Lizard (comics)

The Lizard
The Lizard
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #6 (November 1963)
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Curtis "Curt" Connors
Species	Human Mutate
Team affiliations	Sinister Six Sinister Twelve
Abilities	Ferocious hand to hand combatant Superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, reflexes and leaping ability Genius-level intellect Telepathic control over reptiles Regenerative healing factor Hardened scale-like skin Razor-sharp claws and teeth 6-foot-long tail capable of shattering concrete Ability to bring out nearby creatures' primitive reptilian instincts

The Lizard (a.k.a. Curt Connors) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an enemy of Spider-Man. In 2009, the Lizard was named IGN's 62nd Greatest Comic Villain of All Time.^[1]

In the stories, Dr. Connors was a genetic biologist who researched the ability of certain reptiles to regrow missing limbs, partially to find a way to regenerate his right arm. After a test on himself, he transforms into a violent lizard monster. Though able to revert to his human form, he suffers occasional fits of his alter ego breaking free.

Curt Connors was played by Dylan Baker in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. Rhys Ifans played Dr. Curtis Connors and his Lizard alter ego as the main antagonist in the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man.

Publication history

The Lizard first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #6 (November 1963), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.^[2]

Fictional character biography

Origin

Curtis "Curt" Connors was born in Coral Gables, Florida. He was a gifted surgeon who enlisted in the U.S. Army. He performed emergency battlefield surgery on wounded GIs. However his right arm was terribly injured in a wartime blast, resulting in its amputation.^[3][4]

After his return to civilian life as a research technologist, Connors became obsessed with uncovering the secrets of reptilian limb regeneration. Working from his home in the Florida Everglades with the help of war buddy Ted Sallis, he finally developed an experimental serum taken from reptilian DNA.^[4] The serum successfully regrew the missing limb of a rabbit, so then Connors chose to test the serum on himself. He ingested the formula and his missing arm did indeed grow back.

However, the formula had a side effect. Connors was subsequently transformed into a reptilian humanoid monster. Spider-Man discovered this situation during a trip to Florida to investigate newspaper reports of the Lizard after his employer the Daily Bugle challenged him. After discovering the Lizard's true identity and origin, Spider-Man used Connors' notes to create an antidote to restore him to his human form and mentality.^[3] Another attempt to develop this serum for safe use again resulted in Connors transforming into the Lizard, but on this occasion he was saved thanks to his former colleague Professor Charles Xavier and his first team of X-Men, Beast and Angel tracking the Lizard down in the swamps so that Iceman could send him into hibernation long enough to develop a cure.^[5]

Life in New York

Later, Curt Connors relocated to New York City. He was able to repay Spider-Man by developing a formula to save May Parker's life after Peter Parker had given his aunt his radioactive blood during a transfusion, unintentionally putting her in mortal peril.^[6] It later became clear that the success of Connors' apparent cure from the Lizard persona was short-lived. A repeating pattern occurred, with stress or a chemical reaction turning Connors into the Lizard, Spider-Man fighting him, and then forming some kind of temporary cure to reverse the transformation until the next time. A second personality had formed with the Lizard, one with the familiar goal shared by many villains of taking over the world. The Lizard envisioned a world where all humans had been transformed into (or replaced by) super-reptiles like himself. Despite the Lizard's overall hatred of humans, he was often shown to be unwilling to harm his wife Martha or young son Billy.

As Connors, he aided Spider-Man in defeating the Rhino by developing a formula to dissolve the Rhino's bullet-proof hide, but accidentally transformed himself into the Lizard due to exposure to the chemicals needed to create the formula and was restored by Spider-Man.^[7] Connors was later kidnapped and forced to create a rejuvenation serum for Silvermane.^[8] However, the stress from this caused Connors to transform, the Lizard battled Spider-Man and the Human Torch, and was then restored to normal once again by Spider-Man.^[9]

During another encounter with Spider-Man after Peter's attempts to remove his powers resulted in him growing four extra arms, a bite from Morbius endowed the Lizard with Connors' personality via the infection of a strange enzyme. Connors then synthesized an antidote for himself and Spider-Man using the Morbius enzyme.^[10] Curt Connors later aided Spider-Man, Ka-Zar, and the Black Panther against Stegron.^[11] After the apparent death of the Jackal, Dr. Connors determined that Spider-Man was not a clone.^[12] Later, the Lizard battled with Stegron and Spider-Man after Stegron kidnapped Billy Connors.^[13] For a time, Peter Parker worked as a teaching assistant to Dr. Connors at Empire State University, although Connors had no idea that Peter was actually Spider-Man.^[14][15]

During the first of the Secret Wars, the Lizard refused to participate on either side of the conflict. Although he was collected by the Beyonder along with other villains, he broke away from the main group after the first battle to settle in a swamp, where he befriended the Wasp, who had helped him treat an injury he sustained in the first battle. After the Lizard was blasted by the magic of the Enchantress, he reverted to human form.^[16] After Connors' return from this event, his wife took their son Billy and separated from Curt. The Lizard had apparently been affected by inter-dimensional teleportation so that Connors' mind presided over the Lizard, and battled the Owl alongside Spider-Man.^[17] However, mystical activity during the Inferno crisis once again brought the Lizard's bestial nature to the fore, and Spider-Man cured him again.^[18]

The 1990s through 2007 Civil War

Connors then tried to straighten out his life and control the Lizard, with some degree of success. This ended when the villain Calypso used her voodoo magic to take control of the Lizard (during the Torment storyline) for her own purposes, reducing him to a mindless savage state. After a series of bloody battles, the Lizard and Calypso were defeated by Spider-Man, and Spider-Man assumed that he perished under Calypso's spell.^[19] Connors once again gained control of the Lizard's mind and body, although it was very weak. Curt carried out a plan to cure himself temporarily,^[20] after which he voluntarily submitted to incarceration in the supervillain prison, the Vault.^[21] When Calypso forced the transformation and attempted to control the Lizard once again, the creature killed her and escaped from the Vault. After this escape, the Lizard fell into a quicksand pit during a battle with Spider-Man and the bounty hunter Warrant and was believed to have died.^[22]

Shortly after Connors' apparent death in quicksand during the Lizard's battle with Spider-Man and Warrant, a huge bestial Lizard appeared,^[23] shortly after Connors was called in to investigate Peter Parker's sudden sickness (the result of Peter's recently lost spider-powers returning). Spider-Man (Ben Reilly) realized that not only had the Lizard survived, but revealed later his new monstrous transformation seemed to be permanent and the personality of Curt Connors appeared completely lost. However when this savage mindless Lizard later unexpectedly encountered Dr. Connors himself while Connors was helping Peter, Curt became the true Lizard once again and saved his family by killing the "Lizard-clone". It was revealed that the Lizard-clone was a scientific accident resulting from an experimental formula being tested on a piece of the original Lizard's tail, which had then grown into a fully formed second creature.^[24]

Although reunited after Curt's apparent death, Martha and Billy were diagnosed with cancer after being exposed to carcinogens from living near an industrial lab in Florida. Spider-Man assisted Curt in successfully forcing Monnano, the lab's owner, to admit culpability, but Martha died from her cancer.^[25] Billy recovered but remained bitter towards his father. Curt's guilt and internalized anger led him to become the Lizard once again, and once human, Curt attempted a bank robbery so he would be sent to prison.^[26] After a short lived term, Connors was released and changed into the Lizard once more, this time due to a scheme by Norman Osborn to form the Sinister Twelve to kill Spider-Man. The Sinister Twelve were defeated and captured by the combined forces of Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.^[27]

The Lizard resurfaced to face Spider-Man with the aid of Billy Connors, who was changed into an adolescent Lizard by his father.^[28] Both the Lizard and his son were captured and reverted. Billy's transformational ability has been ignored since. A new Sinister Six team, including new member Lizard, appeared during the superhero Civil War, but it was stopped by Captain America and his Secret Avengers.^[29]

Post-Civil War, Curt Connors aided Spider-Man in developing a cure for the victims of Mister Hyde who were mutated with unstable versions of Spider-Man's powers.^[30] Dr. Connors has also monitored the progress of the hero Komodo, a female grad student who stole a sample of Connors' Lizard formula. She modified the formula for her own DNA to grow back her missing legs and to give herself reptilian powers.^[31]

Brand New Day (2008) and beyond

Doctor Curt Connors appeared in the 2008 Brand New Day storyline, where he experimented with animal stem cells as well as aiding forensic specialist Carlie Cooper. New villain Freak (the third version) mistook Connors' stem cells experiment for drugs. Connors helped Spider-Man defeat Freak during their second encounter.^[32]

During the events of The Gauntlet, Doctor Curt Connors is working for the pharmaceutical company Phelcorp under executive Brian King. Connors has lost custody of his son, Billy. The lizard persona tries to goad Connors to give it control, and he relents when his assistant sleeps with King. When he changes, the Lizard devours King.^[33] Peter Parker decides to protect Billy and swings to his foster parents' home, where he finds that Billy was kidnapped and his new parents held hostage by Ana Kravinoff. Ana has left Billy in an ally, where the Lizard eats him and destroys the Connors persona temporarily.^[34] The devouring of Billy causes the Lizard to gain a new form, sporting a leaner physique, long brown hair, spikes on its right forearm, human intelligence and the telepathic ability to communicate with the underdeveloped "lizard part" of human brains; he demonstrates the latter ability by hypnotizing Spider-Man into thinking he has prey to stalk, causing the superhero to leave. Operating from the sewers, the Lizard hypnotizes several people into taking what they want.^[35] Away from the Lizard, Spider-Man ingests Connors' lizard suppressant formula, which makes Spider-Man immune to the Lizard's mind controlling powers. Spider-Man then combats the Lizard and injects him with some of the formula and reveals he regrets what he has done: Connors' psyche is still in the Lizard's body. The Lizard disappears after the fight.^[36]

During the Origin of the Species, the Lizard joins Doctor Octopus's supervillain team^[37] and steals Menace's baby.^[38] As Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man fight within the Lizard's hideout, the Lizard at first attacks Spider-Man, but then gladly returns the baby. He reveals that he already took a blood sample from the baby and found out that Norman Osborn is not the father; therefore, the baby is useless to him and all the villains. Doctor Octopus, angry about the Lizard's hypnotism obstructing his intellect, attacks him while Spider-Man escapes with the baby. Both Doctor Octopus and the Lizard would survive this fight.^[39]

A short time later, while investigating kidnappings in New York, the X-Men find themselves working with Spider-Man after they discover that the abductor is the Lizard, who has been turning the victims into lizard people while maintaining his control over the city's reptile population.^[40] The X-Men and Spider-Man discover that Lizard is being used by the Dark Beast, who has given the Lizard his 'reptilian shift' abilities by using a machine.^[41] During the battle, Lizard shifts Gambit, Storm, and Wolverine into lizard people, Emma Frost and Spider-Man escape the machine's effects and release the Lizard and use him to defeat Dark Beast, who is arrested while Lizard escapes.^[42]

Sometime later, Doctor Morbius discovers the Lizard^[43] and used DNA samples from Billy Connors' corpse to restore Curt Connors to humanity. Unfortunately, the lizard's psyche is still present^[44] and is pretending to be Connors so that he will be left alone. Lizard/Connors releases blood into the air supply to provoke Morbius into attacking other lab workers. Lizard/Connors then tries to recreate his original Lizard formula so he can change again, but Morbius' cure instead only allows him to regrow his missing arm. Lizard/Connors then injects other lab personnel with his formula to discover how to "cure" himself.^[45] Attempting to appear to be the "normal" Connors, Lizard/Connors cuts off his regrown limb, but the Lizard begins to appreciate human life, to the point that when he finds the correct Lizard serum, he contemplates remaining human,^[46] but he takes the cure when Spider-Man arrives and threatens him with custody. This results in yet another streamlined, new form. A new cure is developed for the lab employees he changed, but this formula fails on Lizard's new form; he is instead knocked out and taken to the Raft. Visiting him in the Raft, Spider-Man is unaware that the serum restored Connors' psyche, and Connors remains in prison willingly as he feels he deserves it for his actions as the Lizard.^[47]

Peter Parker (whose mind was trapped within Doctor Octopus' dying body) is freed from the Raft by Trapster, Hydro-Man, and Scorpion. Trapster offers to free the Lizard, but Connors declines.^[48] When Morbius the Living Vampire manages to escape his cell, the Lizard points out that he still has nowhere to go. For unknown reasons, Morbius then frees the Lizard.^[48]

The Lizard is seen back in his cell, being one of the few inmates left to be transported out of the decommissioned Raft.^[49] When Alistair Smythe attempts an escape from the Raft, he temporarily shuts down the Raft's power, letting the Lizard out of his cell.^[50] The Lizard protects J. Jonah Jameson from Scorpion, revealing that he has the mind of Curt Conners, and that he "will never let the monsters win again." Jameson defends the Lizard from the raft's warden, calling him a hero, and protesting the use of a restraining device, though the Lizard himself prefers to be cautious. During Smythe's final escape attempt, the Lizard is impaled through the shoulder, but survives.^[51]

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Lizard is shown at the Andry Corrections Facility. He is escorted to the visitor's room and his restraints are removed. After the guards leave the visitor's room, Lizard meets the mysterious Red-Suited Man (the same man who met with Rhino) where he claims to have met Curt Connors before. Lizard detects familiar scents accompanying the man, scents that can not be there, and warns him not to toy with the Lizard. The Red-Suited Man replies that he is not the Lizard, inside he is Curt Connors, a model prisoner who saved Mayor J. Jonah Jameson and various civilians before, and is trapped in a monster's body. Lizard lashes out at him, demanding to know how can the people he is smelling be there. The man says that Lizard has abilities he can use and if he escapes and joins him, he can give him anything. He snaps his fingers and Martha Connors and Billy Connors step forward where they are somehow alive. The Red-Suited Man asks if they have a deal. The Lizard tearfully accepts his deal.^[52]

Powers and abilities

Doctor Curtis Connors gave himself superhuman powers as a result of exposure to mutagenic chemicals, allowing him to transform into the Lizard. In human form, he has none of his superhuman powers, but he is highly intelligent and a well known scientist in fields of genetics, physics, biochemistry, and herpetology.

When Connors is transformed into the Lizard, his strength is increased to superhuman levels. Likewise, his speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes are also raised to a level equivalent to that of Spider-Man. He can also scale walls using a combination of his sharp claws and micro-scales on his hands and feet that create molecular friction like those of a gecko lizard. He is highly resistant to injury due to his thick scaly hide, allowing him to resist punctures and lacerations from ordinary weapons and lower-caliber firearms. In addition, the Lizard has highly enhanced healing abilities which allow him to quickly recover from grievous wounds, including regenerating lost limbs. He also has a powerful tail which he can whip at high speeds. The Lizard has razor-sharp teeth set in muscular jaws that can deal a lethal bite. (The latter is established in the Lizard's later appearances; in his earlier appearances he seems to have no teeth at all.) Like a reptile, he has cold-blooded characteristics and is therefore sensitive to drops in temperature; a sufficiently cold environment will cause his metabolism to slow drastically and become dormant if he is exposed to cold temperatures for too long.^[53]

The Lizard can mentally communicate and command all reptiles within a mile of himself via limited telepathy. He has also on at least one occasion secreted powerful pheromones which caused nearby humans to behave violently. Post-Brand New Day, a further enhancement of his telepathy granted him the power of telepathically compelling humans to act out their primal urges, by suppressing emotional control in their amygdala (the "lizard brain").

Based on various physiological and environmental factors, the Lizard's intelligence can range from bestial and animalistic to normal human intelligence. The Lizard personality has most often manifested with human intelligence, capable of speech and higher reasoning, although some versions have been more feral than others. During the Secret Wars in particular, he appeared less ruthless than his normal portrayal, showing concern for Volcana^[54] and the Wasp^[55] after they showed him kindness despite his usual disdain for humans. However, even when operating at the level of a human, the Lizard is rarely as intelligent as Dr. Connors, showing on many occasions an inability to understand his human-self's work and use it to further his own ends despite his best efforts.^[53]

The Lizard has apparently "destroyed" the Curt Connors persona, but has subsequently begun to display some of Connors's human emotions. In contrast to his previously feral nature, he has also shown sufficient intellectual capabilities to understand Connors' work and use it for himself, although he is still hampered by his inability to fully comprehend human emotions.

Continuity

In a 2004 story arc entitled Lizard's Tale, written by Paul Jenkins in the Spectacular Spider-Man comic book, it was revealed that the Lizard persona was not a separate personality from Dr. Connors after all - Curt had been consciously controlling his reptilian alter ego all along. Furthermore, Connors was shown to know that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, despite the discovery of the secret identity never being explained or depicted. The story ended with Dr. Connors deliberately getting himself sent to prison and hoping the Lizard wouldn't be unleashed again. The Lizard's next appearance after this was as a member of the Sinister Twelve, where he showed no indication of being controlled by the mind of Dr. Connors. Although the idea of Connors controlling the Lizard was subsequently ignored, when the Lizard's mind was briefly trapped in Connors' human form, he attempted to mutate the staff of Horizon Labs into lizard-creatures like himself, with none of the other lizards demonstrating the same hostility to humans as the Lizard, prompting Spider-Man to speculate that the Lizard's anti-human traits came from Connors' anger at the world for his lost arm and family rather than the Lizard being completely separate from Connors.^[47]

Another continuity-related issue involves Connors' son Billy. Unlike many other Marvel Comics children, he had not appreciably grown up since the comics' stories of the 1960s. Billy's visible age also seemed to waver back and forth between approximately eight and thirteen years old, depending on the particular comic artist drawing the character.

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

The one comic storyline to date featuring the Ultimate Marvel universe version of Lizard appeared in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #10. The character has appeared in a few subsequent issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, but only in flashbacks and dream sequences. Lizard appears to be based on a basilisk lizard in design and has been presented as being less intelligent than the original Marvel iteration.^[56] Dr. Curt Connors is a noted geneticist who lost his right arm under unrevealed circumstances. He dedicated himself to finding a means of restoring lost limbs studying the regenerative capabilities of reptiles. However, after five years without major breakthroughs, his sponsors were on the verge of cutting his funding. Drowning his disappointment with alcohol, a drunken Conners injected himself with an experimental serum in a desperate attempt to achieve results. The serum regenerated his right arm, but also transformed Connors into an inhuman reptilian creature. Seeking refuge in the sewers, he became an urban legend dubbed "The Lizard" by the press. A sympathetic Spider-Man sought out Lizard who attacked the young hero until Man-Thing happened upon the scene and restored Conners to human form. Conners' restored right arm soon withered and died. However, his DNA remained irreparably damaged with dormant potential for further transformation. Connors cut himself off from his wife and son out of fear for their safety.^[57]

Dr. Connors also unintentionally created the Ultimate version of Carnage using DNA from Spider-Man and based on an analysis of his old friend Richard Parker's work on the Venom suit.^[58] Due to the ensuing chaos, he was arrested and Stark Industries canceled their financial support of his experiments, but his assistant Ben Reilly still had one sample of Spider-Man's DNA, setting the stage for the Ultimate Clone Saga.^[59] He was last seen in Ultimate Spider-Man #127, where Dr. Connors was pardoned and recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. where he and Tony Stark when the Triskellion was blown apart by the Norman Osborn during an escape.^[60]

Early details of the character's history match his 616 counterpart, with him studying reptiles to fix his arm (the cause of this has yet to be revealed), and the condition of him leaving his wife and son (Doris and Timmy^[61]) out of fear, thereby turning to alcoholism.^[56]

Howard the Human

In this Secret Wars Warzone where everyone is an animal except Howard, Curt Connors is a tough, anthropomorphic lizard who is a bartender at a place Howard frequently visits.

Exiles

The reality-hopping heroic team, the Exiles, once found themselves on an alternate earth where Connors' experiment (in this world for a left arm rather than a right) had taken a different turn. Finding himself as the Lizard, Curt felt the need to "reproduce" by immediately injecting the Lizard-formula into other people. He infected his family and they infected others, all feeling the urge to spread the transformation into Lizard-men. The forces of this particular world eventually managed to restrain the infected reptile-people behind miles-long, man-made walls. When the Exiles visited this world, they discovered that Connors - having turned back into his human form a year ago - was intending to detonate a nuclear bomb in an abandoned submarine to wipe out the lizard race, but they were able to talk him down by arguing that the radioactive fallout would cause more damage, particularly since the lizards were now mere herbivores (albeit partly because of the absence of other kinds of meat). Grief-stricken over what had become of his life, Connors subsequently killed himself.^[62]

Marvel 1602

In this reality, Curtis Connors is a philosopher who was infected with the bubonic plague. He created an elixir that transformed him into a reptilian creature that resembled a Velociraptor, but retained his mind. He worked with Baron Victor Octavius to capture the Spider.^[63]

Marvel Noir

In the Marvel Noir reality, Curt Connors is an assistant to Dr. Otto Octavius.^[64] They operated in an abandoned hospital building on Ellis Island, where they secretly used kidnapped African-Americans as specimen subjects in turning them into mindless slaves. It is unknown what happened to Connors after federal authorities raided the hospital, though he was presumably arrested among Octavius' affiliates.^[65]

Marvel Zombies

In Marvel Zombies, the Lizard, like almost every other hero and villain, has become a zombie. This particular incarnation of the Lizard is apparently destroyed when he is blasted apart by several cosmic-powered heroes while fighting (and eating) Galactus.^[66]

MC2

The Connors Family appear in the first story of the Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man series, set in the MC2 universe. Mary Jane comforts a distraught Martha when Curt goes missing again, whilst Peter, now a parent to his infant daughter May ("Mayday"), is more hesitant than before to become Spider-Man. He is eventually encouraged by his wife to track down and prevent the Lizard's latest rampage.^[67]

Spider-Gwen

On Earth-65 where Gwen Stacy became Spider-Woman after being bitten by the spider,^[68] Peter Parker attempts to exact revenge on those who bullied him, becoming this universe's version of the Lizard. Gwen subdues him, but Peter ended up dying towards the end of the battle due to his use of the chemicals that transformed him. Spider-Woman is blamed for his death, causing an uproar for her arrest, led by J. Jonah Jameson, with Peter essentially becoming Gwen's Uncle Ben, serving as inspiration of the need to use her powers to help others.^[69]

It is later revealed that Curt Connors was a teacher at Gwen's high school and was studying Lizard genetics, possibly being involved in Peter's transformation into the Lizard and the recent sightings of multiple Lizard-people wreaking havoc on the city.

Marvel Age

Lizard's history is the same in this reality. Spider-Man went to Florida to investigate the "Lizard Man" sightings. Spider-Man meets Martha Connors and learns that Lizard is her husband Dr. Curt Connors. After making an antidote, Spider-Man ensnares Lizard and uses the antidote to restore him to Curt Connors. Peter Parker later told J. Jonah Jameson that the "Lizard Man" was a hoax.^[70]

In other media

Television

• Lizard appears in the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon series, voiced by Gillie Fenwick. This version is referred to as Dr. Curt Conner. Depicted as having both of his arms in "Where Crawls the Lizard", his serum is intended to cure 'swamp fever'. Conner later appears in the episode "Fountain of Terror" where he finds the Fountain of Youth and ends up held prisoner by someone that looks like Juan Ponce de León before Spider-Man appears and the Fountain of Youth is accidentally destroyed. Spider-Man manages to rescue him after defeating Harley Clivendon. In the episode "Conner's Reptiles", Lizard appears again. This time, it's not Conner but one of his experimental alligators with increased intelligence that abducted him. The episode uses footage from "Where Crawls the Lizard", just changing the order of scenes and the voices.

• Lizard appears in the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon series, voiced by Corey Burton. This version is presented as a monster villain with no alter-ego. In the episode "Lizards, "Lizards", "Everywhere", he ends up springing every reptile from the zoo in order to make Manhattan a reptile paradise. Lizard is defeated by Spider-Man, leaving him webbed up in an empty zoo cage.

• Curt Connors / Lizard appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Joseph Campanella. This version was portrayed as possessing a genius-level intellect but also having the savage mindset from the comics. In his first appearance in the episode "Night of the Lizard", Dr. Curt Connors transforms into the Lizard after using himself as a test subject with lizard DNA to regenerate his right arm. He then abducts his wife Margaret Connors and carried Margaret into the sewers in order to help complete his plan to turn New York into lizards, but he was defeated by Spider-Man and returned to his human form. Curt had many other appearances throughout this series as a supporting character. In the episodes "Tablet of Time" and "The Ravages of Time", Connors turned into Lizard again during the point when Silvermane obtained the Tablet of Time. In the episode "The Final Nightmare", Connors objected to Farley Stillwell's destruction on the database, as he needs it for a cure at the time when Spider-Man was fighting the Scorpion and the Vulture. When Stillwell asks what cure, Connors turns into Lizard and attacks Farley only to be knocked down by Spider-Man. In the episode "The Lizard King", some of Connors's chemicals mutated some sewer lizards into humanoid lizards that plot to abduct Connors. When Connors turns again, they make Lizard their king, causing Margaret and Mary-Jane Watson to turn to Debra Whitman to help create a cure. Mutated Lizard Gila didn't want to go by the Lizard Men's goals anymore and was able to set off the device, restoring Lizard and the Lizard Men to their true forms. In the three-part episode "Secret Wars", Beyonder abducted Lizard as one of the villains to be placed on a peaceful alien planet. When Spider-Man assembled the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man and Storm, Lizard attacked the base and was repelled only for the Lizard to be attacked by the local giant sandworms. When Lizard was rendered unconscious by the attack and the base was repowered by Storm's lightning, Iron Man and Mister Fantastic managed to use a machine to activate the dormant part of Lizard's mind, enabling his human part of the mind to be awakened.

• Curt Connors / Lizard appeared in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, voiced by rock musician/filmmaker Rob Zombie. This version is more serious and colder than other versions, and lost his right arm as a result from a testing accident due to an Oscorp Industries weapon called the Wide Area Explosive Fragmentation Round (aka WAFER). Lizard's physical appearance in this series was much more animalistic and saurian than the comic book version. In the episode "Law of the Jungle", Dr. Curt Connors is still bitter over his right arm's lost. When he transforms, Lizard becomes aggressive and feral but maintains his ability to talk, at least when his serum is lowered. He goes after Harry Osborn out of proxy-revenge. During a battle with Spider-Man, Lizard's arm is again cut off. At one point, Spider-Man dangles Lizard from a web while attached to a helicopter. Spider-Man tries to reason with him but Lizard strikes out, cutting the web and causing the reptilian menace to fall to his apparent death.

• Curt Connors / Lizard appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, with Dee Bradley Baker reprising the role from the video games Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro.This version was portrayed as possessing a genius-level intellect but also having the savage mindset from the comics but One key difference from usual media is that Dr. Curt Connors has a fully functioning, mechanical prosthetic arm. Curtis Connors lost his arm while working as a surgeon in the United States Army. He became so desperate on regrowing his arm, that he tested his reptile potion on himself. He later found work as a brilliant biologist at Empire State University, studying reptiles and cell regeneration. Connors' experiments with lizard DNA proved more than he could handle. The serum regrew his arm but also turned him into a giant green lizard-like creature. Spider-Man, Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy, and Connors' wife Martha Connors developed a formula that would turn him back. It worked, though Spider-Man took a picture of himself fighting Lizard. They decided to keep his transformation a secret. Peter Parker then sold that picture to The Daily Bugle. However, Martha felt she could not trust that Peter wouldn't reveal the secret if he would sell photos and ended his internship, but Peter was eventually rehired. Eventually, Curt and Martha decided to move to Florida.

• Curt Connors / Lizard appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man television series, voiced by Tom Kenny (in the first season's first half) and reprised by Dee Bradley Baker (for subsequent episodes). This version of Dr. Curt Connors is a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist and is introduced with both of his arms. In the first finale "Rise of the Goblin", Connors is successfully evacuated when the Green Goblin attacks and sends the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier crashing into the sea. However, his right arm is severely damaged and has to be amputated. In the second premiere "The Lizard", Spider-Man and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees (Power Man, Iron Fist, Nova and White Tiger) investigate Doctor Octopus's hideout and find a case containing several vials of formula made from DNA of different animals (examples being lizard DNA, rhinoceros DNA, scorpion DNA and vulture DNA). Fascinated by their potential medical benefits, Connors injects himself with the lizard DNA in order to save Spider-Man from an Octobot. The first dose restores his right arm albeit covered in green scales but later doses eventually turn him into Lizard. As he gets less intelligent and more aggressive, Lizard goes in search of Doctor Octopus for more formula with Spider-Man following him. After fighting both Doc Ock and Lizard, Spider-Man uses the technology in Doc Ock's lab to make an antidote which successfully makes him human again. In the episode "The Sinister Six", Doctor Octopus abducts and forcefully turns Connors then controls Lizard with a device planted on the back of his neck to be a member of the Sinister Six along with Electro, Kraven the Hunter, the Rhino and the Beetle. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees defeat the Sinister Six, Lizard evades capture after breaking free from the device and escapes into the sewers. In the episode "Stan By Me", Lizard steals equipment from Midtown High School and abducts Phil Coulson, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn. Spider-Man ventures into an abandoned subway tunnel to rescue them with Stan the Janitor's help. The machine that Lizard built enabled him to keep his human side dormant. Lizard succeeds in rendering his human side dormant and escapes after being repelled by Spider-Man and Stan the Janitor. In the second finale "Return of the Sinister Six" and "Ultimate", the character has a central role. In the first part, Lizard sports an armored outfit thanks to Doctor Octopus using stolen OsCorp technology. In the sewers, Lizard fights Spider-Man then the Iron Patriot. Lizard ends up fleeing while Spider-Man and Iron Patriot prevent the ceiling from coming down and also discover an antidote recipe that Lizard must've wrote. On Ryker's Island, Lizard later accompanies Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Rhino and the Scorpion as an armored Sinister Six that attacks Spider-Man. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees arrive and Iron Patriot, Spider-Man fights Lizard within Ryker's Island and tries to get through to him. Eventually, Spider-Man successfully restores Connors then he thanks Spider-Man for restoring him to normal. In the second part, Connors supplies Spider-Man with an antidote for Green Goblin. After Spider-Man restores the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees with Conners's antidote and then defeats Green Goblin, Connors determines that it'll take some time to revert Green Goblin back to normal.

Films

• Curt Connors appears in the 2002–2007 Spider-Man film trilogy. Dr. Connors was mentioned briefly in the film Spider-Man (2002) as Peter Parker's laboratory supervisor who fired him for being late. Connors appeared in the sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007) played by actor Dylan Baker. Dr. Connors did not become the Lizard in this franchise. In the films, he is missing his right arm as in the comic book. In Spider-Man 2, Connors is depicted as a Columbia University physics professor concerned for Peter's well-being and academic performance in his quantum mechanics course. Peter is seen studying with several textbooks for this course, two of which can be made out as quantum mechanics and photonics books. Curt's friend, Doctor Otto Octavius, recalls Peter's name and tells Peter that Connors considers him "brilliant, but lazy". Otto chuckles about his friend's assumption regarding Peter's laziness once he finds out Peter is also Spider-Man. In Spider-Man 3, Peter turns to Connors to analyze the substance of the Venom symbiote and Connors informs him that it makes one more aggressive and that it has a particular liking for him. At one point during this scene, Connors says, "I'm a physicist, not a biologist." which contradicts the origins of Connors' lizard-related research from the comic books. In 2008, Raimi expressed interest in portraying Connor's transformation into his villainous Lizard alter-ego; Baker and producer Grant Curtis were also enthusiastic about the idea.^[71][72][73] As disagreements between Sony and Raimi threatened to push the film off the intended May 6, 2011 release date, Sony Pictures announced in January 2010 that plans for Spider-Man 4 had been cancelled due to Raimi's withdrawal from the project being rebooted in The Amazing Spider-Man.

• The Lizard appears in The Amazing Spider-Man, played by Rhys Ifans.^[74] In this version, Dr. Curt Connors is a biologist for Oscorp and a partner of Richard Parker where they worked on combining desirable physical attributes of animals with humans to improve health, including restoring his own amputated right arm. Peter Parker (Richard's son) starts a friendship with him after Peter finds his father's notes that contain a critical equation to make a critical breakthrough. When Dr. Rajit Ratha, a representative of Norman Osborn, fires Connors after he refuses to rush into human trials, Connors experiments on himself and finds he has regenerated his arm. Learning that Dr. Ratha is on his way to the VA hospital, Connors goes to intercept him but it quickly becomes apparent that his "cure" is doing more than was intended as his skin grows scaly and claws sprout from his fingers. By the time he gets to the traffic-jammed Williamsburg Bridge, Connors has transformed into a superhumanly strong humanoid lizard where he tossed some cars (including Dr. Ratha's car) over the side. Spider-Man saves each fallen car with the biocable "web" that he fires from devices he built on his wrists. Lizard escapes into the sewers and transforms back into Connors, but it's clear that the chemicals have affected his mind, creating an obsession with his new abilities and seeing it as "perfection." He continues to further experiment on himself in a makeshift lab. Spider-Man confronts the Lizard in the sewers, barely escaping alive, and the Lizard learns Spider-Man's real identity and attacks him at school, though the Lizard was forced to escape after the police arrive. The Lizard then develops a plan to make all humans lizard-like, starting with the release of a chemical cloud from Oscorp's tower. The police hunt both Spider-Man and the Lizard. Spider-Man eventually disperses an antidote cloud restoring Connors and his victims to normal, but not before Lizard mortally wounds Captain George Stacy. With the chemicals now cleared, Connors, having regained his sanity, then proceeds to save Spider-Man from falling from a building using what's left of his quickly dissipating lizard strength. Afterwards, he surrenders to the authorities and is arrested for his crimes. In a scene during the end credits, Connors is now placed in Beloit Psychiatric Hospital and speaks with a mysterious man who asks if Connors told Peter the truth about his father. Connors replies that he did not, but upon caring for him, Connors demands the man leaves Peter alone. It is also hinted that he may still have some form of the serum in his system.

Video games

• Lizard's first video game appearance was in the 1984 Spider-Man Questprobe game, where still graphics were added to an all-text adventure.

• Lizard appeared in the 1991 Sega Spider-Man beat-em-up arcade game.

• In The Amazing Spider-Man for the Game Boy, Lizard pops out of the sewer to attack Spider-Man. He reappears in the sequel.

• In The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin, Lizard appears as a boss.

• In the SNES and Sega Genesis video game Spider-Man Animated Series, Lizard is a boss of the sewers in every stage in the game (except the Brooklyn Bridge and Ravencroft Prison). He is optional and can be avoided to escape the sewers. When he is defeated, he transforms back into Dr. Connors, but an attack on Connors in the SNES version will cause him to change and become more powerful. In the Genesis version he will change back automatically after a short time, however he does not become invincible or stronger. He is also a mini boss in the final level of the SNES version where he can't be attacked after turning into Connors.

• Lizard was a boss in the Japanese only Super Nintendo game Spider-Man: Lethal Foes.

• Lizard appeared in the first Spider-Man 3-D environment video game by Neversoft, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Lizard has a small role in the game, trapped behind a cage in the NYC sewers. Lizard reveals that Venom had taken control over a group of lizardmen that he created and imprisoned him. Here, Lizard is the only villain not fought against.

• Curt Connors/Lizard appears in the sequel to the 3-D Neversoft game Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, again voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. Curt Connors was seen in the beginning of the game when Electro breaks into ESU to locate a device to amplify his powers: the Bio-Nexus Device. He shocks Connors and steals the device. Later on, Spider-Man tries to call Connors on the phone but to no avail. Lizard is a boss character. Resembling a Velociraptor, the mindless Lizard rampages around his lab and must be defeated again by injecting him with a cure.

• Dr. Curt Connors made a minor appearance in Spider-Man 2 console game, voiced by Joe Alaskey. Originally, Lizard was supposed to have been included in this particular video game and was even prominently featured in some promotional materials before being suddenly removed. However, there are some hints that the Lizard was still going to be in the game, such as the use of green (his alter ego's color) in his lab, Doctor Octopus breaking Dr. Connors arm, the reptile-like creatures that appear in the Fight Area, the hex editor containing a skin named Lizard. Lizard did appear as a level boss in the game's Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions.

• Lizard makes an appearance in the 2006 RPG video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He is seen as a member of Doctor Doom's Masters of Evil. In the game, he appears alongside the Scorpion guarding a just-defeated Tyr. He and Scorpion have special dialogue with Spider-Man. A simulation disk has the heroes fighting Lizard, and notes the connection to Connors, but Lizard casually ignores the mention of his alter ego's name and attacks anyway.

• Lizard is a major character in the Spider-Man 3 video game, voiced by Nathan Carlson. In the game, he is created when Dr. Connors injects himself with an experimental serum to re-grow his lost arm. Like in the comics, the Lizard's goal seems to be to replace humanity with a race of reptiles. Kraven the Hunter believes that the Lizard would be a worthy trophy, but when he is about to slay him, Spider-Man in his black suit stops him. The Lizard tries to escape while Spider-Man and Kraven battle, but Calypso - who has provided Kraven with various potions to enhance his strength - drugs the Lizard in an attempt to make him more worthy prey, causing him to transform into a massive "Mega-Lizard" (in the Wii and PS2 versions, Conners becomes the mega-lizard by injecting himself with a larger amount of his serum after being mortally wounded by Kraven). After Kraven is defeated and trapped, Spider-Man manages to defeat the giant Lizard and he transforms back into Connors. Spider-Man would later ask Connors to analyze the black suit in return for him saving Connors' life. He and Spider-Man also retrieve a confused Dr. Michael Morbius and search for a cure for his vampiric condition and his wife Francis Barrison. In the game's PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, Connors and Spider-Man collaborate to disperse a gaseous antidote that will turn those people Connors mutated into lizards back into their human selves, as Connors's will help Spider-Man with his analysis on his black suit.

• Lizard appears as a playable ally in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by Roger L. Jackson. Spider-Man encounters him at an oasis in Egypt as the Lizard is traveling the world in search of a cure where he is unable to find a mythical plant. He is portrayed as a much more heroic figure and does not hesitate to join Spider-Man on his mission after fending off a P.H.A.N.T.O.M. soldier.

• Lizard appears in the 2009 video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Marc Samuel. He is a boss exclusive to the game's Wii, NDS, PS2, and PSP versions. He appears as one of the villains controlled by the Fold. Lizard attacks the heroes at the portal that leads out of the Negative Zone Prison alongside Electro, Grey Gargoyle, and Scorcher.

• Lizard appears in The Amazing Spider-Man video game, voiced by Steven Blum. Spider-Man breaks Doctor Connors out of the local insane asylum called the Beloit Psychiatric Hospital. Spider-Man then brings Dr. Connors to an apartment he's house sitting for his Aunt May's friend to create a cure for the cross species plague accidentally created by Oscorp using his research. In order to create the cure Connors needs his old research notes. After Spider-Man retrieves the notes, and after Connors pays for the needed lab equipment using Stan's credit card he determines that they need a blood sample from one of the cross species, Vermin, to complete the antidote. Spider-Man retrieves the blood and gives the cure to Doctor Alistair Smythe, but an unknown flaw results in the "cure" crippling Smythe and driving him insane. When Spider-Man confronts Doctor Connors about the apparently failed cure, Connors realizes Spider-Man is the cure, being immune to the cross species virus due to his blood reflecting the perfect blend of human and animal. Using Spider-Man's blood, Connors makes a proper cure and Spider-Man gets it to Gwen Stacy. Unfortunately when Spider-Man gets back to Doctor Connors, he has been kidnapped by Alistair, and Spider-Man's subsequent attempt to rescue Connors results in him apparently losing his powers due to a nanite injection from Smythe. Left with no other choice, Connors transforms himself into the Lizard again and is able to remain in control of himself just long enough to destroy Smythe's robots, giving Spider-Man time to find a way to destroy the nanobots within him and thus restore his powers. Spider-Man then chases Connors through the sewers, and, after a long grueling battle, cures him again. Connors then goes back to the asylum he was locked up in earlier.

• Lizard appears in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.

• Lizard and Curt Connors appear in Lego Marvel Super Heroes,^[75] voiced again by Steven Blum. In a bonus mission at the Central Park Zoo's Reptile House, Dr. Curt Connors was perfecting his serum where he turns into Lizard. Spider-Man and Thing are able to defeat Lizard and stop his experiments.

• Lizard appears in Marvel Heroes. In the one-shot mission that he appears in, Lizard breaks out of prison and springs Calvin Zabo where they make their way to Lizard's hidden lab at the Bronx Zoo. Once Calvin Zabo becomes Mister Hyde, he injects Lizard with his Hyde serum turning him into a more powerful version of himself as Mister Hyde plans to use his Lizard Serum/Hyde Serum to add to the Bronx Zoo's water supply resulting in lizard-like hybrids like Lizard-Monkeys, Lizard-Bears, Lizard-Bats, Lizard-Giraffes, and Lizard-Sharks.

• Lizard is a boss in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance and also a lockbox villain for PVP Season 27.

Toys and collectibles

• The first Lizard action figure was produced by Mego in 1974 as part of their "World's Greatest Super-Heroes" line of toys.

• Lizard has been reproduced in action figure form several times by Toy Biz from 1994 through 2006, first as part of their Spider-Man: The Animated Series line, then as part of Spider-Man Classics, and finally as part of their Marvel Legends series. The Spider-Man Classics figure was later repainted and reissued by Hasbro.

• Hasbro released a Lizard figure as part of their 2007 Spider-Man 3 series of toys. The figure is based on the design seen in the Spider-Man 3 video game.

• The character has been statues reproduced as a mini-busts by both Art Asylum and Bowen Designs, who also released a full statue of the character.

• The incarnation in Spectacular Spider-Man animated TV series was released as an action figure by Hasbro in late 2008.

• Hasbro released several toys and action figures of Lizard for The Amazing Spider-Man film toy line in 2012.

Live performance

• Lizard appears as a member of the Sinister Six in the Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark played by Brandon Rubendall.^[76]
• Lizard will appear in the Marvel Universe: LIVE! arena show.^[77]

References

External links

• Lizard at Marvel.com
  • Ultimate Marvel's Lizard at Marvel.com
• Lizard at Marvel Wiki
  • Ultimate Marvel's Lizard at Marvel Wiki
• Lizard's Profile at Spiderfan.org

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