Publisher Marvel Comics Abilities None Fictional universe Marvel Universe | Created by Stan Lee
Steve Ditko Creators Stan Lee, Steve Ditko | |
Partnerships Mysterio
Flint Marko (Spider-Man 3 only) Notable aliases Spike (in the video game based on the film in 2002) First appearance Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) Played by Michael Papajohn, Leif Gantvoort Movies The Amazing Spider‑Man, Spider‑Man, Spider‑Man 3 Similar Robbie Robertson, Ben Parker, Sandman, Betty Brant, Chameleon | ||
The Burglar is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was left unnamed in most of his appearances. He is best known as the first criminal faced by Spider-Man, and as the killer of the hero's uncle and surrogate father figure, Ben Parker. The Burglar first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), making him directly responsible for Ben Parker's death and Spider-Man's turn to superheroics.
Contents
- Publication history
- Fictional character biography
- Ultimate Burglar
- What If
- Chapter One
- Television
- Film
- Video games
- References
The Burglar's name was never revealed in the comics. He was completely unnamed in Amazing Fantasy #15, and it was only in 1996, 15 years after his second and final appearance in the comics, and the introduction of his estranged daughter Jessica, that the possibility arose that he might share her last name of Carradine. However, it remains unconfirmed whether this is the Burglar's surname, as his daughter may be using her mother's maiden name, or that of her adoptive parents. In addition, The burglar happens to have a nephew named Jimmy Costas, in which Jimmy wears hand-me-downs from his uncle, and even said that his "Uncle" may have run into Spider-Man once or twice, which shocked Spider-Man when he found out.
The name Dennis Carradine has been used in a variety of media over the years. His last name also appeared on a list of known cat burglars in Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man series, but not been formally connected to the Burglar character in the Ultimate Marvel continuity. In the first Spider-Man film, the burglar character is referred to only as a Carjacker. In the film Spider-Man 3, he reappears in a flashback scene of Uncle Ben's death. In the Spider-Man video game based on the first film, Dennis Carradine is the leader of a gang called the "Skulls" and calls himself "Spike". He also appears in the reboot of the film franchise The Amazing Spider-Man. The origin story takes inspiration from the Ultimate comics where he robs a convenience store, and the clerk tells Peter to help stop him, but Peter refuses, which results in Uncle Ben's death. He reappears in the non-canonical The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game.
Publication history
The Burglar first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962).
Following the Burglar's first one-off appearance, there have been multiple successors to the Burglar identity. In Marvel Comics Presents #49-50 (May 1990), Spider-Man battles a man who is explicitly described as having the same attire as the burglar who shot his Uncle Ben. At one point the man cryptically states, "I owe [Spider-Man] for what he did to my brother." In Spider-Man #26 (September 1992), Spider-Man encounters another man in the Burglar's attire, minus the pistol. It is heavily implied that this Burglar's maternal uncle was the original Burglar.
Fictional character biography
Little of the Burglar's early history is known, but it is mentioned that even in his younger years he was a criminal. Caught at some point in his life, the Burglar became the cellmate of elderly gangster Dutch Mallone. The Burglar learned from Dutch, who talked in his sleep, about a large possession of money the aged gangster had hidden in a suburban home, which the Burglar planned and schemed to get (ironically, the possession had since been devoured by silverfish).
Wanting to find out the location of the home where Mallone's possession was, the Burglar successfully robs a television station for information. Peter Parker, who has become a minor celebrity as Spider-Man, did not bother to stop him despite having the opportunity to do so. Learning that the house where Mallone's money had been hidden was the Parker house, the Burglar breaks into it searching for the money, killing Ben Parker (Peter's uncle) when he tries to interfere. Fleeing the scene, the Burglar is chased by police to a warehouse where Spider-Man, wanting to avenge the death of his Uncle Ben, attacks and knocks out the Burglar. It is then that Spider-Man realizes that the man is the thief he had encountered earlier at the television station. The Burglar was later left to be captured by the authorities by Spider-Man, who, realizing he could have prevented Ben's death by simple humanitarian behavior in the earlier encounter, decided to use his powers more responsibly, never again ignoring a crime if he could help it.
Years later, the Burglar, having served his time in prison, is released, despite being deemed mentally unstable by psychiatrists. Still searching for Mallone's treasure, the Burglar rents the old Parker home, and after tearing it apart and finding nothing, instead decides to interrogate Ben Parker's widow, May Parker, who now resides in a nursing home. The Burglar partners with the nursing home's owner and head doctor Ludwig Rinehart, who is actually the supervillain Mysterio. The two take May captive and fake her death. The partnership later sours and the two criminals turn on each other, with Rinehart revealing his true nature before beating and imprisoning the Burglar. Escaping Mysterio, the Burglar retreats to the warehouse where he was first captured by Spider-Man—and where he has been holding May Parker captive. Spider-Man soon tracks and confronts the Burglar, to whom he reveals his true identity as Ben Parker's nephew. Believing that Spider-Man is about to kill him as revenge for murdering Ben, the Burglar suffers a fear-induced heart attack and dies.
He had a daughter named Jessica Carradine, a photographer who has a brief relationship with Spider-Man's clone, Ben Reilly. She believes the murder her father committed was an accident—that the gun Ben Parker was shot with was his own, which went off by accident during a fight—and that Spider-Man had murdered him to stop him revealing the truth about his 'innocence'. After learning that Ben Reilly is Spider-Man, she first threatens to expose him with a photograph she took of him unmasked, but, having witnessed Ben risk his life to save innocent people in a burning skyscraper, decides against it, and gives him the photograph, later visiting Ben Parker's grave to apologize for her previous poor perception of him.
Ultimate Burglar
In Ultimate Spider-Man, a reimagining of the Spider-Man mythos, the origin story from Amazing Fantasy #15 is reinterpreted over the course of seven issues. Ben Parker's death at the hands of the Burglar does not occur until Ultimate Spider-Man #4. The name "Carradine" appears on a list of "known cat burglars," but nothing else is said about it; it is unclear whether Carradine is actually the burglar who killed Uncle Ben in this universe or is simply another criminal. Spider-Man has a copy of the Burglar's driver license but the name is always hidden when viewed by the readers. This was done intentionally by the artists.
The man named Carradine is also believed in Ultimate Spider-Man #8 to be a part of the Enforcers, a group working work for the Kingpin.
What If...?
Various alternate versions of the Burglar appear throughout the What If...? comic line, most often in stories dealing with Spider-Man's origin being reimagined.
Chapter One
In this version, the burglar saw Peter leaving his house wearing his costume for the first time and thought that Spider-Man was a fellow burglar after the Parker treasure as well. Confronting him, he offers a partnership with the web-spinner but is instead punched and thrown in jail.
Television
The Burglar has appeared in almost every animated Spider-Man media adaption there is, in which most of the time he is in flashbacks.