Steve Englehart and Don Heck created Mantis and she first appeared in Avengers No. 112 in 1973. Her most notable appearance was in the Marvel Cosmos crossover event, 'Annihilation: Conquest.'
Mantis is the child of German and Vietnamese parents but was given up when she was little to the Priests of Pama. The Priests of Pama are a group of Kree aliens who were banished from their planet after opposing war. They established a temple in Vietnam were Mantis was taught Martial Arts and began developing powers. She got the name Mantis from the Priests of Pama because of her ability to defeat male opponents. When Mantis turned 18, the Priests of Pama erased her memories, keeping her skills intact, and released her to gain real life experience in the world. She used her powers to fight evil and even joined the Avengers for a short time.
Mantis is a character that travels very often, both on Earth and beyond. She can travel great distances by transferring her consciousness into other life forms, like plants, and then being “reborn” again with all her memories and skills intact. Doing this is what caused her skin to turn green. On one of her travels the Kree Empire imprisoned her. During her imprisonment, the Kree was taken over by the Phalanx, a techno-organic form of life under the command of Ultron. They begin to take of the Kree Empire and Mantis was recruited (by force) into Star-Lord’s team to stop the Phalanx alongside Captain Universe, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Bug and Deathcry. Afterwards, she joined the Guardians of the Galaxy and runs the team on their base located on the planet Knowhere.
Along with her martial arts skills, Mantis has enhanced control over her bodily functions provided her powerful agility, reflexes, speed, strength, stamina, and more. She can even use her powers to heal herself quicker than others. She is also trained in pressure points and nerve endings and this allows her to fight powerful enemies, like Thor, without superhuman strength. She has strong telepathic and telekinetic abilities and can also communicate with plants, including Groot.
Mantis has a very complicated history and at one point even moved to DC Comics before her eventual return back to Marvel. Her history will most likely be shortened and simplified in the movie. For example, she will have no affiliation with the Avengers and will also not have a love interest with Vision like she often does in the comics. With no trailer and not much knowledge on GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, coming May 5, 2017, it is not known on how Mantis will make her mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, she is sure to make a great new addition to the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Written by James Philbrick, Character Profile -- Click here to read James' posts
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