RADIATIONARY (Earth-7)

Biography 

Early Career

Chen Lu was a renowned nuclear physicist who dedicated over a decade to Damage Control, the organization tasked with cleaning up the devastation caused by superhuman conflicts. His role focused on cataloguing, analyzing, and archiving hazardous residues and technology left behind after battles.

Damage Control frequently clashed with S.H.I.E.L.D., whose operatives often interfered with recovery missions, seizing dangerous artifacts without authorization. Chen strongly opposed these interventions, arguing that they compromised both safety and scientific integrity.

The Finland's Incident

The turning point came when an unidentified flying object crashed in Finland, creating an unauthorized base. S.H.I.E.L.D. took charge, but their reckless confrontation left several bodies unregistered, including that of a key espionage agent. Outraged at the interference, Chen Lu filed a formal case against S.H.I.E.L.D., demanding exclusive jurisdiction for Damage Control.

During the investigation, Chen and his team discovered a mysterious alien reactor of unknown design, capable of generating immense energy. Driven by curiosity, Chen approached the device to better understand it. His interference destabilized the core, triggering a nuclear fission reaction. Instead of being destroyed, the reactor’s energy was absorbed entirely into Chen’s body. 

As Radiatonary

The accident transformed Chen Lu into a living nuclear reactor. His body constantly emitted waves of destructive thermal energy, collapsing in on itself while disrupting electronics and making it nearly impossible for him to maintain control. Now glowing with radioactive power, Chen became both a danger to others and to himself.

For a time, Chen’s condition left him isolated and unstable, incapable of mastering his abilities. This changed when Hydra approached him, offering the means to harness his atomic powers for their cause. 

With their aid, Chen embraced his new identity as Radiationary, a human nuclear weapon whose destructive potential rivaled the deadliest forces on Earth.

New Roots 

Years after the Finland Incident transformed him into a living nuclear reactor, Chen Lu struggled to maintain any semblance of a normal life. The immense radiation generated by his body made him both a threat to others and a prisoner of his own condition. While Hydra eventually provided him with the means to stabilize his powers, allowing him to operate as Radiationary, his life remained defined by destruction, isolation, and the constant fear of losing control.

Everything changed after the fall of the Masters. As public distrust toward superheroes grew and the Registration Act reshaped the relationship between superhumans and the government, Chen found himself presented with an unexpected opportunity. Through a program organized by Wilson Fisk, former villains were offered reduced sentences and new identities in exchange for serving as government-sponsored heroes.

Accepting the offer, Chen abandoned the identity of Radiationary and reinvented himself as Plantman, becoming one of the newest members of the Thunderbolts initiative. To manage his radioactive emissions, he now wears an advanced containment suit designed to condense and regulate the energy generated by his body. Rather than channeling that power toward destruction, the suit redirects it into biological growth, allowing him to manipulate and accelerate plant life on a massive scale.

Assigned as the official protector of Vermont, Chen has spent the past years operating under his new identity, using abilities once associated with catastrophe to support and defend local communities. Unlike many of his fellow Thunderbolts, who view the program as a necessary compromise or a path to freedom, Chen appears to have genuinely embraced the role he has been given.

For perhaps the first time since the Finland Incident, Chen Lu is no longer defined by the accident that transformed him. Whether redemption was ever his goal remains uncertain, but as Plantman, he has finally found a purpose beyond survival.