Together with his wife (who operated under the name Aura), Dr. Gregory Herd worked as a mercenary for hire as Override. During the "Spider-Hunt" storyline, in which a massive bounty is placed on Spider-Man's head, Herd's wife is gravely injured and left in medical care. To cover her steadily mounting medical expenses, Override goes to work as one of
Norman Osborn's costumed employees. Desperate for some way to save his wife, Herd asks to join Osborn's "
Gathering of Five" ceremony to gain one of five "gifts". However, Herd is the recipient of death, which gives Herd new powers while steadily destroying him over time. He falls under the thumb of a man named Dolman, who owned one of the five artifacts used in the Gathering ceremony before it was stolen by Osborn. Dolman intends to use Herd as a tool to regain what Osborn had stolen. Herd assaults Osborn Industries but runs into the current
Spider-Man,
Mattie Franklin. Herd dismisses Franklin with little effort but is later forced to battle the original Spider-Man and
Iceman while trying to tell officials that Dolman was tampering with his mind. He convinces Iceman to freeze him entirely in an attempt to stay alive. Though temporarily frozen, Shadrac is still dying albeit in a less painful manner. Later pursuing Dolman, Shadrac, Iceman, and Spider-Man team up to capture him. After Dolman merges with the Spindle and gains powers, Shadrac "overrides" him and possesses his body in a last-ditch effort to stop Dolman and save himself.
Civil War Somehow separated from both Shadrac and Dolman, with Aura restored to human form, and back in his original costume, Herd joins
Hammerhead's "villain army" that was captured by
Iron Man and
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. ==Powers and abilities==