Mini Marvels - Molecule Man

A timid and lonely man, Owen Reece was working as a lab technician when he accidentally activated an experimental particle generator and was bombarded with unknown energy. This energy would eventually be revealed to have leaked out of the home dimension of the being who would come to be known as the Beyonder, and therefore Owen's new powers of molecular manipulation were linked to the Beyonder. Discovering his incredible new powers, Owen decided to take his frustrations out on the world by becoming a supervillain. Though his initial efforts at villainy were thwarted by the Fantastic Four, Owen grew more powerful every time his abilities were tested. Eventually he came close to ultimate victory, with the defeated Avengers at his mercy, only to be talked out of fighting by an angry Tigra. Giving himself up to the authorities, Owen agreed to go into therapy to treat his problems rather than take them out on the world. His peaceful life would soon be interrupted however, when he was one of the villains chosen by the Beyonder to take part in his Secret War. Abducted to the Beyonder's Battleworld, Owen found himself allied with Doctor Doom, who helped Owen better understand and control his powers. It was at this time that Owen met and fell in love with Marsha Rosenburg, one of the two civilian girls who had been transformed into superhumans by Doom to serve as soldiers in the war. After Doom succeeded in stealing the Beyonder's powers for himself, Owen realised that the true extent of his own powers rivalled even those of the Beyonder and he teleported himself and most of the other villains back to Earth, ending the Secret War and leaving the heroes to deal with Doom and the Beyonder.

Once again his peaceful life, having now settled down in a relationship with Marsha, would be disrupted however, when the Beyonder came to Earth to study and live amongst mankind. Becoming Owen's roommate, the two developed an unusual friendship while Owen struggled to help the cosmic being understand human behaviour. When the frustrated Beyonder decided to instead destroy the universe, Owen used his powers to fight him. Though he was not powerful enough to stop the Beyonder he did convince him to change his plans. The Beyonder created a machine that would recreate him in a mortal infant body so that he could truly grow up among humans, but Owen felt it was too dangerous to let the Beyonder continue studying mankind and took the opportunity to kill his friend by destroying the machine. Owen then went into hiding after his relationship with Marsha ended.

He eventually resurfaced during Norman Osborn's time in power, having lost his grip on reality from living in seclusion for so long. Though he effortlessly defeated Osborn's Dark Avengers, a distraction allowed the Sentry to display his own previously unknown molecule manipulation powers to seemingly destroy Owen.