The Squadron Supreme is a team of Earth Mightiest heroes from Earth-712 or Earth-S. The founding members of the Squadron are Hyperion, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, Amphibian, Whizzer, Skrullian Skymaster and Nighthawk. The Squadron Supreme first caught the notice of our Earth’s heroes when four Avengers (Vision, Hawkeye (as Goliath), Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) were inadvertently shunted to the Squadron’s dimension. This quartet of Avengers realized that the Squadron’s world was doomed to destruction by the machinations of the evil Brain-Child, and so the two super-teams joined forces to thwart his doomsday plot.
Some years later, the Avengers came into conflict with the Squadron Supreme after leaders of the Squadron’s world fell under the influence of the malevolent Serpent Crown. While investigating the Roxxon Corporation on their world, the Avengers were defeated by the Squadron who had been summoned by Roxxon’s Hugh Jones -- also under the spell of the Serpent Crown. When the Avengers eventually escaped imprisonment, Jones shunted them and the Squadron back to Earth-712, the Squadron Supreme’s homeworld. It was here the Avengers realized the extent of the Serpent Crown’s influence, and they eventually hatched a plan to convince the Squadron that they were being manipulated by its (and thus, their leaders’) influence.
The Squadron became victims of mental manipulation again when the Overmind (himself manipulated by Null the Living Darkness) arrived on their Earth and quickly made the Squadron pawns in his mad quest for galactic power. Kyle Richmond, formerly the Squadron’s Nighthawk, was President of the United States at this time, and the Overmind used this to his advantage in controlling the Squadron Supreme. Eventually, the Defenders of Earth-616 were able to assist in preventing the Overmind’s plans.
Despite the victory over the Overmind, Earth-712 remained in a shambles due mainly as a result of the formerly-possessed Squadron’s actions. The Squadron, pondering how to literally save the planet, decided to implement a Utopia Program whereby they would become active participants in solving the world’s problems instead of merely reacting to them. This meant, however, that the Squadron would have to usurp virtually all control from elected governments. Nighthawk vehemently disagreed with the team’s decision, and opted to resign his membership rather than assist the Utopia Program. Nighthawk shortly thereafter recruited a band of rebels to fight the Squadron after he believed the team had gone too far in violating the rights of citizens. A big factor in his decision was the Squadron’s use of a behavior modification device on criminals to make them no longer prone to criminal behavior.
Eventually, Nighthawk and his band of rebels, called the Redeemers, fought the Squadron and both sides suffered heavy casualties, including Nighthawk himself. The Squadron came to realize that Nighthawk was right, and they began to dismantle their Utopia Program. Unfortunately, in the process of this, a being of virtually omnipotent power called the Nth Man threatened to consume the Squadron’s entire universe. Even the Squadron’s arch-enemy, Master Menace, was unable to thwart the Nth Man after spending over a decade in the future using high technology to perfect a weapon against him. The Nth Man’s threat was stopped only by Moonglow agreeing to allow the Nth Man to switch entities with her infant son.
After the Nth Man’s threat was extinguished, Master Menace conspired to shunt the Squadron Supreme out of their universe. They ended up in our own, that of Earth-616. The team found temporary sanctuary at Project: PEGASUS with the assistance of Quasar. Once again coming under mental domination, the team entered into conflict with the Avengers. The Squadron was brainwashed to believe that the Avengers were still dead due to the Onslaught incident, thanks to the machinations of Imus Champion and the chemical influence of the Corruptor. Even though the latter’s influence was discovered, Champion still managed to get the two super-teams together for him to defeat. Only the timely intervention of Giant Man saved the day.
Thanks to Imus Champion’s vast collection of weapons and paraphernalia, Iron Man discovered a dimensional transport device that would send the Squadron Supreme home. After several missteps, the team found themselves back in the universe of Earth-712; however, they soon discovered that their Earth had been taken over by a corporate dictatorship, called the Global Directorate, during their long absence. The Squadron was now considered an enemy of the people. Uncertain as to what to do, an entity called Mysterium then appeared and directed the team to find its original members to fight the dictatorship. It was soon revealed that Mysterium was once the Nth Man, the entity that had threatened the Squadron’s universe. After the existing Squadron members recruit the founding members of the team – including Kyle Richmond’s son Neal, the new Nighthawk – the team sets off to battle the dictatorship. The dictatorship’s weapons are extremely powerful, and soon it’s revealed that Master Menace had been captured and behavior-modified to serve the new leadership. It is his genius that is behind the leadership’s high technology. The Squadron eventually succeeded in their rebellion over the Global Directorate.
