Mr. Freeze: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Victor Fries

First Appearance: Batman #121 (February, 1959)

Powers: Mr Freeze is one of the superior minds of the DC Universe. As such, he possesses a genius level intellect and has created both weaponry and a suit that suits his unique situation. As a result of an accident, Mr. Freeze has been gifted a physiology that allows him to survive at sub-zero temperatures. Because of the suit he wears, Mr. Freeze has superhuman strength and durability.

Affiliation: Injustice League, Secret Society of Supervillains, Suicide Squad, and Gothcorp.

Did You Know? It was only after his popularity in the Batman television show in the 1960s that Mr. Freeze became a recurring supervillain. Before that, he was intended to be a joke-type villain for Batman and went by the name Mr. Zero.

A Little History

The origin of Mr Freeze is pretty straightforward. 

Mr Freeze was created by Dave Wood, Bob Kane, and Sheldon Moldoff. He first appeared inside the pages of Batman #121 back in February of 1959.

Although the origin of Mr Freeze has changed throughout the years, The most widely accepted version occurred in Batman: The Animated Series. This story, written by Paul Dini, saw Dr. Victor Fries trying to come to terms with his terminally ill wife. Unable to come up with a cure for her, Fries ultimately created a freeze ray capable of cryogenically freezing her in suspended animation. Once there, her body and more importantly the illness wouldn’t be able to grow. 

Tragically, however, this wasn’t what happened.

Instead, Fries’ boss, Ferris Boyle, learned of the freeze ray and told the local mob about it. As Fries was about to put his wife in suspended animation, he was interrupted by Boyle. The interruption caused the procedure to go off course. As a result of the interruption, A) an explosion happened resulting in his wife’s death and B) Fries was covered in chemicals from the ray. Once covered, his body began to react and his internal temperature plummeted to freezing levels. This change, caused him to now have to wear a specially designed suit to keep his body temperature low. Out of frustration, he then pledged to avenge her death by taking revenge on all those responsible.

And that’s it. The origin of Mr Freeze.