Night Thrasher meticulously researched several young solo heroes and selected three as targets for recruitment. He based his group on the Fantastic Four, with him being the Reed Richards of the group: the leader and brains. Each additional member was slated to reflect roles of each of the FF. The first of his recruits was Richard Rider, the retired and supposedly depowered Nova (filling the role of the Thing due to his sheer power). Deducing he could reignite Rider's powers with a high-stress incident, Night Thrasher abducted Rider and dropped him off a building. Although Rider was understandably upset at Night Thrasher for risking his life, the fact that the incident allowed him to regain his powers (his greatest desire) made him feel obliged to join the team.