Cottonmouth (Cornell Stokes) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books 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 ...

. The character was portrayed by

Mahershala Ali Mahershala Ali (; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore, February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. ''Time'' magazine named him one of th ...

in the first season of the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

television series ''

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

''.

Publication history

The character first appeared in '' Luke Cage, Power Man'' #18 (June 1974) in a story written by Len Wein and drawn by

George Tuska George Tuska (; April 26, 1916 – October 16, 2009),George Tuska
at the

. Cornell Cottonmouth, or just Cottonmouth, started out as a drug kingpin in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was involved in the events that led to

gaining super powers and becoming "Power Man". Cottonmouth tried to recruit Cage to his organization, but was ultimately knocked out and turned over to police by Cage. During the " Shadowland" storyline, Cottonmouth returned as part of Nightshade's gang, Flashmob where they come into conflict with Daredevil as well as a new Power Man, who, like his predecessor, knocked Cottonmouth out and turned him over to police.

Fictional character biography

Not much is known about Cornell Cottonmouth's history except that he has established himself as a drug lord in New York. When

Willis Stryker Diamondback (Willis Stryker) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is primarily an enemy of Luke Cage and is notable for being the first major supervillain that he faced. The character was portr ...

wanted to frame Carl Lucas, he stole a shipment of heroin from Cottonmouth's organization. Upon changing his name to Luke Cage, Carl decided to track down the drugs that were used to frame him. Cage used a number of informants in his search. The informant Flea was successful in his search yet his investigations were discovered. Before dying from the poisons inflicted on him by Cottonmouth's men, Flea managed to inform Cage of his discovery. Upon learning who sent Flea to infiltrate his organization, Cottonmouth got the idea of recruiting Cage to his organization. He sent his trademark snakes to Luke's office "to show him that he means business." Cottonmouth then sent his henchmen Mike and Ike to make an offer to Luke. Luke managed to take out the snakes and defeat Mike and Ike. Mike ended up snitching to Luke where Cottonmouth was located. Luke agreed to join Cottonmouth's organization (to learn where his records were kept). Cottonmouth then began to test Cage's loyalty by sending him to steal a shipment of heroin from the rival crimeboss, Morgan. After Cage's success, he earned Cottonmouth's trust and began working for him until Cottonmouth caught Cage attempting to steal his records. Cottonmouth attacked Luke and was assisted by his henchman Slick. Cage then knocked Cottonmouth into Slick who fell out a window to his death. When Cottonmouth stated that the supposed records were in Slick's mind, Luke slammed Cottonmouth into an oak desk where Cottonmouth fell unconscious. Cage then called the police to come pick up Cottonmouth. During the 2010 " Shadowland" storyline, Cottonmouth appeared as a member of Nightshade's gang called the Rivals. Cottonmouth established a section of turf where he sold drugs and hired out prostitutes only for him to be attacked by Hand ninjas that were sent by Daredevil. However, Power Man arrived dispersing the Hand ninjas and then Power Man broke Cottonmouth's teeth. Cottonmouth later had his broken teeth replaced by gold-capped sharp teeth. When Power Man was apparently beaten and defeated by five corrupt police officers, Cottonmouth prepared to bite off a part of Power Man's face only to be leashed by Nightshade. At first, Cottonmouth was surprised when Nightshade offered Power Man to become her enforcer. Cottonmouth then became pleased when Nightshade had set up Power Man to fight Iron Fist. To Nightshade's surprise, Power Man managed to side with Iron Fist and knocked out Cottonmouth while Nightshade escaped. During the 2011 "

Spider-Island "Spider-Island" is a 2011 comic book storyline starting in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and crossing over into other comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of which were limited series or one-shots specifically for this storyline. The main ...

" storyline, Cottonmouth alongside Nightshade and Flashmob (consisting of Chemistro, Cheshire Cat, Commanche, Dontrell "Cockroach" Hamilton, Mr. Fish, and Spear) tried to leave a spider-infested Manhattan by crossing a bridge only to be stopped by

Misty Knight Mercedes "Misty" Knight is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Tony Isabella and Arvell Jones, Knight was first mentioned (by name) in ''Marvel Premiere'' #20 (Jan. 1975) and appeared in ...

and her

Heroes for Hire Heroes for Hire are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in '' Power Man and Iron Fist'' #54 (December 1978), and was created by Ed Hannigan and Lee Elias. The team continued to ap ...

(consisting of Black Cat,

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

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Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, where ...

, and

Silver Sable Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...

). Cottonmouth next appears as one of the competitors in an underground fight club that is broken up 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 ...

Gambit A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word '' gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe sim ...

, and Fat Cobra. Cottonmouth was at some point arrested and imprisoned in Ryker's Island, which he escapes from during a riot that occurs during "

Civil War II "Civil War II" is a 2016 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in June of that year, it is the sequel to 2006's "Civil War" and consists of a nine-issue eponymous core limited series, by writer Brian Michael Bendis ...

". With all of his assets either seized by the FBI or appropriated by Tombstone, a desperate Cottonmouth reaches out to Piranha Jones for help, and is convinced by Jones to side with him and Black Cat in an upcoming war for control of Harlem. Unimpressed by the duo's plans, Cottonmouth abandons them in favor of joining Alex Wilder's New Pride.

Powers and abilities

Cottonmouth has super-strength that rivals Luke Cage. He also has sharp teeth that he had sharpened to resemble fangs; combined with his jaw-strength they are capable of piercing Cage's "unbreakable" skin. Cottonmouth also has a good knowledge of different poisons.

Other versions

Cottonmouth appears in the

Marvel Comics 2 Marvel Comics 2 is an imprint from Marvel Comics whose comic books depict an alternative future timeline for the Marvel Universe. The imprint was spun off from the events of '' What If?'' #105 (February 1998), which was the first appearance of the ...

series ''The Amazing Spider-Girl'' as the head of

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

branch of

Black Tarantula Black Tarantula is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #419 (January 1997), and makes his first full appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' ...

's criminal empire. When a new villain called the Crimelord acquires and attempts to sell the Kingpin's files, Cottonmouth attends the auction for them in Black Tarantula's stead. The auction being crashed by the

Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...

and Spider-Girl leads to Cottonmouth and most of the other criminals present being arrested by the NYPD.

In other media

Cornell Bertram "Cottonmouth" Stokes appears in ''

'', portrayed by

as an adult and Elijah Boothe as a teenager. This version despises his nickname, which was derived from a childhood incident wherein several of his teeth were knocked out, is capable of killing people bare-handed, the grandson of Harlem crime lord Maybelline "Mama Mabel" Stokes, cousin of city councilwoman Mariah Dillard, and was part of a gang in his youth alongside barbershop owner, Robert "Pop" Hunter. In the present, Stokes publicly operates as the owner of the Harlem's Paradise nightclub while privately working as a private arms dealer alongside Dillard, his assistant Shades, and several corrupt police officers on his payroll. While attempting to kill a group of street thugs who interrupted a deal he was conducting, Cottonmouth runs afoul of

and Pop is killed in the crossfire of a botched hit on the last thug. Cage retaliates by attacking Cottonmouth's stash houses and depleting the arms dealer's fortune, but NYPD Detective Rafael Scarfe sells out Cage to Cottonmouth, who makes several failed attempts to kill Cage or drive him out of Harlem. Meanwhile, after internal affairs starts to investigate his actions, Scarfe attempts to blackmail Cottonmouth, who shoots him and leaves him for dead. Before he dies, Scarfe tells Cage and

Claire Temple Claire Temple is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is a medical doctor primarily affiliated with the superhero Luke Cage and is one of his early love interests. Starting in 2015, a versio ...

everything he knows about Cottonmouth's operation. Cottonmouth is subsequently arrested, but the Stokes' family lawyer Benjamin Donovan bails him out. While addressing the fallout, Stokes gets into an argument with Dillard over their upbringing, during which he invokes memories of their uncle raping her as a child, leading to her killing him and framing Cage for it.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cottonmouth (Cornell Cottonmouth) Characters created by George Tuska Characters created by Len Wein Comics characters introduced in 1974 Fictional African-American people Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength Marvel Comics supervillains Fictional crime bosses Luke Cage