Villain Profile: Ghost

This Ghost will get into any machine, for a price.

Well, considering that I just did a goblin, it seems only logical to do ghost as well, right? And not just any ghost, but THE Ghost. While I mentioned this in my Ant Man and the Wasp review, I feel the need to point out again that the Ghost of that movie, Ava Starr, is an original character of that film. While I’ll go into her background in the character section, the bulk of this will be centered on the Ghost of the comics and most of the cartoons, whom is depicted as male. And that’s like the one concrete fact that we know about him. Let’s get to it, shall we?

The Ghost and Crossbones, a match made in hell.

The Ghost is a man who’s past is largely shrouded in mystery. While large parts of it can’t be substantiated, as the people involved besides Ghost are dead and he has claimed to have had his original identity wiped from public record, he has given us an origin story. I’d be willing to bet parts of the tale will either be revealed to be total lies or facts distorted by hate and anger at some point, here’s what he’s said. Back in the day Ghost worked as a programmer and engineer at a rising IT company called Omnisapient. While he doesn’t give his real name, I’m just going to call him Jacob Marley. What? If everyone else is blatantly showing off Christmas stuff in October, I should be allowed a somewhat subtle joke. Jacob impressed his companies board of directors with his prowess with designing advanced tech and his immense intellect. He quickly received multiple promotions before being put on the company’s flagship project, a new processor that could physically change in reaction to its environment. Basically, the processor would become intangible before it could overheat, allowing for rapid cooling. The Ghost Tech, as they dubbed it, caused the company’s stock to skyrocket. Which was good. But the board also grew ever more dependent on Jacob specifically to run and design their tech. Which was bad. After months of exhausting work, I’m reasonably certain with unpaid overtime, Jacob demanded to get some time off. The board was obviously… upset about the idea of Jacob not completing the project ahead of schedule, which would gain them billions, there wasn’t much they could do, now is there?

Just before Jacob left on his vacation, an attractive coworker… ugh, she doesn’t have a name either.  I’ll call her Jenny, because why not? Jenny came onto him and expressed interest in him. Jacob, whom claimed to be introverted and a tech geek before his transformation, was smitten with her almost instantly. He cancelled his vacation and kept working, but spent a lot of time with Jenny during and after work. Well, isn’t that convenient for Jacob, and his bosses. More and more of Jacobs personal life seemed tied to his job, but he didn’t complain as an attractive romantic partner is an incredible stress reliever. Things ended badly, though, as Jenny was killed in an explosion that destroyed her apartment. Gas leak, I’m sure. Jacob, depressed and needing some kind of escape, plugged his brain directly into his Ghost processor. Not sure if that sciences, but belief needs to be suspended with an origin story. Combining his mind with the processor pushed his consciousness into a hyper aware state, and he was able to piece together some things that he’d subconsciously realized that didn’t add up. Jenny, he realized, had been a Honeypot. The board hired her to seduce him and keep him working on their projects. She’d been killed because she’d demanded they give her more money, or she’d go public with what they did. I can imagine only a few things more heartbreaking than realizing just how badly Jacob had been used. The board had surveillance on him, so they realized what he’d discovered. They hired a hitman to take care of him. Hm… I feel like they’re just making more problems for themselves, but what do I know. The hitman set off a bomb in Jacob’s apartment, killing most of his neighbors. Jacob survived as the Ghost tech processor made him intangible as the heat of the explosion heated up the processor.  Nearly dying and discovering how much of his life was a fabrication, Jacob Marley died metaphorically and was reborn as the Ghost.

The Ghost is always trying to stick it to The Man.

Ghost became a hyper paranoid vigilante, hell bent on killing evil corporations. He killed the board of directors, their assassin and then the records of his former life. Sometime later, Ghost was hired by Carrington Pax, one of the head executives of the Roxxon Oil Corporation, to destroy Accutech Research and Development. The tech firm had been developing a beta particle generator, a potential super energy source, but refused to sell it to the oil company. Probably because folks in the Marvel Universe know their oil companies are evil. Roxxon hired Ghost to drive the company into bankruptcy. Thankfully for Accutech, they’d attracted the attention of Tony Stark, whom bought it within days of Ghost making his move.  Ghost attack, to which Tony sent his “bodyguard” Iron Man to stop. The two faced off, and Iron Man was able to beat the specter back. Ghost swore revenge on Tony, believing the corporate goon was more worthy of his ire than the working-class stiff in the suit. Huh.

Tony, fearing an attack by someone that could literally walk through walls, spent the next few weeks optimizing his armor and waiting. Roxxon, worried that their dealings with Ghost might become public, hired another costumed villain, Spymaster, to deal with him. The two fought in a Stark Enterprises building, which ended with Ghost sticking Spymaster in a wall and making him tangible again. Iron Man set up a trap for Ghost who walked right in. They were both in the beta particle generator room, the beta particles interfering with Ghost’s ability to cloak himself or go intangible. There was a ticking clock element with the fight, as the radiation from the Beta particles can be fatal after prolonged exposure. The floor ended up melting, and Ghost fell through. Iron Man only found the burnt remains of his costume, but he knew Ghost was still out there.

Ghost has since gone up against Iron Man several times, as well as other heroes when he takes contract work. He doesn’t seem to care who he fights, he’ll fight anyone that tries to get in his way. He’s since joined the Thunderbolts. It’s kind of like Marvel’s Suicide Squad, a team made up of anti-heroes and villains that work for the government. While not having sought redemption, he seems to be trying to be a better person than he’d once been.

Despite the supernaturally suggestive name, Ghost’s powers are completely tech based. He’s designed and built a special battlesuit that incorporated his original Ghost Tech. This allows him to go intangible and pass through solid objects, or turn himself invisible, but not both at once. He also has incorporated various gadgets to help him hack or reprogram electronics on the fly, and to intercept and tamper with electromagnetic signals. He’s also a crack shot, using a variety of guns and grenades to help with his work. He’s a genius level inventor and computer hacker.

Why's every song about Love, or Drinking too much? Well,
Maybe it's because, everybody's lonely!
Sorry, that's Jukebox the Ghost.

 Ghost has appeared a few times outside of the comics. They seem to tone down the corporate terrorist angle of his character and usually portray him as a highly skillful mercenary. He’s usually an Iron Man villain, but the Ghost’s biggest appearance was up against Ant Man and Wasp in the film bearing their names.

Ghost appeared in a few episodes of Avengers Assemble. He’s introduced in “The Kids Are Alright” in the third season. In the episode, Captain America and Iron Man are working with a pair of Inhuman heroes, Inferno and Ms. Marvel, to handle a few Ultron robots. After that mess was handled, they give the teen heroes a tour of Avengers Tower. Unfortunately, at the same time Ghost attacked to steal Iron Man’s AI Friday. He’s significantly more dangerous as this version had discovered he was an Inhuman and gone through Terrogenesis to unlock his powers. Thankfully for him, his Inhuman powers were a more powerful form of phasing. The Avengers send him packing in the end. He appeared again in “Avengers No More.” He tried to steal tech from the Stark Expo, but is stopped by the new intern, Jane Foster and Thor.

He appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man. This version is a former Stark Enterprises employee and that’s why he’s got a personal vendetta against Stark. In the episode “Stark Expo” he crashes said expo, phases into Iron Man’s mark 50 armor and starts causing havoc. Iron Mand and Spider-Man force him from the suit, but he steals the suit’s “inter-connectivity” disks, which let him hack all of the other tech at the expo. He’s finally stopped by Peter, whom used the Venom suit to enhance himself enough to over come him.

This Ghost is hunting Pyms.

A new Ghost, Ava Starr, is introduced for Ant Man and the Wasp. She’s portrayed by Hannah John-Kamen. She is the daughter of a former associate of Hank Pym’s, Elihas Starr. She was the one survivor of the quantum explosion at her dad’s lab. She was left in a state of molecular disequilibrium that caused her to phase through solid object, but caused her extreme pain. She was saved by another former Hank Pym colleague Bill Foster who had her join SHIELD. She was trained as an assassin, given a suit to better control her powers, and the codename Ghost. She left SHIELD when she realized they wouldn’t help fix her. She and Bill Foster attempt to steal Hank Pym’s mobile lab to get his Quantum Realm tech to help Ava. They believe that they could use the quantum energy that Hank’s wife, Janet van Dyne, had absorbed over the last thirtyish years to stabilize her. Once Janet is brought out of the Quantum Realm, she uses her energy to partially stabilize Ava. Scott, Hope, Hank and Janet end the film with a mission to gather more quantum energy particles to stabilize Ava further, but the Pym/van Dynes are Blipped out of existence while Scott was in the realm.  Huh, hope Ava was either blipped too or Bill Foster found another way to help her. Just saying.

The Ghost’s biggest strength, I think, is his look. He’s one of the most visually unique villains of Marvel’s roster. The white suit and largely featureless mask make him hard to forget. I think it also helps that, because he doesn’t have a super specific or well know origin means that he can be whatever a story needs him to be. Sure, that’s true of most characters, but the more popular a character the more you do really need to stick to certain plot beats, if you don’t want to piss off fans. If you want to write a Batman story, he needs to be a billionaire with dead parents. You want to write a story with Magento, you’ll need to include that he’s a survivor of a war and an incredibly angry but charismatic leader. There are no such necessities for Ghost. You need a generic psycho with weird powers? He can do that. Need a skilled mercenary that will keep hounding a target? He can do that. Need him to be a tragic victim of circumstance, and be a woman? She can do it. Plus, his powers are kind of kick ass. Phasing plus invisibility are kind of the perfect combo for a mercenary or assassin. I wonder how he’d handle going up against the X-Men’s Kitty Pryde? It’d be an interesting fight, for sure. And that’s all I have to say about that. 

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Villain Profile: The Scorpion

Okay, so one more, slight detour before I return to the topic of Danny Rand’s adventures in New York. So, a number of years ago now, I did a theme week of characters that had been bonded to the Venom Symbiote. One of those characters was MacDonald “Mac” Gargan. While Mac is one of the better known, and long running, Venom hosts, he actually got his start much, much earlier in the Spider-Man Mythos, as the monstrous Scorpion. Let’s get to it.

I wonder how much property damage he
causes just scaling buildings.

Way back in the day, Mac Gargan was a sleazy private investigator. One of those guys that had few moral qualms, would do anything for a quick buck. Which made him perfect for a job that everyone’s favorite Spider-Man hater, J. Jonah Jameson, had in mind. See, JJ hates Spider-Man, but prints stories about him in the Daily Bugle because they sell copies. He knows that one of his freelance photographers, Peter Parker, somehow takes really amazing pictures of Spider-Man to use in these stories. And he also knows that Parker is pro-Spider-Man and would never tell someone like Jameson about the details of how he gets said pictures. So, Jameson hired Gargan to follow Parker in the hopes of learning how he takes the pictures in the hopes they could use this information to finally ruin Spider-Man. This of course doesn’t work out the way that they’d hoped, because, you know, Spidey Sense, and Gargan returns to Jameson empty handed. Obviously infuriated by this, Jameson decides to try plan B. He hires Gargan to undergo a highly dangerous and virtually untested genetic procedure. Now, a smarted man would have walked away after the words ‘highly,’ ‘dangerous,’ and ‘untested’ came up in the contract, but Jameson offered him like a $10,000 to do it, so Gargan might not have heard all the details. A geneticist named Dr. Farley Stillwell combined Gargan with the DNA of a Scorpion, as scorpions are one of the spider’s natural predators. He also outfitted Gargan with a costume that came equipped with a large club-like mechanical tail, similar to that which an actual scorpion uses.

The newly dubbed Scorpion sought out Spider-Man and easily dispatched the wall-crawler. Spider-Man slips away, but is quickly tracked down and beaten some more. Spider-Man escaped a second time, which proved most fortuitous for everyone involved. It’s at this point where the side effects of combining human DNA with an arthropods’ DNA proved to be insanely dangerous and stupid. The combination of the scorpion’s natural predatory instincts and, I’m assuming, degeneration from the DNA tinkering, quickly drove Gargan into a homicidal rage. He tried to murder Jameson and Stillwell, but Spider-Man intervened. This time he was able to disarm, or in this case de-tail, Scorpion of his mechanical appendage, and saw that Gargan was put away for his crimes.

Now, despite being one of Peter Parker’s older enemies, and being his original ‘broken mirror’ villain (similar powers to hero but few to no moral restrictions), Gargan hasn’t really done all that much of note. He’s largely a merc villain, working for anyone and everyone that’s willing to pay him for his services. Huh, the more things change… Though, he harbors a special hatred for Jameson and Spider-Man. He’s actually let more than one largely foolproof plan fall apart simply because he wanted to humiliated one or both of the men he hates so intensely. Like the time he started working as a merc for evil billionaire Justin Hammer, who even gave him some suit upgrades for his trouble, which he flushed away when he turned a kidnapping into a hostage situation. All to humiliate JJ. He lost the job and his tech upgrades right after. He also tried to kidnap JJ’s bride-to-be, but was thwarted by Spider-Man, and also tried to attack Spider-Man at a hospital. Spidey’s location had been given to him by another villain, the Jackal. Rather than finding Spider-Man, he just found Peter Parker and Aunt May. He threatens the poor old gal to force Peter to get Spider-Man. After she passes out from the shock of this ordeal, Peter slips away, gets into costume and beats the heck out of Gargan. He then forces the Scorpion to personally apologize to Aunt May.

He really hates being called names.

The Scorpion didn’t really switch into High gear until more recent years, like during the Acts of Vengeance story. A superhero reality TV show lead to an insane exploding villain named Nitro to going off in a suburb, killing hundreds. People were up in arms after this, demanding harsher punishments for super criminals, and for all super-beings to register their powers with the government. Gargan had tried to escape to Canada, but was quickly ‘deported’ by Canada’s… Avengers? X-Men? Their superhuman team Alpha Flight, and the lesser known Gamma Flight. He eventually traveled to Latervia and took up a position as an enforcer for the current Latervian dictator, Lucia von Bardas. He’s taken down by Nick Fury and the Avengers, in an unsanctioned mission into Latervia, and sent to prison. He’s eventually freed by Norman Osborn, whom turns the Scorpion into one of his enforcers. His first job is to essentially ensure that Norman stays out of prison. Namely, after Norman’s most recent arrest, Gargan was tasked with kidnapping Aunt May and forcing Peter to break Norman out of prison. Gobby told Scorpy who’s beneath Spidey’s mask, fyi. And after that snafu, it was then that the Symbiote, having recently ditched its newest host, approached Gargan with an offer.

As mentioned in his Venom post, Gargan spent a few years as Venom, but quickly grew to hate some of the more ghoulish things the suit forced him to do… like eating people. He’s finally freed after Norman, who’d been going nuts once again and used his position as head of the SHIELD replacement HAMMER to waged an all-out war with Asgard, and the rest of their compatriots were arrested. In prison, he’s eventually freed by another Spider-Man baddy, Alistair Smythe, and given a new and improved Scorpion suit. Sometimes it’s best to stick with the part you know, ya know?

Mac Gargan was given similar arachnid-like powers as Spider-Man, thanks to highly dangerous and experimental chemical and radiological treatments. This was included, but not limited to, splicing his DNA with a Scorpion, having him ingest various steroids and more exotic substances, and hitting him with near lethal doses of Radiation. The end result turned him into a hulking brute, with enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and stamina. He can climb walls, but unlike Spider-Man who adheres to the surface, he uses his claw-like fingers to punch holes into the sides of walls. He wears a cybernetically enhanced battle suit that further enhances his durability and strength, and also gives him a robotic tail. Said tail he uses like a club, but it usually comes equipped with something extra as well, like the ability to shoot acid, poison gas, or darts.

The Scorpion’s biggest weaknesses are his severe anger management issues, and his rather low intelligence. If you can get him mad, which isn’t hard, he starts making a metric ton of mistakes and is actually surprisingly easy to manipulate. His hatred of Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson often get him into trouble, as he’ll abandon any plan or turn on pretty much anyone if they try to stop him from getting his revenge. He’s a dumb, dumb, dumb man.

Scorpion is a regularly recurring villain from Spider-Man’s rogues’ gallery. Not quite on the same level as the big three, Venom, Doc Oct, or Green Goblin, but he does appear in most shows. One of the few Spider-Man shows that he didn’t appear in directly was The Spectacular Spider-Man. He was alluded to in the second season finale, and show runners have confirmed that he would have appeared in season 3, had they been renewed.

His latest comic book form.
He's like a green Rhino.

Mac’s origin story was pretty much shown note for note in Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the 90s. In it, Mac began as a fat, neurotic PI that had been hired by JJ to find Spider-Man’s secret identity. After a few failed attempts at getting the dirt, Jonah convinces Gargan to undergo a genetic experiment using a device called the Neogenic Recombinator. The portly little Gargan turns into a giant Spider-Man killing machine, and goes to bring Spider-Man in. He’s stronger, and faster then Parker, being able to catch up to Spider-Man and cut his web-lines mid-swing. He’s able to capture Spider-Man, but then undergoes a much more severe and painful mutation, growing claws, fangs, and scalier green skin. He erroneously believes another dose of radiation could reverse the process, going so far as to make a reactor begin to go nuclear to meet that end. He’s distracted long enough by JJ insulting him for Peter to get the upper hand, knocking Scorpion out and bringing him into custody. After this, he’s mostly seen as part of the Insidious Six, the Fox Kids approved version of the Sinister Six. He appears in the episodes “The Sting of the Scorpion,” “The Insidious Six” parts one and two, “The Final Nightmare” part 2, “Partners” and “The Wedding.”

His most recent appearance was in Spider-Man: Homecoming. In it, rather than a PI, he’s some sort of crime boss. Because subtlety is stupid, he has a sizeable Scorpion shaped tattoo on his neck. He has a deal with the Vulture for several of his exotic weaponry. They meet on the Staten Island Ferry, but their deal is interrupted by Spider-Man, and the FBI. Gargan gets messed up pretty bad in the fight, being hit by a car as the Ferry nearly goes under. In a mid-credit’s scene, we see that Gargan is put into the same prison that Toomes is in. He has heard through the grape vine that Toomes might know who Spider-Man really is, and that he has people on the outside that could use that information to get payback. Adrian denies it though, and their ushered apart. Just got to say, much better way to set up the sequels then the Amazing Spider-Man series. This way, the villain for the sequel really could be anyone, from the Scorpion himself, to any number of lesser mercs, like Kraven the Hunter, or Mysterio.

Hm... wonder if/when he'll done his scorpion
tail?

A version of the Scorpion appears in Ultimate Spider-Man. This version is not Mac Gargan, but a young man trained at K’un-Lun and is a rival of Iron Fist. He betray's Danny and tries to force him from K'un-Lun as he feels Danny is unworthy of the title of Iron Fist, but is thwarted and excommunicated from K'un-Lun after that. That’s about all I have to say on that, as he’s largely a background character from that point onward. This is probably due to the fact that he was played by the rather popular voice actor Dante Basco, whom I'm pretty sure doesn't have all that much free time to be doing largely one off characters. Dante Basco was Prince Zuko in Avatar, Jake Long in American Dragon: Jake Long, as well as Rufio in Hook, if his name doesn't ring a bell. 

A version of the Scorpion is set to appear in Marvel’s Spider-Man, the latest incarnation of Spider-Man to appear on Disney XD. From the trailer I saw, he’s going to be one of the first villains that Spider-Man comes across, as the teen hero is in a much more makeshift costume in the trailer. And that’s all I really know about that particular appearance.

He makes an appearance in one form or another in pretty much all of the Spider-Man games. Just saying.

Huh, I didn’t really realize until I started writing this post just how little Scorpion actually has appeared outside of the comics. He has the two mentioned above, the one promised appearance that never came to fruition, and then two other appearances in older shows that I never saw. Despite this, I know this character reasonably well. He’s your pretty standard ‘wanted powers, but regrets them’ type bad guy. The powers he’s received, while making him one of Spider-Man’s more iconic villains, have left him a monstrous shell of a human that only seems to delight in causing pain and misery. It’s kind of sad when you think about it. Like a lot of more burly villains, he’s on the dumber end of the intelligence spectrum, and because of that hates being talked down to or insulted. One of the lines I remember best from him was in his initial episode when he kept screaming “Stop callin’ me names!” after JJ started laying into him about his insane plan to get a cure. I’m unsure if I’d want to see him appear in the next Spider-Man sequel, or if they should save him for a third movie, but I’m sure he’ll grace the big screen sometime soon. Have a good one everybody.

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Spidermanep2.jpg
http://imgur.com/gallery/UlRtZ
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Villain Profile: Green Goblin Part 1

We’ll end this with a true monster. An unfeeling, hate filled creature that is hell bent on causing as much misery and pain that he can. This man is one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous and powerful foes, the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn is one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains, and one of the most dangerous baddies of the Marvel Universe. Be it as Norman or the Goblin, he’s capable of causing misery and woe on a colossal scale. Let’s get to it.  

He'll reign fiery death on Spider-Man.

Norman Osborn’s life, like so many villains, started with an abusive father. His father, Amberson, was originally a brilliant scientist and business man. But after losing control of his company he became an alcoholic, wife and son beating butt-face. These tendencies made Norman despise his father, and also caused the young man to believe that you're only worth something if you are literally worth something. Basically money > everything else. In Norman's eyes, at least. He felt that the worst parts of his father came from his inability to provide for himself and his family. Norman vowed to never be like that, but I’d argue that his obsession with success made him as bad a human and parent as his father. But I’ll get more into that in a bit. Norman also started torturing small animals as a stress reliever. Which is an early sign of a serial killer, FYI.

When Norman went away to college, he studied chemistry and electrical engineering. Two skills that will help him with his business, and personal, supervillainy endeavors. He also met and married his college sweetheart, who gave birth to their son Harry a short time later. Around this time, Norman founded Oscorp Industries with one of his professors, Mendel Stromm. Oscorp quickly flourished, but Norman’s personal life took a major hit. His wife died just before Harry’s first birthday. This led to Norman becoming obsessed with work, which made him neglect Harry. I wonder which is more damaging, the physical abuse Norman suffered, or the emotional abuse he dished out to Harry? A conversation for another day. As part of his new need to be the best in the business, Norman set his sights on being the sole owner of Oscorp. To do so, he framed Stromm for embezzlement and called the cops. After Stromm was put away, Norman started leafing through Stromm’s stuff for ideas to market. He discovered Stromm was working on an experimental formula that Stromm theorized would increase the user’s strength and intelligence. Norman, I’m assuming with cartoon dollar signs in his eyes, attempted to create the serum. Either because he rushed the formula, or because he was a less skilled chemist than Stromm, the formula turned bright green and blew up in his face. The formula had the desired effect, greatly increasing Norman’s strength and intellect, but also completely unhinging Norman’s psyche. He designed a purple and green costume, built a glider and some specialized grenades, and started calling himself the Green Goblin.

Green Goblin planned to become the top crime lord of New York. He planned to kill Spider-Man, to cement his status as New York’s top criminal. He attacked Spider-Man several times, either personally or by hiring other criminals to attack the wall crawler. Around this time, Stromm got out of prison, and plotted vengeance. He built a robot army and attacks Norman and Oscorp. Spider-Man saved Norman’s life, and Stromm died of a heart attack. Wanting to know Spider-Man’s identity, he created a gas grenade that would nullify Spider-Man’s Spider Sense. As the Green Goblin, he quietly stalked Spider-Man until he changed back into his street clothes. He was shocked to discover that Spider-Man was Peter Parker, a smart classmate of his son Harry. He uses another gas grenade to knock Peter out, and then kidnaps him. He took Peter to his waterfront base, and unmasks himself to gloat over his captured foe. Peter tricked Norman into monologuing about his transformation into the Green Goblin. This gave Peter enough time to escape his bindings and the two fight. In the fight, Peter knocked Green Goblin into some electrical wires, mildly electrocuting Norman and wiping out his memory of being the Goblin. To help his friend’s father avoid the shame of being outed as a Supervillain, Spider-Man burned the costume and the base to the ground, and told the authorities that Norman had been kidnapped by Gobby and helped him defeat the menace. Peter would later regret this decision.

Cartoony, but still an overall good movie.

Over the next few years, Norman would continually regain and lose his memories about being the Green Goblin. The plot lines pretty much go; recover memory, plot something evil, be foiled, something silly happens to wipe out the memory again. This all culminated in a very dark story line. Norman Osborn met Peter’s girlfriend Gwen Stacey at a bar. Using his natural charisma, and his ability to manipulate others, he seduced Gwen and had a one-night stand with her. This left Gwen with a big problem that would pop up in about nine months. Gwen left for Europe and gave birth to her and Norman’s twins, Gabriel and Sarah. When Gwen returned, Norman tried to seduce her again, but she refused. She planned on telling Peter everything. Being told his least favorite word, No, caused Norman to snap and revert to his Green Goblin persona. He kidnapped Gwen, and took her to the top of a bridge. When Spider-Man arrived, Norman threw Gwen to the pavement. Spider-Man valiantly tried to save her, but instead accidentally snapped her neck when he webbed her ankle to save her. Spider-Man became obsessed with revenge. He tracked down the Goblin to his hideout. The two have an intense fight, but in the end Norman accidentally kills himself with his own glider. Or so it seemed.

The “goblin formula” which gives Norman his powers, also gave him a healing factor. He regenerated at the morgue, and escaped. He traveled to Europe, collected his twins, and plotted revenge. He orchestrated several plots to destroyed Spider-Man. The coup de grace being manipulating another Spider-Man villain, The Jackal, into creating several clones of Spider-Man. He also uses his criminal ties to plant the idea in Spider-Man’s mind that he’s a clone and that another clone, who called himself Ben Reilly, was the original. Norman was infuriated that Peter kept fighting despite these problems. He reveals himself as being alive, on Halloween no less, and attacks New York. In the huge battle that took place, Norman again attempts to murder Spider-Man with his glider. Reilly heroically sacrifices himself to save Peter, and melts to dust upon his death, which reveals to Peter that he is the real Spider-Man. Peter defeats the Goblin, and mourns the death of Ben Reilly. Of course, Norman wasn’t defeated for long. He quickly returned to menace Peter Parker and Spider-Man once again. I’ll be returning to Norman again on another post, since he has such a huge impact on the Civil War and what follows.

Norman Osborn gained super strength and intelligence by the “Goblin Formula” that he stole from former partner Mendel Stromm. He specializes in electronics and chemistry, but is also developed skills in genetics, robotics, and physics. Norman was emotionally unstable before being exposed to the Goblin Formula, which pushed him into full on psychopath. As the Green Goblin he uses a variety of bombs to disorientate or kill his enemies. He also uses his goblin glider to fly around and attack his foes. He designs or steals all of the technology that he uses.

This is a face that screams "Vengeance will be Mine!"

Green Goblin, as one of Spider-Man’s “Big Three” antagonists, has appeared in every single Spider-Man related franchise. The other two being Doc Oct and Venom. I’ll stick to the highlights, obviously. One thing that I will note, is that most series paint Norman as being an emotionally distant but still overall a better dad than he actually is. In the comics, I would never say he loved Harry. Harry was an extension of Norman’s worth, which is the only reason Harry matters to him. It’s not a father’s love, but that of an owner.

 He was a major antagonist in Spider-Man: The Animated Series back in the 90s. He was an industrialist that was blackmailed into working with the Kingpin and the Hobgoblin. Interestingly, in the comics, Norman became the Green Goblin first, and the Hobgoblin later appeared to fill the power vacuum after Norman’s disappearance. In this series, it was the opposite. He was exposed to goblin gas, and found a cache of Hobgoblin’s tech in his own lab. He dons the now Green costume, having been altered by the green gas, and sets about kidnapping and torturing those that attacked him personally. The Green Goblin is an alternative personality in this version. Peter discovers this, and saves the individuals Green Goblin had kidnapped. A blow to the head turns Green Goblin back to Norman, but he would revert several times to his villainous person as the series went on.

Norman is one of the main antagonists of Ultimate Spider-Man. I’ve said before that I don’t really care for the series, but I have to give it praise for Norman Osborn and Doctor Otto Octavius. While other characters are rather watered down, these two are some of the best versions of the characters I’ve seen. Norman is an indirect baddy for the first season. He finances many of the villains that attack Spider-Man. He also created Doc Oct, having saved Octavius’ life after a lab accident left his paralyzed from the neck down. He makes his first appearance as the Green Goblin in the season one finale, when Otto injected him with a cocktail of Spider-Man and Venom DNA. Payback for keeping him locked away in a lab for several years. It transforms him into a hulking green behemoth called the Goblin. He goes from rampaging monster to full on sadist over the course of the two-part finale. He's a major antagonist in the following seasons, he tries to turn over a new leaf after being cured of the Goblin Formula, but reverts when Octavius give him another dose.

One of the most iconic deaths in comics
Partially because they haven't
brought her back.

He appeared in Spider-Man back in 2002. He’s portrayed by the amazing Willum Dafoe. In this version, he’s again an industrialist and an overall better dad to Harry. He’s desperate to finish a performance enhancing drug as part of a military contract. Despite the reservations of partner Doctor Stromm, he tests the formula on himself. This gives him a split personality, driving him insane. He murders Stromm, and then his business rivals. He also kills his board of directors when they tell him he’s fired. He meets Spider-Man during the board killing. He outmatches Spider-Man, but is forced to flee when Spider-Man damages his glider. He shouts as he flies off, “WE’LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-MAN!” After discovering Peter Parker is Spider-Man, he attacks Peter personally. Striking at his Aunt May, hospitalizing her. He then kidnaps Mary Jane Watson and takes her to the top of a bridge. He throws Mary Jane from the bridge, but Peter saves her. They have a final fight, in which Norman impales himself. His death causes a rift between Harry and Peter. Harry blames Spider-Man and resents the fact Peter seems to still "side" with Spider-Man.

Dafoe reprises his role in Spider-Man 2. In it, he’s a hallucination that haunts Harry after his son learns Peter Parker is Spider-Man. He demands that Harry avenge him. Harry destroys the mirror he saw Norman in, and discovers his Goblin equipment.

Chris Cooper played Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In it, he suffers from a fake disease called retroviral hyperplasia, which causes green sores on the body and clawed fingertips. Why he couldn’t be dying of a real disease like Parkinson’s I’ll never know. He dies in the first act. Harry takes on the role of Green Goblin.

 The Green Goblin is an awful human being, which makes him an amazing villain. He’s an amoral psychopath, hell bent on destroying Spider-Man. Nothing is sacred to Norman, he’ll attack any perceived weakness, any personal flaw, anything to destroy those that get in his way. Norman is such an awful human being that he has, and probably will again, use his own children to further his own designs. I’ll use the Gabriel and Sarah example again. When he arrived in Europe, he discovered two children that rapidly aged to adulthood. The Goblin Formula in their DNA having caused the twins to grow at an accelerated rate. He took these two in, shaped them into his perfect heirs, and the entire time told them that Peter Parker was their father and it’s his fault their mother died. So they'd hate Peter, so that they'd hunt Spider-Man with all their fury. No bond is sacred to Norman. He’s the psychotic industrialist, the pumpkin hurling maniac, the twisted sociopath, the all-around awful human being, Green Goblin. Happy Halloween! Next time, we'll be talking about the Main Man, Lobo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Osborn#/media/File:Amazingspiderman39.jpg

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Hero Profile: Winter Soldier

It’s time for another Theme Week. This time, in honor of the 4^th of July, I thought it would be a good idea to focus on patriotic superheroes. The Heroes I’ll be mentioning this week are former soldiers and/or have a patriotic style of costume. Again, no repeats, or you’d probably be seeing John Stewart on here. For the first hero of this week, I thought I go with one that has had a rather…bumpy career. I’m talking, of course, about James Buchanan Barnes, aka Bucky, aka The Winter Soldier. Let’s get to it.

His costume got a pretty serious upgrade.

James “Bucky” Barnes was born in Indiana back in 1925. His life was uneventfully until his father was killed in a training accident at U.S. Army Camp Lehigh in Virginia. And since his Dad was his primary caregiver, this kind of meant the end of normalcy in Bucky’s life. He was unofficially adopted as the camp mascot. I feel Child Protective Services would have gotten involved…if it was a thing yet. Anyway, Bucky learned a lot about the Army and US Military life while growing up at Lehigh. While there, he met and befriended Private Steven Rogers. Around this time, people also started hearing about the mysterious Red White and Blue superhero, Captain America. Bet you never thought you’d see mysterious and Captain America in the same sentence. Yes, like Iron-Man, there was a time when people didn’t know that Steven Rogers and Captain America were the same guy. How? Spider-Man rules, of course. Basically, Steven pretended to be the most uncoordinated, clumsy soldier that the US Army has ever seen. So, Bucky began to idolize the Captain, and wonder bemused how Steven ever became a soldier. This changed when he…accidentally walked in on Steven changing into his uniform? Wow, what a weak way to reveal Cap’s secret ID to his young friend.

Bucky discovering Captain America’s true identity motivated him to undergo extensive training in the hope of becoming Cap’s sidekick. For some reason, the US Government agreed to this. Why? Two reasons, 1. To show young people that they are “involved” in the war effort, and 2. To do the jobs that Captain America couldn’t be seen doing. Like killing dangerous Nazi prisoners. Assigning a fifteen year old orphan to serve in the US Army, and work as a covert assassin. What could possibly go wrong? Actually, not that much. To begin with at least. He help Captain America on a number of missions, against foes like the Red Skull, Baron’s Zemo and Strucker, and various Nazi super soldiers/weapons. In the final days of the War, Cap and Bucky were tasked with stopping Baron Zemo once again. This time the masked Nazi scientist planned to destroy an experimental drone. His plan? Hit it with his own experimental explosive drone. For a genius, Zemo is surprisingly simple minded… Whatever. So Cap and Bucky arrive just before the launch. Bucky tries to defuse the bomb, but it is a very complex explosive. Zemo launches the plane, with Cap and Bucky still on it. They didn’t defuse the bomb, but set it off before it reached its target. The heroic duo were pitched into the Atlantic Ocean. Both are presumed dead, until Captain America was rediscovered by the Avengers a few decades later. The Super Soldier Serum in Captain America kept him alive in a state of suspended animation, but Bucky is still presumed dead. It’s interesting to note, that it’s the death of Bucky that lead to sidekicks more or less not being a thing in the Marvel Universe. The heroes that followed didn’t want to put young men and women in dangerous like that. Seeing a teenager dying horribly does seem to make the most reckless hero cautious.

Yeah, this costume was silly.
See previous posts on my thoughts about
stealth guys wearing bright colors.

Bucky holds the record for longest time dead in comics. He was dead for about forty years. Heck, it became a saying that “the only characters that stay dead are Bucky, Uncle Ben and Jason Todd.” This changed in 2005, when we learned that Bucky was only dead for a little while. It’s revealed in the Winter Soldier story arc that Bucky survived the explosion. His body was discovered by an experimental Russian sub under the command of General Vasily Karpov. The Russians pulled the body from the water and discovered that it was amazingly well preserved. You know, except for the fact that Bucky had lost his left arm in the explosion. They ship the body to Moscow, where a surprisingly crazy Russian doctor proposes they try to revive the body. Even more shocking, it works. They also discover that being dead in the water for so long lead to some pretty severe brain damage, in the form of near total amnesia. No idea who he is, where he’s from, but he still possessed all the old muscle memory of a trained soldier. He could also speak several languages, the most important of which being his accent free English. Russian scientist surgically attach a bionic arm, and begin turning Bucky into the ultimate assassin. He’s given the code name Winter Soldier.

The Winter Soldier became one of the Soviets most dangerous and effective weapon. In order to keep him “fresh,” Winter Soldier was cryogenically frozen between missions. As a result, Bucky has aged maybe ten years in the forty years since his “death.” There was just one major problem, the longer he was active, the more…erratic his behavior became. He’d start to ask questions, disobey orders, and even put a fellow operative in intensive care. Which, you know, detracts from ones effectiveness as a superweapon. It got to the point that the docs in charge recommended that he undergo reprogramming every time he was pulled out of his freezer tube. In the 70s, he killed a man in the US and then, just…disappeared. His Soviet handlers went nuts as they frantically searched for their spy. They found him in New York, sleeping in a homeless shelter. They nabbed him, and decided that they probably shouldn’t send him on Missions in the US again. In the intervening years he spent time serving as Karpov’s bodyguard, until Karpov’s death. Karpov had been humiliated by Captain America in WWII, so he took a perverse pleasure in using Cap’s old sidekick as his attack dog. He’s put in cold storage after that, before being revived by Karpov’s protégé, Aleksander Lukin years later. Lukin uses Winter Soldier to kill the Red Skull and steal the Cosmic Cube. He also orchestrates a terrorist attack in Philadelphia, which kills hundreds and helps charge the Cosmic Cube. He also murders Jack Monroe, a former soldier that stood in for Bucky after he and Cap disappeared, and planted his body. Lukin had hoped that this would be enough proof for SHIELD that a soldier with severe PTSD was responsible for all the death. Unfortunately for Lukin, Captain Steven Rogers isn’t easily tricked. After battling several AIM and former Russian soldiers, Captain America learns from friend, and former girlfriend, SHIELD Special Agent Sharon Carter that Winter Soldier looks like Bucky. Fury gives Cap all the info on Winter Soldier that he has, but it’s not much. Thankfully, the info plus his own intellect and resourcefulness helps Captain America pieces together the story of Bucky’s life after death. Eventually, Cap tracks down Winter Soldier and the two duke it out.

Yeah, cyborg arm is pretty cool.

Captain America is able to overpower Winter Soldier and gets his hands on the Cosmic Cube. Using the Cube’s immense power, Cap restores Bucky’s memories. Which, I have to give the writers props for not using the “I know you’re in there” cliché to get Winter Soldier to stop fighting Cap. Bucky, overwhelmed by the guilt of his crimes as Winter Soldier, grabs the Cube in his robo-hand and crushes it. He is teleported back to Camp Lehigh, where he contemplates his life. He returns a short time later and gets a job as a SHIELD Agent. Much like Black Widow, Bucky uses his assassin skills and training to help protect and better the free world, and he excels at it. After the events of the Superhero Civil War, Bucky works with Nick Fury to try to break Captain America out of SHIELD custody. Before the plan could be enacted, however, Captain America is murdered by Crossbones and a brainwashed Sharon Carter. After that, Bucky takes the mantle of Captain America. Almost literally. He steals the Shield from SHIELD to ensure Tony Stark doesn’t pass it down to someone unworthy of the title. Tony eventually agrees to allow Bucky to take up the mantle. Bucky works as a more… aggressive Captain America for a few years. He finds ways to combine his more lethal tactics with the somewhat stricter moral code that Captain America NEEDS to have. Bucky eventually returns the Shield and title to Steven Rogers when he is revived. It’s for the best, Winter Soldier is best left defending from the shadows. From sidekick to assassin, soldier to Captain America and back again. Bucky’s had a pretty roundabout life, hasn’t he?

Bucky doesn’t have superhuman powers. But like Batman, he could have fooled me. He was trained in hand to hand combat and martial arts. First military grade, and then received additional training from Captain America and later, the Soviets. He was also given extensive training with firearms and grenades, skills that, again, were further honed by his Soviet handlers. He’s also a gifted linguist, he’s fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian and Japanese. After being resurrected and transformed into the Winter Soldier by the Soviet Union, he’s given a cybernetic prosthetic to replace his left arm. The metal arm is outfitted with electrical weapons. It has enhanced strength and reaction time. It can also discharge a powerful EMP. It’s also equipped with a camouflage function that makes it look like flesh and blood when Bucky is in civilian mode. During his brief stint as Captain America, he uses Cap’s shield, and wares a costume that is a blend of Kevlar and Nomex. He also uses a Colt 1911-A1 .45 pistol and combat knife in conjunction with the shield.

The Winter Soldier has appeared a few times in Marvel’s TV and Movie series. Mostly in the last ten years, which isn’t all that surprising since that’s about when he was revived.

Such a nice reunion.

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes features Bucky’s complete story arc. He works with Captain America in WWII but is presumably killed when the Red Skull’s escape plane blows up. In the final minutes of the episode “Hail HYDRA” Captain America grabs the Cosmic Cube half a second before Baron Strucker. We then see a flashback of Bucky hitting the water after the plane blows, his eyes opening in the water. Even though Cap and Strucker touched the Cube less than a second apart, it’s kind of implied that Cap’s guilt over Bucky’s death was greater than Strucker’s desire to rewrite history. There you go, love (platonic love, I’m implying nothing) is stronger than hate. Captain America proved it. The Winter Soldier appears in “Code Red” as a member of Code Red, a covert superhuman group that works for Secretary of Defense Dell Rusk. He, the Falcon, Red Hulk, and Doc Samson, all heroes that wear a lot of red, are used by Dell Rusk to attack the Avengers. It’s revealed that Dell Rusk’s name is an alias, and an anagram. Can you guess for who? Here’s a hint, capitalized right, its dell RuSk. Got it? It’s Red Skull, if you didn’t. They strike the Avengers with a potent toxic gas that withers the skin and muscles of the face to make it look like a red skull. While Winter Soldier is Skull’s favored agent, he does betray Skull to help Captain America save the day. He appears again in the following episode “Winter Soldier,” where Cap and Fury try to figure out the mysteries of both Winter Soldier, and Skull’s plans. We also learn that Winter Soldier is the reason that Fury lost his eye in this Universe. A bomb went off in his face, nasty. They do learn that Winter Soldier is Bucky, and that Red Skulls plans involve a Megazord. Seriously, he has several giant robots that combine into an even more giant robot. Captain America and Winter Soldier are captured, but they work together to take Skull down. The episode ends with Bucky running off, but he and Cap part on good terms.  He is one of many background heroes that aid the Avengers in the series finale “Avengers Assemble.” It’s interesting to note that young Bucky is played by Scott Menville, a voice actor most well-known for portraying Robin on Teen Titians and the abysmal Teen Titians Go! He’s replaced by Jon Curry as the adult Winter Soldier.

His Captain America costume is unusually
shiny.

He appears in Captain America: The First Avenger. He’s reimagined as Steven Rogers’s longtime friend, and is portrayed by Sebastian Stan. He enlists in the Army while Steven is recruited for the Super Soldier program. He and his unit, the 501^st, are captured by HYDRA shortly before Captain America arrives to entertain the troops. Captain America infiltrates the HYDRA base and finds Bucky had been tortured and possibly experimented upon. He joins Steve’s Howling Commandos and helps beat back HYDRA. He and the Captain has some of the best banter in the film, particularly when Bucky is reminding Cap was once the shrimp that he had to look after. Bucky’s assumedly killed when the Commandos apprehend Arnim Zola, HYDRA’s top scientist. He’s knocked out of a speeding train into a frozen river, it was a pretty safe assumption that he died. His “death” greatly depresses Cap.

Stan’s Bucky returns in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He’s used as HYDRA’s superweapon, to assassinate Nick Fury and others to help HYDRA “push” humanity to the point that they’d be willing to be subjugated by HYDRA. It’s a stupid plan, but Winter Soldier is pretty badass, so I give it a pass. It’s also a little…disheartening that they go with the old ‘I know you’re in there” cliché during the films climax to explain why Bucky doesn’t kill Cap despite getting a couple of chances. His costume is pretty amazing, too. We also learn that in this universe, Bucky was there to support and look out for Cap back when his mother died, hence why Steve was so fiercely loyal. He’s set to return next year in Captain America: Civil War.

Bucky is an excellent character. I think that his Winter Soldier story arc and later developments make him one of the most memorable characters in comics. I consider him a patriotic superhero despite the fact his Winter Soldier persona started off as an anti-American weapon. Why? Because even while brainwashed he represents the best parts about America. Even with all the drugs, and reprogramming they did to him, there ever remained that small, unbreakable kernel of himself that remained. They had to pretty much constantly “reprogram” him as his mind kept searching out the truth of who he was. What’s more American than never completely giving in? Probably his the loyalty, strength and courage that he displays when he’s back in control of his body. He’s the dark soldier, a lethal guardian, the unconquerable Winter Soldier.

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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky

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