Basil Sandhurst was born in Kittery Point, Maine. Sandhurst worked as an electro-mechanical/chemical research scientist. His obsession with control brought his downfall as a scientist when his refusal to obey ethical restraints got him banned from most research facilities. Sandhurst was prone to fits of rage and in an attempt to calm him, his brother Vincent inadvertently triggered a lab explosion, crippling Basil. Vincent, guilt-ridden, outfitted Basil with an automated lab in which Basil bonded a super-strong exoskeleton to his body, powered by the cerebral energies from those around him using his slave discs. As the Controller, he planned to invade and enslave New York City, but Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell foiled his scheme and left the Controller comatose.