Lizard (comics)
The Lizard is a comic book supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe, and an enemy of Spider-Man. He first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #6 (1963), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
The Lizard is the alter-ego of Dr. Curt Connors, a human scientist whose fields of expertise encompass both herpetology and gene therapy. Connors' right arm had been amputated, and he hoped to find a way to regenerate the lost or damaged limbs of disabled people. To this end, he studied the regenerative nature of reptiles and amphibians. He developed a radically advanced form of therapy which could reproduce these regenerative abilities in humans and began to use this therapy in experiments. Unfortunately, Connors was contaminated by his own serum and physically transformed into a bipedal, sapient reptilian humanoid. As The Lizard, Connors became a threat to humanity, with an insane determination to wipe out the human race and replace its population with reptiles. The Lizard possesses superhuman strength and durability, due to his alligator-like hide. His regenerative powers give him incredible stamina, and can probably fight for days without tiring. His tail is able to smash through solid concrete and once broke Spider-man's arm. The Lizard possesses the ability to scale walls like a gecko. The Lizard is able to communicate and control any reptiles within a one-mile radius, usually giving them simple commands, such as attacking or guarding something. The Lizard, however, possesses a reduced intelligence and his mind will slowly wither into nothing. He is weak against the cold.
Eventually defeated by Spider-Man and returned to his benevolent human self, Connors still transforms back into the evil Lizard to plague the web-slinger every now and then. (On at least one occasion, the Lizard retained a vestige of his human sympathy and conscience, and refrained from killing people, but on the whole the Lizard can only be regarded as villainous in nature.)
When Connors' Lizard form is dormant, the scientist often helps Spider-Man in the event of serious medical or scientific problems. Dr. Connors was mentioned briefly in the film Spider-Man, and appeared in Spider-Man 2, where he was played by Dylan Baker. Whether or not Connors will become the Lizard in any future films is as of yet unknown (although the absence of his right arm has been shown, but can only be picked up if you look very closely).
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