John Jameson (character)

John Jameson debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.[1] This first story introduces the character as a prominent astronaut.

During his lengthy stint on The Amazing Spider-Man during the 1970s, writer Gerry Conway had Jameson turned into a werewolf, with the new alias "the Man-Wolf". Conway explained:

I'd wanted to do something with [John Jameson] for a long time. I felt like he was a character who'd gotten lost over the years. Also, at this point, it's 1973, John Jameson is an astronaut, and we've been to the moon, so I asked myself, "What would we do with that in Spider-Man's world?" And that was how it played out. It also added another layer of tension to Spider-Man's relationship with J. Jonah Jameson. As a writer, you always want to find a way to increase the pressure on the main character, to increase the involvement of other characters with that character. Consequently, anything that could make Jonah's hatred of Spider-Man more intense and at the same time more understandable was a useful device dramatically.[2]

As the Man-Wolf, Jameson was the lead feature in Creatures on the Loose #30-37 (July 1974-September 1975).[3]

Born in New York City, John Jonah Jameson III is the son of The Daily Bugle's irascible, gruff publisher J. Jonah Jameson Jr. and Joan and the grandson of J. Jonah Jameson Sr. Jonah is immensely proud of his son, whom he sees as a true hero. Initially an astronaut, he was first seen being saved by Spider-Man when his craft malfunctioned on re-entry,[1] something that did nothing to endear the wall-crawler to his father resenting Spider-Man's form of heroism.[4]

On a later mission, Jameson was infected with spores that gave him super-strength, but strained his body and mind. He was forced to wear a strength-restraining Jupiter suit and battled Spider-Man at his father's urging before recovering and calling himself "Colonel Jupiter". His father convinced him to go after Spider-Man, who had been seen apparently robbing a bank. The web-slinger outsmarted him, and Jonah soon learned that Spider-Man was saving the bank from a bomb. However, Jameson did not care about the misunderstanding and was really out for revenge. Spider-Man managed to neutralize the spores with electricity, returning Jameson to normal.[5][6]

While he was on the Moon, Jameson found the mystical Godstone, an other-dimensional ruby.[7] The jewel grafted itself to his throat (after he made it into a pendant and started wearing it around his neck) and extended tendrils through his body. Moonlight activated the gem, which transformed him into the lycanthropic Man-Wolf,[8] and he fought Spider-Man in this bestial form.[9] The ruby was removed by Spider-Man.[10] Some time after that, the ruby was reattached to Jameson by Morbius the Living Vampire[11] who used the Man-Wolf as a pawn so that Morbius could find a cure for his condition. The Man-Wolf was again defeated by Spider-Man.[12]

Later, he was transported to the dimension known as the Other Realm, from which the ruby originated and which was the source of the radiation from the ruby that transformed Jameson into the Man-Wolf. It was revealed that the ruby was created by the dying Stargod to pass on his powers to someone else. While on Earth, Jameson could only partially transform, resulting in his bestial form,[13] while in the Other Realm he could fully transform, resulting in retention of his human intelligence and speech while in lupine form. He took up the mantle of the Stargod, acted as champion of the Other Realm, and gained new powers such as telepathy and energy manipulation. He fought his foes with a sword, a dagger and a longbow and arrows in this incarnation.[14] Afterward, he opted to return to Earth, resulting in him losing the ability to fully transform and the loss of all memory of his ever being the Stargod. He became the Man-Wolf again during this period[15] and became the Stargod again at one point, teaming up with the She-Hulk and the Hellcat.[16] He later returned to Earth, becoming the Man-Wolf again, and allowed himself to be subjected to a procedure that destroyed the Godstone, restoring him to normal for some time.[17][18][19]

Jameson became the pilot of Captain America's personal Quinjet for a period, using the call-sign of "Skywolf". During this time, he was temporarily transformed into the Man-Wolf by Dredmond Druid, who wanted the power of the Stargod for himself. Jameson then left Captain America's employ due to his attraction to Diamondback (Captain America's then-girlfriend).[20]

Jameson remains friends with Spider-Man and often tries to convince his father to "let up on [Spider-Man]". He spent some time as Ravencroft's Head of Security and briefly dated its director, Dr. Ashley Kafka. The Carnage symbiote briefly overwhelmed Jameson, using him to commit further murders before Carnage eventually bonded with Ben Reilly (Spider-Man at that time). Both Jameson and Ashley were fired by a director who was angry about the Chameleon's escape and subsequent wounding by Kraven the Hunter. Via hypnotherapy, Kafka helped discover that Jack O'Lantern had caused him to attack his hospitalized father. This therapy also briefly unleashed Jameson's Man-Wolf form before Ashley was able to help Jameson suppress his changes once more.[21]

During the Civil War storyline, Jameson helped Captain America while the latter was in hiding. He was assisting She-Hulk in locating and signing up unregistered superheroes. Jameson had also been registered as the Man-Wolf under the Superhuman Registration Act. During this time, the villain Stegron the Dinosaur Man temporarily transformed him into the Man-Wolf again, as a side-effect of a mad scheme to devolve the entire population of New York City. He attacked Mary Jane Watson and May Parker in Avengers Tower, but was subdued by Tony Stark's Guardsmen before he could harm them.[22] Reed Richards subsequently cured him of this form.[23]

Jameson had been dating the She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) and the two had been living together for some time, along with Augustus Pugliese (the She-Hulk's co-worker).[24] Eventually, they eloped in Las Vegas.[25] However, Jameson was forced into becoming the Man-Wolf once more after being injected by a mysterious substance. After a brief rampage, Jameson stopped fighting his situation and became the Stargod again.[26] He now retains his intelligence while in the Man-Wolf's form, has the Stargod's powers and apparently can switch between his human and lupine forms at will. His current superhuman status can be defined in his own words as "I am a god" and is supported by a battle with a clone of the Mad Titan Thanos in which he held his own.[27] However, Jameson did not want to be the Stargod anymore because he felt that having the powers of a god made him arrogant and savage. The She-Hulk and the Stargod separated after the She-Hulk discovered that her feelings for Jameson were influenced prior to their marriage by Starfox[28] and after she had also learned that Jameson had hoped to convince Jennifer to give up the She-Hulk identity permanently.[29] Dejected, the Stargod sought adventure in outer space,[30] before finally returning to Earth.[31] He resumed his human form and tried to reconcile with Jennifer, but when Jennifer rejected him again, Jameson realized that their relationship was truly over and he signed the legal papers annulling their marriage.[32]

When it came to Jameson's next mission into space, Alistair Alphonso Smythe, the Scorpion and the new villain the Fly-Girl attacked the launch site with an army of cyborg minions (each one wanting revenge on his father, J. Jonah Jameson) where the three sabotaged the launch and held Jameson for ransom.[33] Jameson was saved in the end.

Soon after, Jameson was attacked on the Apogee 1 Space Station by co-workers who were being mind-controlled by Doctor Octopus, wanting to take control of the station. With the help of Spider-Man and the Human Torch, he was able to save the day and the station safely crashed into the ocean, its employees all alive and well.[34]

Jameson would eventually go to work in the military testing out anti-symbiote weapons technology for the U.S. Armed Forces.[35] He would eventually be contacted by Special Agent Clair Dixon in the tasking of apprehending Cletus Kasady; a.k.a. the supervillain known as Carnage. needing his expertise with the governmental developed Sonic Defense System on top of his experience with the alien-hosting serial killer.[36] Jameson had believed that, with the Godstone shattered by Spider-Man some years back, he had been normalized and would no longer transform into the Man-Wolf again.[37] But due to the regenerative nature of both it and its powers, his body would continually regrow a new jewel, which continued his transformations into the Man-Wolf.[38]

Jameson appeared as a member of the Agents of Wakanda in his Man-Wolf form. He was shown fighting vampires in outer space beyond lunar orbit.[39] While Jameson was investigating Doverton, he was taken over by Carnage and his cult.[40] Jameson was forced to lay a trap for Venom and Spider-Man at Ravencroft, killing several Ravencroft guards in the process. Jameson eventually threw off Carnage's control and the symbiote was purged from his body.[41]

Traumatized by his actions while mind-controlled, Jameson found it harder to change into the Man-Wolf. He became a security consultant at Ravencroft. During a prison riot that threatened to destroy the facility, Jameson overcame his traumas and regained his Man-Wolf form.[42] When Norman Osborn became Director of Ravencroft, he dismissed Jameson and other staff members who might interfere with Osborn's plans for the facility.[43]

Investigating an anomaly on the Moon, the Agents of Wakanda were attacked by Entea, an intelligent plant that had taken root there. Jameson became the Stargod again and the conflict with Entea ended once the Agents of Wakanda realized she was starving due to a lack of sustenance on the Moon. The Stargod opened a portal to the Other Realm for Entea to feed there, only to discover that, in his absence, some unknown disaster has reduced it to a desolate wasteland devoid of life. Still, Entea was able to use the nutrients in the soil to take root and bring life back to the Other Realm. The other Agents returned to Earth and the Stargod remained in the Other Realm to help Entea settle in and to investigate the disaster, intending to return to Earth once that was completed.[44]

John Jameson is a skilled pilot and astronaut and is experienced in hand-to-hand combat and the use of a variety of weapons. During his space flight to the gas giant planet Jupiter, alien spores found on the planet had attracted to and clung onto John on his return trip home.[45] These spores changed his anatomical physiology, causing him to enlarge and become physically denser than normal; he also ran the risk of cardiovascular and neurological complications without use of a specially designed weighted suit which monitored his bio-readings. Also, using his powers increased psychological instability, causing him to become increasingly more violent and aggressive whenever his emotions ran away with him.[46]

While Jameson was doing search and rescue missions in the Middle East, the American military discovered that another Godstone had grown within his body, the original having altered his physiology to the point that he now spawns replacement gems.[47] When the new Godstone is ripped out and crushed by Carnage, another immediately grows back and heals Jameson.[48]

The Man-Wolf was ranked #21 on Den of Geek's listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.[58]

In 2022, Screen Rant included Man-Wolf in their "10 Spider-Man Villains That Are Smarter Than They Seem" list.[59]

• John Jameson at Marvel.com