Typhoid Mary (comics)

Typhoid Mary
Textless cover of Daredevil #46 (June 2003).
Art by Alex Maleev.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance As Typhoid Mary:
Daredevil #254 (May 1988)

As Mutant Zero:
Avengers: The Initiative #4 (September 2007)
Created by As Typhoid Mary:
Ann Nocenti
John Romita Jr.

As Mutant Zero:
Dan Slott
Stefano Caselli
In-story information
Alter ego Mary Walker
Species Human Mutant
Team affiliations Hand
The Initiative
Shadow Initiative
Woman's Action Movement
Sisterhood of Mutants
Partnerships Kingpin
Notable aliases Innocent Mary, Mary Mezinis, Virgin Mary, Bloody Mary, Mutant Zero, Lyla Hughes, Siryn
Abilities Highly skilled athlete
Trained martial artist
Exceptional swordswoman
Excellent physical condition
Peak-level agility and reflexes
Pyrokinesis
Telekinesis
Limited mind control
Via Mutant Zero armor:
Enhanced strength
Arsenal of bladed weapons

Typhoid Mary (Mary Walker), also known as Bloody Mary and Mutant Zero, is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was initially depicted as an enemy of Daredevil, but has also come into conflict with Spider-Man and Deadpool.

The character was portrayed in the film Elektra by Natassia Malthe. Alice Eve portrays the character in the television series Iron Fist.

Publication history

Typhoid Mary first appeared in Daredevil #254 (May 1988), and was created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist John Romita Jr. Her name comes from early 20th-century Irish-American cook and typhoid fever carrier "Typhoid Mary" Mallon.[1]

She first appeared as Mutant Zero in Avengers: The Initiative #4 (September 2007) as a member of Henry Peter Gyrich's black ops team but she was eventually revealed to be this character. Prior to this, writer Dan Slott stated that the "mysterious character" was secretly a well-known character in disguise.[2]

She's a mutant chick who's been cover-worthy many times... When that mask comes off, there will be a 'whoa' among those reading it. People who don't even follow comics regularly will know who it is.

Fictional character biography

Typhoid Mary is an enemy and former lover of Daredevil with low level psionic powers, including telekinesis. She has been a professional criminal employed by organized crime syndicates as an assassin in the past. She is also gravely mentally ill.

Her condition was accidentally caused when Matt Murdock had tracked a villain down to the brothel where Mary worked. Matt attacked the man, but surprisingly, the women working at the brothel surrounded and attacked Matt. Panicking, Matt lashed out, knocking Mary out of the window. It was at this moment that she somehow became "Typhoid Mary" and vows no man would ever hurt her again.[3] In later appearances, however, she would imply that she was a victim of child abuse. [4]

Suffering from dissociative identity disorder, Mary Walker has three other abnormal personalities in addition to her seemingly healthy one. Her "Mary" personality is a timid, quiet, pacifist; her "Typhoid" personality is adventurous, lustful, and violent; and her "Bloody Mary" persona is brutal, sadistic, and misandrous. Mary once claimed that there was a fourth personality who is 'lost' but has not since been mentioned. Aside from highly developed martial arts skills, she also possesses telekinetic powers and, more dangerously, pyrokinesis, the ability to set people or objects in her immediate vicinity aflame.

In her first appearance, she met Murdock, and was hired as an assassin by the Kingpin.[5] She then first battled Daredevil, while beginning a romance with Murdock.[6] She temporarily reverted to her "Mary" personality,[7] but then reverted to her "Typhoid" personality, and began a romance with the Kingpin.[8] She hired Bullet, Bushwacker, Ammo, and the Wild Boys to attack Daredevil,[9] and then personally led these criminals against the blind vigilante.[10]

A favorite pawn of the Kingpin, Typhoid frequently battled and had a love-hate relationship with Daredevil before disappearing. Through hypnosis, the abnormal and psychotic personalities were suppressed from Walker's consciousness, and she began to lead a normal life, becoming an actress on a soap opera. She was sent by Doctor Doom to learn the secrets of Kymellian technology from Power Pack during the Acts of Vengeance.[11] She was subsequently in the Kingpin's employ once again, and met Bullseye.[12] She helped thwart an attempt on the Kingpin's life by Crossbones.[13] At one point, as she struggled to keep her multiple personalities under control, she befriended Mary Jane Watson and battled Spider-Man when Bloody Mary resurfaced and she began killing men who committed domestic abuse. With the web-slinger's help, Mary regained control and voluntarily turned herself in to the police for treatment.[14]

At one point, Mary was confined to a mental institution where each personality hired a mercenary. Mary hired Deadpool to kill her, Typhoid hired him to break her out, and Bloody Mary hired The Vamp/Animus to break her out to resume a killing spree. Deadpool defeated the Vamp/Animus but refused to kill Mary, allowing the Typhoid personality to become dominant.[15] Typhoid and Deadpool had a few adventures together, including traveling to New York City to confront Daredevil for accidentally kicking her out of the brothel some years ago (as she regained the memories of this incident when Deadpool pushed her out of a window), before Deadpool attempted to reform Typhoid. This did not go well and the two eventually separated after she seduced him while disguised as Siryn.[16]

Following a series of events involving the Kingpin (fall from power, subsequent near-death coma, recovery, rising back to power, and taking out enemies to retook the criminal empire),[17] the Kingpin distracts Daredevil by paying a visit to Walker at her show and, with a blunt slap, released the abnormal personalities. Murdock's bodyguards Luke Cage and Jessica Jones managed to take her down after she confronted Daredevil's secret identity and set the man on fire. Mary was imprisoned on a maximum security prison for super-powered criminals.[18]

Electro later led an attack on the Raft, breaking out the prisoners. While the Avengers arrived and managed to stop some of the prisoners, Mary managed to escape and was briefly mentioned as once more working for the Kingpin.[19]

The Initiative

Mutant Zero, art by Stefano Caselli.

At some point after the superhuman Civil War's events, she is found by Henry Peter Gyrich and recruited into the Initiative program as "Mutant Zero", although her identity as Typhoid Mary was kept secret from her teammates. It's unknown whether she suffered some sort of psychotic episode which left her too unstable to be left to her own devices or whether she sought out treatment and joined of her own free will. Gyrich reveals that Mutant Zero is a mutant that not only remained empowered following M-Day, but one that is not included in the official record of the remaining mutants. Technically not existing in any official capacity, her true identity is made classified and she is given the Mutant Zero codename. According to Dr. Leonard Samson, Mutant Zero is still mentally unstable and that referencing any of her other identities could lead to a period of instability. Mutant Zero is inducted into the Shadow Initiative (the Initiative's black ops team), but she can only be 'activated' once per mission due to her mental instability.[20]

When Taskmaster is appointed as the Shadow Initiative's field leader, Taskmaster senses something familiar about Mutant Zero's body language (thanks to Taskmaster's superhuman ability), and initiates an impromptu sparring match with her to satisfy this curiosity. After witnessing her fighting style and provoking her into using her pyrokinesis, Taskmaster shatters her helmet's faceplate and reveals her true identity.[21]

As the Shadow Initiative prepares to capture Hardball in Madripoor, Mary reveals that the reason why she joined the Initiative is because she couldn't merge or block out her four personalities, so she offered to join in exchange for a pardon and to help integrate her fractured mind, which is still a work in progress.[22] During the Shadow Initiative's fight against HYDRA, Mary loses control of her personalities, having spent too much time from the Zero Room, and flees into the wilds of Madripoor.[23]

Shadowland

Mary answers Daredevil's call for superheroes to join The Hand in providing martial law for an ever-increasing area of New York City. She claims that her time in the Initiative was successful in integrating her fractured mind, but Daredevil does not believe her.[24] Following the war, Kingpin - using secret code words to activate her fourth personality - reveals that she was an inside agent who was ignorant of her 'true' goal all along.[25]

Sisterhood

Typhoid Mary joins the Sisterhood of Mutants, as Lady Deathstrike promises to use Arkea to reintegrate Mary's personalities, which Arkea then does.[26] The sisterhood, specifically Arkea and Amora, resurrect Selene and Madelyne Pryor. Before the Sisterhood can recruit additional members and go on an offensive, the X-Men attack. Typhoid Mary is defeated by Psylocke. Arkea is killed, while Madelyne swears to maintain the Sisterhood and continue the war against the X-Men.[27]

Powers and abilities

Typhoid Mary is a mutant and possesses a number of limited psionic powers. She can use telekinesis to levitate small objects over short distances (such as weapons of under 10 pounds; knives, razors, etc., which her "Bloody Mary" persona often gathered and assembled into improvised battle-armor). She is a powerful pyrokinetic, meaning she can cause spontaneous combustion within line of sight to set objects in her immediate vicinity aflame. She can implant mental suggestions in the minds of others. She can use her psionic hypnosis ability to induce sleep in weak-minded individuals and most animals; certain individuals are mentally resistant to her hypnotic powers.

However, she has three separate personalities as a result of her mental illness. The timid, pacifist "Mary" personality has no psionic abilities. The "Typhoid" and "Bloody Mary" personalities have the full range of these psionic powers and they are strongest in "Bloody Mary". Her original "Mary Walker" personality is supposed to be a balanced amalgam of all of these, but is seldom dominant. Because of the different heart rates and voice patterns of her different personas, not to mention the different ways of dress, even Daredevil's super-senses were long unable to tell the different personas all belonged to the same woman, and Typhoid Mary took advantage of this situation to hide from Daredevil/Matt Murdock even within earshot.

As Mutant Zero, Mary appears to possess the same psionic powers utilized by both Typhoid and Bloody Mary. It is unknown whether the powers she possesses as Mutant Zero are equal to or stronger than those of the "Bloody Mary" personality. Recent battles suggest they are more powerful, but take their toll on Mary when used as a result of this strength. Mutant Zero is also equipped with a suit of full body armor that appears to enhance her physical strength and an arsenal of weapons, including guns and various blades.

Typhoid Mary is in excellent physical condition. She has sufficient reflexes to block and redirect a bullet back at its shooter. She has peak human agility, and is highly athletic. She is also trained in the martial arts, particularly Judo and Kendo. She has exceptional skill in wielding and throwing bladed weapons, and is usually armed with a variety of machetes and smaller knives.

Other versions

House of M

In House of M, Typhoid Mary appears as an assassin of Wilson Fisk.[28]

Mutant X

In the Mutant X reality, Typhoid Mary is a member of the Avengers.[29] She is later killed by Captain America while battling the Six.

In other media

Television

  • Typhoid Mary appears in Avengers: Secret Wars, voiced by Tara Strong.[30] In the episode "Prison Break", she teams up with Zarda and the Crimson Widow to escape the Vault. However, they were defeated by the Wasp and Captain Marvel. In the episode "The Vibranium Coast", a pirate version of Typhoid Mary uses a pirate ship to oppose the Dread Skull and Fist Mate Crossbones involving Vibranium and insanely helps Ant-Man and Ms. Marvel in the process.
  • Mary Walker appears in Iron Fist, portrayed by Alice Eve.[31] This version of the character is a former special ops soldier whose dissociative identity disorder was triggered after her squad was ambushed in Sokovia. She was the squad's sole survivor, although she was subsequently held captive and tortured for two years before managing to escape. At the start of the series, Mary Walker believes she has two personalities: "Mary", a kind, friendly woman; and "Walker", a malevolent fighter.[32] It is later revealed she has a third unnamed personality that is supposedly violent.[33] "Mary" meets Danny Rand and immediately befriends him, though she hides the fact that she has psychotic episodes and is constantly writing on sticky notes to warn herself.[34] It soon becomes apparent that "Mary" has an obsession with Danny, but tries to warn herself to stay away from him.[35] Her "Walker" identity is hired by Davos and Joy Meachum to spy on Danny, causing her "Mary" persona to warn him.[36] When Danny's Iron Fist power is taken by Davos, Walker suddenly begins working with Danny and his allies to take down Davos. Mary, fearing that Walker wants to run away from her, refuses to aid Danny.[37] Joy ends up convincing Mary that Walker just wants to look out for her and decides to have her take control,[32] but soon realizes that she has a third unknown personality that is more violent than either of the two.[33] After reading her files that she got with the help of Ward Meachum, she eventually decides to kill Davos, but runs afoul of Danny, Colleen Wing and Misty Knight following the ritual reversal to get the Iron Fist chi back from Davos. She escapes and informs Joy that they are not finished and asks that she use her connections to help find out more about herself.[38]

Film

  • Typhoid Mary appears in Elektra, portrayed by Natassia Malthe.[39] In the film she is an assassin for the Hand whose breath or touch kills whatever they come into contact with. Her poison touch spreads throughout an area at will, killing life, and she can poison her weapons by breathing on them. The precise limitations to the poison that leaves her body is unknown, nor to how quickly and wide she can spread it. She was once a skilled ninja called the Treasure, and is jealous of Abby who is the new Treasure. Typhoid gives Elektra a poisonous kiss, which almost kills her. She succeeds in killing Abby with her breath-poisoned weapons, although Elektra later resurrects Abby with the same method that her master, Stick, had used to revive her after she was killed by Bullseye in the 2003 film Daredevil. After Elektra kills Kirigi in a final battle, Elektra throws a sai through the hedges of a maze and straight into Typhoid's face. Typhoid falls back onto the ground and disintegrates. The character is specifically called "Typhoid Mary" rather than just Typhoid during the "Making of Elektra" feature on the DVD.

Video games

  • Typhoid Mary appears in The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin. She is one of the Kingpin's personal bodyguards alongside Bullseye. Both bodyguards must be defeated by Spider-Man before the web-slinger can reach the Kingpin.
  • Typhoid Mary has a cameo appearance inThe Punisher. In the final mission, she's watching the Kingpin's departure from the crime lord's penthouse apartment's outdoor patio. During the Punisher's optional chance to take out Typhoid Mary, her final words to the vigilante are "Ha! You're too late! Kingpin just escaped! You'll never catch [Kingpin], you lousy ?!&$*!? !!!!"

References

  1. ↑ "Typhoid Mary". Comic Vine. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
  2. ↑ "Dan Slott: Taking The Initiative - Newsarama". Forum.newsarama.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2011-02-06.
  3. ↑ Deadpool/Daredevil Annual 1997
  4. ↑ Typhoid Feb. 1996
  5. ↑ Daredevil #254
  6. ↑ Daredevil #255
  7. ↑ Daredevil #256
  8. ↑ Daredevil #257
  9. ↑ Daredevil #259
  10. ↑ Daredevil #260
  11. ↑ Power Pack #53
  12. ↑ Captain America #373
  13. ↑ Captain America #376
  14. ↑ The Spectacular Spider-Man #214
  15. ↑ Deadpool Vol. 1 #6-7
  16. ↑ Deadpool #13
  17. ↑ Daredevil vol. 2 #46
  18. ↑ New Avengers vol. 1 #01
  19. ↑ Civil War: War Crimes
  20. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #5
  21. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #20
  22. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #21
  23. ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #24
  24. ↑ Shadowland #3, September 2010
  25. ↑ Shadowland #5, December 2010
  26. ↑ X-Men vol. 4 #9
  27. ↑ X-Men vol. 4 #12
  28. ↑ House of M: Avengers #3
  29. ↑ Mutant X #1
  30. ↑ "Prison Break". Avengers: Secret Wars. Season 4. Episode 4. August 27, 2017. Disney XD.
  31. ↑ Shaw-Williams, Hannah (July 19, 2018). "Iron Fist Season 2: Alice Eve Confirmed As Typhoid Mary". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  32. 1 2 Surjik, Stephen (director); Rebecca Dameron (writer) (September 7, 2018). "Morning of the Mindstorm". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 7. Netflix.
  33. 1 2 Holmes, Julian (director); Melissa Glenn (writer) (September 7, 2018). "Citadel on the Edge of Vengeance". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 8. Netflix.
  34. ↑ Dobkin, David (director); M. Raven Metzner (writer) (September 7, 2018). "The Fury of Iron Fist". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 1. Netflix.
  35. ↑ Talalay, Rachel (director); Jon Worley (writer) (September 7, 2018). "The City's Not for Burning". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 2. Netflix.
  36. ↑ Fraser, Toa (director); Tatiana Suarez-Pico (writer) (September 7, 2018). "This Deadly Secret". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 3. Netflix.
  37. ↑ John, Philip (director); Matthew White (writer) (September 7, 2018). "The Dragon Dies at Dawn". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 6. Netflix.
  38. ↑ Pate, Jonas (director); M. Raven Metzner (writer) (September 7, 2018). "A Duel of Iron". Marvel's Iron Fist. Season 2. Episode 10. Netflix.
  39. ↑ Brevet, Brad (October 25, 2004). "Elektra Caught Kissing Typhoid Mary". Coming Soon.net. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
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