Merge:Alex Wilder

Alex Wilder is a character in the Marvel Comics universe, and a former member of the team of young superheroes known as the Runaways. His first appearance was in Runaways (vol. 1) #1.

Character history
Alex grew up with an admiration of superheroes, and even dressed up as Spider-Man for Halloween as a child. Though his parents wanted him to be a doctor, Alex had aspirations of someday designing video games for Rockstar Games. Being an introvert, Alex did not have many friends outside of his fellow online gamers; however, he fell in love with fellow Runaway Nico Minoru, and she gave him what was probably his first kiss. Nico later confessed that Alex wasn't normally her type, but she felt connected to him given their unusual situation.

Despite being the only one of the group without any superhuman abilities or tools, Alex became the de facto leader of the group due to his natural leadership skills and intellect, as well as his prodigy-level abilities with logic and strategy. These skills, combined with a decoder ring stolen from Karolina Dean's parents, made it possible for him to decode The Abstract, a tome which detailed the past, present, and future of The Pride.

Of the six Runaways, Alex was the only one who refused to choose a superhero-type codename, claiming he wanted to "redeem" the Wilder name that his parents had ruined. However, Alex was ultimately revealed to be a spy for The Pride, having remained loyal to his parents the whole time. Furthermore, he explained that he had found out the truth about The Pride a year earlier and, discovering and decoding The Abstract, learned of their plans. The Pride, he learned, were helping the Gibborim rise to power and exterminate humankind, choosing the six members of The Pride that best served them to live in the paradise that would follow. Alex believed this to be a noble goal, seeing his parents' mission as an attempt to make the world a better place.

When Alex overheard the Hayses and the Deans' plan to kill the human members of The Pride, he decided to do whatever necessary to save his parents. To this end, he manipulated the other Runaways into assembling tools and skills that would allow Alex, as their leader, to overthrow The Pride. After doing this, he intended to take the six spots in paradise for himself, Nico, and their respective parents. Although Alex was equipped with Chase's Fistigons, Nico's Staff of One, and Old Lace, the Runaways defeated Alex and disrupted the Pride's ritual sacrifice to the Gibborim. In response, the Gibborim killed Alex and the rest of The Pride.

Despite his betrayal, Nico later tried to magically resurrect him. Although she said that the attempt failed, there were hints that Alex might be alive and secretly leading a new incarnation of The Pride. These hints proved to be misleading. The New Pride consists of Alex's former online gaming friends, who had discovered his death. They also tried to resurrect him via magic, but instead brought a younger, different Wilder back from the dead: Geoffrey Wilder, Alex's father. It is unknown, however, if there is still a chance Nico's spell worked.