A supervillain or criminal mastermind is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, typically 32 pages, containing comics content. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics, which included the debut of the superhero Superman. This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II. After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority. The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century.
Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.
Publication history
The character first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Feb. 1974), and was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Ross Andru.[1] In The Amazing Spider-Man #148 (Sep. 1975), the identity of the Jackal was revealed to be Professor Miles Warren, who first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (Dec. 1965),[2] and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Prior to his reintroduction as the Jackal, Miles Warren's appearances were essentially limited to the occasional cameo in which he acts as simple background to Spider-Man's civilian life as a college student.
The Amazing Spider-Man#129, with its subtitle being "The Punisher Strikes Twice!" is a 19-page-long single issue of the American comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel Comics in 1974. The issue is well known for being the first appearance of the character called the Punisher, who at that point in time was portrayed as an antagonist of Spider-Man but would later become one of Marvel's most popular and successful characters. The issue is also the first appearance of the Jackal, a supervillain who would go on to become one of Spider-Man's main adversaries and an integral part of the infamous mid-90s Spider-Man storyline the Clone Saga.
Gerard Francis Conway is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics vigilante antihero the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he is known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.
Ross Andru was an American comics artist and editor. He is best known for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and The Metal Men, and for having co-created the character called The Punisher.
When named at all in these early appearances, he is called only "Professor Warren". A "Mister Warren" had previously appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #8 (Jan. 1964), but he is a high school science teacher rather than a college professor, and is physically very distinct from the later Miles Warren. Despite this, Jackal co-creator Gerry Conway has said it was always his interpretation that "Mister Warren", "Professor Warren", and Professor Miles Warren/Jackal were all the same character.[3]
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and films with each episode following a dramatic arc. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story arc is much more common in comedies, especially in soap operas. In a traditional Hollywood film, the story arc usually follows a three-act format. Webcomics are more likely to use story arcs than newspaper comics, as most web comics have readable archives online that a newcomer to the strip can read in order to understand what is going on. Although story arcs have existed for decades, the term "story arc" was coined in 1988 in relation to the television series Wiseguy, and was quickly adapted for other uses.
The "Clone Saga" or "Spider-Clone Saga" was a major story arc in Marvel Comics which ran from 1994 to 1996 involving many clones of Spider-Man.
"Spider-Island" is a 2011 comic book storyline starting in The Amazing Spider-Man and crossing over into other comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of which were limited series or one-shots specifically for this storyline. The main plot involves the inhabitants of Manhattan Island mysteriously gaining powers similar to Spider-Man. It featured the return of the Jackal and the Queen to the Marvel Universe as well as laying the ground work for the second volume of the Scarlet Spider series.
Fictional character biography
Miles Warren was a professor of biology at Empire State University.[4] There, he meets Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.[5] During his tenure there, Warren becomes secretly infatuated with the much younger Gwen Stacy to the point of obsession and jealousy of Parker, her boyfriend. After Stacy is murdered by the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn), Warren swears vengeance on Spider-Man, since the papers at the time reported that it was Spider-Man who killed her.[6] Gwen's death drives Warren into depression, despair, and insanity as a mad geneticist who eventually becomes the Jackal. Miles also has a brother named Raymond, who is a science teacher at Peter Parker's high school.[7]
Professor is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences, a teacher of the highest rank.
Biology is the natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their physical structure, chemical processes, molecular interactions, physiological mechanisms, development and evolution. Despite the complexity of the science, there are certain unifying concepts that consolidate it into a single, coherent field. Biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the basic unit of heredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the creation and extinction of species. Living organisms are open systems that survive by transforming energy and decreasing their local entropy to maintain a stable and vital condition defined as homeostasis.
Empire State University is a fictional university in the Marvel Comics Universe. It is located somewhere in New York City, in Greenwich Village near the site of New York University. Many Marvel Comics characters, especially those associated with Spider-Man, have either attended or worked at the university. It first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #31.
Early career
Miles becomes an assistant of the High Evolutionary at Wundagore Mountain after earning his Ph.D in biochemistry. Warren assists the High Evolutionary in experiments that involve turning animals into humans and vice versa. There is conflict between Warren and the High Evolutionary because Warren succeeds in creating "New Men" who looked practically human, whereas the Evolutionary is not able to. Eventually, Warren evolves a jackal that exhibits a Jekyll and Hyde personality. When the test subject escapes, the Evolutionary banishes Warren from Wundagore. Warren continues his research and eventually settles down with a woman named Monica who bears him two children, who are all killed in what was originally believed to be a car crash; however, it is later revealed to be the result of an assault by his highly evolved Man-Jackal, envious of his creator.[8]
The High Evolutionary is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is a fictional character in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He is the title character and a friend of main protagonist Gabriel John Utterson.
Origin of the Jackal
The day after the death of Gwen Stacy, Warren's lab assistant Anthony Serba reveals that he has successfully cloned a frog using their research technology. Warren gives Serba tissue samples of Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker, telling Serba they are rat cells. Sometime later, Serba confronts Warren, stating that the clones are human and must be destroyed immediately. Panicking, Warren attempts to cover Serba's mouth to shut him up, accidentally suffocating him. Unable to accept responsibility for his actions, Warren develops a second personality to carry the weight of his misdeeds dubbed "The Jackal". Warren further develops his alter ego by fashioning a green suit and gauntlets with sharp, claw-like razors on each finger, and by training himself athletically.[6]Kaine is the first successful attempt at cloning Peter Parker, despite suffering from a slow cloning degeneration and having regenerative abilities to elude death several times.[9]
The Jackal's hatred for Spider-Man manifests in his belief that he is solely responsible for allowing Gwen Stacy, whom he loved, to die at the hands of the Green Goblin. He harasses Spider-Man numerous times, setting him up against other adversaries. Warren allies himself with the Punisher against Spider-Man.[10] Jackal next attempts to incite a gang war between Hammerhead and Doctor Octopus.[11] Later, he equips wrestler Maxwell Markham with the costume and powerful exoskeleton of the Grizzly and sends him to assassinate newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson.[12] The Jackal then holds Peter Parker hostage in a scheme to trap Spider-Man.[13] Sometime after, he learns Spider-Man's identity.
Out of his numerous attempts to clone Peter Parker, only one is a perfect copy of the original. He also creates two clones of himself, one a direct copy, the other a modified clone harboring the Carrion virus. The Jackal helps the Tarantula escape prison, and the two become partners.[14] The Jackal captures Spider-Man, but promptly lets him go after proving that he is no match for the Jackal in a fair fight. He then lures him to Shea Stadium and manipulates him into battling his clone by binding Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds to a bomb that only the original Spider-Man can disarm. However, when the Gwen Stacy clone tears off the Jackal's mask and confronts him on his crimes, Warren finally accepts responsibility for his actions. He attempts to correct his wrongdoings by freeing Ned Leeds, only to be caught in the bomb's explosion.[6]
Clone Saga
The Jackal as he appeared throughout the Clone Saga. Interior art of Spider-Man: The Jackal Files #1 (August 1994 Marvel Comics). Art by Dan Lawlis.
During the Clone Saga, it was much later revealed that the clone of Peter had survived the explosion and gone into hiding, creating the alias of Ben Reilly – Peter's uncle's first name and aunt's maiden name. The Jackal who died at Shea Stadium was later revealed to be a clone. Nearly five years after the battle at Shea Stadium, another Jackal clone would marry the original Gwen Stacy clone and they would live under the assumed names Warren and Gwen Miles. This clone of Warren eventually died of the clone degeneration that afflicted most of the clones created by the Jackal. Jackal resurfaced, where his experiments mutated his own DNA and give himself the attributes of an actual jackal.[volume&issueneeded] Prior to these events, the Jackal's physical abilities had merely been the result of training rather than any superhuman powers.
Reilly returns years later to New York City, allied himself with Spider-Man, and became the Scarlet Spider. The Jackal also returned to unleash his clone army [15] and convinced both Parker and Reilly that Reilly was the real Peter Parker and that the other man was the clone, respectively. Jackal created a number of other Peter Parker clones who came into conflict with Spider-Man, the Scarlet Spider, and Kaine.[volume&issueneeded] The Jackal clone who was thought to have died at Shea Stadium was revealed to have survived and married the Gwen Stacy clone under an assumed name.[16] Ultimately, the Jackal, in the process of attempting to kill and replace millions of people with clones that he could control, was killed falling off a tall building while trying to save the Gwen clone.[17]
Near the end of the Clone Saga, it was revealed that the Jackal and the other major players of the Clone Saga had unknowingly been duped by Norman Osborn, the man who originally killed Gwen Stacy. The Jackal and various others (including Kaine) had been tricked into thinking that Ben Reilly was the original and that Peter Parker was the clone. All of the Jackal's machinations during the Clone Saga were influenced by his incorrect assertion that he knew who the real Peter Parker was.[18]
Spider-Island
However, he later appeared in the "Spider-Island" storyline, being further genetically altered to the point where he frequently displayed animalistic tendencies. His body is always cold, requiring him to wear a thick fur coat even in the hottest weather. He became a crime lord, calling himself "The Professor", and allied himself with Hammerhead, but the two of them eventually went to jail.[19] Warren returns in the "Infestation" back-up feature of The Amazing Spider-Man, unleashing genetically-engineered bedbugs to pass on Spider-Man-like powers to thousands of citizens in Manhattan.[20] It is later revealed that he achieved this through the aid of several human clones of himself, and funding from a mysterious female benefactor, later revealed as the Spider Queen.[21] Although the bedbugs had later died, the virus that Warren gave to New Yorkers which gave them their spider-powers had become airborne to infect the world to create a new race of Homo-Arachnus, as part of the Spider Queen's plan to overtake the Great Web of Life.[20][22]
Jackal has also enlisted the aid of a regenerated Kaine after his death at the hands of the Kravinoffs[23] in Grim Hunt, which Warren had mutated into his man-spider henchman Tarantula.[9][24] It was revealed that the Gwen Stacy clone introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #144 was only the Jackal's second clone of Gwen Stacy. Abby-L, the first attempt to clone Gwen Stacy, was a flawed clone with the degenerative debilities of Kaine, the flawed clone of Peter Parker. Before this seemingly perfect copy of Gwen died at the hands of Abby-L, it was revealed she actually had some degeneration on her hand, suggesting that she was not perfect after all. Abby-L was also infected with the Carrion virus and had the same abilities of Carrion. Abby-L was manipulated by the Spider Queen into killing the other Gwen clone, who was living in London under the alias Joyce Delaney, and coming into conflict with Jackal and Kaine.[9]
With his own ulterior motives, the Jackal manipulated various gang leaders into adorning duplicate Spider-Man costumes to cause chaos in the city.[25] While experimenting with the Spider-King (who was a captured Steve Rogers at the hands of the Spider Queen) by injecting him with various embryo spiders to hatch outside of New York City Quarantine to spread the Infestation on a global scale.[26] The Jackal reveals that he still knows Spider-Man's true identity despite the worldwide mindwipe of that information by the rest of the world.[21] After a cure was created by Mister Fantastic and Horizon Labs using Anti-Venom's symbiotic antibodies, Warren assured the Spider Queen that no cure was possible, she seemingly killed Warren after realizing her powers were amplified due to a frequency that returned Spider-Man's spider-sense, giving her the power of a god.[26] It appeared that as though the original Jackal was killed by the Spider Queen; however, in the aftermath of Spider-Island it was revealed that the Jackal who died was one of the clones, and the real Jackal had kept his distance the entire time. Jackal revealed this to his surviving Miles Warren clones, anticipating the outcome, in order to gain a sample of a husk of Spider Queen DNA, recognizing his success when managing to obtain Peter Parker's DNA. Unbeknownst to the Avengers and Spider-Man, the Jackal was ordering the clean-up crew to obtain the slain Spider Queen's DNA.[27]
Post Spider-Island
It was revealed that the Jackal has been monitoring Peter Parker's accidental creation of Alpha, and has set his sights on Spider-Man's new protege.[28] Jackal resurfaces accompanied by his first wave of cloned mutated human-spider hybrids of the Spider Queen and is bent on harvesting Alpha's powers for himself in order to clone a race of Alpha males alongside his Spider-Queens. However, his plans fail as the Alpha energy cannot be cloned, resulting in a collection of powerless, near-mindless copies of Alpha, all of which are destroyed when the enraged Alpha breaks free. It was revealed that the two Jackals Spider-Man and Alpha fought were also clones.[29]
Superior Spider-Man era
After Doctor Octopus's mind possesses Spider-Man's body, he encounters the X-Men. The group battles a 30 ft. human-spider hybrid attacking New York, which turns out to be a human created by Jackal using the works of Mister Sinister.[30] Jackal later attacks Superior Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider with some mutant-powered spider-clones.[31] Spider-Man kills the clones by destroying Jackal's hideout, but Jackal escapes. It is revealed that he kept samples of Scarlet Spider's DNA. Jackal tells Carrion that he is prepared to develop Spidercide 2.0.[32]
Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy
After his death at the hands of the Green Goblin, Ben Reilly's dissolved remains were collected by Jackal and he was resurrected thanks to a new cloning process. However, Jackal found problems with the cellular degradation. He had Ben killed 26 more times, all of which had Ben's life (and most of Peter's) flash before his eyes. The ordeal of repeated death caused Ben to become mentally unbalanced and morally ambiguous, due to the trauma and his very soul being damaged from being removed and replaced within his body over and over.[33] Ben eventually breaks free and knocks out Jackal. After he improves Warren's formula, he makes clones of Miles Warren and persuades Jackal that he is a clone, thereby making it nearly impossible to tell who is the real one. Now free with a number of Miles Warren clones as his servants, Ben becomes the new Jackal during the "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" storyline and is determined to repay the people who have heavily influenced his and Peter's lives with Jackal's technology to make sure that no one has to suffer again and that those who have can become whole. He even does this by establishing New U Technologies.[34]
When Spider-Man activates the Webware to stabilize the human and clone cells all across the world that were in danger of succumbing to clone degradation, the various Miles Warren clones melt as Ben Reilly fights Doctor Octopus. The Miles Warren clone that does not melt realizes that he is the true Miles Warren and vows to have revenge on Ben Reilly as the true Jackal. Ben Reilly return to his safe-house where he finds Miles Warren in his Jackal outfit waiting in the living room. Jackal proceeds to burn Ben Reilly's safe-house down and engages him in one final battle. Ben Reilly defeats Jackal and leaves him in the burning house to die.[35]
After surviving the fire, Jackal targeted the neural net that was built by Dr. Yesenia Rosario when she was doing a presentation of it at Empire State University. Jackal was defeated by Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel as Dr. Rosario destroys her invention by setting it to self-destruct.[36]
Characterization
Powers and abilities
Prior to his regeneration, Miles Warren is a genius in the fields of biochemistry, genetics and cloning, and is a talented gymnast and martial artist. He later spliced his genes with the genetics of a jackal, having the strength, speed and agility amplified to superhuman levels. As revealed in Spider-Island, he is unaffected by the worldwide mind purging of Spider-Man's identity.[37]
Family
Raymond Warren - Miles Warren's brother. He is the science teacher of Midtown High School.[38]
Clones
Copies of Jackal
Prior to the death of the Warren clone at Shea Stadium,[6] he had created a clone of himself. The clone remained in stasis within a cloning casket that malfunctioned and super-aged the clone beyond death. Eventually, it emerged and became known as Carrion that wielded power and had no conscience for its actions. He was the first carrier of the Carrion virus, which Warren designed to destroy humanity. Carrion contained all Warren's memories which contained within his RNA, that included his hatred and knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity. Carrion wielded the power to create a Red Dust that would spread as pestilence as well as his touch that would incapacitate or even cause organic matter to degenerate to the point of disintegration.[39] The original Carrion intended to kill Spider-Man with a spider-amoeba, but failed as Carrion was absorbed by the amoeba, engulfed in flames that ensued from his battle.[40][41]
Much later, fellow ESU rival Malcolm McBride stumbled across Warren's old lair, where he was infected with a strain of the Carrion virus and became the second incarnation of Carrion. The virus allowed McBride to become endowed with the knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity; however, he was unsure whether he was Dr. Warren's first clone or Malcolm McBride.[42] Eventually, McBride teamed with the likes of Demogoblin and Carnage, but was later cured of his condition and incarcerated in Ravencroft Asylum.[43]
A man dressed as the Jackal once attacked Alpha Flight and claimed to be Miles Warren's son.[44] It was later indicated that this Jackal was the Ani-Man Warren created that ultimately murdered the Professor's family.[45]
A version of the Jackal dubbed as "The Professor" fought Daredevil and Punisher.[19]
Jackal used multiple stand-ins, such as the Miles and Jackal clones in Spider-Island.[46][47] There was also an additional Miles Warren clone accompanying Jackal in Sibling Rivalry after targeting the Superior Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider.[48][49]
Ben Reilly later made clones of Miles Warren to help him run New U Technologies.[34]
Created by Jackal
The following clones were created by Jackal:
The Miles Warren clone who died at Shea Stadium in The Amazing Spider-Man #149.[6]
The Miles Warren clone who married the Gwen Stacy clone and died of clone degeneration in Web of Spider-Man #125.[16]
The Miles Warren clone in the Daredevil/Punisher limited series.[50]
The original Miles Warren clone who became Carrion.[51]
The Gwen Stacy clone introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #144. She went by the aliases Joyce Delaney and Gwen Miles.[52]
Abby-L - The original Gwen Stacy clone who is also infected with the Carrion virus; introduced in Spider Island: Deadly Foes.[9]
The Gwen Stacy clone introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #399 who dies of clone degeneration.[53]
Kaine/Kaine Parker a.k.a. Tarantula a.k.a. Scarlet Spider - The first Peter Parker clone who suffers from clone degeneration.[volume&issueneeded]
Spidercide - A Peter Parker clone who has control over his own molecules, used by the Jackal, like Jack and Guardian, as muscle.[55][56] Died fighting Ben Reilly and Peter Parker above the Daily Bugle before falling to its death.[57]
Jack - A Peter Parker clone who was the Jackal's diminutive henchman, armed with claw-like fingernails (much like Guardian). He dies from clone degeneration.[58]
Guardian - A Peter Parker clone with dense skin, super-strength, and claw-like fingernails who guarded the entrance to one of the Jackal's headquarters. He also died of clone degeneration.[59]
The Spider-Man whose skeleton was found in the smokestack that Ben Reilly was dumped down at the end of the original Clone Story.[volume&issueneeded]
The various Warren clones featured in Spider-Island who act as the henchmen for Jackal and the Spider Queen. Two of them later kidnapped Alpha and his family, which Spider-Man fought.[61]
The Spider-Queen clones that were harvested from the Spider-Queen's DNA sent to fight Spider-Man.[28]
The Alpha clones created to harvest/clone the Parker Particles.[61]
Using the works of Mister Sinister, Jackal created a clone that was a girl who can turn into a mutant spider. This girl can shoot mucus from her mouth and shoot optic blasts when in spider form. When the girl was defeated by Superior Spider-Man and Storm, she was taken into the X-Men's custody.[30]
Jackal then used the DNA samples of the X-Men that he obtained from one of Mister Sinister's laboratories to create mutant-powered spider-clones. One clone has optic blasts like Cyclops, one clone can use electrical attacks like Storm, one clone can teleport like Nightcrawler, and the final clone can do cryokinesis like Iceman. These mutant-powered spider-clones were killed when Spider-Man blew up Jackal's hideout.[31][32]
Reception
DeMatteis, the creator of the Clone Saga, claimed in an interview that he thought Jackal is "a terrific villain...one of his favorites", and that it "was a blast bringing the character back, if only for this one story."[62]Dan Slott claimed in an interview with Newsarama about the Spider-Island saga that Jackal is "one of the wonderful mad scientists of Spider-Man's world."[63]
Other versions
Marvel Zombies
In the Marvel Zombies universe, when the Zombie Galacti left the Earth (after eating Galactus), Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) makes an empire. The zombiefied Jackal plays an important part in it, creating human clones to feed the remaining Marvel Zombies. This process utilizes Inhuman technology.[64]
Spider-Man: Clone Saga
Jackal appears in the re-imagining of the Clone Saga by Tom DeFalco, who was exploring the storyline as it was originally conceived. He infects both Aunt May and Mary Jane with a genetic virus. When Kaine betrays Jackal and leads Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider to his lair, all three are captured. Jackal then reveals his plan to create an army of Spider-Clones to take over the world and clone Gwen Stacy. The clones prove unstable, however, and Jackal comes to the conclusion that Ben is the original. Before he can do anything, Kaine breaks free and burns his mark onto Jackal's face before breaking his neck.[65]
Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Miles Warren is Harry Osborn's hypnotherapist and helped him repress memories about his father, the Green Goblin.[66] Later in the Deadpool story arc of Ultimate Spider-Man, he was revealed to be dating Aunt May.[67] However, as of now, he had no involvement in the Clone Saga in this continuity and has yet to make any more appearances. His involvement has been taken over by Doctor Octopus.[68] He last appeared when Aunt May tried to introduce him to Peter, but they had to leave town because of Norman Osborn and he had a patient to handle.[69]
Spider-Man: Life Story
Spider-Man: Life Story features an alternate continuity where the characters naturally age after Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man in 1962. After the 60s, Miles eventually leaves Empire State and forms his own bio-engineering company. Peter Parker's wife, Gwen Stacy, became his chief biologist. During this time, he was also hired by Norman Osborn to create clones of Norman and Peter, but he also secretly created a clone of Gwen. In 1977, Norman gets word of Warren's additional clone and sends Harry Osborn as the Black Goblin to attack Warren's company, revealing the clones to Harry, Peter, and Gwen in the process. Harry blows up the containment tubes containing the clones, which kills all of them except for Peter's clone. However, Warren reveals that the "Gwen" that Peter was with was actually her clone, while the real Gwen died in the explosion, as he wanted to keep her for himself.[70]
Spider-Verse
In the Spider-Verse storyline, the Miles Warren of Earth-802 is one of the top scientists working for Jennix of the Inheritors. Jennix once quoted to Miles "I keep you around because you were once the most brilliant mind on the planet."[71] Spider-Man of Earth-94, Scarlet Spider, and Black Widow of Earth-1610 later encounter Miles Warren when they infiltrate the Baxter Building to disable Jennix' cloning device (which is used to create new bodies for the Inheritors if they get killed in action).[72]
Secret Wars
During the Secret Wars storyline, Spider-Gwen encounters the Jackal of Arachnia and covers him with webbing as he is robbing a grave after which he exclaims he is the best geneticist of his generation.[73]
What If?
In "What If The Punisher Had Killed Spider-Man?", Warren successfully dupes the Punisher into killing Spider-Man and abandons him to take the fall in his place. Becoming a hunted fugitive, Punisher eventually hunts Warren down and intends to surrender him to the police. But when the NYPD is about to arrest him instead, threatening to kill him should he shoot Warren, Warren is executed (off-panel) by the Punisher after the latter gleefully concludes the story with the words: "See you on the other side, Jackal."[74]
Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy
When Warren reveals his plans for New U, Kaine and the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 step in to stop him from winning Peter to his side. Kaine later told Spider-Man that they have visited various unidentified alternate universes where Peter agreeing to Jackal's plans for New U Technologies have led to catastrophe in the form of the Carrion Virus.[75]
In other media
Television
Miles Warren appears in the two-part Spider-Man episode "The Return of Hydro-Man", voiced by Jonathan Harris.[76] Here, Miles Warren is a scientist whose cloning experiments were banned by the government. He continued his experiments in secret with help from the crime lord Silvermane (whom he kept anonymous) where Warren worked in an underwater lab. Warren's clones were unsuccessful where their cells would not hold together and they disintegrated into nothing. Interested in Hydro-Man and his ability to change his molecules into water, Warren finds a sample of Hydro-Man's DNA at the scene of his evaporation and creates a clone of Hydro-Man. Like the real Hydro-Man, the clone loved Mary Jane Watson and demanded that Warren creates a clone of her. Warren does create a clone of Mary Jane after stealing some hair samples from her brush while Anna Watson was mourning her niece's loss, unable to notice him in her grief. In the end, the clones of Hydro-Man and Mary Jane Watson degenerate, though Warren is able to steal a sample of Spider-Man's DNA from a piece of his costume with the intent to clone him. With part of his underwater lab trashed, he contacted Alistair Smythe to have Silvermane's men repair it. In an alternate universe, Warren managed to clone Spider-Man. The clone had escaped and became Ben Reilly. His presence in this dimension caused the real Peter Parker to willingly combine with the Carnage symbiote to become Spider-Carnage.
Miles Warren appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man voiced by Brian George (who also voices Miles' brother Aaron).[76] In this incarnation, Miles Warren is much younger and East Indian. In the episode “Blueprints,” Warren, along with his assistant Debra Whitman, joins his brother Aaron Warren, Dr. Curt Connors, and Dr. Martha Connors in scientific research at the ESU labs with a grant from Norman Osborn. Warren bases his genetic research on Curt's work with lizard DNA, but Curt discourages his work. When Kraven the Hunter tracks down Spider-Man at ESU labs, Warren offers to alter Kraven's genetic material for a large sum of money. Kraven agrees, and Warren uses the same procedure that caused Curt to become the Lizard to mutate Kraven into a lion-like creature (with elements of cheetah and leopard thrown in as well). After Eddie Brock steals a vial of Curt's gene cleanser, Miles talks to the college board and plots to take away Connors' control of the lab for himself. In the episode "Subtext", he is seen in an old rundown police station which happens to be another one of Norman Osborn's laboratories. Here he uses Mark Allan, Liz Allan's brother as an upgraded experiment from Dr. Otto Octavius' previous Sandman experiment. He then injects a thermal suit into Mark which turns him into Molten Man. Dr. Warren then convinces Mark that the suit can only be controlled by sheer will when actually it can only be controlled remotely. At the end of the episode, Connors discovers Warren's research, and threatens to tell the school board. However, Warren retaliates by threatening to inform them of his own Lizard experiments, and reveal how his human limb regeneration project turned him into the Lizard.
The Jackal appears as a recurring villain in the 2017 Spider-Man, voiced by John DiMaggio.[77] This version of the character is not Miles Warren, but rather his brother Raymond who is also the uncle and adoptive father of Gwen Stacy. Similar to the comics, Warren is a scientist researching genetics, which led to his transformation into the Jackal by injecting himself with a jackal DNA serum, and is obsessed with conquering the Earth and replacing its population with his genetic creations. Jackal first appears in the episode "Osborn Academy", where he is interrupted by Spider-Man in the middle of a technology heist and briefly fights him, before escaping. He later intervenes in the feud between Herman Schultz and Clayton Cole and steals their technology, using it to fight Spider-Man, but is once again defeated and manages to escape. In the episode "A Day in the Life", Raymond auditions to work at Horizon High, but is turned down by Max Modell due to his old experiments at the Empire State University; before leaving, he is able prick Aleksei Sytsevich with a serum with a hidden rhinoceros DNA serum. In the episode "Party Animals", Raymond auditions at Osborn Academy as well and mentions his genetic experiments, prompting Norman Osborn to ask him to prove that they work, so Jackal sneaks at Horizon High and witnesses Aleksei transforming into Rhino. After Spider-Man defeats and de-transforms Rhino, he follows Gwen Stacy to Raymond's house, where he defeats Jackal and de-transforms him into Raymond as well, leading to his exposure as a criminal and arrest. In the episode "Ultimate Spider-Man", Raymond seemingly escapes from prison and hires Spencer Smythe to steal the genetically modified spiders created by Oscorp. After one spider escapes and bites Miles Morales, giving him super-powers, Raymond enlists Spencer to capture him, but he is eventually defeated by Spider-Man and Miles and arrested; as he is being escorted to his cell, Spencer notices that Raymond is back in prison and asks him when he got re-arrested, but Raymond claims that he never escaped. In the episode "The Rise of Doc Ock: Part 3", Jackal transforms Aleksei back into Rhino and has him go on a rampage through Osborn Academy, infecting more people and turning them into humanoid rhinoceroses like him, and in the episode "The Rise of Doc Ock: Part 4", it is revealed that the Raymond in prison is actually a clone which explodes, while the real Raymond is still at large. Investigating the disappearance of Raymond, Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy and Harry Osborn find his secret lab underneath Midtown High School, where they discover that Jackal is using the remaining spiders to make an army of Jackal clones with spider powers, before Norman Osborn and his Osborn Commandos - Otto Octavius, Alistair Smythe, Vulture, Steel Spider, and Rhino - show up to take down Jackal. When the real Jackal arrives, Otto defects to his side and mind-controls the other Osborn Commandos to form the Sinister Five, but they are all forced to escape after the lab collapses, with the exception of Norman, who seemingly dies. Jackal serves as the main antagonist of the five-part "Spider-Island" story-arc, where the chemicals from his destroyed lab spread into the city and give the entire population of Manhattan spider powers, beginning with Gwen. However, all the people exposed to the chemicals eventually turn into mindless humanoid spiders dubbed "Man-Spiders", with Norman, who is revealed to have survived and was the first one to transform, leading them as the "Spider King". Jackal plans to control the army of Man-Spiders and use it to take over the world, but he needs the DNA of both Spider-Man and Miles, the only known humans with spider powers. He captures Miles and brings him to his lair at Osborn Academy, where Peter Parker, Harry Osborn and Anya Corazon eventually show up as well, after following Norman. Jackal proceeds to reveal his plan to them and then fights Peter, Harry and Miles with his army of Man-Spiders, but they manage to cure everyone and defeat Jackal, foiling his plan for good. Although the entire Osborn Academy collapses in the process and he manages to escape.
Video games
The Jackal appears as a boss character in the PlayStation 2 and PSP versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Greg Baldwin. He is in alliance with Spencer Smythe and is his double agent when Spider-Man encounters Jackal aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D.Helicarrier, where he has been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. out of desperation for a scientific genius to analyze the symbiotes and help stop the invasion consuming Manhattan. After revealing that S.H.I.E.L.D. planned to use the symbiotes as a weapon and his secret alliance with Smythe, as well as Smythe's plan to learn how to control and then use them to take over the world, Jackal betrays Smythe and plans to steal Spider-Man's symbiote black suit for his own schemes. After a battle, Jackal is defeated by Spider-Man and gives him a serum that will enhance his black suit, before escaping when the Helicarrier crashes. Later, Jackal steals the sonic generator meant to stop the symbiote invasion from the top of Fisk Tower while Spider-Man is busy fighting A.I.M. soldiers and a mind-controlled Black Cat sent by Smythe, and takes it to Central Park, where he modifies the generator to control the symbiotes. When Spider-Man confronts him there, Jackal claims to be the mastermind behind everything and fights the hero once again, but is ultimately defeated by Spider-Man, who can then use the generator to either destroy the symbiotes or control them himself.
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References
↑ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1970s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. Dorling Kindersley. p.72. ISBN978-0756692360. Writer Gerry Conway and artist Ross Andru introduced two major new characters to Spider-Man's world and the Marvel Universe in this self-contained issue. Not only would the vigilante known as the Punisher go on to be one of the most important and iconic Marvel creations of the 1970s, but his instigator, the Jackal, would become the next big threat in Spider-Man's life.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
↑ Manning "1960s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 31: "This monumental issue saw the first appearances of Peter's upcoming love interest Gwen Stacy, prospective best friend, Harry Osborn, and even the future super villain known as the Jackal."
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