Vulture

Publication history

The first Vulture, Italian scientist Isidoro Scarlotti, first appeared in Young Men #26 (December 1953), created by Joe Gill and Carl Burgos and depicted as an enemy of the original Human Torch and Toro.

The second Vulture, Adrian Toomes, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. According to Ditko, Lee wanted the villain to be heavy-set and based on actor Sydney Greenstreet. Ditko designed him to be leaner and more gaunt, feeling he should be swift and fast and also because "The bulkier anything is, the more panel space it has to take up, thereby shrinking panel space for other characters and story panel elements."

Since Toomes originally assumed the Vulture alias as an enemy of Spider-Man, several other character have taken on the mantle from him. The third incarnation, Blackie Drago, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #48 (May 1967), and was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. Lee created the new version because he thought that Spider-Man looked like a bully fighting a wizened old man. However, the readers wrote in that they did not like the new Vulture, and Lee relented and brought the original back.

The fourth incarnation, Clifton Shallot, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #127, and was created by Ross Andru, Gerry Conway, and John Romita Sr.

A fifth incarnation, Jimmy Natale, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #593 as part of the story arc "Spider-Man 24/7"; created by Mark Waid and Mike McKone, he is a recurring enemy of both Spider-Man and the Punisher.

Fictional character biography

Isidoro Scarlotti

Isidoro Scarlotti was born in Italy and attained a doctorate in theoretical physics. Craving power and wealth, he rose to become czar of the "International League of Criminals", constructing a series of "super atomic bombs" with which to hold the world ransom, and wearing a mechanized vulture mask as the "Vulture" to conceal his identity.

In an attempt at preventing the flaming heroes Human Torch and Toro from interfering with his plans, Vulture builds robot duplicates of the heroes programmed to commit crimes and murders in order to discredit them; when the Torch and Toro arrive at their boss Chief Wilson's office, they learn that Vulture has kidnapped his daughter Mary, with his trademark Vulture plane spotted en-route to New Mexico. Following it to Vulture's hideout and melting through its walls, they are confronted by Vulture, who traps them with a wall of ionized radiation deflecting their fire powers, leaving Mary behind to watch them die. After the radiation-proof Torch is able to save them, the Torch and Toro return to Chief Wilson's office and stop their Vulture-made robotic duplicates from killing the Chief, before learning of Vulture's ransom demand to the world's governments and rushing back to his base in New Mexico, trashing his equipment. On revealing his identity, Vulture traps the heroes in his base again, which begins to fill with corrosive acid. After revealing he has set the atomic pile in his base to explode, Vulture flees, with the Torch and Toro barely able to escape in time, the Torch believing it to be far from the last they will hear of Vulture.

Vulture next kidnaps and kills roboticist Professor Costene in order to obtain his "robot formula", using it to create a wave of crime robots, the largest of which he names Metallo. When the Torch and Toro arrive to investigate Costene's disappearance, they encounter Vulture's robots and manage to defeat them by luring them into the swamp to be short-circuited by water. On getting to Vulture's hideout, they battle Metallo and free Vulture's hostage Betty Wilson (the chief's other daughter) as Vulture gets away.

Later, Vulture sabotages a testing site for a new rocket to take men to the moon, with the Torch and Toro learning he has constructed his own rocket in Canada. Rushing up north to the secret location of Vulture's hideout, the Torch and Toro ambush the criminal and his minions and destroy the rocket. Vulture and his men attempt to escape by plane with the two heroes in pursuit, only for Vulture to unleash a fire-dousing chemical that stops them from following him. On returning to the United States, the heroes encounter Vulture taking Betty Wilson hostage again in an attempt to reach the Moon first, blasting off in the rocket only for the pursuing heroes to board through the rocket thrusters and knock Vulture and his men out. The ship is then stopped by aliens calling themselves the "Guardians of Space", who tell the Torch that mankind is not ready for travel into space until they forsake war. As the Vulture knows of their existence, he is taken into deep space and never seen again.

Adrian Toomes

Adrian Toomes was born in Staten Island, New York. A skilled electronics engineer, Toomes is the business partner of Gregory Bestman, working on various inventions. After much trial and error, Toomes created a "flight harness" from scrap parts, but when he visited Bestman to show off his invention, he discovered that his partner had embezzled their profits and fled, leaving Toomes penniless. Enraged, Toomes wrecked the business and realized the physical strength he gained from using the harness. He then decided to turn to crime professionally as Vulture.

Vulture employs a special electromagnetic harness of his own design that allows him to fly; his flight is directed by a pair of artificial wings worn on his arms. The harness also endows him with enhanced strength and (according to some sources) increases his lifespan. Although Toomes is advanced in age, he is a strong fighter and a remorseless killer. On one occasion, he restored his youth through biochemical means, though this wore off after exposure to an elemental superhuman's corpse. At one point, he had used a device to steal Spider-Man's youth, leaving Vulture young and Spider-Man elderly, but this effect wore off within hours.

Vulture was on a robbery and burglary spree throughout New York City when he first encountered Spider-Man. Spider-Man realized for the first time he could sell photos to J. Jonah Jameson after the Daily Bugle offered a reward for a picture of Vulture. Due to a preoccupation with the camera, Spider-Man was knocked out by Vulture and sealed in a water tank with sides too slippery to climb up, but was able to break free. Vulture then challenged the police, saying he was going to steal diamonds; however, he escaped through the sewers. Spider-Man had created a device that stopped Vulture's harness from working and activated it during an airborne fight with Vulture, causing the two to crash onto a roof, knocking Vulture unconscious. He was then arrested. Vulture modified his harness, and attempted to rob the Daily Bugle payroll. He joined Doctor Octopus's first Sinister Six, and gave the message to the Daily Bugle that the group had captured Betty Brant. He was the last foe to battle Spider-Man before Doctor Octopus. He forced Spider-Man to remove the web-shooters by threatening to fly away, then squirted oil onto the roof, and tried to push Spider-Man off using a wind created by his wings, but Spider-Man escaped this. Vulture was caught after Spider-Man swung onto him using a lasso. He then told Spider-Man where to find Doctor Octopus's lair and (like the rest of the team) was jailed at the end of the story.

Blackie Drago

Raniero "Blackie" Drago was a prison cellmate of Adrian Toomes. He tricked Toomes by causing an accident in the prison workshop that made Toomes think he could die soon, and stole the Vulture harness and costume which was recently rebuilt. He used the suit to make money through air piracy; this led to a confrontation with Spider-Man, which Drago believed ended in the wall-crawler's death (Spider-Man had merely collapsed due to a serious cold in reality). After robbing a helicopter, Drago was pursued by Kraven the Hunter, who resented his claims of victory over Spider-Man, and ended up fighting him until Spider-Man arrived. Spider-Man managed to defeat them both and webbed them up for the police.

Drago was later "rescued" from prison by Toomes – who revealed that learning about Drago's role in his accident had given him the strength to overcome his injuries – but that was merely so Toomes could prove himself to be the true Vulture once again. Once the two were free, Drago was defeated and humiliated by Toomes, who obtained the recognition he desired. A humbled Drago was taken away by the police, vowing that he would not operate as the Vulture again.

Clifton Shallot

Dr. Clifton Shallot was an expert on bio-mutation and a professor at Empire State University. He also had one of Toomes' harnesses and costumes, which he had requisitioned from the State Prison Authority. When one of his courses was cancelled by the university trustees, he snapped, and underwent the final stage of the mutation himself when he donned the Vulture costume – his face, teeth, and fingernails mutated, and for a short time, the wings became part of his body and he could fly. The only ones who knew his secret was his lab assistant Dr. Christine Murrow and her roommate Gloria Jenkins.

Mary Jane Watson witnessed him killing Gloria (whom he had mistaken for Christine) and she became a target. While flying around Mary Jane's apartment, he noticed Spider-Man and attacked him. Vulture managed to defeat Spider-Man and leave him for dead. Shallot then searched for a way to reverse the transformation. He stole some chemicals from a ship called the Düsseldorf at Dock 20. The next morning as he was flying to Christine's lab, Vulture noticed Mary Jane in her car. He dove toward the car and grabbed Mary Jane. He was then encountered in the air by Spider-Man, who dropped Mary Jane, giving Vulture enough time to reach the Biology Lab. He attacked Christine, only for Spider-Man to arrive and defend her. Vulture managed to rip the webbing with his sharp finger claws and teeth. Their fight continued, with Spider-Man blinding Vulture with the webbing as the cops arrived and threw a net over them. Still blinded by the webbing, Vulture broke free from the net and grabbed Spider-Man, thinking he was Christine. When he saw it was Spider-Man, Vulture ended up dropping him.

Vulture went back to his lab and transformed back into Shallot. He then had an agreement with Christine, stating that he would not kill her if she did not betray his trust. Later that night, Vulture flew back to Dock 20 and stole more chemicals. He noticed that Peter Parker had followed him and picked him up and dropped him into the water. When he flew above Mary Jane's apartment, Vulture noticed her getting into a taxi. Vulture attacked the taxi and kidnapped Mary Jane, only for Spider-Man to interrupt him, causing Vulture to flee. He made it back to his lab where Christine was. Spider-Man then arrived an hour later, finding Christine there. Vulture then attacked Spider-Man, who subdued him and force-fed Vulture the antidote he had stolen from the Düsseldorf. After reverting from his Vulture form, Shallot fainted. Shallot is presumably still serving his sentence for the murder of Gloria.

Jimmy Natale

A fifth Vulture appears in the story arc "Spider-Man 24/7". He is a human/bird hybrid vigilante rather than a supervillain, mercilessly killing and eating criminals. While fighting, he temporarily blinded Spider-Man with an acid that the creature spit in his face. Spider-Man later defeated this new Vulture in the Yankee Stadium.

During The Gauntlet storyline, Vulture escapes from prison and goes after the mobsters responsible for his transformation. The first mobster he finds reveals Vulture's past as the Maggia's "cleaner" Jimmy Natale, and lies about his transformation being caused by J. Jonah Jameson. In truth, it was Dr. Charles Goss, a biochemist who used machines previously owned by the Stillwell brothers to create a new Vulture. Dr. Goss fibs that Jameson had a hand in his creation, until he confesses to the proper authorities. After Spider-Man fends him off, Vulture visits the mobster again, who comes clean about being behind his mutation. After that, Vulture kills him. He is later seen soaring above the Daily Bugle ruins and flies past by a jobless Peter Parker at night.

In the Origin of the Species story-arc, Vulture joins Doctor Octopus' supervillain team, which was assembled to procure specific items. He attacks Spider-Man, who is caring for Lily Hollister's newborn child in Hamilton Heights, but their fight is interrupted by the Freak. The two villains team up after a brief scrimmage and are knocked out by Spider-Man.

A further-mutated Vulture is hired by the Exchange to assassinate the Punisher. Vulture ambushes the vigilante at an abandoned warehouse, and the two engage in an aerial battle, which ends with the Punisher fatally stabbing Vulture in the torso and jaw, causing him to crash land in the South Bronx. The Punisher flees the scene, leaving Vulture's body to be recovered by the NYPD and examined by Carlie Cooper.

Powers, abilities, and equipment

By utilizing their Vulture harnesses, each Vulture is able to fly as if with a natural winged flight. He wears a costume of synthetic stretch fabric housing an electromagnetic harness with artificial bird-like wings attached beneath the arms. This consists of an anti-graviton generator worn on his body as a harness, enabling him to hover silently with precise maneuverability.

Adrian Toomes

The Vulture harness increases Toomes' resistance to injury to the point that he can survive blows from Spider-Man's super strength. Another by-product of his exposure to its unique radiation is that, despite old age and no exercise, his physical strength represents the upper limits in human development. When he removes it, most of these abilities slowly fade, although the rate at which this transpires remains unclear (some writers have suggested that his strength is permanent). Toomes is also elderly and depends on the tailored suit for strength, speed, and health boosting, as well as draining life force to maintain his own youth. It has recently been revealed that, due to the prolonged use of his harness, he could levitate or float even without it, but he still needs the wings for mobility while airborne. He once upgraded to a new version of his flying apparatus, complete with battle armor, metallic wings, and sharpened feathers. During the later years, he added various weapons to his arsenal. Vulture possesses brilliant expertise in the fields of electronics and chemistry, with a great talent for invention.

Blackie Drago

While wearing the Vulture costume, Drago has super strength, durability, and speed, as well as flight. He added a built-in radio helmet with limited receiver functions as extra protection for his head.

Clifton Shallot

As a physical duplicate of Vulture, Shallot has enhanced strength, resilience, and mobility, along with natural fangs and talons. He is capable of flight, due to the wings grafted onto his body.

Jimmy Natale

The Red Vulture possesses inhuman strength and durability, as well as flight, natural talons, and acid expulsion. His costume is identical to Toomes, complete with bladed feathers.

Reception

In 2020, CBR.com ranked Vulture 3rd in their "10 Most Powerful Members of the Sinister Syndicate" list.

Alternative versions

Many alternate versions of Vulture have appeared throughout the character's publication history.

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows

In The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Vulture appears as a member of Regent's Sinister Six. The "Spider-Geddon" storyline introduces a group called the Vulture Gang, which is inspired by this version of Vulture.

Earth-138

On Earth-138, Adrian Toomes is the CEO of Bestman/Toomes. Using Toomestone Records, Toomes buys out Free Medianet in an attempt to shut down Spider-Punk as he is attending a concert sponsored by Free Medianet. This interruption led to a fight between Toomes' security force and Spider-Punk's Spider-Army until it was broken up by the arrival of Ducktor Doom 2099's forces.

Earth X

In the Earth X reality, Adrian Toomes mutated into a vulture-like form after being exposed to Terrigen Mist. He serves as a member of the Enforcers, bodyguards of President Norman Osborn.

Marvel 2099

In the Marvel 2099 universe, the Vulture is an insane cannibal who seeks to rule the sky and uses advanced combat armor enabling him to fly. In his debut, Vulture saves Spider-Man from a group of thugs and proposes an alliance against the Public Eye police force, but Spider-Man rejects his offer of partnership when he realizes the Vulture is a cannibal.

Marvel Noir

The Marvel Noir version of Adrian Toomes / Vulture is a former circus freak who was taken by mob boss Norman Osborn to become one of his hitmen. He was responsible for the death of Ben Parker, whom the Vulture cannibalized after Peter Parker was beaten by Osborn's Enforcers. Vulture later takes May Parker hostage and attempts to kill her, but Spider-Man saves her and kills the Vulture.

Spider-Gwen

The Vulture appears in the first arc of the Spider-Gwen solo series taking place on Earth-65. He is an enemy of Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman and appears more deranged than his Earth-616 incarnation, secreting a green gaseous cloud wherever he goes.

Spider-Verse

In Spider-Verse, alternate versions of Blackie Drago, Jimmy Natale, Adrian Toomes, and Clifton Shallot appear as members of the Hounds.

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Adrian Toomes is an employee of Trask Industries and does not become the Vulture. This universe's Vulture is instead Blackie Drago, who is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The Ultimate Marvel version of Vulture was rendered by artist Mark Bagley to resemble actor Jason Statham as per writer Brian Michael Bendis' instructions.

In other media

Television

The Blackie Drago incarnation of Vulture, referred to as Vulture Man, appears in Spider-Man (1967), voiced by Gillie Fenwick.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man (1981), voiced by Don Messick.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Eddie Albert as an old man and by Alan Johnson as a young man. This version is an engineer who seeks revenge on Norman Osborn and drains youth from others in a bid to become younger. He later becomes a member of the Kingpin's Insidious Six.

A heroic half-Bestial incarnation of Vulture from Counter-Earth appears in Spider-Man Unlimited (1999), voiced by Scott McNeil.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Robert Englund. This version is a former aeronautics engineer who wears a modified version of Terry Dodson's black and red suit from Marvel Knights Spider-Man and initially seeks revenge against Norman Osborn for stealing his inventions before joining the Sinister Six as Doctor Octopus's right-hand man.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012), voiced by Tom Kenny. This version is a teenage test subject of Doctor Octopus's genetic experiments with the ability to transform into an anthropomorphic vulture-esque form that sports Jimmy Natale's organic wings and sonic shriek. Following a brief stint with the Thunderbolts, Toomes is later equipped with Blackie Drago's green Ultimate Marvel armor after becoming involved with Hydra, and his mainstream version's red and black armor after joining the Sinister Six. Additionally, he is not as villainous as other versions and even regards Spider-Man as a friend, only siding with supervillains who offered to help him discover his origins before eventually redeeming himself.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man (2017), voiced by Alastair Duncan. This version is a middle-aged man whose flight suit is equipped with a neck-mounted device that enables sonic attacks and was originally an employee of Max Modell before being fired for stealing equipment. Vulture initially appears as a member of the Sinister Six before becoming the leader of the Goblin Nation.

Film

Adrian Toomes appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), portrayed by Michael Keaton. This version previously ran a New York salvaging company and is Liz Allan's father. Additionally, his flight suit is equipped with turbine-powered wings, claw-like wingtips, and boot-mounted talons. Years prior, his company is run out of business following the Battle of New York and the creation of the Department of Damage Control. In response, he persuades his colleagues Phineas Mason, Herman Schultz, Jackson Brice, and Randy Vale not to relinquish the salvaged Chitauri technology they collected and instead repurpose it for a black market weapons ring. In the present, after deducing Spider-Man's secret identity when Spider-Man interferes with his operation, Toomes threatens retaliation unless Spider-Man stops, sparing his life since the latter previously saved Liz's life. However, Spider-Man thwarts Toomes amidst his attempt to hijack a plane carrying much of the Avengers' weaponry, saves Toomes' life when his suit malfunctions, and leaves him for Happy Hogan and the FBI. As a result, Toomes' family moves away. In a mid-credits scene, an imprisoned Toomes is approached by Mac Gargan, who wants to confirm whether the former knows Spider-Man's identity, which Toomes denies.

Adrian Toomes appears in the post-credits scenes of the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film Morbius (2022), portrayed again by Michael Keaton. Following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Toomes is transported to the SSU, where he is released from prison, develops a new flight suit, and approaches Michael Morbius, suggesting they form a team.

An Italian Renaissance-themed alternate universe version of Vulture based on Isidoro Scarlotti and Adrian Toomes named Adriano Tumino appears in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), voiced by Jorma Taccone.

Video games

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in the Sega CD version of Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six as a member of the eponymous group.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man (1995).

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six, voiced by Darren Eliker.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six as a member of the eponymous group.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears in Spider-Man (2002), voiced by Dwight Schultz.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears as a boss in the Nintendo DS and PSP versions of Spider-Man 2 (2004), voiced again by Dwight Schultz.

The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Adrian Toomes appears in the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox versions of Ultimate Spider-Man (2005), voiced by Brian George. This version works for Bolivar Trask.

The Adrian Toomes incarnation of Vulture appears as an assist character and boss in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Kristoffer Tabori. This version's wings are made out of steel swords controlled by electromagnets that can also be used as projectiles. He initially works for the Kingpin until he is infected by a symbiote and attempts to take control of an invading symbiote army.

The Marvel Noir incarnation of Adrian Toomes / Vulture appears as a boss in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Steve Blum. He obtains a fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos that grants him teleportation powers and is pursued by Spider-Man Noir, who seeks both the fragment and revenge for his Uncle Ben's murder.