Origin
What is true of the man known as Moonraker is unknown, with the gift to alter and change developments in the past concerning himself, his real origin is perhaps literally lost in time. Moonraker altered the past, unknowingly, to what he sincerely believed was the case, so that it was true. As such, in another unspecified reality, Slade Truman was a member of Force Works and the lover of Spider-Woman with the ability to produce corpsant fire from his hands. Fearing an attack from Kang the Conqueror, the Priests of Pama of Earth-616 selected Truman to be the vessel for the spirit of Gustav Brandt, the deceased father of the Celestial Madonna, and brought him across to their reality to unknowingly safeguard Brandt’s soul.. However, due to Moonraker’s power-set, he arrived on Earth-616 and unintentionally altered the events within his vicinity so that it resembled the world from which he came. Apparently coming out of nowhere, he was suddenly a member of Earth-616’s Force Works and the lover of Spider-Woman, with only Spider-Woman’s daughter questioning the events with her unaffected by Moonraker’s powers due to her child-like innocence.
Creation
Moonraker was created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Jimmy Cheung and first appeared in Force Works #16.
Character Evolution
Moonraker was introduced in The Crossing event, and was one of the main characters involved in the storyline which saw Iron Man have a mental breakdown and Kang and Mantis’ attempts to destroy the Avengers from within. Moonraker, one of the many confusing characters of the controversial storyline, was last seen staying in the care of Avengers Mansion and his ultimate fate remains unresolved to this day. The Crossing was the subject of many heavy retcons in the series Avengers Forever, where the entire storyline was effectively undone. Among the things retconned was the nature of Moonraker. When Libra showed up and denied having any knowledge of Moonraker, a few issues later it was retconned very passingly that Moonraker and almost all the characters in the story were apparently Space Phantoms. Although this remains the canon explanation for the character, it has been noted that the Space Phantom who revealed this may not have been truthful. Until another writer or editor decides to shed some light on the character or story, The Crossing largely was washed away as being nothing but a farce.
Powers and Abilities
Moonraker possessed two unrelated superhuman powers, only one of which he was consciously aware. Moonraker had the ability to emit ionized flame from his hands, which he used mostly for offensive purposes.
His other power, of unknown origin, enabled him to alter events within his vicinity. For example, when Spider-Woman took a carton of orange juice from a refrigerator, he unknowing changed time and the orange juice was suddenly in the fridge again. The effect this has on people’s memories varies, with larger alterations apparently being unquestioned (such as him suddenly being a prominent member of Force Works) and smaller things (the aforementioned orange juice) being passingly questioned by people who had witnessed what had just changed. This power did not affect everyone, and Rachel Carpenter was aware of the changes due to her child-like innocence, it stands to reason other children would also be exempt from Moonraker’s power.
Moonraker was also athletic and was a capable combatant. When he believed himself to be Brandt’s spirit, he altered events so this was the case, and gained Brandt’s knowledge and accomplished fighting abilities himself but also acquired his blindness.