Martin Brundle (The Fly)

Infobox character
name = Martin Brundle


caption = Eric Stoltz as Martin Brundle
first = "The Fly II"
species = "Former" Human/Insect Hybrid "Current" Human
gender = Male
born = 1987
death =
occupation = Molecular physicist
relatives = Seth Brundle (father, deceased), Veronica Quaife (mother, deceased)
portrayer = Eric Stoltz
creator = Chris Walas

Martin Brundle is a fictional character and the protagonist in Chris Walas's "The Fly II", the sequel to the 1986 remake of "The Fly". He is played by Eric Stoltz.

Fictional biography

Martin Brundle was unique from the moment of his birth; although his mother, Veronica Quaife, was human, his father, Seth Brundle, was a unique genetic hybrid of human and fly, an accident with his creations the Telepods- booths that allowed matter to be instantly transported from one location to the other- having merged him on the genetic level with a fly when he and the fly teleported in the booth at the same time. Initially after discovering her pregnancy Veronica was tempted to have an abortion, afraid of the consequences if the child had been coceived after its father's teleportation accident, but after she was forced to kill the mutated Seth in an act of mercy, Seth's employer Anton Bartok was able to acquire the remaining telepods and convince Veronica to go through with the pregnancy. When Veronica gave birth to the larval sac containing the baby that would become known as Martin Brundle, she died of cardiac arrest, allowing Bartok to raise the child for himself.

Initially, Martin was unaware of his unique heritage, having simply been told that he suffered from a unique disease that caused him to age at a more rapid rate than normal; by the age of three, he already resembled a child of ten, simultaneously demonstrating his father's exceptional intellect. Bartok raised Martin to regard him as a father, teaching him that the "magic word" needs to be a secret word that can never be confided to anyone or else it would spoil the magical effect. Sneaking out of his room as he grew older, Martin befriended a labrador that was kept in the labs as a test subject, only to be shocked when he saw the dog being put through the malfunctioning telepods and come out a disfigured mess. Assuring Martin that the dog was mercifully put down, Bartok eventually allowed Martin to study the telepods and complete his father's work when Martin's fifth birthday- Martin now physically in his twenties- came about, providing Martin with recordings of his father to help him.

With the aid of fellow employee Beth Logan- the two former a quick bond despite Martin's own social inadequacies-, Martin was eventually able to repair the telepods, using a kitten as his first test subject. With this example, Martin used the Telepods' scanners to provide an analysis of his own body to try and find a cure for his accelerated aging, devising a "gene-swapping" program that would substute his own mutated DNA for healthy DNA from a donor subject, only for him to reject this option when he realised that this process would horribly mutate the donor. During this research, however, Martin discovered that Bartok had lied about the dog, with the creature still being alive in a research pit despite its horrible deformities, causing him to chloroform it to put it out of its misery.

As Martin's dormant insect genes began to awaken, analysis of further tapes featuring his father revealed Seth Brundle's full story to him for the first time, prompting Bartok to admit that he intended to use Martin's transformation as a template for creating a whole new wave of evolution with the aid of the telepods. Going on the run with Beth, Martin attempted to seek information from Stathis Borans- his mother's ex-lover and the sole surviving witness to his father's final fate, but Borans was only able to confirm that the telepods were Martin's only chance for a cure. Martin and Beth continued to flee to a motel, but Martin's physical and emotional changes became too much for Beth to handle and she was forced to contact Bartok.

As he brought Martin back, Bartok attempted to encourage him to reveal the correct password to control the Telepods, Martin having booby-trapped the computer prior to his departure to prevent anyone else using the system, only for Martin to refuse to tell him the password, with Bartok's attempts to interrogate Beth meeting with failure. Shortly after their return, however, Martin's transformation completed itself, resulting in him emerging from the cocoon as a bizarre fusion of man and insect, far more biologically viable and powerful than the sickly creature his father had become. The fully-transformed "Martinfly" creature went on a rampage within the Bartok facility, killing various men with an acidic spray and its own superhuman strength. Despite Martin's brutality towards his betrayers, his former humanity remained, as highlighted by his refusal to harm Beth and simply stroking a dog that was sent to sniff him out. Finally cornering Bartok in Bay 17, where the Telepods were stored, "Martinfly" entered the password ("DAD") and then dragged Bartok into Telepod One with him. On Martin's instructions, Beth activated the gene-swapping sequence. When the two are reintegrated in the receiving telepod, Martin is restored to his fully human form, his fly genes now removed from his body, while Bartok suffered the ironic fate of becoming a freakish monster himself. [The Fly II, Brooksfilms/20th Century Fox]

Skills and Abilities

From the moment of his birth, Martin was a genetic fusion of human and housefly, the mutation initially manifesting itself as simple accelerated aging. When he became five years old, however, his insect heritage became more manifest, as he developed various skin disfigurations and began to lose his hair, culminating in him creating a cocoon for himself. When he emerged from this cocoon, he was a large insect-like creature, possessing four arms and a monstrous appearance.

Unlike his father, whose transformation culminated in a sickly distorted amalgamation of human and fly, Martin's mutation turned him into a dangerous opponent, most likely due to his insect heritage being a natural part of his evolution rather than a forced mutation. In this form Martin demonstrated the ability to climb sheer surfaces, along with superhuman strength and agility, allowing him to jump great heights and throw trained security personnel around with little effort. Although he was shot with a shotgun on at least one occasion, it injured him without causing any apparent long-term harm, and he later demonstrated an ability to keep moving even after being shot three times in the chest at point-blank range (Although he initially fell to the floor after being shot, it is unclear if he was simply playing 'possum' or if he was genuinely injured and seeking time to recover).

Aside from his insect-based abilities, Martin possessed his father's genius-level knowledge, demonstrating a significant talent for physics and biology, although his social skills were limited due to his lack of opportunities to socialise with others.

Notes

* Seth Brundle was originally named for the racing driver Martin Brundle, and his son was most likely also named as a tribute. [ "The Fly Papers", Tim Lucas, Cinefex Magazine, 1986]
* Like his father, Brundle's diseased metamorphosis was broken up into various stages by Chris Walas, Inc.'s makeup and creature effects crew (there are five or six stages in his transformation, depending on if one includes the cocoon he created as a stage), ranging from facial discoloration to full-body suits to highly-articulated puppets.

References