Captain Britain: Bio, Origin & History

Orlando Bloom As Captain Britain

Real Name: Brian Braddock

First Appearance: Captain Britain #1 (October, 1976)

Powers: Captain Britain has many superpowers. He possesses superhuman speed, durability, reflexes, endurance, strength, and agility. He is also able to fly and can project force fields. 

Affiliation: Excalibur, Secret Avengers, Knights of Pendragon, Illuminati, and the Captain Britain Corps. 

Did You Know? Captain Britain is the brother to the X-Men’s Psylocke

A Little History

The origin of Captain Britain is pretty straightforward. 

First appearing in Captain Britain Comics #1, Captain Britain is the creation of Chris Claremont and Herb Trempe. 

Along with his twin Elizabeth and brother Jamie, Brian Braddock grew up in Maldon, Essex. Brian was a shy child who came from an aristocratic family and spent the majority of his time in his studies. Sadly, his family lost some of their wealth and as a result, was no longer able to associate with people of a higher class. This led Brian to further his obsession with his studies, particularly physics. 

Shortly after the tragic death of his parents, Brian took up study at the Darkmoor Nuclear Research Center. When the facility was attacked, Brian jumped on his motorcycle and gave chase to the attacker. By all accounts, he should’ve caught the criminal. Instead, however, he crashed his motorcycle and was left severely injured. Luckily, just after he crashed, the magician Merlyn and his daughter Roma appeared by his side. The two offer the wounded Brian a chance to be something greater. They gave him a choice. He could A) choose the Amulet of Right or B) the Sword of Might. Considering himself anything but a hero, Brian chose the Amulet of Right. Upon his acceptance of the Amulet, Brian was transformed into the mighty Captain Britain. 

Eventually, it’s revealed that Brian is just one of many Captain Britain’s spread over the Multiverse. That is, each version of Earth has its own Captain Britain that’s been sworn to protect Britain. Together, the group is known as the Captain Britain Corps.

And that’s it. The origin of Captain Britain.