‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’: Who Is Shocker in the Comics?

Spider-Man: Homecoming introducers viewers to quite a few characters from the comic books, one of whom is a villain that will likely become more significant in the future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. So who, exactly, is The Shocker?

In the movie, there are actually two different incarnations of The Shocker that appear on screen. The first is Jackson Brice, played by Logan Marshall-Green, and the second is Herman Schultz, played by Bokeem Woodbine.

In the comics, the main Shocker that fans know is Herman Schultz, a high school dropout who was imprisoned after robbing safes. While in prison, he develops gauntlets that he uses to break out of jail, and he soon becomes a supervillain known as The Shocker. His gauntlets shoot compressed air, and he can do so at a variety of frequencies. He activates these “vibro-smashers” with a thumb trigger, and the vibrations can cause pretty severe damage both to buildings and to human beings. In fact, the idea is that his vibrations are so intense that he has to wear a protective suit in order to prevent himself from being injured.

Shocker was usually seen as a member of a team of supervillains in the comics, not often being the main antagonist. For instance, he has been a member of the Sinister Six a few times, including when Doctor Octopus assembled the group during the Civil War storyline. During the Infinity War, he and Doctor Octopus raid Avengers Mansion, but Shocker ends up turning on Doctor Octopus.

Once, though, The Shocker did concoct a plan of his own by taking over New York City’s electric grid, holding it for ransom and asking for a million dollars. Mostly all he did was spell out his name using the grid, and he was soon thwarted by Spider-Man.

Frequently, Herman Schultz is seen suffering from anxiety and/or paranoia, especially over concerns of other villainous characters having it out for him. After a while, he sort of becomes a punching bag in the Spider-Man universe.

Meanwhile, Jackson Brice in the comics is a character who uses a lasso and goes by the name Montana. He also forms a team of villains known as the Enforcers. However, in the TV series The Spectacular Spider-Man, he’s the one who becomes The Shocker. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, he and Herman Schultz are co-workers who both are employed by Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. The Vulture. Brice starts off as The Shocker, but when The Vulture kills him, Schultz takes over.

So what’s next for The Shocker? Well, in the first post-credits scene of Spider-Man: Homecoming, it is implied that the Sinister Six is beginning to form, and so it seems likely that Shocker will end up being a part of this group. We know he won’t be the main villain of the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, though, as Marvel President Kevin Feige has said that this will be a new character.

“We are excited to use characters that you haven’t seen before on screen,” Feige told the Toronto Sun in a recent interview. “So that narrows it down a little bit in terms of who will pop up next. Spider-Man has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to villains and there are a lot that haven’t been touched upon. It’s those that we will be looking at first.”

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