Project: Rebirth – also known as Project: Super Soldier and Operation: Rebirth – was a project that was originally created by the U.S. Government with the aim of creating super soldiers to fight for the allied forces during World War II.
However, it was later expanded upon, leading to the creation of Weapon Plus. As a result, it became retroactively known as Weapon I.
Project Rebirth History
Prior to the creation of Project: Rebirth, Dr. Abraham Erskine was working on the Nazi super soldier program, Project Nietzsche. Of course, being Jewish and also a man of high moral values, he didn’t want to work for the Nazis, but had no choice.
Thankfully, he was ultimately saved by Nick Fury and brought to the U.S. Now he was free from the Nazis, he could work on the American version of the super soldier program. So, he adopted the codename Joseph Reinstein and used his previous research to take charge of Project: Rebirth.
Early in the project, there were two failed test subjects who were given a prototype of the super soldier serum. These test subjects were Protocide (Clinton McIntyre) and Spider-Queen (Adriana Soria). Both of which initially seemed like a complete failure but weren’t entirely what they seemed (more on that later).
Eventually, Erskine perfected the process using a combination of the super soldier serum and vita rays to transform the meek Steve Rogers into the ultimate war hero, Captain America.
Sadly, Erskine was murdered mere moments after the transformation had taken place, and the vita ray portion of the process was lost with him. This meant despite the fact they had found success in producing a super soldier they still couldn’t mass produce them.
Camp Cathcart
Now with Erskine gone and all the information that died with him, there was a void left within Project Rebirth. In an attempt to fill this void, Dr. Wilfred Nagel stepped in as the new leader. He adopted the codename Josef Reinstein (the same pronunciation as Erskine’s codename but different spelling) and – unethically – recruited 300 African-American soldiers from Camp Cathcart to be test subjects.
Out of those 300, only a very small few actually survived. To make matters worse, the families of these men were told that they died in battle!
The survivors of the trials were relatively successful attempts and they formed a covert black-ops team. After just a handful of missions only three men remained Isaiah Bradley (also known as The Black Captain America), Sgt. Luke Evans and Maurice Canfield.
To keep this all a secret, the camp’s commander and also hundreds of test subjects were executed. Thanks to this atrocity, goings in within Camp Cathcart remained unknown for many years.
Overall, Camp Cathcart was still unsuccessful in mass producing super soldiers.
Project Rebirth 2.0
Many years later, Project Rebirth was revived in the form of Project Rebirth 2.0. It was technically a subsidiary of sorts to the sym-soldier program. Using the Venom symbiote they’d captured, they attempted to bond it to military personnel to create “Agent Venom”.
The first test subject, Cal Henriksen was killed after he lost control of the symbiote, but the second test subject, Corporal Flash Thompson, was successful.
He was signed up for 20 missions but he didn’t see these through thanks to Captain America shutting the program down. The remaining resources were then absorbed by Weapon Plus’ Weapon V.
Project Rebirth Members
Project Rebirth personnel included a mixture of English, American and German Eugenicists who for the most part were unnamed. Although, we do know who the two leaders of the project were.
Joseph Reinstein (Dr. Abraham Erskine)
Dr. Abraham Erskine was the original head scientist of the program. He jumped on board after being rescued by Nick Fury allowing him to defect from the Nazis the allied forces. Not only was he a man of compassion and kindness but he was also Jewish so the choice definitely wasn’t hard.
Once in the U.S. he adopted the codename Joseph Reinstein and continued the work he’d began during his time with the Nazi super-soldier program, Project Nietzsche. After a few initial failures he created the vita ray chamber that stabilised the process and made the transformation of Steve Rogers a success.
Suddenly, tragedy struck when Erskine was murdered by Nazi agent, Heinz Kruger. This prevented Project Rebirth from mass producing this result as the secrets of what made it successful had not yet been passed on.
Josef Reinstein (Dr. Wilfred Nagel)
After the death of Erskine, Dr. Wilfred Nagel stepped up as the new project leader. He adopted the same codename as his predecessor just with a different spelling (Josef Reinstein) and began planning for the next phase.
Evidentally, he was not the same kind of man as Erskine as right away he began to take the project in an extremely unethical direction. He recruited 300 African American soldiers and subjected them to dangerous experiments at Camp Cathcart. Out of these 300, there were only a few survivors that were deemed a success.
Project Rebirth Test Subjects
The original goal to mass produce super soldiers was never achieved. Over the years, there has been many test subjects. Some were considered a success and others not so much.
Protoypes
Before Steve Rogers, there were two test subjects that were “prototypes” before the successful transformation of Steve Rogers. Both had seemingly failed; however, it eventually became clear that things weren’t as simple as that…
Protocide (Clinton Mcintyre)
Clinton Mcintyre was an U.S. Army private who killed his commanding officer. He was let out of “lock-up” by General Saunder who believed him to be a better candidate for Professor Erskine’s super-soldier serum than the meak and frail Steve Rogers.
However, unbeknownst to him there was actually three parts of the formula that were intended to be taken in quick succession of each other. So the General unknowingly gave Mcintyre only one of the components which caused his death.
Years, later three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were sent to catalogue artifacts in a S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse but unbeknownst to the other two one of these agents was an undercover AIM agent.
Upon this discovery the AIM agent shot the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and escaped with the body in a crate. AIM soon discovered that his body contained the serum and revived him so they could use him as their own super soldier. They dubbed him Proticide due to the fact he’d received a protype of the serum. He possessed abilities very similar to that of Captain America.
Spider-Queen
Adriana Soria was the first female Marine to enter combat during World War II. Adriana and a large group of other soldiers were subjected to radiation at Bikin Atoll in an attempt to unlock latent superhuman abilities. All but Soria died and she had seemingly inherited nothing from this but intense mental strain that left her with mental health issues.
She was placed in a military asylum and forgotten about until much later. Eventually her abilities appeared and she escaped the asylum kidnapping a professor in the process.
Soria later resurfaced in New York City with full control of her abilities calling herself “The Queen”. She possesses many superhuman abilities including (but not limited to) superhuman strength, telepathy, insect manipulation, telekinesis and shapeshifting.
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
First appearing Captain America Comics #1 (1941) in all the way back in the Golden Age, Steve Rogers is the most famous Project Rebirth test subject and also the first real success that the program had. He was originally rejected from enlisting in the Army due to him being so weak and sickly.
Overhearing Rogers’ ardent desperation to do his bit to fight the Nazis, General Chester Phillips offered him an opportunity to take part in Project Rebirth. Rogers of course agreed to jump on board and he was chosen as their ideal candidate by Dr. Abraham Erskine.
After many weeks of tests he was finally given a combination of the super-soldier serum and vita rays that successfully transformed him into the ultimate super soldier, Captain America.
Camp Cathcart
Camp Cathcart was the US Army base from which the 300 African American soldiers were recruited to be test subjects in an attempt to recreate the transformation process of Captain America.
Isaiah Bradley
Later known as The Black Captain America, Isaiah Bradley was one of the 300 African American soldiers who were tested on at Camp Cathcart. He was one of the small minority who survived the tests and was successful transformed into a super soldier.
He and the remaining survivors formed a black-ops team, but after only a few missions, only he Sgt. Luke Evans and Maurice Canfield survived. The other survivors soon died in an incident that nearly also claimed his life.
His last assignment during the war was a suicide mission upon which he was sent to kill Doctor Kosh and stop the Nazis from creating their own super soldiers. During this mission Bradley wore a full Captain America costume and wielded a shield. Whilst his mission was successful, he was still captured and later rescued by a group of German freedom fighters.
When he returned to America he was court-martialled and given life in prison. It would be many years before anyone knew of Bradley or the unfair treatment he was subjected to.
Sgt. Luke Evans
Sgt. Luke Evans was one of the few to survive the experiments at Camp Cathcart. He was also one of the only members of the black-ops task force to survive past their first few missions. Evans met his end when Maurice Canfield led them into danger after his PTSD was triggered by learning the truth about his parents death.
Maurice Canfield
Maurice Canfield was the super soldier from the black-ops team that got himself, Sgt. Luke Evans and Pvt. Merrit killed after dragging them into a confrontation that also caused the serious injury of Isaiah Bradley. He had just learned that his father had killed his mother then committed suicide. Coupled with his PTSD this led him to charge into battle as his comrades attempted to stop him.
Larry Pitts
Larry Pitts was one of the few that survived the experiments but he died within the first few missions of the black-ops team formed by the survivors.
Damon Larsen
Survived the experiments but died during one of the first few missions when a grenade exploded at his feet.
Jack Harvey
Survived initial testing but died on HMS Pynchon on the way to operations in Europe.
Jefferson “J.J.” Jamison
Jefferson “J.J.” Jamison died when his body combusted after being injected with 5cc’s of the formula.
Agent Venom
Corporal Flash Thompson was transformed into Agent Venom using a combination of the Venom symbiote and the symbiote inhibitor. Interestingly, Flash had recently lost his legs and whilst bonded to the symbiote he was able to regrow them.
Equipment
Super-Soldier Serum – The Super-Solder Serum was created by the scientists of Project Rebirth for the purpose of transforming normal men into super soldiers of peak human physicality.
Vita Ray Chamber – Designed by Abraham Erskine, the Vita Ray Chamber was used as a catalyst to stabilise the subject during their transformation. It’s the main reason why Steve Rogers’ transformation was so successful. Unfortunately, this technology was lost with the death of it’s creator.
Venom Symbiote – Venom is the name given to the alien Klyntar Symbiote that was used in Project Rebirth 2.0 after it was removed from Mac Gargan.
Symbiote Inhibitor – This particular inhibitor was created to render the Venom Symbiote chemically lobotomised and ensure compliance to its host. Usually, the symbiotic nature of the symbiote would mean it’s host would be constantly fighting for control but this inhibitor eliminated that problem.
Alternate Realities
Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610) – In the Ultimate Universe, Nick Fury was the first super soldier to emerge from Project Rebirth. They also chose to experiment on African American subjects similar to Camp Cathcart in the Earth-616 version of Project Rebirth. It wasn’t until after this that they transformed Steve Rogers.
Spider-Gwen Universe (Earth-65) – In this universe Project Rebirth was created by the S.S.R. to make super soldiers for WWII. Captain America (Samantha Wilson) was the only successful test subject created before the murder of Abraham Erskine.
Purple Man Becomes President For Life Universe (Earth-460) – An alternate reality where Purple Man imprisoned, killed, banished all superheroes. Not much is known about the version of Project Rebirth in this universe but it does exist.
Captain America: The Great Gold Steal (Earth-6871) – In this reality Captain America had his bones plated with stainless steel.
Captain America: The Chosen (Earth-7116) – A reality within which a dying Captain America gave some of his powers to James Newman and other valiant Americans after bonding with them. The Project Rebirth in this universe is seemingly the same as the one in the regular universe.
Earth X (Earth-9997) – Project Rebirth exists.
Kobik’s Timeline (Earth-61311) – Captain America was sent by Hydra to infiltrate the U.S. Army and kill Abraham Erskine. He ends up being chosen as the test subject of Project Rebirth remaining loyal to Hydra throughout.
Nextwave transported by the Beyond Corporation (Earth-63163) – Project Rebirth exists in this universe.
Bullet Points (Earth-70105) – Exists in this universe seemingly in the same capacity as it does in Earth-616.
Earth-86315 – In this reality, Peggy Carter became Captain America instead of Steve Rogers.
Zombie Assemble (Earth-TRN808) – This universe is identical to Earth-199999 up until after the Chitauri invasion.
Miles Morales is Captain America (Earth-TRN946) – Miles Morales take part in Project Rebirth and becomes the first successful super soldier since Steve Rogers.
In Other Media
In the lore of comic books these are still technically alternate realities. But for the sake of convenience for our readers, we’ll give these their own section. Project Rebirth has appeared in various different mediums over the years. Here’s a run-down on all of them.
Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999) & Alternate MCU realities
Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999) – After many rejected applications to the U.S. Army, Dr. Abraham Erskine allowed Steve Rogers to enlist and take part in Project Rebirth. The transformation was a great success but moments after Erskine was killed by Hydra agent, Heinz Kruger.
He infiltrated the experiment disguised as U.S. State Department official, Fred Clemson. Shortly after he killed Erskine, he also destroyed the research using a concealed bomb.
Captain Carter Was The First Avenger (Earth-82111) – Steve Rogers is seriously injured so Peggy Carter becomes the world’s first super soldier instead.
X-Men Evolution (Earth-11052)
Project Rebirth exists.
X-Men/Spider-Man (1994 animated series) – (Earth-92131)
Project Rebirth exists.
Video Games
Marvel Heroes Online (Earth-TRN258) – Seemingly identical to the Earth-616 version.
Spider-Man Unlimited (Earth-TRN461) – Exists in this universe.
