- Looking for another article with the same name? Check out the Curt Connors disambiguation page.
Curt Connors is one of Spider-Man's most trusted allies and as the Lizard is one of his deadliest foes.
History
Early life
When Curt Connors was much younger he lost his right arm in an accident. Connors later became a professor and a teacher at Empire State University and married a woman named Margaret and they had a son named Billy.
Later life
The experiment
Curt later began to work with one of his students, Peter Parker, on the Neogenic Recombinator and tested it on a lab mouse that was missing one of its legs. Connors injected the mouse with lizard DNA and then exposed it to radiation from the Neogenic Recombinator. The radiation then activated the lizard DNA, and the mouse regrew its leg. Connors then got excited and told Peter that once their process was perfected, they could use it on humans to regrow limbs lost in wars or accidents. Sometime later, Connors injected himself with lizard DNA and exposed himself to the radiation from the Neogenic Recombinator. This caused him to regrow his own arm. However, there was a side effect. The lizard DNA in his body combined with the radiation transformed Curt into a human sized lizard.
City of lizards
Shortly later, Connors (now calling himself the Lizard) developed a plan to turn everyone in New York City into humanoid lizards. Lizard then began to abduct electricians to help him build a new Neogenic Recombinator because his hands were too big to build one himself. Spider-Man at this time was unaware that Curt was the Lizard and went to the Connor house to talk to Margaret. While there, the Lizard came to the Connors house and fought Spider-Man. Margaret and Billy watched them fight and during the battle Billy called the Lizard daddy. Spider-Man then learned that the Lizard and Curt Connors were the same person. The Lizard then escaped but, shortly returned and kidnapped Margaret and took her into the sewer.
Spider-Man then followed the Lizard into the sewer. At that moment, Lizard revealed to Margaret that he needed her to operate the Neogenic Recombinator because his hands were far too big to operate it. Lizard then reveals that he plans to hook the Recombinator up electrical wires in the sewers that run all over the city and that when she activated the Recombinator it will send the radiation threw the wires all over the city and transform everyone into giant lizards. Spider-Man then attacks the Lizard and during the fight the Recombinator gets knocked across the room.
The Neogenic Recombinator activated
The primitive lizard part of Connors brain then took over and became a mindless creature. The Lizard then attacked Spider-Man. Spider-Man managed to swing across the room and grab the Neogenic Recombinator. However, Lizard knocked Spider-Man into the water below and during their struggle the Recombinator is activated, and Lizard is transformed back into a human.
The alien symbiote
After Spider-Man got a new black costume, he realized that it was making him more violent. Spider-Man then went to Connors and asked him to study the costume. At first, Connors refused. However, Spider-Man reminded Connors that he helped him when he turned into the Lizard. Connors relized that he owed Spider-Man and decided to help him. When Connors attempted to take a sample of Spider-Man's costume, it crawled up his arm. This shocked Connors. Spider-Man then held a piece of the costume allowing Connors to cut a piece off. After Connors ran some tests, he discoved that the black suit was really an alien symbiote and that it was making Spider-Man more violent and that in time it would totally take control of his mind. Connors warned Spider-Man to get rid of the suit. However, Spider-Man ignored his warnings and kept the symbiote suit. After the symbiote almost made Spider-Man kill Shocker, he learned that Connors was right about the symbiote taking control of him. Spider-Man then used the bell from a church to separate himself from the symbiote.
Helping Spider-Man
When Spider-Man began to lose his powers, he went to Connors for answers. After running several tests, Curt Connors told Spider-Man that he was transforming even further and that whatever it was he was transforming into would not be human.
Tablet of Time & return of the Lizard
Curt eventually began to start transforming back into the Lizard. Around this time, explorers discovered an ancient artifact that was believed to possess a magical ability to return youth to the elderly called the Tablet of Time. The Tablet of Time was then brought to ESU to be studied. Curt later told Spider-Man that the Tablet of Time might be able to cure him of his mutation disease. However, during this time the Neogenic lab was attacked by the Mega-Slayer which was being controlled by Alistair Smythe. The stress of this situation caused Curt to start transforming into the Lizard once more. However, the Mega-Slayer was able to get away with the Tablet of Time. Spider-Man later visited Curt at his house. Curt told Spider-Man that for several weeks now he has been transforming into the Lizard and that they must get the Tablet of Time back because it could cure both of them. Alistair Smythe, on orders from Kingpin, goes to Curt's house and attempts to kidnap him so that he could translate the writing on the Tablet of Time. After a brief fight with the Mega-Slayer, Lizard escaped into the sewer and Smythe ordered Spider-Man to turn Connors over to him within six hours. Spider-Man later fought Lizard in the sewer and was able to defeat him. As Spider-Man retured with Lizard to the Neogenics lab, he used the Neogenic Recombinator to turn Dr. Connors back into a human. However, only seconds after Curt was transformed back into a human he was abducted by Tombstone who had been sent by Silvermane.
Curt was then brought before Silvermane who told him that he wanted him to use the Tablet of Time to make him young again. Curt attempted to warn Silvermane of the dangers of using the Tablet of Time, but Silvermane would not listen to him. Kingpin later had Alisa Silvermane abducted and contacted Silvermane saying that he wanted to trade Alisa for Connors and the Tablet of Time. As the trade was going down, Alistair had the Mega-Slayer attack Tombstone and he captured the Tablet of Time and Dr. Connors. Despite Spider-Man's interference, Tombstone was able to get away with Connors and the Tablet of Time.
At first, Connors refused to help Silvermane regain his youth. However, Silvermane threatened his family forcing Connors to help him. Just as Silvermane got done using the Tablet of Time to regain his youth, Connors transformed into the Lizard and attacked Silvermane. However, Lizard was knocked out by a blast from a laser gun. Moments later, Lizard regained consciousness but was trapped inside the pyramid by Tombstone. While in there, Lizard was bombarded by energy from the Tablet of Time which turned him back into a human. Realizing that they were beat, Alisha ordered Tombstone to destroy the building. However, before the building exploded Spider-Man was able to rescue Curt and Margaret. Connors later ran some test on himself and discovered that the energy from the Tablet of Time apparently cured him of being the Lizard.
Empire State University later won a grant from the Toomes Foundation which allowed him to continue his research into Neogenics. Connors later went to Adrian Toomes' office to talk to Toomes about the future of Neogenics. However, Toomes placed a device on Connors' head called a Neural Neutralizer which paralyzed his body. Toomes, now known as Vulture, intended to hold Connors hostage. However, Spider-Man broke into Toomes Aerodynamics and freed Connors.
Vulture later absorbed Spider-Man's youth but, also absorbed his mutation disease which caused Vulture to uncontrollably transform back and forth between a human and a spider creature. Vulture later went back to Connors and demanded that he cure him. Connors then revealed to Vulture that he not only absorbed Spider-Man's youth but his mutation disease as well. At that moment, Scorpion broke into the lab with Farley Stillwell. Vulture tells Scorpion that if he helped him capture Spider-Man he would use his lab to find a cure for him. When Spider-Man arrived at the lab, he was captured by Vulture and Scorpion. However, instead of returning the mutation disease to Spider-Man, Connors returned Spider-Man's youth while the mutation disease stayed in Vulture.
However, Connors transformed into the Lizard. As the Lizard, Connors went after Farley Stillwell and attempted to kill him. However, Spider-Man was able to save Stillwell. Lizard was then accidentally with a beam from the Neogenic Recombinator which turned him back into a human. Spider-Man got Connors to safety. As the Neogenics lab exploded, Connors was worried that he wouldn't be able to find a cure for being the Lizard.
Helping Eddie Brock
When Eddie Brock decided that he no longer wanted to be bonded to the symbiote his psychologist and girlfriend, Ashley Kafka, took him to Empire State University to see Curt Connors.
Dr. Connors was able to use a machine that produced loud sounds to separate Eddie Brock from the symbiote.
When Carnage kidnapped Dr. Kafka, Spider-Man and Iron Man went to ESU to ask Brock where they could find Carnage. Brock told them that they would stand a chance against Carnage and his bosses, Baron Mordo and Dormammu, and attempted to re-bond with the symbiote to help them save Ashley Kafka. However, Spider-Man and Iron Man tried to stop him. Dr. Connors even warned Brock that if he became Venom again he wouldn't survive another separation attempt. However, Brock ignored Dr. Connors warnings and re-bonded with the symbiote to help Spider-Man and Iron Man save Ashley Kafka.
Non-canon history
In the comic book Totally Kids, Lizard teamed up with several of Spider-Man's enemies to defeat Spider-Man. However, Spider-Man was able to get away.
In Spider-Man: Lizard's Deadly Trap, Lizard intended to lead an army of lizards into New York City. However, he was stopped by Spider-Man.
In Spider-Man Adventures #15, Curt Connors went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to attend a scientific symposium to talk about the dangers of neogenics. However, when Dr. Connors got to Brazil he once again transformed into the Lizard. Lizard theorized that contact with the symbiote was what caused his transformation. Lizard later attacked a village named Maravilloso Verde and took control of it. From Maravilloso Verde, Lizard created a formula that would keep him from transforming back into Curt Connors and allow him to create an army of super powered reptiles. Peter Parker was in Brazil on assignment from the Daily Bugle to take pictures of the symposium and quickly discovered the Lizard was there. When Spider-Man fought Lizard, Lizard held him under water and believed that he had killed Spider-Man. However, Spider-Man survived. Spider-Man later used Lizard's chemistry set to create an antidote for Connors' transformation. Lizard tracked down Spider-Man and attacked him. However, after a brief fight Spider-Man poured the antidote down Lizard's throat which transformed him back into Curt Connors.
In The Adventures of the X-Men #3 and Adventures of Spider-Man #3, Spider-Man, Beast, and Gambit took a young mutant named Adam to Empire State University so that Dr. Connors could run tests on Adam and help him find a way to control his power to create fire. While running tests on Adam, Dr. Connors called a scientist named Dr. Essex to come and help him with the tests. Curt Connors had met Dr. Essex a few weeks earlier at conference on biogenetics. However, everyone quickly learned that Dr. Essex was really Mister Sinister. Mister Sinister tricked Adam into setting fire to the laboratory and then took Adam with him. However, Curt Connors and Beast were rescued from the burning building by Gambit. Spider-Man, Beast, and Gambit were then able to rescue Adam from Mister Sinister.
Powers and weaknesses
Powers
When transformed into the Lizard, Curt Connors possesses enhanced strength, speed and agility.
The Lizard also has razor sharp claws and teeth.
Lizard also able to regrow lost limbs and quickly heal from most injuries.
In his human form Curt Connors is a scientific genius.
Weaknesses
When Connors first transforms into the Lizard, he is able to retain his human brain but after a short time the reptilian part of Connors brain takes over and he becomes an unthinking beast.
Appearances
As the Lizard and Curt Connors
As Curt Connors
- The Sting of the Scorpion (Mentioned only)
- The Alien Costume, Part II
- The Alien Costume, Part III (Mentioned only)
- The Insidious Six
- Battle of the Insidious Six
- Hydro-Man (Mentioned only)
- The Mutant Agenda
- Morbius (Mentioned only)
- Duel of the Hunters
- Blade, the Vampire Hunter
- Shriek of the Vulture
- Make a Wish
- The Spot
- Venom Returns
- Carnage
Trivia
- It is never revealed how Curt Connors lost his right arm. However, in Night of the Lizard, Connors says to Peter Parker that he can regrow limbs lost in wars or accidents and when he says wars he touches where his arm use to be. This implies that Kurt lost his arm while he was in the military. However, this is only hinted at and never directly stated. In the comics Kurt was a military doctor and while in a war zone he lost his arm in an explosion.
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series was the first time that Curt Connors name was used outside of the comics. In the Spider-Man cartoon from 1967, his name was Curt Connor, dropping the s.