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He'd known ever since they were younger, from the age of 6 at least, that he and Phoebe were more different than they appeared.
She loved their family and was nice to everyone, people praised her. Sure, he loved his family and could be kind as well - but never as kind as Phoebe - and whenever he did anything "not nice", his parents always demanded why he couldn't be more like Phoebe. She was smart, and he needed to study. She made friends easily, while he was a recluse. She was happy being a woman; no matter how hard he tried, he could never be.
Max Thunderman was born on March 22, 1999, under the name Maxine Thunderman. It wasn't too long after his birth that he communicated how poorly that name fit him to his parents, and how disconnected his gender was from how he saw himself. His parents took this in stride and just wanted both of their children to be happy and healthy. Phoebe, on the other hand, felt saddened that there was now a divide - the first of many to come - between her and her twin. She struggled to support her brother, not because she didn't believe in him, but because she felt more alone than ever before.
With the first difference between the twins, came many more recognized vocally by their parents. Phoebe is kinder, smarter, and happier. All Max heard was that Phoebe was better than him, more than he could ever hope to be. He believed it - of course, he did. In a world that didn't support Max for living, certainly, he'd believe he was inherently inferior to his twin. He was transgender, and the world taught him to know that he was lesser.
Max got angry. He got angry and he got bitter. He started acting out both in his Superhero education classes and at home. His parents called him wild. They said he was getting out of control and becoming cruel. They didn't know what to do and feared that the way they were raising him was to blame. Perhaps if they didn't accept their son, he would have been better.
"You need to watch out, son. One day, one of your pranks is going to hurt someone you care about." Max should have listened to his father when he warned him, because one day Phoebe got hurt and his precarious world came crashing down.
His parents told him that he'd gone too far. They called him a disgrace to superheroes. They said that they couldn't guarantee Phoebe would forgive him. She of course did, because she was better than Max and he knew it.
Max told his parents, "Fine. I'm a disgrace to Superheroes. That's awesome, really, because I'm not one. I'm going to be a Supervillain now, at least that's something I'm able to do well!" And he fled the room with his parents' disappointment burning into his back, not for the last time.
As Phoebe recovered, his parents hoped that it was just a phase that Max would grow out of. But as Billy and Nora got older, Max's pranks didn't ease, talks of world domination increased, and Max's parents got more and more worried for their elder son.
"Should we get Max help?" Asked Barb to Hank, "Perhaps his supervillain phase needs professional help we can't provide. Maybe more intervention from the Hero League is needed." Hank shook his head as a negative in response.
"Barb… we can't give up on him. He's our son. If we leave him somewhere to rot away from his family, that won't make him better."
And that was the end of the discussion until the Thundermans moved to Hiddenville and hung up their capes. Max started normal high school with Phoebe and made his first friends ever.
It took time. Time and a band, for Max to realize that he deserved love. He had many good traits, and many were appreciated by his friends that his family ignored. He built his confidence and he smiled a smile that wasn't malicious for the first time in years.
His twin, who felt an ocean separating them for all those years, noticed and asked him, and Max finally felt safe to admit how he was feeling, and the Thunderman family finally started to heal.
Max talked to his parents and they were shocked to hear how he felt. From their eyes, Max pushed them away, not wanting his parents' love and affection. He yelled at them and sheltered himself from them because he thought he didn't deserve the affection they were giving him. He hid away in his Lair of Solitude, purposefully alone. No one was to blame for the fall of Max Thunderman. He lived in a world that told him he didn't deserve love - and he most definitely did - and the miracle was that he made friends who taught him his worth.
Though unlikely, Max found his twin again, because Phoebe was still incredibly kind - a kindness Max was soon learning. He also gained the ability to recognize and appreciate the love his parents had always given him, and that he often hadn't seen. He became a good big brother to Billy and Nora, and the rage and envy he had towards Billy because he was born a boy dissipated slowly. He began to finally love his siblings. The Thundermans breathed a sigh of relief.