BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Back in 2012, a certain film known as
The Amazing Spider-Man hit theatres everywhere. Of course based on the Marvel Comics character, the film served as both a reboot following the critically acclaimed (
Spider-Man 3 aside) trilogy of Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man films, and a start to a new series in the franchise. The film intentionally set up a few mysteries for the sequels, perhaps the most talked about of which being the identity of the mysterious figure credited only as "The Man In The Shadows," which aroused much fan speculation. Consequently, many of these mysteries were solved in the 2014 sequel,
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise Of Electro, one of which being the identity of said shadowy figure. We now know for a fact that he is Gustav Fiers, the supervillain known as
The Gentleman.
The Man In The Shadows in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)
The Gentleman is a pretty obscure villain, so before I begin, I will give you some background on Mr. Fiers and who he is. The Gentleman comes from a Sinister Six storyline of novels (set in the 616 universe) written by Adam Troy Castro. The Gentleman is a criminal mastermind with a vast fortune and intellect with virtually unlimited resources and is indirectly responsible for the deaths of Peter Parker's parents.
For those who don't know, in the mainstream 616 comic books, Parker's parents (Richard and Mary Parker) are spies who work for SHIELD. As SHIELD agents, they were hired to spy on the Red Skull, who was actually an imposter named Albert Malik at this point in the continuity. When Malik discovered that the Parkers were spies, he hired an assassin named
Karl Fiers AKA The Finisher to kill them. The Finisher was able to successfully carry out the assassination while they were on a aeroplane. Decades later, the Finisher is killed in a battle with Spider-Man (see the fifth annual of
The Amazing Spider-Man comic series for more on that).
The Finisher and Albert Malik (Red Skull II) as they appear in the comics
Now let's rewind for a second: how did the Red Skull figure out Richard and Mary Parker? In the novels, it is revealed that The Gentleman figured it out first and told the Skull. This prompted Red Skull to hire an assassin (who just happened to be The Gentleman's brother) to carry out the assassination. The Gentleman told the Skull because he already wanted revenge on the Parkers due to them foiling one of his earlier plans.
The Gentleman physically abusing Pity in front of the Sinister Six
Years later, The Gentleman would learn that the son of the Parkers was bitten by a radioactive spider and is currently the masked hero known as Spider-Man. Aware that Spider-Man had killed his brother and of his his secret identity, he formed a long, drawn out plan to gain revenge on the web slinger. This involved him creating a new Sinister Six. One of the members was his brainwashed henchgirl
Pity, who has the psionic shadow powers. To ensure the Sinister Six didn't turn on him, the Gentleman blackmailed some of the members, including Dock Ock, who he frequently under-estimated and mistreated. Long story short, the "master plan" failed, Pity was killed and, while the Gentleman may be an evil genius, he failed to realise that Otto Octavius is Spider-Man's most ingenious villain as he was killed at the hands of Doc Ock and The Chameleon.
Ultimate Richard and Mary Parker (Earth-1610)
In the Ultimate Comics, Richard Parker is re-imagined as a scientist working for Trask Industries with the father of Eddie Brock. They were working on the Venom symbiote as a cure for diseases. Whenever they became aware that the corrupt Bolivar Trask may have been planning on using the symbiote as a weapon, they tried to escape with the symbiote on a plane which ultimately (no pun intended) crashed.
Richard Parker working with Norman Osborn in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
In the movie universe, Richard Parker is a scientist working for Oscorp. He and Norman Osborn were working on Spider-Venom (no relation to the supervillain of the same name) that could possibly cure diseases (much like with the Venom symbiote in the Ultimate Comics). When Parker discovered that Osborn was planning on using his research for biological weapons, he and his wife were framed by Oscorp for a crime they didn't commit and they tried to escape on a plane. On the plane, an unnamed assassin tried to kill the Parkers, resulting in a plane crash in which everyone was killed.
Back in 2012, before the reveal that the so-called "Man In The Shadows" was revealed to be The Gentleman/Gustav Fiers, Rhys Ifans (actor who plays Curt Conners in the series) confirmed that the character was and I quote
"a representative of Oscorp."
MY THEORY
Here is what I believe. In The Amazing Spider-Man, The Gentleman is able to appear and leave Curt Conners' holding cell by simply stepping in and out of shadow. This shadow is almost certainly the work of Pity. I don't remember Pity using her shadow for transportation purposes in the novels (keep in mind I haven't read them in a few years), so it is very likely that Marc Webb/Sony will be upgrading Pity's shadow powers.
Richard Parker struggling with the unnamed assassin on the plane in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
As far as The Gentleman's purposes, these are my thoughts: the unnamed assassin who was hired by Oscorp to kill the Parkers was The Finisher. The Gentleman was working for Oscorp long before the corporation betrayed the Parkers or the Parkers betrayed the corporation depending on how you look at it. The Gentleman was ordered by Norman Osborn to over-see the assassination of the Parkers. Considering the Parkers are seemingly unskilled in combat, The Gentleman (who often thinks very lowly of other human beings, which sometimes leads to him under-estimating them) sent his brother to kill the Parkers and parachute out of the plane. The plan backfires and everyone dies.
Now that the Parkers and The Finisher are dead, The Gentleman wants revenge for his brother's death (his brother was one of the few people he actually cared for in the source material). However, he is aware that the Parkers have a son. Being a higher up at Oscorp, The Gentleman was very much aware of the Spider situation with Peter Parker and he knew very much about Peter as he has spent years observing the footage of Oscorp spying on Peter and his family (the spying was revealed by Harry to Peter in the trailers and a deleted scene for
The Amazing Spider-Man 2). This means The Gentleman is very much aware of Spider-Man's identity and is forming a plan for vengeance on Peter Parker. A plan that Norman Osborn (who faked his death in
The Amazing Spider-Man 2) may be unaware of.
The Gentleman beginning to form the Sinister Six in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
The ending scene in
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with The Gentleman and Harry Osborn shows that Harry Osborn is in on the plan and will lead his Sinister Six as The Green Goblin. When he says that "Spider-Man's gone," he means that Peter has just quit and both he and Harry are aware that Peter is alive and well ("well" as far as physical health goes, anyway). The Gentleman's plan will involve the Sinister Six in some capacity and will be attempted to be carried out over the course of the
Sinister Six spin-off and
The Amazing Spider-Man 3. Norman Osborn has plans for Peter Parker of his own and either The Gentleman and Norman will share the same goal or they will come into conflict in
The Amazing Spider-Man 3. The Gentleman will likely die in the climax of
The Amazing Spider-Man 3, perhaps at the hands of Norman Osborn.
Agree or disagree? Feel free to share as I try to read every comment in my articles and respond to some of them. This article is done under the assumption that
Spider-Man will not be rebooted, seeing as the future of the franchise is currently in question.