MisterNegative is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an enemy of Spider-Man, the Punisher, Shang-Chi, and Cloak & Dagger. The character was created by Dan Slott and Phil Jimenez, and first appeared in "Swing Shift", a story in Free Comic Book Day: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (May 2007). The name "Mister Negative" is a reference to photographic negative, as the colors of his skin, hair, and costume are inverted when he transforms into his alter ego.
Originally a Chinese gangster and human trafficker, whose real name was never revealed,[a] the man who would become Mr. Negative was captured by crime boss Silvermane to serve as a test subject, alongside the future Cloak & Dagger, for an experimental procedure involving a synthetic drug created by Simon Marshall. The experiment gave the character control over both the Darkforce and Lightforce, and led to the creation of two polar opposite personalities: Mister Positive, posing as a benevolent and kind philanthropist named Martin Li, who would go on to found the F.E.A.S.T. Project as a means to help homeless people; and the ruthless crime lord Mister Negative, who leads the Inner Demons gang in an attempt to take over New York's criminal underworld. Originally, the character was depicted as suffering from dissociative identity disorder, with one personality not maintaining the other's memories, but both personas were later shown to be fully aware of each other's existence. As Mister Negative, his powers include healing, mind-controlling others through "corruption", and charging regular weapons with his energy.
Martin Li is introduced with the backstory of a Chinese immigrant from Fujian province who attempted to travel to America to be with his wife. His mode of transportation, the Golden Mountain, was a slave ship operated by the Snakehead gang as a way to sell Fujian captives as overseas slaves in Kenya. During a storm, the ship's crew evacuated, leaving the captives alone to make a break for the New York shores. Li was the only survivor and spent the following years building a large fortune and dedicating himself to helping those less fortunate.[1]
The story is later revealed to be partially false, though only the Mister Negative persona appears aware of it. It is revealed that Mister Negative was actually one of the crew members of the Golden Mountain. When the ship nearly crashed onto the New York shores, he stole the identity of one of the deceased Fujian slaves (the real Martin Li) who was heading to America for the aforementioned reasons. This gang member was eventually captured by the Maggia Don Silvermane and experimented on with a synthetic drug created by Maggia chemist Simon Marshall that could be more potent than heroin. He escaped with the help of two other experimental inmates and soon developed two personalities, the kind-hearted Martin Li and the villainous Mister Negative, the latter of the two developing the ability to generate a black electrical energy that could be used to heal, control others, or charge objects with his touch. The Mister Negative side dedicated himself to becoming Chinatown's Kingpin of Crime while the Martin Li side attempts to run the F.E.A.S.T. center with humility.[2]
Martin Li opens and operates a soup kitchen in Chinatown: the F.E.A.S.T. Project (Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter and Training), where Peter Parker's Aunt May volunteers.[3][4] Neither Peter nor May are aware of Li's dual identity as a Chinatown crime boss under the Mister Negative name.[5] Despite being a crime lord, Li is a seemingly kind and generous man. The F.E.A.S.T. Project has displayed healing powers for people of various illnesses, although the cause of this healing has yet to be revealed.[6]
During the first story of "Brand New Day" storyline, Mister Negative first comes into conflict with Spider-Man when he makes a power play toward taking control of New York's criminal underworld by attempting to wipe out all existing members of the Karnelli and Maggia crime families using a DNA specific bioweapon called the "Devil's Breath". In exchange for leaving the Maggia families' children alive, he takes a sample of Spider-Man's blood to use in a Devil's Breath formula.[3][5][4] Mister Negative later tries to use the Devil's Breath formula to kill Spider-Man during a fight with the Maggia, but Spider-Man is able to hold his breath long enough to escape alive.[7] Spider-Man then recruits the Black Cat to help steal Spider-Man's remaining blood from Mister Negative and replace it with a vial of pig blood so Mister Negative is unaware of his loss.[8]
Martin Li endorses Bill Hollister for mayor of New York City, putting him against Randall Crowne, adding him to a list of opponents (many of whom become targets of the villain Menace). It also causes him to become the target of a smear campaign by Dexter Bennet, editor of The DB and supporter of Crowne.[9] After Menace is revealed to be Hollister's daughter and Hollister resigns as mayor, Li unsuccessfully runs in a special election, losing to J. Jonah Jameson.[10]
Mister Negative later recruits Hammerhead and offers to put the man's brain in a new robotic adamantium skeleton after having been shot point blank in the head by Underworld. Hammerhead agrees to that and Mister Negative has his surgeon Doctor Tramma perform the procedure.[11]
Mister Negative eventually comes across Eddie Brock, giving a job at his soup kitchen. A touch from him causes Brock's cancerous cells to completely disappear. Also, remnants of the Venom symbiote fused with Brock's white blood cells react with Mister Negative's power, causing Anti-Venom's existence during a conflict with Mac Gargan, the Venom Symbiote's host.[12] After the F.E.A.S.T center is torn apart during the fight between the two, Li discovers from a group of sweatshop workers (from a shop owned by Crowne) that they were experimented on with drugs made at Oscorp.[13] Later, Mister Negative and his Inner Demons encounter and battle Anti-Venom. In the aftermath, Brock watches Mister Negative turn into Li, becoming the first to be aware of his double identity.[14]
In the X-Men storyline "Serve and Protect", Mister Negative and his Inner Demons are at San Francisco on attempting to murder a widowed woman who still have a child. When two unidentified heroes, then revealed to be the X-Men Rockslide and Anole in disguise, Mister Negative hired The Serpents, and devise a plan to lure them into their traps, then turning then into his pawn into attacking other X-Men as well. Although his plan foiled by Anole's strategy into using a temporary brainwashed Rockslide, Mister Negative releases the rock mutant hero and vow they will meet again on the other side.[16]
During the 2009 storyline "The Gauntlet", Mister Negative corrupts May Parker when the woman walks in on him punishing an Inner Demon.[17] May manages to break free from Mister Negative's corruption when Peter went to May for moral support after the Lizard devoured Billy Connors and essentially 'killed' Curt Connors.[18]
During the 2010 "Shadowland" storyline, Mister Negative takes the advantage of the conflict against the Hand in a plot to set up a criminal establishment there, only for him and his Inner Demons to run afoul of Spider-Man and Shang-Chi.[19]
Mister Negative later has an encounter with Jackpot and Boomerang.[20] During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, Mister Negative was among the supervillains assembled by Doctor Octopus to secure some items.[21]
During the "Big Time" storyline, Mister Negative is targeted by both Anti-Venom and the new Wraith. When they, along with Spider-Man, interrupt a heroin-smuggling operation, Wraith uses visual recognition software, linked to every television broadcast in New York, to publicly out Mister Negative as Martin Li. When the police approach, Mister Negative and his men retreat. Li is later seen locked in a room by Mister Negative's men who wait for him to change back into their master.[22]
During the 2012 "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Mister Negative and his henchmen invade a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility as a way of taking an advantage of the war between the Avengers and the Phoenix Five, but Hawkeye and Spider-Woman defeat them while having a discussion about their relationship. It is later revealed that they were informed about Mister Negative's plan by Madame Hydra who wanted to get rid of the competition.[24]
During the 2014 "Original Sin" storyline, Mister Negative is seen meeting with the self-proclaimed Goblin King (Phil Urich) who is now leading the Goblin Underground's remnants when it came to them awaiting for Eel II to help divide the criminal underground following the original Goblin King's defeat. Their meeting is crashed by Black Cat and Electro who demand their share of the plan. When Mister Negative and Urich refuse to listen to Black Cat, the woman reminds them that they were all outed by Spider-Man and will succeed in the goal of defeating Spider-Man.[25]
Following the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline, Martin Li is arrested at some point. He is rescued by Cloak and Dagger who have been corrupted by his touch and are using patches of the drug known as "Shade" to stimulate the effects of Mister Negative's touch and "remain" loyal to him. After the two break Mister Negative out of the prison ship where Li is being held and revert him to his Negative form, he leads an assault on Parker Industries' Japan branch, which leads to a confrontation with Spider-Man, whom Negative manages to touch.[26] Although Peter exhibits an immunity to Negative's corruption power, Negative escapes to his Hong Kong headquarters and reverts to Li. Li later sees a video message from Negative that he is targeting a philanthropist named Shen Quinghao, the former leader of the criminal Snakehead Syndicate which controlled the slave ship where Li became Mister Negative, and makes a proposal to Li, which Li accepts.[27] His plan fails, and after Cloak and Dagger are eventually freed from Negative's control, they vow to remain in Hong Kong to protect it from Negative's future efforts.[28]
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