Supervillain Origins: The Lizard

Supervillain Origins: The Lizard He was once a gifted surgeon who turned into the cold-blooded nemesis of Spider-man. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we will explore the comic book origins of Dr. Curt Connors, otherwise known as The Lizard. As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1963’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” #6 and was expanded upon in issue #44. Curtis Connors was once a gifted American medical doctor for the U.S. Army who performed battlefield surgery on wounded soldiers. However, this changed when he was involved in an explosion that cost him his arm. Connors returned to civilian life and took up scientific research, but he soon became obsessed with discovering the secret behind reptilian limb regeneration. He worked out of the Florida Everglades, where he developed an experimental serum that he extracted from reptilian DNA. After successfully re-growing the missing limb of a rabbit, Connors decided to ignore his wife’s pleas of caution and tested the solution on himself. While his arm soon reformed, the formula had the unfortunate side effect of transforming him into a human-reptile hybrid. This not only terrified his wife and son, and scared off the locals, but it also suppressed the doctor’s intellect and knowledge. This prevented him from researching a cure. Some time later, Spider-Man read about this bizarre Lizard man in the news. Soon after, he was challenged by the Daily Bugle to confront the menace. Spider-Man then took a trip to Florida to seek out the help of the local reptile-expert named Dr. Curt Connors. Spider-Man was ambushed by the monster and hurled over half a mile away. Spider-Man survived the attack, and stumbled upon Dr. Connors’ home. There, he met Connors’ distraught wife, and she informed the hero of what had happened. Spider-Man used the doctor’s lab and research notes to create a serum that reversed the effects of the mutation. However, The Lizard soon appeared and attacked him, with the intent to use the serum to form a reptile army. The Lizard fled with the serum, but Spider-Man tracked him down and jammed the antidote down his throat. It was ineffective at first, but soon it changed The Lizard back into Dr. Connors. The scientist formed a friendship with Spider-Man, but eventually realized that the cure was unstable and that it caused him to spontaneously re-mutate. This time, The Lizard developed a fully formed personality and the desire to mutate all humans on Earth into creatures like himself. To accomplish his goals, the instinct-driven creature used his sharp teeth and powerful tail, as well as his superhuman strength, agility and speed to fight Spider-Man and pursue his wicked agenda. In fact, The Lizard was a greater foe than Spider-Man could have possibly imagined. Not only was he deadly, but The Lizard also possessed regenerative powers and the ability to control other reptiles with his mind. Despite this advantage, The Lizard occasionally joined forces with other supervillains like the Sinister Twelve to take on the web-slinging defender of New York City. A longtime adversary of Spider-man, The Lizard has appeared in countless comics and cartoon episodes over the years. He even made a cameo as Dr. Connors in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy. In 2012, the iconic character finally emerged as Spidey’s foe in 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man.”