Real Name: Samuel Guthrie
Affiliation: (X-Treme) X-MenPrevious Affiliations: X-Corporation,
X-Force,
X-Men,
New Mutants,
Hellfire ClubRelatives: Thomas Zebulon (father, deceased), Lucinda (mother), Joshua (brother), Paige (
Husk, sister), Joelle (sister), Elisabeth (sister), Jeb (brother), Lewis (brother), two other unnamed sisters, Lucas Bartholomew (uncle)
Powers: Sam generates a thermal/kinetic field around himself which renders him invulnerable and allows him to fly. Though it usually emanates from his lower body, he has been able to extend it outwards as a shield and channel it to his fists for added punch. Cannonball is also supposedly an
External, an immortal mutant, an attribute which was revealed when he was impaled by one of
Sauron's wing talons soon after X-Force started. Sam was first recrutied as a Hellfire Club goon by
Donald Pierce, but after coming into conflict with the kids who would become the New Mutants, Sam left the club and joined
Professor Xavier's student body. Sam quickly demonstrated a gift for leadership, and shared that responsibility with his teammate
Dani Moonstar for years. At first, Sam had quite a bit of difficulty learning to turn while flying, and to quiet down the noise of his blasting. Little by little, with help from all his teachers, Sam became more adept in the use of his power, and after he "died," his facility increased even more, as
Cable revealed that the difficulty was a result of his being an External who hadn't "awoken" yet. Sam really developed as the field leader of X-Force under Cable's guidance, and even more when running the team on his own. He also entered into a relationship with
Meltdown (then called Boom Boom) that got very deep. When Cable returned to X-Force, Sam was capable of leading, but grateful that he had someone with whom to share the burden. The two have developed a father-son type of relationship, filling a void in each of their lives. While Sam finally made the grade and became an X-Man, he returned home to help his sick mother, and then rejoined his old teammates in X-Force when they all got embroiled in saving
Arcadia from the
Deviant Damocles Foundation. Unfortunately, during the time that Sam was with the X-Men and X-Force had split from Cable, Meltdown began a relationship with Sam's best friend Bobby (
Sunspot). Sam was upset by this revelation, but remained with the team. Since Bobby left to join the Hellfire Club, the matter hasn't come up. Recently, Sam further developed his tactical and leadership abilities under the guidance of
Pete Wisdom. Sam remained with X-Force through Wisdom's tenure and through one faking of the team's death, during which time he died his hair and goatee black. He also rekindled his romance with Meltdown. However, when X-Force came upon a top-secret plot to use alien technology to recreate a planet-moving engine, they apparently could not stop the bio-engineered defenders of the facility. Sam and his teammates (except
Domino) were presumed dead following the explosion they set off, leveling the alien tech base. However, they soon appeared at a press conference for the new team calling itself X-Force, and got into a fight with the other mutants over naming rights. Sam had returned to his original hair color by this point.
Following the outing of Professor X, his return from Shi'ar space and the defeat of Cassandra Nova, Sam was recruited into the X-Corporation and spent time as a field operative in Europe, where he was involved in the Weapon XIII incident. He refused to leave during the cleanup and rescue and Professor X let him stay. Sam worked with a sapper (demolitions) crew, and used his powers secretly to save some people no one else could find. Though the sappers discovered his mutancy, they were thrilled to work with him. Professor X then directed Sam to a bar where Lila was performing, and she took him on a galaxy-hopping tour to help him relax and find himself. When they returned, Sam was contacted by Storm, who invited him to join her team of X-Men, and he accepted.
