Alistair Smythe
| Alistair Smythe | |
|---|---|
 Alistair Smythe as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 (November 1985) |
| Created by | Louise Simonson Mary Wilshire |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Alistair Alphonso Smythe |
| Species | Human Cyborg |
| Notable aliases | The Ultimate Spider-Slayer |
| Abilities |
|
Alistair Alphonso Smythe (/smaɪθ/) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of the superhero Spider-Man, and the son of Spencer Smythe. After his father dedicated his life to eliminating Spider-Man and died as a result, Alistair inherited his Spider-Slayer legacy and developed a hatred for the web-slinger. He turned to a life of crime to exact revenge on Spider-Man, and created a new generation of Spider-Slayers to kill him, but this only resulted in Alistair getting paralyzed from the waist down. Later, he encased his body in a bioorganic carapace that allowed him to walk again, in addition to giving him superpowers, and adopted the alias of the Ultimate Spider-Slayer.
The character has been adapted from the comics into several forms of media, including animated series and video games. Actor B.J. Novak played Alistair Smythe in the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2. IGN ranked him as Spider-Man's 9th greatest enemy.[1]
Publication history
Alistair Smythe first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 (November 1985), and was created by Louise Simonson and Mary Wilshire.[2] He died in The Superior Spider-Man #13 (September 2013).
Fictional character biography
The Spider-Slayers were a series of robots that sought to destroy Spider-Man. The initial generation of Spider-Slayers were created by his father Spencer Smythe. After Spencer failed to kill Spider-Man—and ended up dying as a result of prolonged exposure to the radioactive samples involved—Alistair inherited his father's legacy and gained a new-found hatred toward Spider-Man. His initial attempt, however, failed when, in a rather humorous misunderstanding, he mistook Mary Jane Watson for Spider-Man; playing along with it to give Peter Parker time to come up with a plan while Mary Jane used a super-powered suit designed by aliens until he was defeated by the real wall-crawler. He initially worked for the Kingpin but left in disagreement over how to deal with Spider-Man and went solo.[3]
After being confined in an asylum, Alistair released himself and took several other inmates with him to construct a new series of Spider-Slayers that tracked Spider-Man across the city. With a plan of revenge, he forced the inmates to assist him in the machines' construction. After sending a series of slayers after Spider-Man (and all of their inevitable destruction with assistance from others including Scorpion and the Black Cat), Alistair lured Spider-Man to his residence for one final battle. To defeat Spider-Man on his own, Alistair enhanced himself by encasing his entire body in a bioorganic carapace that not only served as a full body armour, but increased his strength and gave him the ability to walk again by interconnecting with his spine. The physical structure of the carapace gave Alistair bird-like talons for feet; a long, curved blade-like weapon jutting from each shoulder; a pair of smaller, jagged blade weapons on each forearm; and a specially made web-shooter that fires from the forearm area. Eventually, Spider-Man defeated Alistair and made sure he'd been taken to custody as well as the other asylum inmates who survived the ordeal.[4]
During Scarlet Spider's brief stint as sole web-slinger in town, Smythe (still carapaced as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer) started a war utilizing a new set of slayers he intended to sell on the black market. These Cyber-Slayers, which could be controlled remotely by turning one's thoughts into the slayers' actions, were initially targeted at Lady Octopus and her crew.[5] The Scarlet Spider ended up in the middle of things and temporarily allied with the Cyber-Slayers, a fact that did not go over well with Smythe.[6]
Smythe, no longer in his carapace but with his ability to walk restored by his earlier use of it, found his way outside prison and sought revenge on both Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson for the death of his father. He coerced Jameson to alter the stories in the
During the "
During the "Spider-Island" storyline, J. Jonah Jameson brings Alistair Smythe from Ryker's Island to demand his help in resolving the spider-flu plague transforming ordinary citizens into Homo Arachnis. Alistair Smythe laughed at the irony of how Jameson has gained spider powers. At the moment, Jameson transforms and seriously wounds Smythe by biting a chunk out of his neck.[14]
Despite his injuries, Alistair Smythe is seen alive and well as a prisoner in the Raft.[15] Alistair Smythe is a witness of the escape of Doctor Octopus (who has secretly swapped his mind with Spider-Man) and is denied to join up with him.[16]
Mayor J. Jonah Jameson later calls in the
Superior Spider-Man is seen fighting Smythe and is mocking him for being weak in comparison to his father
Superior Spider-Man succeeds in killing Smythe, but only his physical body, as his robotic components keep his mind intact. His corpse, with his mind intact, attacks the survivors, disarming the guards. Superior Spider-Man tackles Smythe and they fall onto the shore below, Smythe attempts to transfer his mind into Superior Spider-Man, however, Superior Spider-Man had already done this and equipped the mask with armored plating. Before Alistair dies, Superior Spider-Man taunts him by revealing being Otto and that Otto already beat the true Spider-Man to the mind transfer. His body is presumably carried away.[19]
During the Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy storyline, Doctor Octopus' consciousness in an Octobot infiltrates New U Technologies and finds that the new Jackal has obtained the body of Alistair,[20] "reanimating" Alistair alongside his father with their souls intact;[21] whether Alistair and his father avoided Doctor Octopus' unleashing of the Carrion Virus and was killed again by him has yet to be revealed.[22]
Powers and abilities
Alistair Smythe is a gifted scientist specializing in robotics, cybernetics, and genetics. His most notable inventions are the Spider-Slayers, robots built for an express purpose of capturing or killing Spider-Man. Though the creation/idea for these formerly came from his father, he have made advances/improvements on the originals.[23] The current generations are extremely sophisticated, formidable, and often operates in groups. He is also tactically skilled in his deployment of them.[24]
Later, he invented a bioorganic carapace that serves as full body armor. It gave him increased strength and the ability to walk again by interfacing with his spinal cord. It has bird-like talons for feet, a long, curved bladed weapon jutting from each shoulder, and smaller, jagged blades on each forearm. The carapace also has built-in web shooters that fires an adhesive substance from both wrists. While wearing this armor, Alistair was granted enhanced durability, speed, agility, and reflexes, as well as clinging to solid surfaces.[25]
Other versions
House of M
In the House of M reality, a furious J. Jonah Jameson hired Alistair Smythe, an associate of Norman Osborn, to build a Spider-Slayer to get revenge against the Parkers.[26]
In other media
Television
- Alistair Smythe appears in Miles Warren, in exchange for his father's revival. Additionally, the Beyonderrecruits Smythe, among other supervillains, to fight a team of heroes led by Spider-Man, but is ultimately defeated and returned to Earth with no memory of the event.
- An alternate reality version of Alistair Smythe appears in the two-part series finale "Spider Wars". This version works with the Kingpin and Spider-Carnage to build a mind-control device to take over the world, though the "prime" Spider-Man foils them.
- Alistair Smythe appears in Goblin Nation before he is defeated by Spider-Man, Ghost-Spider and Spider-Girl.
Film
Alistair Smythe appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, portrayed by B. J. Novak.[citation needed] This version is a supervisor at Oscorp who orders Max Dillon to check an electrical fault, which leads to the latter's transformation into Electro. Additionally, a viral marketing campaign for the film featured a Daily Bugle article that mentions Alistair having replaced his father as the head of Oscorp's engineering division.[28][29]
Video games
- Alistair Smythe appears as a boss in The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes.
- Alistair Smythe appears as a boss in the Sega Genesis versions of Spider-Man(1995).
- Alistair Smythe appears in The Amazing Spider-Man, voiced by Nolan North. This version is a high-ranking Oscorp scientist who pressured the company to invest more heavily in robotics and attempted to dispose of their cross-species experiments, which were created using the now incarcerated Curt Connors' research. When Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy sneak into Oscorp's restricted areas to investigate rumors about the cross-species, Smythe catches them, but agrees to let them see the experiments anyway, only for the cross-species to react to Parker's spider DNA and break free. As a result, they release a deadly virus that infects numerous people, including Smythe. While in quarantine, Smythe dispatches numerous robots to hunt down the cross-species and develops a cure using nanobots, unaware that it will slowly kill the host. After Connors develops a cure, which Spider-Man brings to Oscorp, Smythe steals it with the intention of taking sole credit for it on Oscorp's behalf. However, he becomes paralyzed from the waist down after taking it and is driven insane. Upon being fired from Oscorp for his actions, Smythe deduces Spider-Man's secret identity and kidnaps Connors to lure him to Oscorp's robotics facility. While Spider-Man rescues Connors, Smythe captures the former and injects him with his nanobot cure to strip him of his powers before unveiling his biggest creation, the S-03, which he uses to spread the serum throughout the city, wreaking havoc in the process. After regaining his powers, Spider-Man joins forces with Connors as the Lizard to defeat Smythe, who regains his sanity and realizes the error of his ways before being left for the police. Following this, Smythe refuses to take the antidote for the cross-species virus, fearing that it will not work, and escapes from prison. As he approaches the final stages of the infection and regains the use of his legs, Smythe returns to his lab and commands one of his robots to kill him, unwilling to transform into a cross-species.
- Alistair Smythe appears in Marvel Heroes.
- Alistair Smythe as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer appears as a playable character in Spider-Man Unlimited.
References
- ^ "Top 25 Spider-Man Villains". IGN. 16 April 2014.
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #368-373
- ^ Web of Scarlet Spider #2
- ^ The Spectacular Scarlet Spider #2
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #20-21
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #648
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #650
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #651
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #652
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #654
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #656
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #670
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #691
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #699
- ^ The Superior Spider-Man #11
- ^ The Superior Spider-Man #12
- ^ The Superior Spider-Man #13
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #20
- ^ Clone Conspiracy #2
- ^ Clone Conspiracy #5
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #291-292 (August–September 1987)
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #368-371 (November–December 1992)
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #372-373 (January 1993)
- ^ Spider-Man: House of M #3
- ^ "Horizon High Pt. 1". Spider-Man. Season 1. Episode 1. August 19, 2017. Disney XD.
- ^ Mercado, Joy (October 14, 2013). "Oscorp Biz Holds Steady". Tumblr. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
- ^ "Visit the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Daily Bugle Tumblr". 3 December 2013.
