Staff and destroys the Fistigons, leaving Alex with nothing. When Molly awakens, she destroys the Gibborim's newest sacrifice; when the Gibborim arrive, Alex takes full responsibility in place of his father for the soul being gone. While the Gibborim openly respect Alex's honesty, they promptly incinerate him.
Alex was the intended subject of two resurrection spells in the series' second volume. Nico reveals the reason why she couldn't resurrect Gertrude Yorkes' future self was because she had already attempted the spell. She says it didn't work because "even the Staff of One has its limits".