

Not giving into the Grim Reaper's offer, the Vision refused however, the Grim Reaper gave him a medallion that would put them into direct contact should the Vision change his mind. If the Vision aided him in getting revenge on the Avengers, he would transfer the Vision's mind into the body of the deceased, but preserved, Wonder Man. The Vision met with the Grim Reaper who offered him a proposition. The Legion was defeated when the Grim Reaper found himself unable to strike down the Vision, having discovered that he possessed Simon's brainwave patterns.
Later, the Grim Reaper confronted the Avengers with his Lethal Legion comprised of the Living Laser, the Power Man, the Man-Ape, and the Swordsman. Taking the name the Grim Reaper, he defeated the Avengers, but was beaten by the surprise appearance of the Black Panther. Through his Maggia contacts, he contacted the Tinkerer who provided him with his scythe weapon. Learning of Simon's death, Eric was inflamed with guilt and anger. Simon's better nature won out, however, and he died saving the Avengers from Zemo's trap. Simon was transformed into the Wonder Man in order to infiltrate the Avengers, but Zemo's empowering process also poisoned Simon, ensuring his loyalty in exchange for the antidote. Simon was freed from jail by Baron Zemo, induced by an offer of revenge on Tony Stark by defeating Iron Man and the Avengers. Simon embezzled money from the company to invest with Eric, but Simon was caught and jailed. Desperate, Simon turned to Eric and his mob ties for help. Partly due to competition with Stark Industries, Williams Innovations began to fail. Eventually, Eric joined the Maggia and moved to Las Vegas meanwhile, Simon took over the family business, Williams Innovations. Eric also became more rebellious and tried to get Simon to join him in his petty theft. As they grew older, Simon grew studious, while Eric was an athlete. Simon felt guilty for having not stopped Eric, and resolved to be responsible for Eric from then on. One day, Eric was playing with chemicals in the garage and caused a fire that burned down their house. At the same time, their mother Martha was loving and attentive to Simon, making Eric bitter and jealous as a result. He even preferred to watch television lazily whilst Eric was torturing the family cat. Eric's father, Sanford, was charged with disciplining him, but was abusive and uncaring. His mother, Martha, would tell him that he was "born bad" whilst heaping affection on Simon. Eric was always the black sheep of his family. 1.2 The Master Plan of the Space PhantomĮric Williams, the brother of Simon Williams, who later became known as the Wonder Man, was born in Paterson, New Jersey.
