Sublime (Marvel Comics)

Sublime
John Sublime with Martha Johansson in New X-Men #119. Art by Igor Kordey.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	New X-Men Annual 2001
Created by	Grant Morrison Leinil Francis Yu
In-story information
Species	Sentient bacteria
Team affiliations	Weapon Plus Project U-Men TransSpecies Movement Winterbrand Tech Megacorp
Notable aliases	John Sublime, Dr. Sublime, Michael Grand, Kick
Abilities	Mind control Biokinesis Regenerative Healing Factor Shapeshifting Power enhancement Possession

Sublime, also known as John Sublime, is a fictional supervillain (a sentient bacterium), appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as an enemy of the X-Men. Sublime first appeared as John Sublime in the New X-Men Annual 2001.

Sublime is the self-appointed name of a sentient bacterial lifeform that arose during the beginnings of life on Earth. With the rise of multicellular lifeforms, Sublime found endless numbers of hosts it could infect. However, mutantkind, some of whom were immune to Sublime's infection, eventually arose and multiplied, becoming the first threat to Sublime's domination.

It was hinted that the very hatred and fear of mutants was caused by Sublime itself. But the bacteria took more direct actions in order to ensure that the mutant population would be held in check, if not exterminated, in order to keep them from becoming the dominant species of the planet.

The first step was the Weapon Plus Project, Sublime took over a human body, dubbed Dr. John Sublime, and became the director of the Program, overseeing the creation of living weapons created by each installation of the program, from Captain America (Weapon I) to the Super-Sentinels - Fantomex, Huntsman and Ultimaton (Weapon XIII, Weapon XII and Weapon XV), passing through Nuke, Wolverine, and Deadpool, the latter two originating in the Weapon X Project, seemingly the most prolific living weapons producer.