History[]
"I tried the whole villain thing. Didn't like the hours or the prison uniforms. This other uniform though, totally in fashion this fall, assuming you survive long enough to see it."
Leila Davis (nee Russell) was born in 1981 to wealthy parents outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Living a sheltered and priviledged lifestyle, Leila always attended the finest boarding schools that she could have with loving and adoring parents. However, her independent streak quickly showed itself when she fell for a boy born on the "wrong side of the tracks" as it were. Following her heart, she married Anthony Davis and was promptly disowned by her parents, forced to work a menial job for the first time in her life.
Thankfully for Leila, she had in-demand computer skills, particularly in networking and security issues. Her husband worked his own way through school and became a top level weapons engineer working for Stark Industries as they moved to the west coast, once again indulging in a wealthy lifestyle. Everything seemed to be going their way, until the day Tony Stark announced the end of weapons manufacturing at his company. This sparked layoffs, of which Anthony was a victim. Unsure of their future, Anthony allied himself with three other former Stark Industries employees and robbed a bank for financial capital. In their botched robbery attempt, though, Anthony was killed by police.
Widowed and without the income to support her lavish life of luxury, Leila herself turned to the life of crime. Using her computer savvy, she managed to hack into the mainframe of Stark Industries and steal top secret material related to the ARC reactor, the Iron Man and Iron Monger suit, and retrieve Donald Gill's cryo technology. Presenting this information to her husband's partners in crime, Leila helped them build three suits to try and take out the seeming source of their bad fortune, Tony Stark himself. Calling themselves the Wrecking Crew, Ivan Vanko, Donald Gill and Marco Scarlotti pushed Stark to his limit while showing that Iron Man wasn't top dog anymore, though they were eventually captured.
Davis was next contacted by Justin Hammer, who wished to recruit the Wrecking Crew to build suits and later drones for his own company. Arranging the release of the other three, the quartet got to work building the Hammer Drones, while also upgrading their own tech. Using an interest an entomology she had always had, Davis built a suit of armor for herself as well, based on the theme of a Beetle. When Hammer appeared ready to sell them down the river, though, Davis and Vanko convinced the other two to turn on their employer and take him and Stark out at the Stark Expo, where Hammer would be displaying both the Hammer Drones and the new Mobile Threat Suit piloted by James Rhodes. Remotely taking control of Rhodey and the Drones, Davis set them after Stark, causing a massive riot at the Expo. She and Vanko then flew there themselves in their suits, leaving Gill and Scarlotti to guard the computers. After a lengthy battle, Vanko ended up dead while Davis was captured, sent to prison for her crimes with her other accomplices.
A couple of years later, the criminal Taskmaster orchestrated a breakout at a supermax facility run by SHIELD. He sprung from jail Abomination, Whiplash and Blizzard, but when he offered Davis the chance to leave she refused. This act, along with her model behavior as a prisoner, earned her release into the custody of General Thaddeus Ross, who was assembling a team for his own needs. Davis would later help reconstitute and recruit Simon Williams to this same team, which also included Donald Clendenon, Luke Cage, and others. Eventually calling themselves the Thunderbolts, Davis and the team helped finally apprehend Taskmaster once and for all. After being sent on a wild goose chase for the Hulk, Davis was nearly killed when the Thunderbolts faced with Dr. Franklin Hall, who had gained the ability to control gravity. Davis quickly realized that at the rate Hall's powers were growing, he could destroy the world. Defying orders, Davis and the Thunderbolts confronted and eventually killed Graviton (what Hall had begun calling himself in his megalomania). In the process, Davis and her teammates earned full pardons for their work. She then began (along with Donald Clendenon, who she had become romantically attached too) working for SHIELD as a computer security expert. After marrying Clendenon, she was transferred to help get the Sentient World Observation and Response Division (SWORD) up and running, working under director Maria Hill. Working with her new husband she helped coordinate the defense of the Earth from the Chitauri, and even broke out her Beetle suit for a little up close and personal fighting in winning the day.
Alternate Timeline[]
In the alternate timeline of Infinity War, both Beetle and Harrier were dispatched to fight a break-off contingent of the Chitauri in a remote part of Canada. While there the two were pinned down in an old abandoned mansion, but the fighting stopped after Thanos ennacted "the snap", resulting in the end of the Chitauri, as well as Davis' untimely death in the Decimation.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Mechanized Suit: In working with Ivan Vanko and the rest of the Wrecking Crew for Justin Hammer, Davis developed her own mechanized battle suit based on an insectoid appearance. The Beetle's suit has mechanized flying ability, as well as concussive blasts of energy similar to that of the Black Widow's stinging modules.
- Computer Skills: Leila Davis' personal abilities are in the area of computer security. She is one of the best known hackers in the MCU, able to penetrate the firewall of Stark Industries easily and obtain the top secret blueprints for both the Iron Man suit and the Iron Monger suit, among other weapons technologies. She was also employed by SHIELD after the Thunderbolts escapades as a consultant in computer security.
Weaknesses[]
Of all four members of the Wrecking Crew (as well as the members of the Thunderbolts), Davis has the least amount of combat savvy and experience. She is prone to making critical errors in terms of combat strategy, and serves much better in a behind the scenes role or as a support fighter. However, she should not be taken completely lightly as, of the four Wrecking Crew members, she is the only one who remains alive or free from prison (despite being the facilitating cause of their technological upgrade in Iron Man 2.)
Film Details[]
Davis appears in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity of the MCU. In Iron Man 2, she is portrayed by actress Trish Stratus. In all other instances, she is portrayed by actress Maggie Q.
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- The Avengers (2012)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Thunderbolts (2013)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) [mentioned only]
- Avengers: Infinity (2019)