Burglar (comics)

In Ultimate Spider-Man, a reimagining of the Spider-Man mythos, the origin story from Amazing Fantasy #15 is reinterpreted over the course of seven issues. Ben Parker's death at the hands of the Burglar does not occur until Ultimate Spider-Man #4. The name "Carradine" appears on a list of "known cat burglars", but nothing else is said about it;[3] it is unclear whether Carradine is actually the burglar who killed Uncle Ben in this universe or is simply another criminal. Spider-Man has a copy of the Burglar's driver license but the name is always hidden when viewed by the readers. This was done intentionally by the artists.

The man named Carradine is also believed in Ultimate Spider-Man #8 to be a part of the Enforcers, a group working for the Kingpin.

Various alternate versions of the Burglar appear throughout the What If...? comic line, most often in stories dealing with Spider-Man's origin being reimagined.

• One issue saw Betty Brant (here Spider-Girl after she was bitten by the radioactive spider) failing to stop the burglar, retiring from her career and allowing Peter to synthetically duplicate her powers.[8]
• In an issue where Peter Parker is paralyzed by the spider-bite, he acquires the powers of Nova and returns home to visit Ben Parker just as the burglar arrives. The burglar's attempt to shoot Peter results in the bullet ricocheting off his chest and killing the burglar, prompting Peter to abandon his costume out of guilt at his role in the death, even if it is acknowledged as an accident.[9]
• One issue features Spider-Man actually stopping the burglar simply for the publicity. In this case, Spidey destroyed the life of J. Jonah Jameson by linking Frederick Foswell back to him unaware that J. Jonah Jameson had no idea of Frederick Foswell's double-life as Big Man.[10]
• One issue features Peter throwing the burglar out of a window and killing him after the burglar kills May instead. Ben takes the blame for the crime to spare his nephew.[11]
• One issue features Peter fighting the Burglar where he is accidentally killed by Spider-Man. After failing to resuscitate him, Spider-Man flees.[12]

During the Spider-Verse, a six-armed Spider-Man and Spider-Man Noir visit a world where Peter had an allergic reaction to the spider-bite and was left in a coma. Because of this, the Burglar never killed anyone as he broke into the Parker house while Ben and May were visiting Peter in hospital.[13]

In Spider-Man: Chapter One, the burglar saw Peter leaving his house wearing his costume for the first time and thought that Spider-Man was a fellow burglar after the Parker treasure as well. Confronting him, he offers a partnership with the web-spinner only to be instead punched and thrown in jail.[14]

The Burglar has appeared in almost every animated Spider-Man media adaption there is, mostly in flashbacks.

• The Burglar appears in the 1967 Spider-Man series, in the episode "The Origin of Spider-Man". In this version, upon confronting the Burglar, Spider-Man knocks him out and leaves him for the police.
• The Burglar appeared in a flashback in the 1981 Spider-Man episode "Arsenic and Aunt May". It is also shown that he has a cousin who was recently apprehended by Spider-Man and ended up a cellmate of Chameleon.
• The Burglar reappeared in the sequel to the 1981 Spider-Man series, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. In the episode "Along Came Spidey", he appears in a flashback scene of Spider-Man's origin story where his robbing the TV studio remains intact. After the Burglar had shot Uncle Ben upon being surprised by him, Spider-Man trailed him to the abandoned warehouse where he planned to sneak by the police when it is dark out. When Spider-Man defeated the Burglar, he saw in the light that he was the man who robbed the TV studio and left him webbed up by the police.
• The Burglar appeared in flashback in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode "The Menace of Mysterio" and is recurring among any other episodes soon after. There, he is shown robbing the wrestling arena that Spider-Man was in before he began to fight crime. Spider-Man didn't want to stop him as he wasn't a cop. Sometime later, Peter Parker came home and found the police outside his house. When he goes in, Aunt May is being comforted as a police officer tells him that his house was being robbed and his Uncle Ben tried to stop him only to find out that the man was armed. Upon being told that the person responsible was chased to the abandoned warehouse, Spider-Man catches the culprit and unmasks him as the man who robbed the arena. Spider-Man left him webbed up for the police.
• The Burglar appears in the opening sequence of Spider-Man Unlimited where the intro shows Spider-Man letting him escape and then shows Spider-Man catching the criminal following Uncle Ben's death.
• The Burglar appeared in a flashback in The Spectacular Spider-Man episode "Intervention" with his grunts done by Jim Cummings in the first appearance and was voiced by James Remar in the second appearance. This version is an amalgam of Walter Hardy from the original comics and the Burglar that shot Uncle Ben from the comics. In a flashback accessed by the symbiote, he is shown robbing Sullivan Edwards. Instead of stopping him, Spider-Man lets him escape in the elevator as revenge on Sullivan Edwards for not paying him. Using his spider powers to help him get home, he then opened the door to a crying Aunt May. Peter ran over to comfort her and ask her what happened. She then tells him that Uncle Ben was murdered by a burglar who broke into their house in search of money and stole Ben's car. Peter is furious at this and seeks revenge, so he goes after the criminal as Spider-Man and confronts him in an old warehouse. Spider-Man unmasks the robber only to find it was the same man whom he let escape earlier. As the Burglar backs away, he falls out the window only for Spider-Man to save him with his webs as he leaves him for the police. In "Opening Night", his identity as the father of the Black Cat is revealed to Spider-Man. Black Cat comes to break him out of the Vault as Spider-Man volunteers to test a maximum security cell. During the climax of the episode he explains to Felicia (and Spider-Man) his pride in never hurting anyone during his robberies, never even carrying a gun until he got older and slower and had less confidence in his own skills. Hardy recognizes his error in taking Ben Parker's life and believes he must pay for it. Staying behind as the others escape, Hardy activates the prison's knockout gas to subdue the escaped inmates (and himself) in the Vault.
• The Burglar appears in flashbacks in the Ultimate Spider-Man episodes "Great Power" and "Kraven the Hunter". In this version, Spider-Man corners him on a street after Uncle Ben's death. However, he does not finish off the Burglar. Like all previous versions, Spider-Man webs him up and leaves him for the police. This moment is shown in a flashback played in "Kraven the Hunter", on which Spider-Man shared with White Tiger a part of his story when Ava was blinded over revenge on Kraven for murdering her father Hector.
• The Burglar appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Benjamin Diskin.[15] He is seen as part of a series of shorts re-telling Spider-Man's origins. In this version, Peter Parker as Spider-Man catches up to the Burglar at an abandoned warehouse and attacked him, but stops upon recognizing him. Using the opportunity to break free from Spider-Man's grip, the Burglar ran out of the warehouse and, shaken by Spider-Man's attack, immediately surrendered to the police that were waiting outside. He was then sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment.

• Sam Raimi trilogy
  • In the film Spider-Man, the Burglar (credited as "Carjacker") is the secondary antagonist portrayed by Michael Papajohn. Peter is cheated out of his money at a wrestling ring by a fight promoter. Just as Peter is leaving, the Carjacker enters and steals money from the promoter. Wanting to get even, Peter lets him go despite having the chance to stop him. Peter later chases the man suspected to have killed Uncle Ben while attempting to steal his car. Peter chases and confronts him, and quickly recognizes who he is, after which the Carjacker tries to shoot him, but ends up tripping and falling to his death.
  • In Spider-Man 2, the Carjacker was mentioned when May expresses that she feels she had caused Ben's death. However, this prompts Peter into telling her that he let the criminal escape causing Ben's death, despite being capable of stopping him. Although Aunt May is shocked by this, she commends Peter on telling the truth.
  • In Spider-Man 3, it is revealed in a retcon that the "Carjacker" (now identified as "Dennis Carradine") was not responsible for Ben Parker's death as had been assumed. The true killer was actually Carradine's partner, Flint Marko (who later becomes the Sandman); there were two witnesses who saw the whole scene of Marko shooting Ben. Peter begins to feel sympathy for Carradine, imagining a scene where Carradine is attempting in vain to stop Marko from killing Ben. He is seen in flashbacks of Spider-Man during the sleeping Peter's symbiote transformation. After the climax of the film, however, Marko confesses to Peter that he had shot Ben by accident, when Carradine distracted him while trying to get into the car. Carradine, who paid no attention to the killing, stole the car and left Marko behind to take the fall. Marko escaped, however, and so it was Carradine who died for the crime Marko committed. Marko also confesses to Peter that he only wanted the car in his desperation for the money he and Carradine stole to save his sickly daughter. Understanding the importance of forgiveness over revenge, Peter forgives Marko and allows him to leave.
• In The Amazing Spider-Man, the Burglar (portrayed by Leif Gantvoort and credited as "Cash Register Thief") is a minor character. In this movie, he has no speaking lines. He distracts a deli clerk after he refuses to let Peter buy himself a bottle of chocolate milk and steals money from the till. The burglar throws the milk to Peter on his way out and Peter lets him escape despite having the chance to stop him. While running down the street, the thief trips in front of Ben (who was searching for his nephew) and a pistol falls out of his jacket. Ben attempts to grab it away, but a brief struggle results in Ben getting killed and the thief escaping. Peter rushes over to Ben's body and screams. After he obtains a police sketch and learns from George Stacy that the killer had a tattoo of a star on his left wrist, Peter realizes that it was the thief he let go. Over the next few weeks, Peter designs and builds web-shooters and the Spider-Man suit. He then listens to crime reports and follows any that alludes to the Burglar, locating and apprehending many criminals who fit the description. However, none of them have a star tattoo on their wrist and Stacy indicates in a conversation that Peter's attempts to catch the man by catching random people are causing more harm than good. By the end of the film, the wanted poster of him is seen on Peter's notice board; the thief remains at large and has yet to be found.

• The Burglar is the first boss in the Spider-Man video game (based on the 2002 film), voiced by Dan Gilvezan. In this version of the story, Dennis Carradine goes by the alias "Spike", and is the leader of the local Skulls gang. Wanting revenge for his uncle's death, Spider-Man chases Spike to his warehouse hideout and fights through the other Skulls for a chance to confront him personally. Spike wields a sawn-off shotgun as his main weapon and also uses flashbang grenades that can temporarily blind Spider-Man. After Peter beats him, a terrified Spike trips and falls through a window to his death in a manner similar to the film.
• The Burglar (Cash Register Thief) appears in the first chapter of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 voiced by Chris Edgerly. He was identified by Herman Schultz as Dennis Carradine, a low-level thug who has been selling advanced weaponry to gangs. Spider-Man tracks down Carradine, who hijacks a car and takes the driver hostage. After Spider-Man rescues the hostage, Carradine crashes the car and is killed by an unseen murderer shortly before Spider-Man finds his dead body in an alley. The police officers subsequently identify the burglar's murderer as the "Carnage Killer".