Revamp a Villain

[Huntsman Spider]

If anyone could have benefited from a symbiote, it's Ollie; if only to give him his arm back and save him money on mechanical spider limbs.

If Toxin ever comes back from the dead, the color scheme would be perfect to pull off a "twisted Spider-Man" look.

[Draegwolf]

Roxxon Corporation
Expanding more on my previous idea, completely reinvent the company to serve as something a foothold for Mephisto on earth though not quite as overt as the one he tried to establish in Vegas during Damnation. Naturally while Mephisto would ultimately be the one pulling the strings behind the company it would be in a far more discreet manner in that both his presence and influence within the company are almost entirely unnoticed by everyone outside of the CEO and possibly a small handful of key individuals within the upper echelon of the company.
The company itself would be divided out into different branches, each with their own area of influence and projects ranging from pharmaceutical to energy. The vast majority of the people employed by Roxxon would be unaware of the company’s real goals and activities, with their presence inadvertently aiding maintain the public face of Roxxon and its legitimate business dealings as a front for the rest of the world at large.

Dario Agger
- Serve as Roxxon’s latest CEO and figurehead in Mephisto’s plans, with Mephisto being heavily implied to be the entity responsible for saving Dario from the pirates that killed his family and the two having entered a Faustian bargain in the years since. In his capacity as CEO Dario would act primarily as Mephisto’s right hand representative on earth, his actions mostly serving to further Roxxon’s ever expanding reach and Mephisto’s interest. At the same time this deal would also color much of Dario’s actions independent of his corporate responsibilities, with him either looking for ways to fulfill the terms of his contract by meeting an unspecified quota or merely find some means of getting out of his deal entirely.

Karl Malus
Responsible for Roxxon’s biological research department, specializing in the creation of superpowered individuals and creatures for the company. With this in mind he’d be something along the lines of Dr. Monroe with a little Victor Frankenstein and William Birkin thrown in the mix to get a decent idea what sort of projects he’d have a hand in, taking his hybrid symbiote status into account also add a bit of John Carpenter’s The Thing. While I don’t imagine any of the Roxxon department head’s really getting along with one another I could see Malus having a particularly vicious rivalry with Mr. Hyde given how similar their departments would be, at the same time being required to regularly work together for the same reason. Malus could be heavily implied to be the mutated offspring of the Carnage symbiote, with his memories and appearance being genetically passed on upon conception following the events of Superior Carnage. With that in mind the awakening of Knull could serve to influence many of Malus’ actions and experiments, leading to him becoming a threat on two fronts.

Will expand on this concept more at a later date with the following: Baron Blood, Deathlok Program, Mr. Hyde, Eduardo/Esme/Carlos Lobos

If Toxin ever comes back from the dead, the color scheme would be perfect to pull off a "twisted Spider-Man" look.

Toxin had a lot of potential, could still be an interesting character so long as Marvel doesn't keep making him another Venom clone and actually makes the conscious effort to make him into his own character. At this point though it might be hard since everything they could/should have been doing with the Toxin symbiote/host they've pretty much already done/doing with the Venom Symbiote and Flash Thompson/Eddie Brock.

[Michael Watkins]

If Toxin ever comes back from the dead, the color scheme would be perfect to pull off a "twisted Spider-Man" look.

I would agree!

[the nomad]

Revamp a Villain

Songbird- Her power set should have her be more of a threat. She's the Marvelverse answer to Black Canary, only instead of hero let her be a villain and let her be heard lol.

She's got flight, voice manipulation, sonic scream and a few other tricks up her sleeve.

I got an idea for a story for her it would be called: Songs in the Key of M & G - Melissa Gold is tired of playing it straight, she tried her best gave it her A game and for it all she got was heartache and confusion and so she embraces her villainous nature. And she goes about proving how she should be respected, as well as feared.

[Huntsman Spider]

Roxxon Corporation
Expanding more on my previous idea, completely reinvent the company to serve as something a foothold for Mephisto on earth though not quite as overt as the one he tried to establish in Vegas during Damnation. Naturally while Mephisto would ultimately be the one pulling the strings behind the company it would be in a far more discreet manner in that both his presence and influence within the company are almost entirely unnoticed by everyone outside of the CEO and possibly a small handful of key individuals within the upper echelon of the company.
The company itself would be divided out into different branches, each with their own area of influence and projects ranging from pharmaceutical to energy. The vast majority of the people employed by Roxxon would be unaware of the company’s real goals and activities, with their presence inadvertently aiding maintain the public face of Roxxon and its legitimate business dealings as a front for the rest of the world at large.

Dario Agger
- Serve as Roxxon’s latest CEO and figurehead in Mephisto’s plans, with Mephisto being heavily implied to be the entity responsible for saving Dario from the pirates that killed his family and the two having entered a Faustian bargain in the years since. In his capacity as CEO Dario would act primarily as Mephisto’s right hand representative on earth, his actions mostly serving to further Roxxon’s ever expanding reach and Mephisto’s interest. At the same time this deal would also color much of Dario’s actions independent of his corporate responsibilities, with him either looking for ways to fulfill the terms of his contract by meeting an unspecified quota or merely find some means of getting out of his deal entirely.

Karl Malus
Responsible for Roxxon’s biological research department, specializing in the creation of superpowered individuals and creatures for the company. With this in mind he’d be something along the lines of Dr. Monroe with a little Victor Frankenstein and William Birkin thrown in the mix to get a decent idea what sort of projects he’d have a hand in, taking his hybrid symbiote status into account also add a bit of John Carpenter’s The Thing. While I don’t imagine any of the Roxxon department head’s really getting along with one another I could see Malus having a particularly vicious rivalry with Mr. Hyde given how similar their departments would be, at the same time being required to regularly work together for the same reason. Malus could be heavily implied to be the mutated offspring of the Carnage symbiote, with his memories and appearance being genetically passed on upon conception following the events of Superior Carnage. With that in mind the awakening of Knull could serve to influence many of Malus’ actions and experiments, leading to him becoming a threat on two fronts.

Will expand on this concept more at a later date with the following: Baron Blood, Deathlok Program, Mr. Hyde, Eduardo/Esme/Carlos Lobos




Toxin had a lot of potential, could still be an interesting character so long as Marvel doesn't keep making him another Venom clone and actually makes the conscious effort to make him into his own character. At this point though it might be hard since everything they could/should have been doing with the Toxin symbiote/host they've pretty much already done/doing with the Venom Symbiote and Flash Thompson/Eddie Brock.

Sounds like an awesome premise so far for Roxxon. Might throw in an evil megacorp revamp of my own at some point here. Probably Alchemax, to keep in line with the 2099 revamps I was doing before.

I would agree!

Thanks.

[Draegwolf]

Mister Hyde
Serve as the head of the pharmaceutical branch of Roxxon, having caught the attention of Dario or Mephisto somewhere down the line and moved up the ladder to a position of authority within the company. Given Hyde’s skillset as a chemist he would naturally focus primarily on developing all manner of chemical substances for the company, many of which would be used in both Roxxon’s legitimate and illegitimate business dealings across the world. While a great many deal of the substances Hyde creates would focus on improving on the Hyde formula, he would also on replicating the abilities of other characters (Hulk, Captain America, Luke Cage, etc.) through the creation of various serums and procedures.

To make things a bit more interesting I think I would have him inadvertently create something in the vein of NZT in his attempt to recreate something comparable to the Super Soldier Serum and go full on Eddie Morra in Limitless, taking his intelligence to new heights while at the same time giving him an additional crutch to rely on as it’d be yet another ability necessitated by use of a substance. Could go either way as to whether this newfound intelligence could or would carry over to his Hyde persona, on the one hand it would circumvent the problem Calvin’s had with his diminished intellect as Hyde but on the other hand the trade off to the new formula might not be compatible with the Hyde serum. Either way I like the idea of Calvin becoming more akin to Prof Moriarty while under the influence of NZT, perhaps even having it develop into a whole new persona the same way Hyde did.

With his enhanced intelligence Calvin could have a hand in developing other projects, given their similar work and departments it wouldn’t be hard to show him working rather closely alongside Karl Malus in Research & Development on various projects. Naturally any synergy the two could have would be offset by a particular vicious rivalry in which they both try to outdo, discredit, and/or kill one another through varies proxies and schemes. But from there is how we would start getting to some of the darker projects in Roxxon like the Deathlok Program, possible reintroduction to Marvel Zombies, etc.

Overall think a combination of Breaking Bad's Heisenberg on NZT and going full on Prof. Moriarty.

[Michael Watkins]

I just had Zabo do work at one of Osborn’s black site labs. Because there are some obvious similarities between the goblin and Hyde formulas. They would have been one of the labs creating supervillains to keep people like Spider-man busy. But he’d become a liability and would start self-experimenting to give himself an edge when inevitably betrayed.

[Huntsman Spider]

Mister Hyde
Serve as the head of the pharmaceutical branch of Roxxon, having caught the attention of Dario or Mephisto somewhere down the line and moved up the ladder to a position of authority within the company. Given Hyde’s skillset as a chemist he would naturally focus primarily on developing all manner of chemical substances for the company, many of which would be used in both Roxxon’s legitimate and illegitimate business dealings across the world. While a great many deal of the substances Hyde creates would focus on improving on the Hyde formula, he would also on replicating the abilities of other characters (Hulk, Captain America, Luke Cage, etc.) through the creation of various serums and procedures.

To make things a bit more interesting I think I would have him inadvertently create something in the vein of NZT in his attempt to recreate something comparable to the Super Soldier Serum and go full on Eddie Morra in Limitless, taking his intelligence to new heights while at the same time giving him an additional crutch to rely on as it’d be yet another ability necessitated by use of a substance. Could go either way as to whether this newfound intelligence could or would carry over to his Hyde persona, on the one hand it would circumvent the problem Calvin’s had with his diminished intellect as Hyde but on the other hand the trade off to the new formula might not be compatible with the Hyde serum. Either way I like the idea of Calvin becoming more akin to Prof Moriarty while under the influence of NZT, perhaps even having it develop into a whole new persona the same way Hyde did.

With his enhanced intelligence Calvin could have a hand in developing other projects, given their similar work and departments it wouldn’t be hard to show him working rather closely alongside Karl Malus in Research & Development on various projects. Naturally any synergy the two could have would be offset by a particular vicious rivalry in which they both try to outdo, discredit, and/or kill one another through varies proxies and schemes. But from there is how we would start getting to some of the darker projects in Roxxon like the Deathlok Program, possible reintroduction to Marvel Zombies, etc.

Overall think a combination of Breaking Bad's Heisenberg on NZT and going full on Prof. Moriarty.

I just had Zabo do work at one of Osborn’s black site labs. Because there are some obvious similarities between the goblin and Hyde formulas. They would have been one of the labs creating supervillains to keep people like Spider-man busy. But he’d become a liability and would start self-experimenting to give himself an edge when inevitably betrayed.

I like both of those ideas for Hyde/Zabo. I'll throw in one of my own right now, since I was talking about it before.

Alchemax

In the year 2099, Alchemax is the most dominant of the megacorporations that essentially run the world and has maintained that dominance through "corporate raiders," its term for the special operatives its scientists create via bio- and/or cyber-technological augmentation of human subjects, who then work for Alchemax as infiltrators, saboteurs, assassins, bodyguards, or whatever else Alchemax needs them to be so it can stay on top in the (even more) dog-eat-dog world of futuristic global capitalism. How did it get so powerful? Thank "The Cataclysm" that ended the so-called "Heroic Age," as Alchemax was the first to seize upon the opportunity presented by the sudden disappearance of the superheroes, not so different from a vulture, after years of manipulations and machinations by its founder Tiberius Stone, a former rival of Tony Stark/Iron Man, making it an, if not the, apex predator in the corporate realm. When Tiberius Stone passes on, it's his son Tyler who takes over Alchemax and builds its domineering stature even higher over the masses it rules, keeping the megacorporation on top no matter how many governments --- the United States included --- it has to subvert and effectively buy out, though since this enables Alchemax and its fellow megacorps, as well as the individuals running or otherwise associated with them to do whatever they please whenever and to whomever they please, Stone thinks he's gotten the better end of the deal. Among Alchemax's interests and subsidiaries are law enforcement via the Public Eye, a privatized police force that primarily protects and serves only paying subscribers and high-ranking Alchemax personnel while ignoring everyone else, genetically synthesized food products for the masses via Syntheon, and even the Alchemax School for the Gifted, where the children of Alchemax's high-ranking personnel, the elite of the elite, learn and prepare for their future roles in preserving and increasing Alchemax's dominance, as well as reinforcing the overall social hierarchy of the year 2099.

[Draegwolf]

Azazel
First off one of the biggest changes I would make to Azazel is that he wouldn’t be Nightcrawler’s father, I personally never liked the idea as Azazel never felt needed in the grand scheme to justify Kurt’s appearance or Mystique having to bail on her marriage to his Christian Wagner and honestly I liked Claremont’s original (backup) idea of Mystique fathering him through Destiny as it felt less convoluted. That being said Azazel would more or less just be an evil version of Nightcrawler with the same physical mutation and similar powers, with his prolonged lifespan being contingent on his stay within the Brimstone Dimension and metamorphic & will bending abilities being phased out entirely. Between Apocalypse, Selene, & Sinister we got more than enough “immortals” without needing to add anymore, better to find a justifiable reason for a prolonged life opposed to having another mutant with immortality. Likewise just do away with the concept of the Neyahem as it really wasn’t necessary and never actually went anywhere. At the same time I don’t mind Azazel playing off his appearance to mess with people, maybe even with him even coming to believe his own hype after so long. With that in mind I could see him being something between Tom Ellis’ Lucifer & the Djinn from Wishmaster, someone who facilitates deals but twist them to serve his own ends and a prolific womanizer. Interest in Nightcrawler could be due to their similar mutation and/or the fact that Kurt is basically the antithesis to Azazel and everything that he’s become, a devout Christian fighting for acceptance in a world that’s against him versus a selfish hedonist that doesn’t believe in anything and cares only for himself.

[Michael Watkins]

Weird. I had been thinking of Azazel too. I had watched First Class last Monday. I liked him in the movie. But I think what I’m reacting to is the naturally cool design of a devil-esque mutant. I can’t think of a way to salvage Azazel. It’s hard to keep him a mutant while removing the link to Kurt Wagner. And I think he unnecessarily complicates Kurt’s story, which was pretty much perfect when first created. I have nothing against kiwi black or nils styger. But they are not better for belonging to a mutant clan, imo. To split the difference, I would just have Azazel be the Age of Apocalypse Kurt Darkholme. The red coloring could be attributed to the Dark Beast’s tampering. And I would leave him in the AoA reality unless it was some one and done dimension hopping story.

[Michael Watkins]

Good thinking with the Wishmaster stuff. I did something similar in my revamp of the Wizard. But he encountered something in the Negative Zone that acts a lot like the Djinn. It helps Bentley Wittman be all that he can be (while really just amplifying his hubris and filling him with ambition). As the Wizard, he would in-turn operate as a patron to the villain community; offering to upgrade them (explaining why people would sign up to the Frightful Four). The entity in the Negative Zone benefits from all of this. And Bentley slowly goes mad.

[Sutekh]

Weird. I had been thinking of Azazel too. I had watched First Class last Monday. I liked him in the movie. But I think what I’m reacting to is the naturally cool design of a devil-esque mutant. I can’t think of a way to salvage Azazel. It’s hard to keep him a mutant while removing the link to Kurt Wagner. And I think he unnecessarily complicates Kurt’s story, which was pretty much perfect when first created. I have nothing against kiwi black or nils styger. But they are not better for belonging to a mutant clan, imo. To split the difference, I would just have Azazel be the Age of Apocalypse Kurt Darkholme. The red coloring could be attributed to the Dark Beast’s tampering. And I would leave him in the AoA reality unless it was some one and done dimension hopping story.

Ooh, I like that solution. Or he's the Nightcrawler from Belasco's dimension, who escaped dying with the other X-Men by making a deal with a demon, and getting red skin and a more devil-ish demeanor in that way. (And, eventually, the power to cross the streams and teleport to 616, and escape Limbo for good.) There are lots of ways to keep him, and not have him be Nightcrawler's dad (and perhaps have Mystique be the 'dad' and Destiny the mom!).

[Michael Watkins]

Ooh, I like that solution. Or he's the Nightcrawler from Belasco's dimension, who escaped dying with the other X-Men by making a deal with a demon, and getting red skin and a more devil-ish demeanor in that way. (And, eventually, the power to cross the streams and teleport to 616, and escape Limbo for good.) There are lots of ways to keep him, and not have him be Nightcrawler's dad (and perhaps have Mystique be the 'dad' and Destiny the mom!).

I like the Belasco idea. I’m more likely to support keeping the original origin with some random German baron being the father. The problem with involving Destiny is twofold. It removes the need for Raven to chuck a baby over a waterfall for self preservation. And I can’t see a precog allowing Raven to do this. If forced to change it, I would go with the baron being Mister Sinister. Raven would be artificially inseminated against her will. She would have been restrained long enough for the natural birth but managed to flee. In this scenario, she’s making a desperate decision to spare her child from being some monster’s guinea pig and saving herself. It might also be good drama later since Kurt would have to admit that his birth wasn’t a miracle of god (he’d find some way to justify it though).

[Draegwolf]

Breaking out the Wayback Machine to repurpose some really obscure characters from the 1940’s.

Karr the Mummy & Rakses
We’ve already seen from the closing arc of Weapon-H that Roxxon doesn’t have a problem raiding places like Weirdworld and the Savage Land for potential resources, with both that in mind and the overall direction I’ve been taking with the company I think it’s safe to say that it wouldn’t be too difficult to imagine Roxxon having something akin to their own little archaeological division. Who better to run this type of operation than a mummy?

While there are actually a surprising lack of mummies running around in Marvel two that come to mind are Karr the (not) Mummy and Rakses, however for the purposes of this I will be focusing mostly on the former. In the years following his last appearance, in addition to securing a position within the Roxxon Corporation as head of it’s archaeological division Karr would have made the transition into an actual mummy as part of his deal with Modebl. Karr’s identity would be left ambiguous, with it being left in the air as to whether he’s the Lammon or Jameson incarnation of the character which I think would add a nice air of mystery around the character. Primary duties within the company would be scouring the world for powerful religious and magical artifacts that Roxxon could use as a source of power, with the search taking them to other realms and locations as the opportunity presents itself.

Given his relatively young age and recent entry into the supernatural Rakses, or at least his head anyway, could be introduced as a means of providing Karr with insight into magical artifacts, locations, rituals, curses, and the like.

Still to come: Baron Blood, Carlos/Eduardo/Esme Lobo, Wendigo, the Deathlok Program, & Stilt-Man

[Huntsman Spider]

Breaking out the Wayback Machine to repurpose some really obscure characters from the 1940’s.

Karr the Mummy & Rakses
We’ve already seen from the closing arc of Weapon-H that Roxxon doesn’t have a problem raiding places like Weirdworld and the Savage Land for potential resources, with both that in mind and the overall direction I’ve been taking with the company I think it’s safe to say that it wouldn’t be too difficult to imagine Roxxon having something akin to their own little archaeological division. Who better to run this type of operation than a mummy?

While there are actually a surprising lack of mummies running around in Marvel two that come to mind are Karr the (not) Mummy and Rakses, however for the purposes of this I will be focusing mostly on the former. In the years following his last appearance, in addition to securing a position within the Roxxon Corporation as head of it’s archaeological division Karr would have made the transition into an actual mummy as part of his deal with Modebl. Karr’s identity would be left ambiguous, with it being left in the air as to whether he’s the Lammon or Jameson incarnation of the character which I think would add a nice air of mystery around the character. Primary duties within the company would be scouring the world for powerful religious and magical artifacts that Roxxon could use as a source of power, with the search taking them to other realms and locations as the opportunity presents itself.

Given his relatively young age and recent entry into the supernatural Rakses, or at least his head anyway, could be introduced as a means of providing Karr with insight into magical artifacts, locations, rituals, curses, and the like.

Still to come: Baron Blood, Carlos/Eduardo/Esme Lobo, Wendigo, the Deathlok Program, & Stilt-Man

Not bad. Especially looking forward to your takes on the Lobos siblings and the Deathlok Program.