| “ | So, when Iron Lad told me he was in trouble--that he needed a Super Soldier--I lied and told him he'd found one. And then I did what I had to do to become one. | „ |
| ~ Patriot. |
| “ | The black Captain America is no myth. He's my grandfather. And I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to carry on his legacy. | „ |
| ~ Patriot. |
Patriot (real name Elijah "Eli" Bradley) is a fictional character and superhero from Marvel comics, appearing as one of the main characters of the Young Avengers comics.
He is the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, who was a super soldier who held the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers' disappearance during World War II. When Iron Lad arrived to the present to recruit heroes to stop his future self, Eli was one of the founding members under the codename "Patriot". Though he originally used illegal hormones to grant himself superhuman capabilities, he would receive a blood transfusion from his grandfather, which gave him the abilities of a super soldier. After the events of Children's Crusade, Bradley retired from heroics, and his mantle was later succeeded by Rayshaun Lucas.
He was created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, and first appeared in Young Avengers #1 in February of 2005.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Elijah "Eli" Bradley was born in New York City, New York to Sarah Gail Bradley and an unnamed father, and is the brother to Litigious Bradley, Stephanie Bradley, and two unnamed sisters. Eli comes from a family of heroes, with his grandfather Isaiah being a super soldier who held the mantle of Captain America during the Second World War, and his uncle Josiah carrying on his legacy during the Vietnam War.
Becoming Patriot[]
Iron Lad, the younger version of Kang the Conqueror, traveled to the present to recruit heroes for his own Avengers to stop his future self. Though Eli's uncle was considered a candidate, he wasn't in contact with the family, and Eli decided to lie to Iron Lad that he was a super soldier since he received his grandfather's blood via transfusion. Donning a costume that was a re-design of his grandfather's with a full cowl, Eli took the name "Patriot" and would take dosage of the mutant growth hormone to gain superhuman strength and durability. Eli then formed the Young Avengers alongside his teammates Iron Lad, the Kree-Skull hybrid Hulking, and the reincarnated warlock Asgardian. Before going on dangerous missions, the heroes decided to train with each other so they could prepare to fight against dangerous threats.
The team would start to train before going on dangerous missions, and after several weeks of doing so, their first mission was to save people from a hostage situation at St. Patrick's Cathedral. However, the team would only cause a fire to start at the cathedral and became hostages themselves, but Kate Bishop would help them by using Patriot's throwing stars. Later on, the Young Avengers were forced to battle Kang the Conqueror after Bishop and her friend Cassie Lang demanded to be on their team. During the battle, Patriot received Captain America's original shield from Bishop, and they managed to save the world by stopping Kang. Despite stopping the supervillain, Captain America and Iron Man arrived and demanded that the team to be disbanded, but Bishop was able to use her family's wealth to get them access to a base and equipment.
After Iron Lad left the team, Eli and Kate became the teams' de-facto leaders, but the two became competitive and often argued at times. During his tenure with the Young Avengers, Eli's use of mutant growth hormone was discovered by Asgardian, but he continued to use it to fight against Calvin Zabo. During said battle against the villain, Eli overdosed on the hormone, forcing Asgardian to calm him down and send him to the Avengers tower to recover. During his recovery, Bradley revealed the truth to his teammates, and decided to leave the team due to his abuse of the hormone. His teammates then attempted to have Eli return to the Young Avengers, but he refused since he couldn't help them fight threats without powers.
When Hulkling was captured by the Super-Skrull, Eli donned his costume once again and rejoined the Young Avengers to assist the New Avengers. During the battle against the Skrulls and Kree, Eli protected Captain America from gunfire, and was severely injured during the incident. Eli was then taken to the hospital where he received a blood transfusion from his grandfather, which granted Patriot super soldier capabilities. Returning to the Young Avengers with powers, Eli and the team would side with Captain America during the superhuman civil war. While most members of the team were arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D., Eli would join the Secret Avengers and fought against Iron Man's faction.
During the Children's Crusade storyline, Patriot and his teammates decided to search for Scarlet Witch after Asgardian's powers overloaded. Bradley was initially hesitant about the plan since Bishop decided to have the mutants Magneto and Quicksilver join them, but he accompanied them despite this. The group discovered that Scarlet Witch was amnesiac, and was also engaged to Doctor Doom, whom proceeded to attack the team when the Avengers arrived. Iron Lad arrived and teleported the Young Avengers and Scarlet Witch away, and Wanda regained her memories and told Asgardian that he was her reincarnated son. When Scarlet Witch's powers manifeste4d to undo the decimation, Patriot interrupted the ritual, which resulted in Doctor Doom gaining god-like powers. The Young Avengers then worked with the Avengers and the X-Men to stop Doom, and succeeded despite Cassandra being killed by the supervillain.
Patriot and the others mourned the death of Cassandra, and Iron Lad would destroy vision after the latter refused to allow Richards to save her through the time stream. After the battle, Eli decided to leave the team due to his guilt in Cassandra's death, and decided to move to the Midwest to work in voter registration.
Portrayals[]
Television[]
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he is portrayed by Elijah Richardson.
