But when Doctor Ashley Kafka sneaks him into a basement to try to continue treating him in the belief that he was close to a breakthrough when the court were preparing to put him on trial, the Chameleon escaped and attempted to convince Spider-Man of actually a hallucinating writer who had suffered a mental breakdown after his daughter's death in a car accident but Peter managed to break through this deception due to his own strength of will. The plan led to a psychotic breakdown for both Spider-Man and the Chameleon, Spider-Man briefly renouncing the civilian identity while the Chameleon is sent to Ravencroft Asylum. Before Harry's death, the Chameleon was told Spider-Man's secret identity could be found through Peter Parker, to construct androids of Peter's parents the Chameleon later admitted that he went through with the plot to confirm once and for all that Peter was Spider-Man. The Chameleon's most ambitious play against Spider-Man happened when he formed an alliance with Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin. He allied himself with the Femme Fatales, the Scorpion, and the Tarantula to eliminate Spider-Man and the Black Cat, but escaped when his plan failed. Disguised as a scientist, the Chameleon temporarily removed Spider-Man's powers. He approached the Maggia for support to be New York's new crime lord, and formed an alliance with Hammerhead. He attempted to kidnap America's leading expert on superconductors, but was thwarted by Spider-Man. He ingested a serum which made his face permanently featureless and malleable. When his half-brother committed suicide, the Chameleon became obsessed with making Spider-Man suffer for his failure to prevent this. The Chameleon disguised himself as the Torpedo and battled Daredevil. While delivering the documents and a shrunken Hulk to HYDRA, he was encountered and defeated by Ant-Man. At one point, the Chameleon disguised himself as Hank Pym, and robbed Pym's laboratory for documents to combat Virus Nine. With Kraven, the Chameleon battled Iron Man, and then confronted the Hulk. The Chameleon inspired Kraven to begin hunting Spider-Man, inviting Kraven to dispose of the hero. Both men became long-time enemies of Spider-Man, part of his primary rogues' gallery. Shortly afterward, Sergei (now known as "Kraven the Hunter") came to America, and the Chameleon set his old associate's sights on Spider-Man. During his first known criminal outing, he impersonated Spider-Man, though he was soon exposed and arrested. As he had made a talent for himself during his youth by impressing his brother by impersonating friends and neighbors, he assumed an even more impressive disguise: the identity of Chameleon. Eventually, Smerdyakov emigrated to the United States of America. Although Dmitri and Sergei were friends, Sergei was often abusive to Smerdyakov, leading to a combination of admiration and resentment towards Kravinoff. In his youth, he became a servant and half-brother to Sergei Kravinoff, and later a minor associate of Gustav Fiers. Fictional character biography ĭmitri Smerdyakov was born in Soviet Russia. He is also the half-brother of Kraven the Hunter this relationship helped evolve him as a major villain compared to his original depiction of being just a solo villain in the original issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Ĭreated by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), making him the first member of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery, based on issue publication date, excluding the burglar who murdered Ben Parker ( Supercharger was the first Spider-Man supervillain chronologically ). IGN ranked the Chameleon as Spider-Man's 14th greatest enemy. Dimitri Smerdyakov appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), portrayed by Numan Acar.
#THE TALOS PRINCIPLE NERVE WRECKER SERIES#
The character has appeared in several Spider-Man media adaptations over the years, including animated television series and video games. He is also the half-brother of Kraven the Hunter. The character is usually depicted as a master of disguises, known for his ability to impersonate virtually anybody. He is the first ever adversary of the superhero Spider-Man, having debuted in the initial issue of The Amazing Spider-Man (March 1963). The Chameleon ( Dmitri Smerdyakov Russian: Дмитрий Смердяков) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Chameleon, as he appeared in a pin-up from Hulk vol.