Rick Jones is one of Marvel’s strangest, most storied characters. Initially, he started as the Hulk’s sidekick, being the only person who could calm the green behemoth down. Then he joined the Avengers as an honorary member and became Captain America’s newest Bucky. Then he was bound to the original Captain Marvel through his Nega-Bands. He also served time as the Hulk, A-Bomb, and an undead vessel for the Thinker and One-Below-All. Needless to say, Rick has been all over the Marvel universe and connected with more heroes than practically anyone else. He’s been Marvel’s number one sidekick and a hero in his own right, and now he has a brand new identity.
Up until now, Rick tried to put the hero life behind him and focus on his career at the Daily Bugle. Unfortunately, he was dragged into the chaos surrounding the government hunting down the new Venom, Mary Jane. Before her identity was revealed, Rick was the number one suspect for Venom’s newest host, and the anti-symbiote organization S.C.A.R. kidnapped him. He escaped with the help of the Sleeper symbiote, Venom, and Agent Anti-Venom, but the Toxin symbiote was dying, so Rick volunteered to be its new host.
Introducing Captain Spider
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
After escaping the S.C.A.R. facility, Rick decided to stay bounded with Toxin. With some brand new superpowers at his disposal, Rick went right back to being a superhero like he had so many times before. When the superspeedy, social media-obsessed villain Blue Streak performed a major heist in an effort to show off his new gold ball cannon, Venom tried to stop him. Unfortunately, the unwilling symbiote pair was belayed by S.C.A.R.’s arrival, now led by Doctor Octopus. Seeing a perfect opportunity to test out his new partnership, Rick and Toxin leaped into the fray to stop Blue Streak.
Toxin has a long history of being a villain, being the child of Carnage, and being prone to excessive violence. Rick tried to direct Toxin to be more heroic, but Toxin immediately quipped about seeing Blue Streak’s blood when Rick said tears. Toxin clearly wanted to prove to its new host that it could be heroic and overeagerly attack the small-time villain. The pair was doing fine until Doc Ock arrived on the scene and managed to restrain the newest symbiote hero. Just before Otto could take down Rick for good, MJ and Venom announced themselves with a brand new costume, cosplaying Spider-Man.
The Most Important Unsung Hero in Marvel
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Rick is a hero once again with his Captain Spider identity, and he certainly has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep Toxin in check. Of course, if there’s anyone who can turn the blood-crazed symbiote into a true hero, it would be Rick Jones. After all, Rick is consistently the person who can get through to the Hulk, even at the Jade Giant’s most monstrous. Rick’s tumultuous history has had him touch nearly every aspect of the Marvel Universe’s biggest names, and his newest identity finally connects him to Venom and Spider-Man, in a roundabout way.
I could easily see Rick becoming a side or supporting character in Venom’s or Spider-Man’s adventures in the future. Frankly, that’s just the kind of guy he is. Whenever Rick has the opportunity to assist or become a hero, he takes it up with almost zero hesitation, and this connection to Spider-Man is no different. Rick’s experience with the cosmic side of Marvel and the monstrous aspects through his adventures with Captain Marvel and Hulk, respectively, set him up to be the perfect mentor for symbiotes, who exist as a midway point between the two camps.
With a Spider-Man connection under his belt now, the only major heroes left that Rick hasn’t interacted closely with are the X-Men. It’s crazy to think that a character who started as a run-of-the-mill teenage sidekick could ascend to the heights that Rick has, but from being the Hulk’s conscience to the heroic Captain Spider, Rick has more than proved that he deserves to be a hero just as much as anyone else. Now all he has to do is actually stick around in the role long enough to leave an impression.
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