Basil Sandhurst was a research scientist whose reputation for unorthodox practices and theories resulted in his being barred from all legitimate commercial and governmental research centers. Through the influence of his brother Vincent, an unscrupulous lawyer, Sandhurst secured employment at Cord Industries, one of the leading competitors of Stark Industries.
During a visit from his brother, Sandhurst, frustrated and stifled by the mundane routine of his work, fell into a frenzy, destroying valuable instruments and machinery. In an attempt to pacify him, Vincent accidentally pushed Basil into a countertop holding vessels filled with volatile chemicals. The resulting explosion left Basil Sandhurst severely injured and paralyzed, though Vincent emerged relatively unscathed.
Consumed by guilt, Vincent embezzled funds from Cord Industries to provide his brother with an automated laboratory. Using these facilities, Sandhurst created a “mental wave absorbatron,” a device capable of draining cerebral energy from connected subjects and transferring it, as motive power, to a uniquely equipped exoskeleton worn by the crippled Sandhurst. Adopting the name the Controller, he also devised palm-sized “slave discs” which, when affixed to a person’s forehead, converted that individual’s cerebral energy into a broadcast signal. This signal was transmitted to the absorbatron and then relayed to the exoskeleton, where it was transformed into a simulated life-motive force.
Although the Controller succeeded in enslaving an entire town, he was ultimately defeated by Iron Man, who tricked him into leaving the absorbatron’s reception and transmission range. Later, as an ally of Thanos, the Controller was provided with modified slave discs augmented by Titanian technology. These enhancements allowed the cerebral energies to be transmitted directly to him, eliminating the need for the bulky absorbatron machinery. The Controller’s current activities remain unknown.
