Mac Gargan

**MacDonald "Mac" Gargan**, also known by his alias **Scorpion**, was an antagonist in *Marvel's Spider-Man* and *Marvel’s Spider-Man 2*. He began his career as a mercenary before becoming a notorious supervillain after being given an armored battle suit armed with a stinger, which delivers a highly neurotoxic poison that induces strong hallucinations.

## History

### Early history

Mac Gargan was born in Yonkers, New York on June 3, 1983. He was a run-of-the-mill criminal who became involved in genetic experiments run by Dr. Farley Stillwell and funded by J. Jonah Jameson, in an attempt to create a Spider-Man who was "not a threat and stops menaces", and someone to take Spider-Man down.

Scorpion would go onto become wanted for multiple counts of criminal activity, including attempted murder, first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping. Through gambling, Gargan had racked up a number of damaging financial debts over time. Spider-Man eventually put him away at the Raft supermax prison.

### *Marvel's Spider-Man*

While locked at the Raft, Gargan sued Jameson. Jameson denied responsibility, calling Gargan a "psycho with a poisoning fetish", and later deflected blame onto the "ivory-tower elite scientist" who did not take precautions due to being hungry for his money.

At some point prior to "Out of the Frying Pan...", Gargan was contacted by Otto Octavius, who offered him a clean slate, ridding his gambling debts and criminal records, to join the Sinister Six in taking down Norman Osborn. During "Out of the Frying Pan...", as Gargan was let out by Octavius, Gargan fought Spider-Man, but along with the rest of the Sinister Six, was prevented from killing Spider-Man due to Octavius' request.

Scorpion was tasked with being bait for Spider-Man, who discovered a false plot from Octavius’ base to poison the city’s water supply via an Oscorp-owned reservoir located in Central Park. In "Streets of Poison", when Spider-Man arrived, Scorpion injected a poison into him that caused vivid hallucinations, once again operating under Octavius' request to torture rather than kill him. Spider-Man was then forced to waste valuable time in tracking down the ingredients (a natural steroid from an Eclipta Plant, and an antoxin in the form of a synthetic atropine) for an antidote for himself while New York City suffered further attacks from the Sinister Six.

Scorpion helped Rhino in his task to ascertain the supply routes for Oscorp, then later helped Rhino's fight with Spider-Man in "Heavy Hitter". The fight was close, but Scorpion, unable to keep his mouth shut, taunted Rhino for hi shortcomings and inability to take Spider-Man down, causing the two to turn on each other as Spider-Man sealedeals them inside with his webbing.

### *Marvel's Spider-Man 2*

Since his defeat at the hands of the original Spider-Man, Scorpion spent the last two years in the Raft alongside the other villains. Unbeknownst to Gargan, his deeds as a super villain earned him the honor to be one of Kraven's first targets. His hunters learn that Scorpion is to be transferred out of the Raft along with Martin Li, so they secretly arrive in New York City and planned a full scale assault to capture both of them.

The transfer is watched over by Spider-Man, now accompanied by a second Spider-Man named Miles Morales. Once the prisoners are boarded onto a ship and out on the water, Kraven's hunters attack. During the attack, Scorpion becomes trapped and attempts to lure one of the Spider-Men by pretending to be an innocent being threatened by Scorpion. This succeeds and Miles uses his Venom power to blast through the door, only to free Scorpion. He tries to dodge one of Scorpion’s attacks, only to be stung and sent into a hallucination, allowing Scorpion to seemingly escape. The Spider-Men put off searching for him when the ensuing chaos threatens hundreds of civilians.

Sometime later, Peter learns that Scorpion was studied meticulously by Kraven and his hunters, who completely reverse-engineered his suit and poison so that they could exploit their weaknesses. He then learns that Scorpion was indeed captured and taken to Kraven's base in an abandoned mansion, where he was left in a cage. He escaped confinement and killed one of the hunters. Sensing Kraven coming, He proceeded to bury himself in the sand and then leapt to try and catch him by surprise. This fails, as Kraven catches him out of the air by the throat. Scorpion stung Kraven in the shoulder and mocked him, confident that the poison would take effect shortly. However, Kraven smiled and easily removed the stinger from his shoulder, breaking it off Scorpion’s suit altogether. Kraven lamented that he believed Scorpion didn’t live up to his reputation as a killer, taking the sting as only a minor flesh wound. Despite trying to fight back, Kraven easily pinned him against the wall before stabbing him with his own stinger, granting the criminal a karmic death with the very poison he used to kill people.

Later on, while keeping Gargan's Scorpion Stinger as a trophy, Kraven throws the criminal's body elsewhere, where his corpse is found by the New York authorities.

Despite his death, a hallucination of Mac Gargan appeared in Peter's mind while Miles Morales and Martin Li exploring Peter's mind to free him from the symbiote.

## Characteristics

### Appearance

Most of Mac Gargan's appearance is hidden underneath his armored suit, with only his mouth being visible. The suit itself is primarily dark green with a black underskin, with vermilion optic lenses. The Scorpion suit has three fingers on each hand, two claws on each foot, and a long extendable tail which serves as Scorpion's main weapon.

### Personality

Scorpion is sadistic and suave, referred to as psychopathic and mentally unstable. He has no qualms about torturing or killing his enemies, and his vendetta against Spider-Man led him to want to kill Spider-Man himself. Though Scorpion respects Doctor Octopus' command to do so, he does not respect his teammates, leading him to cruelly insult Rhino. Scoprion's heavy gambling debts suggest an addiction.

### Abilities

Scorpion wears a full-body battle suit that possesses claws, and a cybernetically-controlled mechanical tail with poisonous stinger. The stinger contains a lethal toxic that can be injected or hurled as a projectile. It can also inflict a hallucinogenic neurotoxin (a mixture of ovatoxin-A and baeocystin) that causes the affected's brain to create nightmares that the body believes real. The suit grants Scorpion enhanced strength, speed, resilience to pain, and agility. His speed and agility are sufficient enough to catch Spider-Man by surprise.

## Original appearance

For more background of Mac Gargan throughout comic book history, see **all appearances of Scorpion** and the **original appearance of Mac Gargan** on the **Marvel Database**
Scorpion was one of the members of the Sinister Six. The character was introduced in *Amazing Spider-Man* #19 (December 1964).

## Behind the scenes

He was voiced by Jason Spisak, who reprises his role as the Scorpion from the 2017 *Spider-Man* animated TV series.

## Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 *Marvel's Spider-Man* menu § "Mac Gargan / Scorpion"
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 *Marvel's Spider-Man* script § "Picking up the Trail"
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Marvel's Spider-Man* script § "Anti-Menace"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Marvel's Spider-Man* script § "Blameless"
5. ↑ *Marvel's Spider-Man* script § "Out of the Frying Pan..."
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 *Marvel's Spider-Man* script § "Streets of Poison"
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Marvel's Spider-Man* script § "Heavy Hitter"
8. ↑ *Marvel's Spider-Man*, credits

## References

* Insomniac Games (2018). *Marvel's Spider-Man* [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 4.
* Insomniac Games (2023). *Marvel's Spider-Man 2* [Game]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. PlayStation 5.