Steven Lang (Earth-616)

Dr. Steven Lang
Name	Dr. Steven Lang
Aliases	Dr. Steven Lang; Dr. Stephen Lang, Dr. Lang
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Formerly MRD, Human Council, Prime Sentinels, Phalanx, Project: Armageddon, U.S. Department of Defense (advisor), ally of the Council of Chosen
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′11″ (1.8 m)
Weight	166 lbs (75.3 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Blond
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Techno-Organic (Phalanx)/Human Cyborg hybrid, later resurrected by the Techno-Organic Virus, turned into a Sentinel by Bastion
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	American
Occupation	US Department of Defense advisor, former Phalanx Leader, scientist
Education	PhD. in engineering
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, Dave Cockrum
First	X-Men #96 (September, 1975)
First	X-Men #96 (September, 1975)
Death	X-Force (Vol. 3) #28 (July, 2010)
Death	X-Force (Vol. 3) #28 (July, 2010)

History

After the death of Lawrence Trask, the property of plans for the Sentinels fell to the government of the United States. Dr. Stephen Lang became the head of a federal research about mutants, trying to discover how mutations could provide superhuman powers. However, unbeknownst to his employers, Lang was an anti-mutant bigot who used his position to obtain access to the notes and designs of Larry Trask and Bolivar Trask, his father and creator of the original Mk I Sentinels.

Lang also went to the Council of the Chosen Ones, part of the Hellfire Club, who provided him with funding to create new Sentinels and an orbital HQ. The Council also ignored that Lang wanted to destroy every mutant he could capture. When Lang's old friend Michael Rossi discovered Lang's true intentions and threatened to shut Project Armageddon down, Lang had the plane carrying Rossi back to Washington D.C. destroyed.

The Mk III Sentinels were unfortunately inferior to the previous ones because Lang worked with only incomplete notes from the Trasks and because the secret of his activities stopped him from hiring enough experts. He also made them less intelligent than the previous Sentinels to stop any possible rebellion. Notably, Lang built Sentinels that looked like the original X-Men, which became known as the X-Sentinels. The X-Sentinels confused the newer X-Men to such a degree that they were ending up thrashed, but then Wolverine discovered that these impostors were not human and ripped up the Jean Grey lookalike, exposing their true nature.

Lang's Sentinels and space station were destroyed in a battle between the Sentinels and the X-Men. Lang was lobotomized during the battle, but he had made a backup of his mind patterns that was used as a base for the mind of Master Mold and his other Sentinels.

While the Master Mold went on to menace the X-Men for years, Lang remained in a vegetative state in an assisted-care facility until he was recovered for a new government program. Lang's mind was restored to act as the hub for a new living Sentinel program: The Phalanx. Lang hoped to use the Phalanx to wipe out mutantkind once and for all. Unfortunately for him, the extraterrestrial nature of the Phalanx came with encoded directives of their own, threatening all mankind with conquest. Lang reluctantly assisted several X-Men in stopping the rise of the Phalanx, but seemingly died with them when a Cameron Hodge Phalanx construct pulled him into a bottomless ravine.

Years later, Bastion used a similar techno-organic virus to revive Lang and many other anti-mutant plotters for his new council. Lang was one of Bastion's most loyal and eager puppets, eventually dying again in battle with the X-Men after being upgraded into a Prime Sentinel.

Attributes

Power Grid

Trivia

• Steven Lang, as Head of Project: Armageddon had a "mutants killed" count of 29 as of X-Force (Vol. 3) #3. It is unknown if that correspond to the total of mutants he personally killed, or also those killed by his organization and creations.
• After Krakoa became a sovereign nation state for mutants, Steven Lang was considered to be in ninth place among the enemies of mutants, having been responsible for 29 deaths.
• According to Stuart Vandal, "[his] correct name is Steven Lang. Stephen Lang is incorrect"

See Also

• 25 appearance(s) of Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 6 minor appearance(s) of Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 12 mention(s) of Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 7 image(s) of Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 1 quotation(s) by or about Steven Lang (Earth-616)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Steven Lang (Earth-616)