The Marvel Universe is a vast one, with many places and people to pick from. In this series of guides, we'll take a look at the less known ones in Marvel Snap. Our first stop is Project Pegasus, a research facility/prison that specializes in all sorts of energies. Let's take a look!

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Table of Contents

    Table of Contents

    First Appearance

    Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S., which stands for Potential Energy Group/Alternate Sources/United States, joins S.H.I.E.L.D, S.W.O.R.D., and M.O.D.O.K. in the "Yeah, we came up with the acronym first, but it's a cool acronym, so zip it!" (or Y.W.C.U.W.A.F.B.I.C.A.S.Z.I.) club. It's a research facility/prison that specializes in everything energy, like energy from the Negative Zone/Electro.

    Setting the Scene

    The Thing Card Image Captain America Card ImageOngoing: Your other cards at this location have +1 Power.

    Before we get into the comic proper, let's talk about some characters that appear in the story:

    • Heroes:
      • Captain America: Steve Rogers was a scrawny little man that wanted to help fight the Nazis in WWII. After being injected with a Super Soldier formula that gave him super-human abilities, he became Captain America, a symbol of hope for the war effort. Unfortunately, the scientist that created the formula was killed, and no one else has been able to replicate it since (keep this in mind).
      • The Thing: A member of the Fantastic Four, Ben Grimm is one of 4 astronauts to be hit by cosmic radiations during a mission that changed their body in new and fantastic ways. Ben's body became covered in orange rock and became superhumanly strong. Because of his disfigurement, he called himself The Thing, in an act of self-loathing.
      • Petunia: The Thing's aunt. He mentions her a lot.
      • Man-Thing: Theodore Silas created the SO-2 Serum in an effort to replicate the Super Soldier serum. Instead, it turned him into Man-Thing, a swamp monster that guards the mystical Nexus of All Realities. As Man-Thing, he doesn't think, instead relying on very basic emotion to interact with the world. He's capable of sensing people's emotions, and there's no emotion he loathes more than fear.

        Read Savage Tales #1 for his full origin.
      • Wundarr: An alien that was sent to Earth from another planet when his parents thought said planet's sun will go nova (spoilers: it didn't). His parents were killed by his home-world's government to prevent them from spreading panic, but he managed to be launched beforehand. However, his ship, crashed on Earth in a swamp, where it laid undisturbed for more than 20 years.

        During that time, Wundarr grew to adult size, until Man-Thing opened his shuttle, when he emerged with the mind of a literal toddler. Basically, Superman with the mind of a baby. He eventually ended up at Project Pegasus, where they want to study how his powers (being able to absorb energy and turn it to physical strength) can be used as an energy source. He sees The Thing as an uncle.

        Read Fear #17 for his detailed backstory.
    • Villains:
      • Victorious: Victor Conrad was a scientist for A.I.M., the scientific division for Hydra, who tried to recrate the Super Soldier formula. Read Astonishing Tales #18 for the full origin and a cameo from Ka-Zar. He was a tad more successful than Silas, as the formula actually granted him powers similar to Cap's. He later joins the Cult of Entropy as their leader, creating the Entropic Man. Speaking of...
      • Yagzaninto Jude, the Entropic Man: The original leader of the Cult of Entropy, a cult that thinks everything will eventually die off and who oppose any effort to prevent that. Killed in an altercation with Man-Thing, was reanimated by Victorious as the Entropic Man in the issue we're about to get into. Read Giant-Sized Man-Thing #1 for the full story.
    • Items:
      • The Cosmic Cube: Powerful item that allows the user to reshape reality to their whims, along with being able to do whatever the plot demands of it. Used as poker chips in some card game with superheroes.

    Victorious Steals the Cosmic Cube

    The first appearance of Project Pegasus happened in Marvel Two-in-One #42 from 1974 (there's a 2017 comic with the same name, that's not the one we're talking about). The story of this issue is continued in #43, but the Project itself is only mentioned here.

    Our story begins with Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing, visiting Project Pegasus. And by visit, we mean he's breaking in. That's because the project is holding Wundarr there, and Ben feels responsible for the latter's well-being, seeing as he's an uncle-figure to the alien with the mind of a child.

    Also at the facility is Captain America, on a reconnaissance mission from Nick Fury (in full costume, because nothing says incognito like blue, white, and read, and a big shield with a star on it). After a short fight with Ben, he manages to calm him down and trust in the people at Pegasus. 

    This is where Wundarr comes in. He's strapped to a chair and placed in a isolated room with the Cosmic Cube, in an effort to see if his power affect it in any way. However, things go badly when the experiment is sabotaged by Victorious, who puts Wundarr in a catatonic state and flees with the Cube. Ben and Cap then pursue him.

    This is pretty much all there is to Project Pegasus in this two-parter, aside from some mentions later on. There's a far more interesting 6-issue arc happening later on that we'll briefly mention in the next section, if you don't want to hear the resolution to this two-parter. For those sticking around, let's get back to it!

    Ben and Cap catch up with Victorious in a swamp in Florida. By this point, he's joined and taken over the Cult of Entropy, and, using the Cube, revived their former leader, Yagzaninto Jude, as The Entropic Man, a being capable of turning humans to dust. The Entropic Man manages to enthrall Cap and almost kills him, but Ben intervenes and is taken by Jude, who turns The Thing back into a regular human... somehow.

    Knowing that he can't fight Jude in his current state, Ben stalls by rationalizing with the Entropic Man, while Cap and Victorious fight each other in the background. In the meantime, all this commotion has caught the attention of Man-Thing, who resides in this swamp. Man-Thing is drawn by the Cube, curious about it's strange powers.

    Noticing the shambling creature take to the powerful artefact, Victorious struggles with it, trying to take the Cube back. In the meantime, Cap has convinced Jude that his course of action is wrong, turning the Entropic Man on his creation. Victorious, not wanting to be turn to dust, displays fear, which enrages Man-Thing, causing it to explode.

    This results in Victorious and The Entropic Man being turn to crystal statues, and the Cube to lose all it's powers. Cap collects it and leaves the scene along with Ben, who has turned to his orange rocky self. While they leave, Man-Thing regenerates and continues to wonder the swamp he calls home.

    What Became of Project Pegasus

    The facility will serve as the main location for the aptly named "The Project Pegasus" arc. This arc happens in Marvel Two-in-One #53-58, and focuses on a plot to destroy the Project from within. Ben Grimm returns as one of the main characters of the arc, but it also focuses on Quasar and Black Goliath/Giant Man in starring roles (don't worry, the comic explains their origin in brief).

    This arc also further develops the character of Wundarr, making him more than "Superman with the mind of a child". If you want to see his journey up to that point, check Marvel Two-in-One #2-3, #8, #9, and Ms. Marvel #15. 

    In terms of Snap characters, Deathlok and Klaw make appearances as one-issue antagonists, with the later making his first appearance as a sound-based being. Electro is also... there... with his entire body wrapped in bandages from a fight with Spider-Man.

    It's a really good arc and we highly recommend giving it a read if you can find it. You can find it on Amazon both digitally and physically under The Thing: Project Pegasus, which contains issues #42, #43, and #53-58. Just keep in mind that this is a story written in the 70s, so there's some... problematic aspects to it. Nothing that ruins it completely, just something to keep in mind.

    As for Project Pegasus, it would make sporadic appearances in other titles, most notably the Quasar solo series from the late 80s. The location appears pretty consistently throughout the years, with it's latest appearance being in Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #41.

    Does the Snap Effect Reflect the Location?

    Seeing as Project Pegasus is all about researching various forms of energy, we'll go with a resounding YES. Giving each player +5 Energy the turn it's revealed perfectly encapsulates what Project Pegasus is all about.

    What do you think of Project Pegasus? What other Locations would you like to see us cover in the future? Let us know in the comments below!