Hood (Marvel Comics)
The Hood is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, the character first appeared in Hood #1. Robbins was originally a petty criminal. He defeated and robbed a Nisanti demon of its hood and boots, which granted him superhuman abilities such as levitation and invisibility. The Hood is a well-known figure in the New York City criminal underworld, in which he forms his own crime syndicate.
Anthony Ramos portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series Ironheart.
Publication history
Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artists Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell, the Hood first appeared in his own self-titled MAX limited series in 2002, which featured his origin as a character who possesses a cloak and boots stolen from a Nisanti demon, which grant him invisibility and limited levitation ability respectively.The Hood next appeared in the 2006 miniseries Beyond!, a miniseries set in outer space, which had the character shift towards a slightly more anti-heroic position, as opposed to a villainous one.
Brian Michael Bendis stated in a 2007 Newsarama interview that within the pages of New Avengers, Parker Robbins would be getting similar treatment to Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II. Bendis says that "... like the Sentry and Echo—the Hood is one of these excellent brand new creations that no one else was touching, and that's how they fall by the wayside."
Confirming the statement and having Parker return to his villainous roots, a 2007 New Avengers storyline had Parker rise to becoming "the 'Godfather' of all supervillains", mostly due to the fact that Marvel's Civil War event prevented any heroes from stopping him. Although the New Avengers defeated the Hood's new gang of supercriminals, he broke them out, only to be defeated once more.
Following 2008's Secret Invasion, The Hood has a more prominent role as part of the Cabal, and features in his own tie-in limited series, Dark Reign: The Hood, written by Jeff Parker.
Fictional character biography
Origin
Parker Robbins's father worked closely with the Kingpin and had a healthy relationship with his son as he was growing up. As a child, Parker witnessed a battle between Daredevil and Electro, which would have a profound effect on his young adulthood. After his father's death, Parker's mother entered a near-vegetative state and was hospitalized. Deeply troubled, Parker soon turned to a life of crime, and would lie to his mother about the jobs he had found during his visits. Parker's well-meaning nature was juxtaposed with his philandering and thieving ways, such as taking care of his pregnant girlfriend Sara while visiting a prostitute on the side.One night, John King, Parker's cousin and best friend who is a recovering alcoholic and thief, tells him about a job at a warehouse said to be housing valuable goods. Taking the job, Parker accompanies John to the warehouse, where they stumble upon an abandoned mystic ritual, resulting in an encounter with a Nisanti demon. Parker shoots the demon, seemingly killing it, and steals its hooded cloak and boots, not wanting to leave empty-handed. After tossing his gun in a dumpster, Parker encounters a gang who want the boots he had stolen off an agent of Hydra before going to the warehouse. Throwing the boots at the gang, he flees and puts on the demon's boots, learning of their levitation powers.
Parker later shares his discovery with John and decides to try on the cloak as well, discovering it allows him to become invisible while holding his breath. After using his powers to commit petty robberies, Parker agrees to help John steal a shipment of blood diamonds. The diamonds belong to crime boss Dennis Golembuski who hired Constrictor, Jack O'Lantern, Shocker and Madame Rapier to guard them. However, Parker overpowers them and steals half of the shipment. Parker gives the diamonds to the still-living enforcers to deliver to Golem, believing this will end the conflict between them. Elsewhere, the Golem receives the diamonds and the Hood's message, and he vows that nothing was ended between them.
Beyond!
Alongside Spider-Man, Venom, Gravity, Medusa, Hank Pym, the Wasp, Kraven the Hunter, and Firebird, the Hood is transported to the reconstructed Battleworld. While in transit, they are told that one victor will have a wish granted by the Beyonder, should the other combatants die. The Hood attempts to capitalize on this by using his invisibility to launch a sneak attack on the gathered heroes and villains, but is battered by Kraven. During the confusion of the Hood's attack, Venom manages to impale Spider-Man through the chest.The Hood takes Spider-Man to the camp and forces him to reveal himself as a Space Phantom imposter. After battling the Space Phantom, the Hood accompanies the group into Limbo to wait for the Space Phantom to appear when he chooses his next target for impersonation. In Limbo, Venom destroys the portal on Battleworld, claiming victory. As Battleworld collapses, the group escapes, with Gravity sacrificing himself to save the others. Gravity is returned to life a short time later.
Hood's criminal empire
The Hood begins his quest to become the Kingpin of all supervillains in New York by inviting a large contingent of villains to a meeting. He gives each of them $25,000 of seed money, partly to gain their confidence, and partly to buy their loyalty. To prove himself to the gathered supervillains, the Hood seeks out and viciously beats Tigra, threatening her mother's life as a warning.At the after party, Chemistro informs the Hood of a plot by the Owl to sell Deathlok, who he stole from S.H.I.E.L.D., to the highest bidder. As the Owl has not gained permission from his new crime syndicate, the Hood decides to gatecrash the auction. He effortlessly ambushes and dispatches Owl, taking Deathlok for himself.
"Secret Invasion"
The "Secret Invasion" storyline revealed that Skrulls have been trying to infiltrate the Hood's organization. Skrulls disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents try to replace Madame Masque, but is rescued by the Hood. During the surviving Skrull's interrogation, Doctor Demonicus convinces the Hood to use his power to scan the surrounding villains. It is discovered that Slug is a Skrull in disguise. The Hood shoots and kills him with the other villains wondering how long the Skrull had been impersonating Slug. Later by himself, the Hood discovers that his power comes from the mystical entity Dormammu.The Hood is seen watching live coverage of the Skrull invasion on television in Brooklyn with Wizard, Madame Masque, the Blood Brothers, King and Bulldozer. He decides to gather everyone to fight the Skrulls, despite Chemistro's objections. When the battle is over, the villains all return to hiding. The Hood is later seen meeting with Namor, Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Loki and Norman Osborn, forming the Cabal.
"Dark Reign"
The Cabal's first meeting is shown at the start of the 2008 "Dark Reign" storyline. Namor, Frost, Doctor Doom, Loki and the Hood talk about Osborn's plans for the new world order. When the Hood enters, Frost reads his mind only to make him angry. He threatens Frost with a gun telling Frost to stay out of his head, and that she does not know who she is messing with. In response, Frost telepathically forces him to put his own gun in his mouth, to Namor's amusement. Osborn offers the Cabal solidarity and the resources to accomplish their own agendas. In return, Osborn asks for their public support/registration, as well as cooperation fulfilling any request he may have of them.After the Punisher tries to assassinate Osborn, Osborn asks the Hood to hunt the Punisher down. The Hood sends Grizzly to take down Punisher. After Grizzly is defeated, the Hood forces Microchip to help kill the Punisher. The Hood uses the powers of Dormammu to resurrect the villains who were killed by the Scourge of the Underworld to form a squad that will help him take down the Punisher. The Hood offers to resurrect Punisher's family in exchange for him surrendering, but he declines.
The Hood later starts a gang war with Mister Negative after he corrupts White Dragon causing the Hood to kill White Dragon. The Hood's crime syndicate ends up fighting Spider-Man and Negative's henchmen. After Spider-Man's attack on his headquarters, the Hood confronts Negative in his Chinatown headquarters. Mister Negative tries to corrupt the Hood to his side, but fails. Though he gains the upper hand, Negative escapes.
Dormammu empowers the Hood with enough magic to find and kill Doctor Strange, so that Hood can become the new Sorcerer Supreme. The Hood approaches Strange, while he is talking to Wiccan. As they fight, Strange tells the Hood that Dormammu's promises are empty, as are all other demons, but Hood ignores him and attacks them both. After Wiccan intervenes, Strange and Wiccan get away and Parker goes home. While there, he has a breakdown and tries to rip off his cloak but finds he cannot. Madame Masque appears, wanting to know what is going on. Masque promises to help him, removes her mask, and they kiss. Unknown to them, Dormammu watches from a mirror. Later on, Parker goes and attacks Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan. He later fights Doctor Strange and the New Avengers until Brother Voodoo arrives. Dormammu then manifests through Parker, but is exorcised. Parker is left badly burned and stripped of his hood. In a hospital, Loki approaches him offering him a second chance, which he accepts.
Loki takes Hood and Madame Masque to Cuba and presents the Norn Stones to him, which brings back his powers. The Hood and Masque return and learn from King that Jonas Harrow and the rest of the gang have found about his deal with Osborn and made their own. Already, the Hood finds out that his gang has surrendered themselves to Osborn. When Harrow arrives, Hood kills him.