Hit-Monkey
Hit-Monkey | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Hit-Monkey #1 (April 2010) |
Created by | Daniel Way Dalibor Talajić |
In-story information | |
Species | Japanese macaque |
Team affiliations | S.T.A.K.E. Mercs for Money |
Abilities | Expert marksman and martial artist Incredible agility and reflexes |
Hit-Monkey is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Fred Tatasciore will voice the character in the animated television series on Hulu.
Publication history
Created by writer Daniel Way and artist Dalibor Talajić, Hit-Monkey first appeared in Hit-Monkey #1 (April 2010), a digital comic on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.[1][2] The one-shot was released in print format a week later and, starting in the same month, he was featured in a three-issue story arc in Deadpool #19-21.[3] Cover artist Dave Johnson also accidentally confirmed that Hit-Monkey would be featured in his own three issue limited series,[4][5] a fact later confirmed by Daniel Way at the 2010 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.[6][7][8][9]
Fictional character biography
An unnamed assassin blows up a squad of enemy soldiers as part of a failed political coup. Marked for death, after four days of fleeing for his life he passes out in the snow and is rescued by a troop of Japanese macaques. With the exception of one monkey, the troop accepts the assassin into their clan. The man knows that he is still hunted, so he trains daily, using snowmen as training dummies. Quietly, the monkey that distrusts him watches and learns the assassin's skills. The assassin's health fails, and while the troop tries to save him, the lone monkey objects, eventually fighting the rest of the troop with his newfound skills.
Because of the violence he displays, the monkey is banished from the clan. Now on his own, the monkey sees a group of men on their way to kill the assassin. He tries to run back to warn his tribe, but is too late: the men kill the assassin as well as the rest of the monkeys. Furious at his clan's slaughter, the monkey picks up extra guns from a bag and kills the entire group of men. Determined to avenge his fallen tribe, the monkey now dedicates his life to killing assassins - under the alias of Hit-Monkey.[10]
In Deadpool #19, Spider-Man finds a local shop owner brutally murdered. Having seen Deadpool in New York earlier, Spider-Man suspects he is the killer, and fights and catches him. Deadpool claims he has an alibi, and after examining the crime scene, says that only one assassin could have pulled off the job so flawlessly: Hit-Monkey. Because Hit-Monkey is known for killing other assassins, they realize that Deadpool is likely on Hit-Monkey's hit list.[11] Spider-Man reluctantly teams up with Deadpool to catch him.
After killing some dirty cops, Hit-Monkey follows Spider-Man in order to find and kill Deadpool. Hit-Monkey accidentally shoots Spider-Man in the fight and seemingly feels bad about it, showing that he is not just a ruthless killer, but a killer of known assassins. Trying to capitalize on this moment, Deadpool attempts to kill Hit-Monkey, but fails and is shot several times. Hit-Monkey leaves him for dead, apparently not knowing about Deadpool's healing factor.[12] Deadpool then pretends to be Spider-Man and fakes his death. At "Spider-Man's" funeral, Hit-Monkey comes to pay his respect, thinking he killed him. Deadpool jumps out of the casket to kill Hit-Monkey, but Spider-Man has rendered both fighters' guns unusable so they can't kill each other without blowing themselves up as well. Deadpool doesn't care and pulls the trigger, seemingly killing Hit-Monkey but surviving due to his healing factor.[13] Nevertheless, Spider-Man reveals that Hit-Monkey did survive or, at least, that his body was not found. Hit-Monkey later returns for a short cameo.[14]
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Hit-Monkey appears as a member of S.T.A.K.E.'s Howling Commandos.[15]
Hit-Monkey later joins Domino's incarnation of the Mercs for Money.[16]
Hit-Monkey is seen with the Howling Commandos when they help Old Man Logan rescue Jubilee from Dracula.[17]
Powers and abilities
Hit-Monkey is an expert marksman and martial artist with incredible agility and reflexes.
Collected editions
The character's appearances have been collected into a trade paperback:
- Deadpool, Volume 4: Monkey Business (collects Hit-Monkey #1 and Deadpool (vol. 4) #19-21, 120 pages, Marvel Comics, hardcover, July 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4530-3)
- Hit-Monkey: Year of the Monkey (collects Hit-Monkey #1-3, Hit-Monkey one-shot, 96 pages, Marvel Comics, softcover, January 4, 2010, ISBN 0-7851-4859-0)
In other media
Television
Hulu will air Hit-Monkey, animated series written and executive produced by Will Speck and Josh Gordon.[18] It was originally conceived as part of a shared universe that would have led up to a special titled The Offenders, before it was decided it would be a stand-alone series.[19] Jordan Blum, co-creator of the animated series M.O.D.O.K., revealed that the series will have a different animation style than his.[20] The series is set to air on November 17, 2021 and was announced to feature Jason Sudeikis as the voice of Bryce, Hit-Monkey's deceased mentor. Hit-Monkey himself will be voiced by Fred Tatasciore.[21]
Video games
- A video game based on Hit-Monkey was announced to be in development by High Moon Studios and published by Activision for release in 2013. However, this was revealed to be a red herring meant to foreshadow the release of the video game Deadpool.[22]
- Hit-Monkey appears as an unlockable playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2,[23][24] with his dialogue translated by Gwenpool.
- Hit-Monkey appears as a playable character in Marvel Contest of Champions.
References
- ^ Strom, Marc (November 13, 2009). "The Coming of Hitman Monkey". Marvel.com. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Marshall, Mick (February 2, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: 'Hit-Monkey' Has Arrived. You Have Been Warned". Splashpage. MTV. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Richards, Dave (February 11, 2010). "Way Makes Things "Tricky" for "Deadpool"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Melrose, Kevin (March 18, 2010). "Cover Story | Dave Johnson on Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain #1". Robot6. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
- ^ Brothers, David (March 22, 2010). "Dave Johnson Accidentally Announces Hitman Monkey's Miniseries". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
- ^ Mahadeo, Kevin (April 16, 2010). "C2E2 2010: Hit-Monkey Returns". Marvel.com. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Richards, Dave (April 17, 2010). "C2E2: Way Of The "Hit-Monkey"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Rogers, Vaneta (April 17, 2010). "C2E2 2010: Marvel's HIT MONKEY See, HIT MONKEY 2". Newsarama. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (April 17, 2010). "C2E2 10: Hit-Monkey Strikes Back". IGN. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
- ^ Hit-Monkey #1, April 2010
- ^ Deadpool vol. 4 #19 (April 1 2010) Whatever a Spider Can Part 1: Start Spreadin' the news
- ^ Deadpool vol. 4 #20 (April 1 2010) Whatever a Spider Can Part 2
- ^ Deadpool vol. 4 #21 (March 24 2010) Whatever a Spider Can Part 3
- ^ Deadpool vol. 11 #61 (November 26 2012) Salted Earth Part 1: Innocent of Nothing
- ^ Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1
- ^ Deadpool & the Mercs for Money vol. 2 #5
- ^ Old Man Logan vol. 2 #14-15
- ^ Lesley Goldberg (February 11, 2019). "Marvel, Hulu Set Four-Show Animated Slate". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (January 24, 2020). "Marvel's 'Howard the Duck,' 'Tigra & Dazzler' Dead at Hulu". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- ^ Mancuso, Vinnie (May 21, 2021). "'Marvel's M.O.D.O.K' Showrunner on Season 2 Plans and What That 'Offenders' Crossover Might Have Looked Like". Collider. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
- ^ "An exclusive look at 47 of fall 2021's new and returning shows". Entertainment Weekly. September 17, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/357068/high-moon-reveals-hit-monkey-game/?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-General-RSS
- ^ "Characters". IGN Database. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ "K'un-L'un Side Missions". IGN Database. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
External links
- Hit-Monkey at the Grand Comics Database
- Hit-Monkey at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Hit-Monkey at ComicVine