Alex Wilder was a former member of the Runaways who sought revenge against his former teammates after surviving a bomb attack he suspected one of them to have engineered. He traveled into the past, hoping to kill his former teammates before they were reassembled by Nico Minoru. However, he was prevented from doing so by Chase Stein, and subsequently captured by the Runaways. He was later erased from existence after Stein and the Runaways saved Gert Yorkes from death, thus significantly altering their original timeline.
"So you're prepared for the investigations into your father's criminal past, your mother's death and your... colorful foray into being a teenage fugitive?"
As Alex Wilder grew up, stories started unraveling about his family including how his father was a criminal. Additionally, his mother was killed. All of this led to Alex becoming a teenage Runaway.[1]
Trapped in the Dark Dimension[]
"C'mon, we both know what happened in that jail cell."
Alex Wilder got trapped in the Dark Dimension and was subjected to different forms of torture, including killing a recreation of his mother, which started him down a twisted mindset.[1]
Still having mixed emotions over his time in the Dark Dimension, Wilder was walking around the Hostel preparing for Morgan le Fay's inevitable attack when Nico Minoru approached him. Minoru told him how the Dark Dimension was already seeping into Earth, which annoyed Wilder until he realized if le Fay was coming to the Hostel, then they had home field advantage. They were then interrupted when they heard Geoffrey Wilder screaming in pain. Minoru asked Alex if he was okay. Alex said his father was hurt, but he would live.
Wilder was soon approached and given a serum to stop a possible mind control by Corvus phones. Wilder was injected then ran over, hearing commotion. He saw Chase Stein being tackled by Molly Hernandez as he was under the Corvus phone's influence. Stein was cured when he was injected by the serum that Wilder was subjected to. Suddenly, an Inter-Dimensional Portal opened up as le Fay stepped out.
Wilder watched as Minoru came out of nowhere, throwing her dagger at le Fay, only for her to simply absorb it like nothing. le Fay then talked to the Runaways, telling them that she already won so the children better just give up and she would spare them eternal pain. Wilder was the first to give in, telling everyone he was sorry, but he could not go through what he did in the Dark Dimension again. The rest of the Runaways except Minoru followed suit.
However, this was just a ploy as their distraction gave Janet Stein enough time to disrupt the cell towers, removing le Fay's strength via people's use of Corvus. le Fay slowly collapsed to the ground as the Runaways stood triumphant, but only for a moment as le Fay gained some strength back and attacked. Minoru shielded everyone with her Staff of One, allowing Wilder and the others to hide behind the wall.
While le Fay was distracted, Wilder saw Bronwyn walking up the stairs to the PRIDE parents. Wilder followed her and used his knife to stab Bronwyn in the neck, killing her and saving Leslie Dean, Dale Yorkes, Stacey Yorkes and even his father.
Wilder returned to the battlefield having seen the thunderous clouds disperse, indicating victory. He ran down the stairs, but his excitement soon faded as he saw Gert Yorkes on the ground. Wilder stood over as Yorkes died in Stein's arms, meaning that not everyone won.[4]
For the next three years, the Runaways disbanded, having been unable to hold their grief over Gert Yorkes. Alex founded Wilder Innovators with Geoffrey, which quickly became a successful business through his modern tech activities, including a project in a school that was funded by NASA. He also helped Chase Stein to develop a time machine thanks to the knowledge contained in the Abstract because Stein wanted to travel back to save Yorkes. Additionally, he had gone to a party with Karolina Dean one time and met her girlfriend, Julie. He even stopped by Nico Minoru's home at one point.[1]
A Dark Path[]
Bomb Attack[]
"A bomb was placed in his office. It went off, but he survived."
In 2028, Wilder survived the explosion of a bomb that had been planted in his office. He investigated the origin of the bomb and became convinced that one of his former friends, the Runaways, had attempted to kill him. He therefore decided to enact revenge on them, but instead of attacking them directly, he chose to travel to the past and kill their past counterparts.[1]
Arriving in year 2021, Wilder decided to firstly target Nico Minoru before she could reassemble the Runaways in memory of Gert Yorkes, who had died three years before in the Battle at the Hostel against Morgan le Fay. He thus went to the house where Minoru was living and shot at her with his Energy Pistol, but Minoru blocked the bullet. This surprised Wilder, as he did not expect her to be able to defend herself with the Staff of One. Before he could move further, Wilder was subdued by Chase Stein, and decided to retreat.
Since the Runaways had managed to gather, Wilder decided to go after their loved ones and approached Julie, Karolina Dean's girlfriend. He knocked her unconscious using his Energy Gun, waiting to ambush Dean as she arrived to check on Julie. However, Wilder was once again stopped, this time by Minoru's spell. Interrogated by Stein about his time machine, Wilder refused to answer and took advantage of a moment of destruction to teleport away, to year 2018.
Wilder arrived in Atlas Academy, on the day prior to the discovery by the future Runaways about the Rite of Blood, planning to attack them as they were at their weakest. However, he was found by the 2021 versions of himself and Minoru, who chased him, followed by Stein. Upon fleeing, Wilder was caught by mistake in a bus full of students led by Kwan. As the other Runaways arrived, Wilder held another student hostage with his Energy Knife, before being incapacitated by another of Minoru's spells.
Wilder was brought to the school gym, where his past counterpart blamed him for his actions, but Wilder dismissed the blame, citing how he was only being pragmatic and had the courage to do what was necessary before claiming that Minoru had left her friends for selfish reasons. Later, when Stein explained that he wanted to time travel again to save Yorkes from her death and the other Runaways insisted to accompany him, Wilder warned them that such a drastic change in the timeline would erase their current selves. Nevertheless, the group maintained their decision, and took Wilder with them to the 2018Hostel.[1]
In the aftermath of the Runaways' success, with the future Stein being killed by le Fay instead of Gert Yorkes, Wilder faded away from reality due to the change in the timeline that it brought, with his body being noticed by his past self.[1]
Personality[]
"I embraced my true nature." "And what's that, a cold-blooded killer?" "It's someone who will do what no one else will in order to win."
In the aftermath of Gert Yorkes' death and the attempt on his life, Wilder's pragmatism and tendency to ruthlessness went extreme. Claiming that one of his former teammates had attempted to kill him, he decided to chase their past counterparts to kill them all in retaliation, showing no second-guessing of this extremely brutal choice as he considered them to be the result of pure self-preservation instinct. He was also willing to hurt the Runaways' loved ones, such as Karolina Dean's girlfriend Julie. When captured by the Runaways and confronted by his past and more pacific counterpart, Wilder did not express any remorse regarding his decisions, stating that he was only embracing his true nature.
Wilder attempted to kill Nico Minoru with this weapon, only for her to block the energy bullet. He later used the weapon on Julie, rendering her unconscious.
Energy Knife: Wilder wielded this knife during his infiltration into Atlas Academy, and threatened to kill a student with it before being stopped by Minoru.
Other Equipment[]
Chase Stein's Time Machine: Having helped Chase Stein to develop the time machine, Wilder possessed his own copy of the device, and used it to repeatedly leap through time in an attempt to murder his former teammates.
