Cape Killers

Most Recent Roster

• Hightail
• Scorpion
• Gust
• Taskmaster
• Agent Gao

Origin

The Superhuman Restraint Unit was a SHIELD hit squad secretly being trained to take down superheroes. When the Super-Hero Registration Act was passed, Maria Hill took the opportunity to legitimize them.

Creation

The Cape Killers were first introduced officially as the Superhuman Restraint Unit in Civil War (2006) #1 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Cape-Killers was a nickname.

Major Story Arcs

Super-Human Registration Act

After the Super-Human Registration Act, the covert group in training was made public. They were used mostly for patrolling for unregistered superhumans using their powers and escorting them to Prison 42 in the Negative Zone. They also supported staff at Camp Hammond, the training facility for any superhumans who willingly registered.

When the Skrulls attempted their secret invasion, some of them were replaced with Skrull doubles. When they were revealed, the human members were taken into custody.

Carnage Reigns

Thanks to former Mayor Fisk's Anti-Vigilante Law, Agent Gao was given permission to start her own state-sanctioned costumed crimefighting task force that was free from current Mayor Luke Cage's oversight. She called it The Cape Killers, dropping all pretense and leaning into the nickname. She recruited arrested superhuman criminals to work off their prison sentences. Her team consisted of: Scorpion, Taskmaster, Electro, and Hightail.

They are called into action when Cletus Kasady uses the Extrembiote, a combination of a symbiote dragon and the extremis virus, to turn New Yorkers into his puppets. They find themselves allied with Spider-Man (Morales) and the new Red Goblin (Normie Osborn), who can absorb symbiotes.

Unfortunately, their combined might was still not enough to take on Cletus. Most of the team is taken out, leaving Hightail and Miles to stand against Kasady until Iron Man arrived to help them. Reunited with Scorpion and joined by the new Red Goblin, Hightail and the others kept a bunch of Carnage zombies busy while Iron Man rigged an EMP to take out the Extrembiote that Cletus was possessing.

Gang War

When Hammerhead incited a gang war hoping the gangs would take each other out and the Maggia could swoop in and take over the city, Agent Gao sent the Cape Killers into the field to keep the peace in Brooklyn with Hightail leading this assignment. Frost Pharaoh and The Bumbler were leading gangs against each other, and they have already gotten the attention of Miles Morales. Because Miles was deputized by the mayor, the Cape Killers couldn't arrest him, so they reluctantly worked with him. After defeating Frost Pharaoh and Bumbler, they turned to the Enforcers and their new leader, The Prowler, who were all upgraded with mysterious new tech.

The Prowler had led the Enforcers into a trap, hoping that Miles and his allies would be able to stop them. He then recruited them all to help him take down Hobgoblin, who was trafficking Beyond Corporation tech to the street gangs of Brooklyn. Hobgoblin also hired a number of goons to secure the perimeter. Starling, Shift, and Scorpion are on goon duty, but Scorpion is able to reach some of them, convincing them that goblins never follow through on their promises. Shocker, Ricadonna, Mister Fish, Man-Bull, and Goldbug all join the Cape Killers to help Miles take down Hobgoblin.

In the ensuing fight, Hobgoblin's cache of explosives are triggered causing a massive explosion. Hobgoblin is assumed dead, and with Brooklyn safe again, Agent Gao reminds Miles that his truce with the Cape Killers is over. Luckily, the events of Gang War convinced the New York council to appeal the anti-vigilante law, thus disbanding Gao's current team.

Retribution

While the wheels of bureaucracy spin, Gao gets the most out of her Cape Killers while she can. After a successful mission against a power stealer named Snatcher, Gao breaks the news to the Cape Killers that the program is being shut down and they might not get credit toward their sentence for their service. She promises to commute their sentence if they help her with a final mission: take down Spider-Man (Miles Morales).

Gao enters a reluctant deal with Rabble, allowing her to upgrade Scorpion, Gust, Hightail, Taskmaster, and herself with special armor. This armor should give them an edge over Spider-Man, who has managed to best them every time. Unfortunately, this armor also allows Gao to remote control the Cape Killers. When they still couldn't take out Miles, Gao took control of them and pushed them further. Miles gets some last minute help from his friends, including Rhino and his uncle, Prowler. They keep the Cape Killers busy while he goes after Rabble to free them from Rabble and Gao's control.

Gust proved most formidable when her armor forced her air aerokinesis to pull the breathable air from the heroes. Thankfully, Miles shut down Rabble's control over the Cape Killers in the nick of time.