Nighthawk's was a construct created by the demon Mephisto^[3] and programmed by the Power Elite in cooperation with a recently-revived Agent Coulson to be a member of the Squadron Supreme of America, a superhero team sponsored by the U.S. Government. But secretly to further Coulson and the demon Mephisto's schemes. He was seen being conditioned while working out, contemplating how Hyperion and Zarda's love affair felt mentally manufactured by their handlers. His distrust of Thunderbolt Ross and trusting Coulson even less. As Coulson secretly watched and liking what he was seeing, had Nighthawks doubt meter hold at level 8 and jealousy at a 4. Because Nighthawk is best when he is brooding, Coulson had it that Nighthawk would have a dream about his mother that night.^[4][5]

During his personal time, Nighthawk was Kyle Richmond, the congressman for Washington, D.C. in the House of Representatives.^[4]

Nighthawk and his team were brought in to meet General Ross in order to be the U.S.'s response to the now-unaligned Avengers.^[6] The Squadron Supreme was later put to the test against King Namor and his Defenders of the Deep, countering several attacks against Roxxon in American waters.^[7][8]

After the death of General Ross^[9] Blur's teammate Col. Joseph Ledger aka Doctor Spectrum now in charge, was seen with Coulson who showed him the conditioning and manipulation Coulson and the Power Elite were putting his teammates through. Seeing what Coulson was doing as torturing fellow citizens, Ledger wanted it all shut down. But Coulson uttered a trigger phrase putting him under control, and revealing that what Coulson was doing to Nighthawk and the others he was also doing the same to Ledger.^[4]

Kyle was in a congressional meeting when a group of Frost Giants from Jotunheim invaded Washington on behalf of Malekith the Accursed during his War of the Realms. As Nighthawk, Richmond met up with the rest of the Squadron. They killed some of the Frost Giants and routed the remaining invaders to the Canadian frontier in Lake Erie. Coulson subsequently dispatched the team to Ohio.^[4]

When the cosmic force known as the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, it staged a contest to determine its next host, and Nighthawk was one of many individuals summoned to the White Hot Room for it. The Phoenix empowered the assembled champions and had them fight each other in trials by combat.^[10] Richmond's first fight saw him pitted against the Black Panther.^[11] Due to their similar skillset, the two combatants fought for hours to a standstill until the Phoenix simply chose the Black Panther over Nighthawk.^[12]

Coulson attempted to warp reality using the Pandemonium Cube provided by Mephisto,^[5] creating Earth-21798, where the Avengers never existed and the Squadron Supreme were the world's premiere superhero team.^[13] Reality was eventually restored by Blade the Vampire Hunter and his team of Avengers. So, Mephisto punished Coulson by trapping him in the Pandemonium Cube. Without Coulson, the Squadron Supreme fell apart. When reality returned to normal, Nighthawk possessed his Earth-21798 counterpart's memories. This caused him to long for Earth-21798 as it made sense to him. He vowed to restore that reality even if it meant he had to do it alone.^[5]

After leaving the Squadron Supreme, Nighthawk discovered the room under the Pentagon where he and the Squadron were created, burning it down. He then resigned from his position in the House of Representatives, before continuing his hunt for criminals at night, hoping to prove to himself that he was his own man. He was later found by Black Panther, who convinced him to accept his help in fighting Mephisto. After taking down the Serpent Society, who had recently started worshiping Mephisto, he and the Avengers encountered Mephisto, who showed them the Council of Red's numbers before leaving. Seeing the scope of the threat, Nighthawk joined the Avengers to fight against Mephisto.^[14]

• Kyle Richmond was programmed to be in top physical condition with an increased amount of doubt and jealousy about his teammates which caused him to brood.^[4]