Origin
Ethan “Virtue” Edwards was raised in a small farming community. His parents found him inside of his capsule and believed he was a god sent from heaven. This especially became their belief once his powers began to develop. He was introduced to Peter Parker at the Daily Bugle and began to show up in costume during Spider-Man’s battles with Absorbing Man. He also stood up to Punisher during an assassination attempt on Absorbing Man. Ethan stepped in because of the innocent people also nearby to Absorbing Man. Ethan’s origins were discovered by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four after numerous tests involving his speed, strength and vision. It was said he was as strong as the Thing, as fast as the Human Torch and he could even detect Invisible Girl. He is a very pure person, which can make both a powerful ally or enemy and a very gullible person. He is deeply religious despite his past.
Virtue was recently a member of the Revengers team (seemingly under the codename/guise of ‘Moral Man’) that Wonder Man assembled to take revenge on the Avengers. This was supposedly due to the Avengers “causing more harm than good.” They attacked Avengers Mansion and defeated the New Avengers there. After which the team headed to Avengers Tower with the intention of destroying it. The entire team was swiftly defeated by all the combined efforts of all three Avengers teams. When his motives were questioned in the aftermath of this conflict he stated his actions were for retribution in light of his people’s recent defeat during the Secret Invasion, at the hands of Earth’s heroes.
Creation
Ethan Edwards also known as Virtue is a Marvel comics character first appearing in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #13 released in 2005. The character was created by writer Reginald Hudlin and artist Billy Tan. Virtue is one of the many Marvel pastiches of the DC character Superman.
Powers and Abilities
Ethan Edwards possesses superhuman levels of strength, capable of lifting up to 100 tons and stated to be as strong as the Thing, Virtue also possesses the ability to fly at supersonic speeds much like the Human Torch. Near Invulnerable: He has a great degree of invulnerability to harm. Heat vision: He can project energy beams from eyes. Shapeshifting: Virtue is of the Skrull race. As a result, he can manipulate his shape, mass, color, size, and density. This also allows him to change his appearance. He also possesses the ability to heal the injuries. According to Reed Richards, this was not one of the powers implanted in him by his father, making its origins a mystery.
Physical Characteristics
Height: 6′ 10″
Weight: 295 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue