The Hypno-Hustler is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. A feature film centered around the character is in development, as a part of

Sony's Spider-Man Universe Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the f ...

Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...

is cast in the lead role.

Publication history

Hypno-Hustler first appeared in ''

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics. Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...

'' #24 (November 1978), created by

Bill Mantlo William Timothy Mantlo (born November 9, 1951) is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: ''Micronauts'' and ''Ro ...

and

Frank Springer Frank Springer (December 6, 1929 – April 2, 2009) was an American comics artist best known for Marvel Comics' '' Dazzler'' and '' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.''. As well, in collaboration with writer Michael O'Donoghue, Springer created one o ...

Fictional character biography

Antoine Desloin is the

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

of the Mercy Killers, going by the name of Hypno-Hustler. He and his band were scheduled to perform at a nightclub called "Beyond Forever". When the club's manager catches Hypno-Hustler robbing his safe, Hypno-Hustler used his hypnotic equipment on the manager. When it came time to perform, Hypno-Hustler and his band used their hypnotizing equipment on the audience in a plan to rob them as well. Peter Parker was at the club at the time and changed into

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

. During the fight, Spider-Man discovered that Hypno-Hustler's headphones protected him from his own hypnotic music. Spider-Man managed to remove them from Hypno-Hustler causing him to become a victim of his own hypnosis. When the audience was free of the hypnosis, Hypno-Hustler and his Mercy Killers were webbed up and left for the police. Hypno-Hustler later appeared at the Vil-Anon meeting with

Armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

, Big Wheel,

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

Man-Bull The Man-Bull is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character made its live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law'', played by Nate Hurd. Publ ...

, and Schizoid Man. When Tombstone needed a heart bypass when in prison, Hypno-Hustler was among the inmates that Tombstone hired to protect him. During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, Hypno-Hustler comes into the police station wanting help as Spider-Man is on a rampage against the villains ever since Menace's baby was stolen from her by the

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

. After

Tinkerer Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...

repairs his costume, Hypno-Hustler tries to escape from prison only to be defeated by

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...

and Spider-Man. During the " Hunted" storyline, Hypno-Hustler was seen as a patron at the Pop-Up with No Name.

Powers and abilities

The Hypno-Hustler can perform

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

with the aid of his guitar, and when teamed with his backup band, The Mercy Killers, can perform mass hypnosis. His boots can emit knockout gas on demand, and have retractable knives in the soles.

Other versions

''House of M''

Hypno-Hustler made a cameo in ''

House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of crossover tie-in books. Its fir ...

'' in the crowds and it was not revealed if he played a part in this reality.

''Spider-Man: Reign''

In the alternate future of '' Spider-Man: Reign'' as conceived by

Kaare Andrews Kaare Andrews is a comic book writer, artist and filmmaker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His work includes '' Spider-Man'', '' Iron Fist'', '' Renato Jones'', and '' Incredible Hulk''. Andrews has a diverse drawing style, which ranges from hyper ...

, in which many

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es had grown old and retired, Hypno-Hustler is an aged supervillain, now sympathizing with

. Realizing that Spider-Man is coming out of retirement and the Reign will be challenged, he attempts to help by using his old hypno-music from a boombox to distract Reign officers and encourage citizens to revolt. However, his boombox loses battery power and the Reign officers swiftly retaliate with deadly force, killing him immediately.

In other media

Film

* A solo Hypno-Hustler movie set in

is currently in development by

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

with

set to star and produce.

Television

* Hypno-Hustler appears in '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes''. In the episode "Some Assembly Required", his head can be seen as part of the escaped criminals that are supposed to be hunted down by the Avengers. In "This Hostage Earth", Hawkeye tries to remember

Chemistro Three characters have taken the moniker of the supervillain Chemistro appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Publication history The Curtis Carr version of Chemistro first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #12 and wa ...

's name, and mentions Hypno-Hustler, along with Paste-Pot Pete, as one of his likely names.

Video games

* Hypno-Hustler is mentioned in the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

, and

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

versions of '' Spider-Man: Friend or Foe''. When Spider-Man faces

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, he says, "Startin' to scrape the bottom of the ol' villain barrel, eh? Who's next, Hypno-Hustler?" Rhino then comments, "I'll Hypno-Hustle *you*". * Hypno-Hustler appears as an assist character in the PlayStation 2 and

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

versions of '' Spider-Man: Web of Shadows''. When summoned, he can vanquish all of the enemies in the area by his guitar.

Reception

The Hypno-Hustler has received negative reviews as a supervillain, sometimes being ranked as one of the worst supervillains in comic books due to his outdated 1970s camp factor. ''

ShortList A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

'' ranked the Hypno-Hustler as the second worst supervillain of all time. Meanwhile,

heavy.com Heavy is a news aggregation platform based in New York City. It operates through its flagship website, Heavy.com, and Spanish-language platform, AhoraMismo.com. The website specializes in "5 Fast Facts" posts, which aggregate facts about trending ...

listed him as one of the 20 worst supervillains.

CraveOnline Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company Evolve Media, LLC. Mandatory focuses its contents into the male- ...

put the Hypno-Hustler at number 3 of their "five Spider-Man villains you will never see in theaters" list, describing him as "a recurring joke in the

Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians of ...

for decades". Tony Wilson of

Dorkly CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

referenced him as one of Spider-Man's "Dumbest Forgotten Villains" in his "Today in Nerd History"

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

video. In 2022, ''

CBR.com ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' ranked Hypno-Hustler 7th in their "Spider-Man's 10 Funniest Villains" list, while ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' ranked Hypno-Huster 9th in their "10 Most Powerful Silk Villains In Marvel Comics" list.

References

External links

Hypno-Hustler
at Marvel.com
Hypno-Hustler
at Marvel Wiki
Hypno-Hustler
at Comic Book Database

at the Appendix to the Marvel Handbook {{DEFAULTSORT:Hypno-Hustler Characters created by Bill Mantlo Comics characters introduced in 1978 Fictional singers Fictional technopaths Marvel Comics supervillains Marvel Comics male supervillains Fictional African-American people Spider-Man characters Fictional hypnotists and indoctrinators