Nightwatch, also known as Nighteater, is a fictional character 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 ...
. He exists in Marvel's main
shared universe
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...
, known as 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 ...
.
Publication history
Nightwatch's alter ego, Dr. Kevin Barry Trench, first appeared in 1993, in ''
Web of Spider-Man
''Web of Spider-Man'' is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran f ...
'' #97. Trench went and took on the Nightwatch identity two issues later, in ''Web of Spider-Man'' #99.
Most of his appearances came in the 1990s in various titles starring
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 ...
and in his own short-lived, self-titled key series. One of his more prominent roles was in the
Maximum Carnage
"Maximum Carnage" is a 14-part comic book fictional crossover, crossover published in Marvel Comics' ''Spider-Man'' family of titles in 1993 in comics, 1993. It featured Spider-Man, Venom (Marvel Comics character), Venom, and a host of other super ...
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
, a fourteen-part miniseries that ran in the ''Spider-Man'' titles in 1993. The character returned in a 2014-2015 storyline in ''
She-Hulk
She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...
'', in which he was
retroactively revealed as originally being a supervillain known as Nighteater.
Fictional character biography
Original appearances
Doctor Kevin Trench, upon witnessing a costumed man seemingly die battling some terrorists armed with invisibility-generating 'cloaking" devices, unmasked the body afterward to learn that it was an older version of himself.
Freaking out, Trench stripped the costume from "his" body and fled to a deserted island, reasoning that if he just never wore the suit or went home, he would not die.
['']Web of Spider-Man
''Web of Spider-Man'' is the name of two different monthly comic book series starring Spider-Man that have been published by Marvel Comics since 1985, the first volume of which ran for 129 issues between 1985 and 1995, and the second of which ran f ...
'' #100 (May 1993) Events conspired to bring him back, as the criminal Alfredo stole one of the costume gloves after washing up on the island and being nursed to health by Trench. After Alfredo had been dealt with, Trench decided that he could not avoid his destiny, and decided to investigate the costume's origins.
As the superhero Nightwatch, Trench battled menaces such as the "Maximum Carnage" gang, who were wreaking havoc across New York and slaughtering dozens of innocent civilians. He had many allies in the fight, including, but not limited to,
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
,
Black Cat
A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay b ...
,
Deathlok
Deathlok (also referred to as Deathlok the Demolisher) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Astonishing Tales'' #25 (Aug. 1974), created by Rich Buckler. At least three subs ...
and
Firestar.
[''Web of Spider-Man'' #103 (August 1993)] He also fought the mutated Deathmask. Graduating into his own book, Nightwatch encountered similar "cloaked" villains, and was shocked when their technology merged with and enhanced his costume. In between battling menaces like Flashpoint,
Cardiac
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...
(whose technology had been stolen to create the more vicious Cardiaxe), and
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
, Nightwatch discovered that an old ex-girlfriend was working for the shady Morelle Pharmaceuticals on a nanotech project.
Ultimately, project head Phillip Morelle proved to be recklessly conducting nanotech experiments to make a replacement skin for his dying son Justin. Nightwatch fought his way onto Phillip Morelle's space station to confront him but not before Phillip sends two assassins into the past to kill Nightwatch using his nanotechnology to open a time portal. Much to both Nightwatch and Phillips surprise that same time technology allows a future version of Justin Morelle to travel into the present. Future Justin, armed with a more advanced version of Nightwatch's own suit, kills his father and reveals that the nanotechnology his father was developing produced a dangerously unstable energy matrix that in his timeline devastated North America killing billions. Justin upgraded Nightwatch's armor to its final evolution and the two of them worked together to destroy the space station before the disaster could happen. In the present-day epilogue, Justin Morelle, the son of Phillip and Trench's ex, received the nanotech skin from the project as his father had dreamed. Seeing his ex happy with her healed son, Nightwatch seemingly chose to travel into the past and complete the time loop with Cardiac's help, ensuring his own death but also ensuring the cataclysm timeline would never come to pass ensuring this happy ending would be the true timeline. The series seemingly ends with Kevin's trip into the past while the future Justin's fate remains unclear. Sometime later, still in the present, Nightwatch is shot in the chest by
El Toro Negro, and uses the last of his costume's power to go back in time to warn his past self. In the past, he is distracted by a fight with terrorists and seemingly dies before he can warn himself.
''She-Hulk'' Vol. 3
The character reappears in the 2014-2015 run of ''
She-Hulk
She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...
''. In the story, Kevin Trench reappears in street clothes at the newly established law practice of Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. the
She-Hulk
She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...
, regarding a legal case referred to only as "the blue file", involving several costumed superhumans, including Walters and Trench, which an unrevealed agency seems determined to keep unresolved. Trench is revealed to have survived his original previously established "death", that his original younger self had merely mistaken him for dead and stripped his body, and working in the past, he is stated as having previously and continuing to currently "keeping....an ''extremely'' low profile", using the Nightwatch nanotech sparingly while maintaining a medical practice and doing charity work until he had returned chronologically to the present, significantly older and wealthy. He aids Walters in beating back a sudden assault from grotesque creatures, donning the Nightwatch helmet and manifesting tentacles from the inner surface of his trench coat. A few days later, he calls Walters and informs her that he has spread word of her fledgling law practice to other "guys from back in the day--people like me who took what they could from the
uperherogame and moved on", bringing an influx of new potential clients to Walters' office.
However, it is later discovered that Trench himself is behind the attempts to keep Walters from further investigating the "blue file": legal papers regarding a lawsuit filed in a North Dakota county court which names She-Hulk and a small group of heroes and villains as defendants. The suit is a mystery to all involved, as none have any recollection of the plaintiff or having participated in any event in North Dakota. Furthermore, there are no records of any kind or any memories of anyone in the superhero or local community, nor any record of the town in which the actionable event was supposed to have taken place had ever existed.
It is ultimately revealed that in the years after leaving the island, Trench became the supervillain known as "Nighteater". Eventually wishing to become a lower-level
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, ...
for selfish reasons – realizing villains never "win" and that "heroes" are ensured respect, money, power, and a comfortable and safe retirement – Trench hired
Doctor Druid
Doctor Anthony Druid, also known as Doctor Droom and Druid, is a fictional mystic and a supernatural monster- hunter appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller Jack Kirby, ...
,
The Shocker, and
Vibro to aid him in casting a powerful spell that effectively "
retconned
Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...
" all memories and all existing documented history into believing that "Nightwatch" had worked for years in the superhero community. The spell consumed the lives of the hundreds of residents of the North Dakota town in which it was cast. It was so successful, however, that when it was complete, four heroes who had been trying to save the town –
She-Hulk
She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...
,
Tigra
Tigra (Greer Grant Nelson) is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Introduced as the superpowered and gadget-wielding crime fighter the Cat in ''The Claws of the Cat'' #1 (November 1972). The ...
,
Monica Rambeau
Monica Rambeau is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr., the character debuted in ''The Amazing Spider-Man Annual'' #16 (October 1982). Monica w ...
, and
Wyatt Wingfoot
Wyatt Wingfoot is a fictional supporting character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
While having no superpowers, he has spent much time in the company of the Fantastic Four due to his friendship with Human Torch, a ...
– immediately joined Nightwatch in bringing Druid, Shocker, and Vibro to justice.
[''She-Hulk'' #12 (February 2015)]
A lone survivor of the town, whom She-Hulk had carried outside of the town limits and had promised to bring Nighteater to justice, remained aware of Nightwatch having previously been Nighteater and of his sacrificing the townspeople's lives. After failing to convince the law enforcement or local hero communities that anything had happened whatsoever, the survivor had filed the civil suit against Trench and the other heroes and villains present, leaving behind a single document that She-Hulk's paralegal was able to locate. She was able to use this document (and her own unexplained mystic powers) to break She-Hulk and her team of their convictions in Nighteater's false history, and that he has later arranged for the lone survivor to be killed. Nightwatch a.k.a. Nighteater was then brought to justice.
Powers and abilities
Nightwatch's costume boosted his strength and durability by triggering his adrenal glands, and nanotechnologically repaired itself. His cape responded to his subconscious thoughts to move on its own to attack his foes as well as allowing him to glide on air. After he was boosted by the later-generation Morelle technology, the durability of the costume increased, the cape became more metallic, and he had something closer to true flight in addition to increased speed and eventually nanotech cutting blades. These qualities were later also applied to his trenchcoat.
In other media
Film
* A ''Nightwatch'' film was claimed to be in development for
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 ...
.
In March 2018, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported that
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
was in talks to direct the film. Lee denied being attached to the film in late 2018.
References
External links
*
{{Spider-Man characters
African-American superheroes
Comics characters introduced in 1993
Marvel Comics characters who use magic
Marvel Comics male superheroes
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics superheroes
Marvel Comics supervillains
Fictional African-American people
Fictional mass murderers
Vigilante characters in comics