Wrecking Crew

The Wrecking Crew is a team of four supervillains—the Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver and Thunderball—appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. While not featured on the cover, the Wrecking Crew's first appearance is in The Defenders #17 (Nov 1974). The Wrecking Crew appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe / Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). Fictional team history The Wrecking Crew are formed when Dirk Garthwaite—the Wrecker—is approached by Dr. Eliot Franklin in prison and asked to retrieve a gamma bomb Franklin had designed, with the intent of ransoming New York for millions of dollars. The Wrecker had formerly been a violent criminal who demolished crime scenes with his crowbar, but gained his power when he was mistaken for Loki and given mystical powers by Karnilla the Norn Queen. Garthwaite manages to retrieve his enchanted crowbar. During a lightning storm, Wrecker tells Franklin and fellow prisoners Henry Camp and Brian Calusky to grip the weapon simultaneously. A lightning bolt then strikes the crowbar, increases the Wrecker's power and transforms him and the other three men into the Wrecking Crew. Franklin became Thunderball, Camp became Bulldozer, and Caluski became Piledriver. They promptly escape from prison and, in the course of searching for the gamma bomb, are defeated by the Defenders and Luke Cage. Over the years the Wrecking Crew have followed a very familiar cycle—escape from prison, fight (and subsequently lose to) superheroes, and be returned to prison. The Wrecking Crew have battled the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Fist, the Runaways, Spider-Man, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Alpha Flight, the She-Hulk and the X-Men, but their main foe is Thor. When the Wrecking Crew first battle Thor, they are confident that it will be a quick victory. Thor, however, infuriated by the fact that one of the Wrecker's offensives has killed an innocent bystander, defeats them all in moments and critically injures the Wrecker. Thunderball escapes and, several weeks later, recovers the Wrecker's crowbar, going on to form his own gang before being defeated by Spider-Man. The Wrecking Crew is later chosen by the being known as the Beyonder to participate in the Secret Wars against a team of select superheroes.