Jack O'Lantern (Marvel Comics)

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Jack O'Lantern is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

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Jason Macendale first appeared as Jack O'Lantern in Machine Man #19 (February 1981).^[1]

The Steve Levins incarnation of Jack O'Lantern first appeared in Captain America #396 (January 1992).

The Daniel Berkhart incarnation of Jack O'Lantern (a.k.a. Mad Jack) first appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man #241 (December 1996).

The Maguire Beck incarnation of Jack O'Lantern (a.k.a. Mad Jack) first appeared in Spider-Man and Mysterio #1 (January 2001).

The Secret War incarnation of Jack O'Lantern first appeared in Secret War #1 (April 2004).

The Levins brother incarnation of Jack O'Lantern first appeared in Dark Reign: Made Men #1 (November 2009).

The

The Daniel Drumm incarnation of Jack O'Lantern, set on Earth-98091, first appeared in Supernaturals #1 (December 1998).

Jason Macendale was a mercenary who was recruited out of college and trained by the CIA and various para-military organizations. Considered a liability due to his violent nature and amoral personality, this rejection turned Macendale to a career mercenary and ultimately a costumed terrorist. He adopted the Jack O'Lantern alter ego, engaging in combat with Machine Man as his first opponent^[3] followed by Spider-Man for the first time.^[4][5][6]

Macendale was later hired to retrieve the

Having finally been made into the notorious supervillain he hoped to be at the cost of his humanity, Macendale put his personal enmity for Spider-Man aside and used his demonic powers to be a top contract killer. He offered his mercenary services to Hammerhead and Tombstone to eliminate Robbie Robertson but is stopped by Spider-Man and Puma.^[19] Macendale next conspired with Carrion to eliminate Spider-Man before his co-conspirator ultimately nearly took both villains out instead.^[20] Macendale goes after Doctor Strange but an illusion spell is cast to try to calm the monstrous man/demon and Macendale sees his true face in reflections of himself.^[21] Macendale was later stiff-armed by Doctor Octopus into joining the Sinister Six's second incarnation which twice tried to take over the world, failing due to counter measures by Spider-Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, the Fantastic Four and many more heroes.^[22][23]

As an independent mercenary and criminal, Macendale would clash with many other heroes, including

Considered "just a criminal" by Spider-Man, Macendale was viewed as a typical (sociopathic) thug who is not much of a threat as his predecessor and Norman Osborn in comparison.^[34]

Macendale went on trial for his many crimes and found guilty on several counts (including convictions for the original Hobgoblin's acts), disgustingly responding by revealing that Leeds was his predecessor. His continued testimony leads Spider-Man recounting encounters with the original Hobgoblin, and thus realized that Ned cannot possibly be the supervillain due to lack of powers (despite being killed when Macendale paid the Foreigner).

A later version of Jack O'Lantern is captured by S.H.I.E.L.D.; this individual used several false aliases including Jason Macendale, Maguire Beck (Mysterio's cousin), and Mad Jack (Daniel Berkhart). Jack O'Lantern's true identity was never revealed but it was not any of the aliases he was using.^[37]

The second version of Jack O'Lantern was introduced as an enemy of Captain America and Spider-Man.

This version of the character was subjected to much controversy, due to the fact that several years after his introduction he was rebranded "Mad Jack" and was heavily featured in the pages of The Spectacular Spider-Man during the late 1990s. Mad Jack was ultimately revealed to be the duo of Daniel Berkhart (ex-Mysterio) and Maguire Beck (Mysterio's cousin). It was not until the one-shot New Avengers Most Wanted (a character compendium) that the second iteration was confirmed as a separate entity: Steven Mark Levins. However, the character's name would not be used in-story until Ghost Rider vol. 5 #10 (2007).

This incarnation was a professional criminal, and a partner of

He also worked as an enforcer of the Golem and in this capacity, fought the Hood when he interfered in Golem's machinations.

Jack O'Lantern later fought Union Jack alongside Shockwave and Jackhammer to attack the Thames Tunnel.^[43]

Following his defeat, Levins was recruited to serve as part of the Thunderbolts hero-hunting squad during the "Civil War" storyline. While pursuing Spider-Man through the Manhattan sewers alongside the Jester, Levins was killed by the Punisher.^[44] However, Levins is later reanimated and possessed by a fragment of Lucifer's soul. He now exhibits the ability to detach, levitate and explode his head, among other powers. However, the Ghost Rider was able to exorcise him by ripping his heart from his chest, setting it aflame, and putting it back in his chest, causing it to explode inside.^[4][45]

During the "

During the "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" storyline, Levins's Jack O'Lantern form was among the characters who were cloned by the Jackal. He got involved in a fight with the other cloned villains, causing the Prowler's clone to break it up.^[47]

Jack O'Lantern later battled

Former Mysterio, Daniel Berkhart, was approached by Norman Osborn providing a version of the Jack O'Lantern costume, under the "Mad Jack" alias. Under Osborn's orders, Berkhart kidnapped John Jameson and exposed to mind-altering chemicals to be turned into a mind controlled pawn: the super-powered wolf alter-ego persona Man-Wolf. Jameson was then sent to attack J. Jonah Jameson, to terrorize and cow into being subservient towards Osborn's scheme to buy the Daily Bugle. During this time, he also stalked Jameson's wife, Marla, implying that the two had a past relationship that Berkhart sought to rekindle.^[4][52]

In the miniseries

After Berkhart's working relationship with Osborn ended when the Green Goblin participated in a magical ritual that rendered him completely insane, Berkhart was then approached by Maguire Beck, the female cousin of Quentin Beck (the original Mysterio). Maguire convinced Berkhart to re-assume the Mysterio identity following her cousin's suicide and the "Mad Jack" costumed identity was retired. But when the two sought to eliminate Spider-Man, Daredevil, J. Jonah Jameson and several other mutual enemies, the two revived the "Mad Jack" persona, with Maguire using holograms and lifelike robotic versions of Mad Jack and Berkhart himself to serve as proxies for herself while she laid in secret. In the end, Maguire was caught and exposed though due to her usage of Berkhart androids but Daredevil and Spider-Man were left unsure as to whether or not Berkhart was truly involved. However Berkhart did ultimately escape with a Mysterio costume, in the confusion at the end.^[54]

Another version of Jack O'Lantern is introduced during the "Dark Reign" storyline, is an unnamed man who claimed to be Steve Levins' brother. He has since been caught by the police after killing the 15-year-old daughter of his neighbor and drinking his victim's blood as part of his plot to avenge Steve. This man was shown to be able to transform into a Jack O'Lantern-headed villain using the powers of a mystical demon.^[4] He was later released by a lawyer sent by Norman Osborn who claimed that Jack O'Lantern is a material witness to a national security case. The lawyer drives away with Jack O'Lantern as Norman plans to gain his services.^[55]

During the "Heroic Age", Steve Rogers knew about Jack O'Lantern, noting that Osborn didn't use Jack O'Lantern and suspects that Jack O'Lantern will continue his crusade to avenge his brother.^[56]

A new version of Jack O'Lantern appears working for the third

One of his jobs brings him into conflict with the government operative Venom. During this conflict, Venom threw a live grenade into his mouthpiece and it dislocated his jaw. Even after the explosion, he was still able to run and retreat.^[59] Later, Crime-Master is able to use contacts to discover Venom's true identity Flash Thompson, and has Jack O'Lantern kidnap Betty Brant (Flash's girlfriend) in exchange for Venom letting Crime-Master get a shipment of Antarctic Vibranium. When Venom leaves to rescue Betty, he is distracted by Spider-Man's appearance, which drives the Venom symbiote into an uncontrollable rage. Eventually Betty is rescued at the last second by Spider-Man, with Venom then trying to recapture Crime-Master. However, Venom is attacked by Jack O'Lantern who proclaims Flash as his first real nemesis, and desiring revenge for the disfiguring grenade explosion, also mockingly calling out Venom's first name.^[60] While it hasn't been confirmed, this depiction claims to have killed every other person to go by the Jack O'Lantern name in an effort to "clean up the brand".^[61] Jack O'Lantern is a member of the Crime-Master's Savage Six.^[62]

Jack O'Lantern in his human guise goes first and targets Betty only to end up fighting Venom. During the fight, Megatak assists Jack O'Lantern and punches Venom's phone before he can make a call to the Avengers for help.^[63] Jack O'Lantern targets Jessie Thompson and ends up fighting Venom. Venom grabs Jack O'Lantern's gun and fires on him before Jack O'Lantern spews acid on him, causing Venom to cool down in the fountain.^[64]

Jack O'Lantern later goes on a killing spree which escalated on Father's Day. Venom tracked him to a sewer thanks to the hidden trail Jack O'Lantern had left behind for him. There, he discovered that Jack had dug up the corpse of Flash's father and blew up the room. In the fight that ensued, it looked like Jack O'Lantern was going to win until Venom took his father's gun from the holster and shot him. Venom chose not to kill Jack O'Lantern.^[65]

Jack O'Lantern was incarcerated at the Raft.^[66] He managed to continue his operations using an employee of a storage facility as a replacement who Jack O'Lantern's robots brainwashed.^[67]

Jack O'Lantern was among the villains contracted by the

During the "AXIS" storyline, Jack O'Lantern appears as a member of Magneto's unnamed supervillain group during the fight against the Red Skull's Red Onslaught form.^[69] His moral compass was inverted with all of those in Genosha when a spell meant to affect only the Red Skull affected everyone on the island.^[70] He later rejoined the (now-inverted) villains to prevent the inverted X-Men from detonating a gene bomb which would've killed everyone on Earth who was not a mutant.^[71] When a reinversion spell was cast, Jack O'Lantern was evil once again.^[72]

During the "Avengers: Standoff!" storyline, Jack O'Lantern was an inmate of Pleasant Hill, a gated community established by S.H.I.E.L.D.^[73]

During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Jack O'Lantern appears as a member of the Army of Evil, who attack Manhattan in retaliation for what happened at Pleasant Hill.^[74]

Jack O'Lantern is eventually hunted down for his many crimes by Eddie Brock, and is beaten within an inch of his life. Brock lets him live, although it is implied Brock breaks Jack's spine and leaves him in a critical condition before being teleported away to a parallel universe.^[75]

Jack O'Lantern was among the villains contracted by Bella Donna of the Assassins Guild to target Deadpool. Jack O'Lantern and his fellow villains were defeated by Deadpool.^[76]

Jack O'Lantern was hospitalized following this, and underwent plastic surgery to restore his face and intensive therapy. Jack O'Lantern was released to civilian life, but grew bored almost immediately and returned to supervillainy. Following Deadpool to

• An unnamed man posed as Jason Macendale, using both his civilian name and his Jack O'Lantern alias during Secret War.^[81]

• As mentioned above, Crime-Master's Jack O'Lantern brainwashed a factory worker into posing as him. He was among the villains gathered by Lord Ogre to attack Venom.^[67] Jack O'Lantern later attacked Flash's neighbor Andrea Benton which ended in her father's death as Flash protected Andrea.^[82] When Andrea attacked Jack O'Lantern for what happened to her father, the mask came off and Venom saw that this wasn't Crime-Master's Jack O'Lantern. The factory worker explained that he worked at a storage facility and was hypnotized into being Jack O'Lantern by one of Jack O'Lantern's robots. After Venom prevented Andrea from killing him, the imposter Jack O'Lantern was taken into police custody and slipped into a coma moments later.^[83]

Jason Macendale originally possessed no superhuman powers, but used similar paraphernalia to the Hobgoblin and the Green Goblin; both his Jack O'Lantern and Hobgoblin personas used a rocket-powered glider, pumpkin bombs, and gauntlet blasters. During the time in which a demon was grafted to him, he had superhuman strength, speed, and agility, as well as hellfire powers enabling him to create weapons and gliders at will. It is implied that his demonic abilities allowed him to create organic fibers strong enough to bind a normal person.^[84] After acquiring Kraven the Hunter's formula, Macendale had enhanced his strength, speed, stamina, durability, reflexes, and agility to superhuman levels, thanks to anomalies in his blood left over when he and Demogoblin were one, but this formula's effects seemed to have later wore off. His later cybernetically enhanced body thanks to Mendel Stromm further increased his strength, speed, reflexes, durability, and stamina. Macendale had extensive military training in hand-to-hand combat, martial arts, espionage, and knowledge of conventional weaponry. He often used conventional military weapons. When he adopted the Hobgoblin persona, he was able to make improvements to the Goblin glider's maneuverability by utilizing skills he gained from his master's degrees in both mechanical engineering and physics. Macendale was also a sociopath and a sadist, which led to his dishonorable discharge from the military.

Steven Levins modeled his Jack O'Lantern costume and equipment after those created by his predecessor. Levins wore a complete body armor made of metal-mesh covered in multi-segmented Kevlar panels, incorporating a rigid, articulated shell which can resist a 7-pound bazooka anti-tank warhead. He wore a bulletproof helmet with an internal three hour, compressed air supply. The helmet is equipped with a telescopic infrared image-intensifier for seeing in the dark and 360 degree scanning device for seeing all around himself. The base of the helmet is equipped with a fine network of pinholes which maintain a low temperature, low density flame ("stage-fire") that rings the helmet at all times. The air supply cools the helmet's interior. The helmet is padded to protect his head from injury. Levins is armed with wrist-blasters which can deliver an electrical shock within a range of 35 feet (11 m). He also used various types of grenades, including anesthetic, lachrymatory (tear gas), hallucinogenic, and regurgitant gas grenades, smoke grenades, and concussion grenades. The grenades are shaped like spheres or pumpkins. He can fire small grenades from wrist devices. He can also release "ghost-grabbers" which are thick, semi-transparent films which adhere to a victim. Levins rides atop a one-man hovercraft with an electric motor powered by a high density lithium rechargeable battery.

Daniel Berkhart used the same weapons as the previous incarnations of Jack O'Lantern, along with chemical weapons that cause psychedelic and mind-bending

The brother of Levins can transform into a demon with the head of a jack-o'-lantern using the powers of an unknown mystical demon.

The fifth incarnation, along with the same general weapons the previous ones used, has a fleet of tiny flying cartoon-styled devil robots. Instead of a hovercraft, he rides a jet-powered "broomstick".

• In 2021, Screen Rant included the Unknown Jack O'Lantern in their "10 Best Marvel Legacy Villains Who Lived Up To Their Predecessor" list.^[85]

In the MC2 timeline, Maguire Beck is that Spider-Ham character to lure Spider-Man to the Heartland Entertainment building. Once there, Spider-Man met up with Araña, and together they battled robots created by Jack O'Lantern.^{[volume & issue needed]} Years later, Maguire lured Spider-Girl to the same location. After fighting several Jack O'Lanterns, Spider-Girl finished them off and discovered that Maguire was really a robot.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In the Earth-Chaos timeline,