| “ | Look, here's the deal. We've got a super-soldier, a giant girl, a robot from the 30th century, a Skrull/Kree super-soldier, Billy (who, yeah, is kind of lame, but can cast spells), an Olympic class archer and martial artist, and... me. And really, me's all you need. So tell me, whattayou got that makes you think you shouldn't just give up? | „ |
| ~ Thomas Shepherd to Chase Stein |
| “ | Hey! Geriatrics! Let's get a move on. The Avengers need us! | „ |
| ~ Speed. |
Speed (real name Thomas "Tommy" Shepherd) is a fictional character and superhero from Marvel comics.
He is a superhuman teenager who is the reincarnated son of Vision and the Scarlet Witch, and the older twin brother of Billy Kaplan. His powers are based on his uncle, Quicksilver, gifted with super speed. He was a member of the Champions, the Young Avengers, and the Secret Avengers.
Speed made his debut in Young Avengers #10 (February - March 2006), and was created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Thomas Shepherd was born in Springfield, New Jersey to Frank and Mary Shepherd, whom later divorced when he was still young. Unbeknownst to him, Tommy was the reincarnated son of Vision and the Scarlet Witch and the brother of Billy Kaplan, as Wanda used transfigured magic on her late children's souls. He was also born with the mutant gene, presumably due to being the reincarnated soul of Wanda's son. Tommy went in and out of juvenile detention centers. In one of them, he met a girl, Lisa Molinari, who he had some form of a romantic relationship with.
Becoming a Young Avenger[]
After he accidentally "vaporized" his school with his super speed, Tommy was arrested and sent to a high-powered correction facility that dampened Tommy's powers. He was trapped there for months and intended to be turned into a weapon before being rescued by the Young Avengers. The team were searching for Hulkling after he was captured, and Jonas Vision sent them there to find recruits as Iron Lad had intended.
After being freed from his cell, Stature (Cassie Lang) noted at how similar Tommy and her teammate, Billy Kaplan, were and that they could have been twins. Their escape plan did not end well as the teenagers ran into armed officers. Holding a grudge against his former captors, Tommy began attacking the doctors and officers there before being stopped by Kate Bishop and Patriot. Later, Tommy joined the Young Avengers in battling their Kree and Skrull adversaries to rescue Hulkling. Afterward, Thomas decided to take the codename Speed, and later alerted them that the Zodiac was attacking the United Nations.
When the Superhuman Registration Act was formed, Speed and the Young Avengers sided with Captain America's faction, and Shepherd joined the Secret Avengers. The team later learned that the Runaways were being hunted since they attempted to stay out of the conflict, and disobeyed Captain America's veto to not help them. Meeting with the Runaways by Wiccan's teleportation power, the Young Avengers fought the team until Patriot convinced Nico Minoru that they were there to help. During the conflict, the two teams were attacked by Marvel Boy, and were taken to a prison led by the Warden.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Mutant-Physiology: Being the reincarnated son of the mutant Scarlet Witch, Thomas was born with the mutant gene.
- Superhuman Speed: Gifted with superhuman speed, Shepherd can move at supersonic speeds similar to his previous incarnations' uncle Quicksilver.
Portrayals[]
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021), he was portrayed by Gavin Borders and Jett Klyne (who reprised his role to play an alternate version of the character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness).
Video Games[]
- In Lego Marvel's Avengers, he was voiced by Josh Keaton, who also voiced young Hercules in the titular Disney animated film, Valerian Mengsk in the StarCraft series, Jak in Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier, HYDRA Stomper in What If...?, and Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden 2.
- Speed appeared as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy.
Trivia[]
- Not only does he have the same power set like Quicksilver, he bears some resemblance to him.
