Sandman (Marvel Comics)
| Sandman | |
|---|---|
| File:Imm-sandman.jpg Sandman. Art by Mark Bagley | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September, 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | William Baker |
| Team affiliations | Sinister Six Frightful Four Avengers |
| Notable aliases | Flint Marko, Sylvester Mann, Quarryman |
| Abilities | Earth manipulation, Body is made completely of organic sand, Can manipulate own body mass Shape-shifting, Density control, Superhuman strength and endurance, Mass manipulation |
Sandman (a.k.a. Flint Marko; born William Baker) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, traditionally an adversary of Spider-Man. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (Sept. 1963). His body has been changed into sand, which he can control completely. He may also absorb nearby sand and reconstitute it into his body.
Powers and abilities
The Sandman has the ability to transform into a malleable sand-like substance which can be hardened, dispersed, or shaped according to his will, something akin to a type of geokinesis limited to sand and small rock particles. Even if his body is blown apart, he is capable of reforming it. His striped shirt and cargo pants are both a part of his mass sand-like body. They are colored to appear as if he were wearing actual clothes. He rarely wears shoes, most of the time he makes it appear as if he has long pants, so no shoes can be visible.
Most of the time, he is mainly seen transforming his arms and hands into a sand mace or a sledgehammer to battle Spider-Man and his other enemies. He can merge with natural sand if it is in his direct vicinity like a beach or desert, thus he can manipulate normal sand like his normal body, add it to his physical size and strength, or use it to reform himself. Sandman has mental and physical control over every particle of sand in his body.
His body seems to take the physical and chemical qualities of sand, as once he was mixed with cement ingredients and was turned into solid cement. Despite this weakness to cement, he remained alive like this but in a coma-like state, and returned to normal later. He possesses superhuman strength several times in excess of Spider-Man's, making him roughly equal to the Thing.[citation needed]
He once wore a uniform devised by the Wizard, which enabled him to mix chemicals into his body for various effects, but he has long since discontinued its use. This uniform, like his usual clothing, turned to sand and back when he did. If exposed to extreme heat, Sandman will turn to glass, but if shattered, he can control his glass shard form and reform himself. This, however, takes time to complete.[1] He is invulnerable to most physical attack and projectiles from most firearms simply fly right through him, but he is vulnerable to large amounts of water and ice. He has once 'disintegrated' when the supervillain Venom bit off a piece of him, separating it from the main part of his mass and thus causing him to lose control over the rest of his body; after a prolonged period of disintegration, he appeared to die, but washed up on a beach, where he re-formed himself using the sand he had found there.
Other versions
1602
1602: Fantastick Four, a sequel to Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 written by Peter David, features the 1602 version of the Marvel Sandman. While he physically resembles Flint Marko, he has the pale skin and glowing eyes of Gaiman's Morpheus. He also alludes to an ability to summon nightmares. In the fourth issue he is able to send Ben Grimm to sleep by blowing a vapor or dust at him. He has not yet shown any signs of his traditional powers.
Spider-Man: Reign
In Spider-Man: Reign Sandman is a part of an elderly Sinister Six, but when his daughter is killed he changes his mind and helps Spider-Man defeat Venom and the Sinister Six.
Ultimate Sandman
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Flint Marko (which is his birthname) is a genetic mutation of the industrialist Justin Hammer, one of the results of an attempt to recreate the super soldier formula. Shortly after Hammer was killed by Dr. Octopus, S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrated Hammer's factory to take care of any experiments Hammer was working on. Marko used this opportunity to escape and wreak havoc upon New York. S.H.I.E.L.D., with the help of Spider-Man, managed to contain him and imprisoned him in a S.H.I.E.L.D holding facility. There, he met fellow genetic fugitives Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), Dr. Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus), Max Dillon (Electro), and Kraven the Hunter. Under the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus's leadership the five broke free and captured Spider-Man to form the Ultimate Six. Marko participated with the group in an attack on the White House. However, he was defeated by Iron Man. After the battle, S.H.I.E.L.D. sealed Marko in various jars and kept them frozen.
In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, it is shown that Ultimate Beetle stole one of the vials containing Flint Marko. The ramifications have yet to be seen.
Artist Mark Bagley, who drew the first 100+ issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, noted in his rough designs for Ultimate Sandman that he would appear "Nekkid" most of the time. As he wanted to go with the more 'realistic' feel of the Ultimate imprint, he doubted whether Flint Marko's clothing had unstable molecules like his body.
In other media
Television
- Sandman appeared in the 1960s Spider-Man episode "The Sands of Crime".
- Sandman appeared in the 1970s Fantastic Four episode "The Frightful Four".
- Sandman also appeared in the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon in "The Sandman is Coming".
- He later appeared in a similar episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, "Spider-Man: Unmasked!", where he was voiced by Chris Latta.
- Sandman did not appear in the Spider-Man animated series of the 1990s because the series did not want to interfere with the continuity of James Cameron's proposed Spider-Man movie, in which the Sandman and Electro were supposed to be the villains. Although Electro was belatedly introduced into the series when Cameron's film fell through, Sandman remained unseen in the series, the only major Spidey villain not to appear in the show.
- Also because of Cameron's film, Sandman did not appear in the Fantastic Four cartoon in the 1990s, most notably the episodes featuring the Frightful Four. Instead, he was replaced with Hydro-Man, a character who has similar powers to Sandman, only with water instead of sand, and had already been featured in the Spider-Man cartoon.
Film
Thomas Haden Church played Sandman in the film Spider-Man 3. In the film, Sandman's origins are similar to the comics, save for the plot twist shown below. His street name is Flint Marko (however, he never used his birth last name for both his daugther and his wife), a man who wants to steal money to pay for medical treatment for his daughter Penny, who has an unspecified illness. He is at odds with his ex-wife, due to his frequently being in and out of jail. While on the run from the police after escaping from prison, he accidentally falls into an experimental particle accelerater that molecularly binds him with sand, giving him shapeshifting sand abilities. A major focus of the plot of the film involves the Sandman's connection to the murder of Peter's Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) in the first film.
Sandman is later spotted by police officers walking down the streets of Manhattan. Sandman gets on top of a dump truck and fills it with his sand, and when one of the policemen climbs atop the truck, a gigantic Sandman emerges and several policemen are slammed into the air by his huge fist made out of sand. The police shoot at Sandman, but he manages to escape by turning into a giant sandstorm. He later encounters Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) while stealing money from an armored truck. Despite being overpowered by Sandman's abilities, Spider-Man manages to stop him from stealing any money. At the police station, it is revealed by Police Captain George Stacy (James Cromwell) that there is evidence implicating Marko as Ben Parker's killer, and he also tells Peter and Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) that the carjacker (Dennis Carradine) Peter confronted years earlier was really Marko's accomplice, and did not fire the shot that killed Ben Parker. Peter is left feeling guilt over causing the death of the supposedly innocent carjacker, and letting the real killer get away. In the meantime, Sandman robs a bank, and Spider-Man, now with enhanced abilities due to his new black suit, chases him to the subways. In the intense fighting, Spider-Man manages to burst a water tank, flooding Sandman in water and turning him into mud, which is swept through a sewer grate. Believing that Sandman is dead, Spider-Man leaves in satisfaction; but unbeknownst to him, Sandman, who is washed out to the river, is able to eventually reconstitute himself.
Later, Spider-Man tears the symbiote off his body in a bell-tower after learning of its parasitic nature, and it merges with Eddie Brock, Jr. (Topher Grace) to become Venom, who convinces Sandman to team up with him to destroy Spider-Man. The two kidnap Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and take her to a construction site, forcing Spider-Man to face them both. During the fight, Sandman uses the site's sand to again increase his size, and nearly kills Spider-Man by physically beating him after Venom has trapped him with his webbing, until Harry Osborn (James Franco), under the guise of the New Goblin, comes to his friend's aid with his Goblin arsenal, and the two manage to defeat Sandman. After the fight, Sandman returns to his normal size, and after discovering Spider-Man's real identity, he reveals that his shooting of Ben Parker was an accident while he was trying to carjack Uncle Ben. At this time, Ben reasoned with him. Before Flint could decide, his accomplice Carradine had came out and startled him by grabbing his arm, causing Flint to shoot Ben by accident. It took Flint several days to overcome his guilt over the death. Realizing the truth, Spider-Man forgives him, and a repentant Marko shapeshifts and flies away.
Video and Computer games
- Sandman appears in the Spider-Man Questprobe game.
- Sandman is a boss character in the game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. He rises from a sandbox and must be dissipated by striking him with water.
- Sandman is the second boss in Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six for the NES.
- Sandman appeared as a villain twice in Spider-Man: The Video Game.
- Sandman appears as a boss in Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six.
- Sandman appeared in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro for the PlayStation. He chases Spider-Man all over a construction site, and the hero must turn industrial hoses on him to disrupt his integrity.
- Sandman appears in the 'Spider-Man 3 video game, which is based on the film.
Action figures
Sandman was one of the action figures included in Toy Biz's Spider-Man Classics series 12 and re-released in 2005's series 17.
Sandman is also one of the numerous characters produced in the Marvel line of the block-figures called Minimates.
References
- ^ Larsen, Erik; Spider-Man Vol.1 #18-23; January 1992-June 1992