Black Tarantula
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Black Tarantula is the name of a Marvel Comics supervillain. He is the leader of a Brazilian crime syndicate who poses as an immortal.
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[edit] History
The origin of the Black Tarantula is shrouded in mystery and misinformation. There is a legend that the Black Tarantula was an European explorer, who travelled to Japan several centuries ago and was trained by the ninja-clan the Hand. At the end of the training he was awarded with a special potion that gave him superhuman powers and immortality. In reality, the Black Tarantula's immortality has a more earthly origin: the title is inherited from father to son, all posing as the same person (reminiscent of the Phantom). Despite not being truly immortal, the Black Tarantula really does have a multitude of superhuman powers as a result of the potion his ancestor drank.
The current Black Tarantula moved his base of operations from Brasil to New York, claiming that he wanted to expand his operation, but in fact he was looking for his ex-wife Marina, who had fled the country with their son. Marina disliked the changes that Carlos underwent when he took on the mantle of the Black Tarantula and didn't want the same fate for her son. The Black Tarantula came into conflict with the local crimelord the Rose (Jacob Conover). He defeated the Rose's enforcer, Delilah, and healed her afterwards. Delilah felt humiliated and swore to pay him back. The Black Tarantula hired Roughhouse and Bloodscream to his dirty work and he drove back the Rose, establishing control over a large part of New York City. When the Rose went to Don Fortunato, a powerful crime-lord ruling over New York City, for help, the Black Tarantula appeared in person and offered Fortunato an alliance. Fortunato accepted, but the Black Tarantula had to prove his loyalty by defeating Spider-Man and bringing back his mask. Black Tarantula did as he was asked and defeated Spider-Man, but let him live when he found out that Spider-Man was trying to rescue a small child.
Spider-Man would take on the identity of Ricochet to infiltrate the Rose's organisation and find out more about Black Tarantula. During this time he found a photo of his wife Mary Jane Watson and two of her friends. Spider-Man found out that Marina, one of her friends, was in fact the Black Tarantula's ex-wife. Furthermore, Marina had a friend, who was Don Fortunato's cousin. They asked Don Fortunato for protection and the Black Tarantula attacked Don Fortunato's mansion. Inside the mansion, Black Tarantula defeated Fortunato's guard and fought Spider-Man. Black Tarantula defeated Spider-Man again, but lost his wife when she confronted him and pointed out that he was scaring his own son. She reminded him what a burden the Black Tarantula title had been on him and Carlos relented. He left, but told her that he would one day come back to take his son.
Recently in Daredevil #86 (August, 2006), Tarantula was seen in jail. When a riot broke out, Bullseye , also a prisoner, threw cards right in the middle of Tarantula's head. The extent of his injury is not known at this time.
[edit] MC2
In the alternate future MC2, Fabian, the son of the current Black Tarantula has taken up his father's mantle. Though a criminal, this Black Tarantula has a deep sense of honor, and he has helped support Spider-Girl's crime-fighting career. He does have a hidden agenda, however--he hopes to win Spider-Girl over as "his mate." Black Tarantula and Spider-Girl face each other often, and their story is ongoing.
He attempted to negotiate with the Cabal of Scriers (the former lackeys of Norman Osborn) to call off their hit on Spider-Girl, and when this failed, he challenged their leader to mortal combat for leadership of the Cabal. Victorious, he ordered the hit cancelled.
In Amazing Spider-girl #3 it is revealed that after the time jump between the series, the Black Tarantula is the current kingpin of crime and it is implied that he is interested in the mysterious item that Mona Carlo is carrying.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Black Tarantula has superhuman strength and speed. The exact levels are unknown but he was far stronger than Spider-Man. He is superhumanly resistant to injury and can heal himself from most injuries. He can also heal others. He can fire powerful beams of energy from his eyes. According to legend, the (original) Black Tarantula was trained by the Hand. Whether this is true or not, the Black Tarantula is very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
