Who is Marvel's Songbird? Comic origin and powers explained

Songbird's story details the beautiful redemption arc of someone who could have become a monstrous villain but chose to be a hero instead.

With Marvel President Kevin Feige announcing Thunderbolts as the next cinematic adaptation, Songbird becomes particularly important, given that she is a core member and an integral part of this rogue team, led by Helmut Zemo.

Created by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and John Byrne, Melissa Joan Gold aka Songbird first appeared in May 1979 in Marvel Two-In-One #54. Born in a poor household, Melissa was the daughter of an alcoholic father and a mother who was imprisoned for attempted robbery. She escaped her toxic household in search of her mother and took up the name Mimi.

Melissa’s constant tryst with crime landed her in prison where she met Marian Pouncy and joined an all-women wrestling team called the Grapplers. Besides Mimi (named Screaming Mimi) and Poundcakes, the team also included Letha and Titania. Titania will make her MCU debut in the Disney Plus series She-Hulk.

Grapplers’ wrestling career came to an end when their plans to infiltrate the government project PEGASUS were thwarted by Quasar and Giant-Man.

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Songbird received special augmentations from the Fixer, which gave her supersonic abilities

Screaming Mimi was soon recruited by Helmut Zemo in his team Masters of Evil, where she got involved in a romantic relationship with her teammate Angar the Screamer. The two were inseparable. However, after one of their robbery attempts turned ugly, Melissa had to witness Angar die in her arms.

Enraged by her lover’s death, Screaming Mimi went on a sonic rampage, destroying everything with her super sound. The rampage damaged her vocal cords and she was rendered powerless.

Zemo recruited Mimi to his new team Thunderbolts and let Fixer upgrade her power using powerful cybernetic augmentations. She had the power to project sonic blasts and sonic force fields. She could fly using wings made out of sound waves.

Melissa took up the name of Songbird in November 1996 in issue #449 of Incredible Hulk.

The Thunderbolts were initially supposed to act as superheroes while secretly planning world dominion under Zemo’s leadership.

However, most Thunderbolts, including Melissa, started liking their new responsibility of saving the world instead of destroying it. Songbird even fell in love with her teammate MACH 1. Members of the Thunderbolts then rebelled against their leader and rescued the Avengers, marking their first step towards becoming superheroes.

When Hawkeye joined Thunderbolts as their new leader, he proposed the idea of MACH 1 serving his prison sentence in order to improve the image of the team. MACH 1 agrees, but Songbird is grief-stricken by the loss of her lover. However, MACH 1 eventually returns as MACH 2 and the two manage to rekindle their relationship.

In her superhero adventures with the newly reformed Thunderbolts, Songbird was second in command. She was the soul of the group and had a strong moral compass that kept the team together.

In a battle against the villain Graviton, members of the Thunderbolts vanished in an explosion, leaving Melissa as the sole survivor. However, the team eventually regroups since the other Thunderbolts were not dead but transported to a different dimension.

In the events of Civil War, when the Thunderbolts were led by Norman Osborne, Songbird was not happy with the team’s alignment. She was demoted for rejecting the team’s evil advances and stayed only to avoid imprisonment. She would indirectly support Team Captain America by misleading Bullseye.

It is reported that Melissa will soon make her MCU debut in the highly anticipated Thunderbolts film. Rumors indicate that Stranger Things star Saddie Sink will play the role of Screaming Mimi.