Wolverine travels to Bhola
When the deadly cyclone of 1970 hit the coast of Bhola, superhero Wolverine was there but only as a fictional character from the comics
Bangladeshi pop culture fans love it when Western pop culture giants "name drop" our country in their TV series, movies and comic books. This has happened rarely, but has happened nonetheless.
When the shooting unit for Marvel's "Avengers: Age of Ultron" came to Bangladesh, they filmed a bit at the Chittagong shipbreaking yard, and the movies featured our very own port city and salvaged ships. However, the final scene showed another Asian country, not Bangladesh.
An issue of Marvel comics was set in Bhola, the coastal district adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. When the deadly cyclone of 1970 hit the coast of Bhola, superhero Wolverine was there but only as a fictional character from the comics.
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The "Marvel Comics Presents #4" issue takes Wolverine and Sylvia back to Bangladesh of the 1970s. Sylvia has telekinetic abilities and can foresee future events. With Wolverine, Sylvia engages in a head-on fight with "Truth", a supervillain with demonic powers.
Truth tries to execute his evil plans and the Wolverine-Sylvia duo wants to stop him. To distract the superheroes, Truth, with his power, sweeps up a big wave in the sea to scare away the local residents of Bhola. Wolverine jumps in to rescue them. On the other hand, Sylvia goes on a face to face battle to finish off her old enemy, Truth.
It is delightful to see comic book artists portraying Bangladesh in the Marvel comics. However, Bangladesh has been previously used as a plot device in Marvel comics, this is not the first time.
Enigma, another Marvel comics character, is of Bangladeshi origin. Tara Virango, the alter ego of Enigma, used to live in a village called Malpura in Bangladesh. Tara's village was eventually attacked by an evil corporation named "AGK Inc." with a nano-virus. Surviving the virus attack, Tara gains supernatural powers. She adopts the moniker "Enigma", following her origin, and starts fighting evil side by side with Spider-Man.
Enigma was created by Paul Jenkins and Mark Buckingham. The character first appeared in Peter Parker: Vol 2 (issue #48).
