- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Black Bolt from the Marvel Cinematic TV series. The mainstream version can be found here: Black Bolt (Marvel).
Black Bolt is the main protagonist of the ABC TV series, Marvel's Inhumans. He is the king of Attilan and the brother of Maximus. He has the power of Super sonic which causes him not to speak.
He is portrayed by Anson Mount, who also portrayed his Earth-838 counterpart in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Discovery and Batman in Injustice (2021).
History[]
Marvel's Inhumans[]
Background[]
Black Bolt was the first son of Agon and the older brother of Maximus. Unlike his brother, Black Bolt did not want to be king. Upon gaining his powers, he founds out he got sonic powers resulting him not speaking forcing him to use sign language to communicate. Black Bolt accidently killed his parents due to Maximus manipulation. He become king and married Medusa.
Uprising in Attilan[]
After Maximus usurps the throne from him, Black Bolt ends up in Hawaii where he is arrested. While in prison, Black Bolt meets an Inhuman named Sammy who contacts geneticist Evan Declan to break them out. Black Bolt soon realizes that Declan had other plans for him and tries to escape with Sammy, but encounter Auran and the Inhumans who were sent by Maximus. Medusa and her ally Louise Fisher arrive and rescue Black Bolt. Later, the group reunites with Karnak and Gorgon, but Locus, one of Maximus' agents sent to locate the Royal Family, dies from a previous wound. Before passing, she tells Black Bolt that he is capable of becoming a better king. Black Bolt begins to express a desire to kill his brother, but Medusa calms him. Along with Louise, they both reunite with Crystal and Lockjaw with the rest of the family. Black Bolt reveals that he was well aware of his brother's betrayal in advance and that Triton was also in on it. The family returns to Attilan and after a failed parley in which Declan is taken back by Maximus, Black Bolt confronts his brother only to learn that he cannot kill him as Attilan will be destroyed in a failsafe plan.
On the Run[]
Determined to reclaim is throne and stop his brother, Black Bolt and Sammy hatch an escape plan and save Attilan, which first starts that once they're in the prison yard, they use a prison riot as a distraction for Sammy to use his powers to melt a hole out of the prison. Once in the air, Evan Declan introduced himself and told Black Bolt and Sammy that he intended to bring them to his lab to shelter them and do some research on them. Black Bolt informed Declan that he was looking for his wife and Declan promised to help him. Once at the lab, after some exams, Declan told Black Bolt that he had discovered his Inhuman powers. He also gave Black Bolt a dossier containing information about all the Inhumans he knew of, but none of them was Medusa.
Reunited[]
Finally reunited, Black Bolt and Medusa share a passionate kiss and Black Bolt is horrified to discover that Maximus had shaved Medusa's head. Then, they leave the lab, taking Locus with them as she could help them to find the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family. While Louise was driving, Black Bolt asked his wife how she lost her hair and felt angered upon learning about Maximus' responsibility in it. However, Medusa insisted that she was fine, and he should calm down. When Locus, who had been locked in the trunk, finally woke up, Louise stopped the car and Locus told them that Karnak was nearby. On the way, Locus voiced her criticism of the Royal Family as the Attilan caste system prevented her from becoming the healer she wanted to be, but Black Bolt remained quite insensitive to her critics. Medusa explained to Black Bolt that the people of Attilan did not fully know him and that this had to change.
The group finally reached the camp where Karnak had been living for a few days. They fought against Tua and his group of traffickers and ultimately found Karnak and Gorgon. However, Locus had been fatally shot during the fight. Before dying, she begged Black Bolt to change his ways of ruling the Inhumans and Black Bolt silently nodded. Locus also revealed that Crystal was on Oahu as well. After tasking Louise with finding signs of an energy burst indicating where she landed, Black Bolt and Medusa discussed what they should do about Maximus. They were interrupted when Auran called Locus' Com-Link that Louise had reclaimed. Auran revealed that she held Declan and Sammy hostages at Declan's lab. Therefore, they decided to split up: Black Bolt, Medusa and Louise would find Crystal while Karnak and Gorgon would release the prisoners.
Regaining Power[]
The Inhuman Royal Family transported to have their parley with Maximus where they would trade Evan Declan so he could go through a second Terrigenesis, and they would regain the throne back. Unfortunately, Maximus crossed them and refused to give up the throne, knowing that Black Bolt could not hurt him in the parley. The family then returned to the bunker, vowing that when they see him next, Black Bolt will kill him
Black Bolt then joined them to be shocked by Gorgon's return, despite ordering Karnak not to revive him. Karnak told Black Bolt that he is aware he went against him, but it was only because he desperately wanted Gorgon back. Karnak then informed Black Bolt of the situation with Maximus' protocol, causing them to go back to the bunker to discuss plans to evacuate the Inhuman city.
When they returned, Medusa, who also was against bringing Gorgon back, scolded Karnak but dropped the matter due to bigger problems occurring. Black Bolt told Karnak that Gorgon was his responsibility and he had to keep him safe. They then talked about how they were going to get all the Inhumans to evacuate the city as they would not be able to stop the protocol. Karnak then said that they could connect their Com-Links to the camera and announce to everyone to evacuate. As Medusa attempted to persuade Maximus to stop, the rest along with Triton went to connect their com-links so they could give a message to the city due to the dome quickly becoming more and more unstable.
The family then all reunited where they decided that it was time to announce the evacuation. They all headed outside to give the message, and Karnak stayed with Gorgon. They then watched Black Bolt and Medusa give the speech. As they prepared to leave, Karnak had said since Attilan was born in strife, it will now die from it, but Black Bolt reassured him that Attilan wouldn't die. Karnak then pointed out how they had to leave and should leave Maximus to face the consequences of his actions, but Black Bolt had to make sure that everything was resolved, meaning they had to make sure Maximus was dealt with. The family then left, leaving Black Bolt behind. Black Bolt goes to find Maximus who is waiting for him where he revealed to Black Bolt that he caused him to kill their parents. Black Bolt punches him, knocking him out. When Maximus wakes up, he's under the city of Attilan where he taunts Black Bolt. He responded by pushing Maximus away and locked him in the bunker, making his escape before using his voice to collapse the building on top of Maximus. Black Bolt then ran to Eldrac who sends him to Earth.
New life on Earth[]
The family then landed on Earth where they were soon joined by Black Bolt. They then changed into their normal royal clothes. They were then greeted by Louise Fisher who had prepared a suitable living environment for the people of Attilan to live in, now that they are on Earth. Black Bolt and Medusa made a speech to the Inhumans telling them that Earth was once again their home. The Inhumans would then go on to live in the settlement set up for them whichever would go unnoticed to the public world.
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Black Bolt is a member of the Illuminati, a group made of the smartest and most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, including Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, T'Challa, and Namor.
- In the final scene of ...And Finally: Black Bolt, Black Bolt's uniform is a reference to the classic costume from the comics, with the cape referencing his wings.
- Black Bolt's crown is a reference to his original mask from the comics.
- With Black Bolt from an alternate universe appearing as one of the members of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Black Bolt became the fourth Marvel Cinematic Universe character introduced in a Marvel Television production to subsequently appear in a Marvel Studios production, being preceded by Edwin Jarvis, Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, and Matt Murdock/Daredevil.
