Derek Powers | |
Alias(es) | Blight |
Appeared in | Batman Beyond: Rebirth |
Status | Alive |
Actor | Sherman Howard |
Derek Powers is a corrupt businessman who is busted by Batman for using nerve gas and ends up exposed to it, turning him into Blight.
Biography[]
Batman Beyond: Rebirth[]
Dubbed a "financial star" and "corporate kingpin" by the media, Derek Powers was Gotham's most successful and powerful chief executive officer. Little is known about his past, but before merging with Wayne Enterprises, Powers ran Powers Technology. He attempted to take over Bruce Wayne's corporate empire at least once until finally succeeding, making Wayne Enterprises into Wayne-Powers. One of his first actions upon assuming leadership was to fire Lucius Fox, Jr., its Vice-President. Powers soon gained the reputation of a corporate shark for his strategies of downsizing and gobbling up smaller companies. Under his leadership, Wayne-Powers continued to grow, and entered into the research and manufacture of weapons.
Wayne became disgusted with what Powers was doing to his company, but given his poor health, Powers was free to run Wayne-Powers unsupervised.
At one point, he developed a deadly viral mutagen and intended to sell it internationally. In order to test it, Powers infected one of his employees, Harry Tully, making it look like an accidental leak. When his body began to deteriorate, Tully handed Warren McGinnis a disc containing information about the virus.
Powers quickly tried to contain the leak, so he sent Mr. Fixx after him. Powers then summoned Warren to his office and explained that Tully had simply suffered an allergic reaction to a chemical compound in the laboratory. He also assured Warren that Harry was under care, even though it was nothing to worry about. When Warren was on his way out, Powers nonchalantly asked him about a missing file from Tully's records. Warren claimed to know nothing about it, but Powers could tell he was lying. So, he ordered Mr. Fixx to murder Warren and blame it on the Jokerz. When the body was found, Powers publicly pledged to use all his resources to trace and prosecute the culprits to the full extent of the law.
Powers had Mary McGinnis's apartment under surveillance, and when Warren's son, Terry, found Harry Tully's file, Powers intercepted him, when the latter was en route to the GPD. Powers threatened Terry into giving him the disc. Subsequently, Terry swiped Bruce Wayne's Batsuit to pursue Powers on his own.
Shortly after, Vilmos Egans, Finance Minister of Kaznia, visited Gotham to attend to the World Trade conference. However, he had business with Powers. Both met in Powers' office, where Powers pitched his nerve gas to Egans. Powers screened a film that depicted the deadly effects of the gas, showing experiments conducted on plants and animals, and finally pictures of Tully's steadily worsening condition. The last photograph confirmed that Tully had died, and his body had disintegrated completely. They sealed the deal, which according to Powers would open the entire Eastern Bloc for Wayne-Powers.
When the shipment was being prepared at Wayne-Powers loading dock, Powers and his team were interrupted by the arrival of Batman. Powers ordered the cargo ship to lift off, while he stayed behind to finish Batman. Armed with a pistol, Powers easily shot a batarang that Batman had thrown at him. The next thing Batman threw was a left-behind gas canister that Powers shot reflexively, thus exposing himself to his own gas.
He was hustled into a secret clinic beneath Wayne-Powers, where he was exposed to intense radiation to save his life. The procedure eradicated the virus, but the mutational properties of the virus combined with the radiation made Powers's entire body radioactive, emitting radiation so powerful that it rendered his skin translucent. Upon witnessing his new appearance, he only let out a deranged cackle.
Powers[]
- Radiation projection
Relationships[]
- Batman - Enemy.
- Bruce Wayne - Enemy.
- Mr. Fixx - Henchman.
- Warren McGinnis - Employee and enemy; deceased.