Reptil

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This article is about the superhero character. For the class of animals, see Reptile.
Reptil
Reptil as depicted in Avengers: The Initiative: Featuring Reptil (March 2009). Art by Steve Uy.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceAvengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil
Created byChristos Gage
Steve Uy
In-story information
Alter egoHumberto Lopez
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliationsAvengers: The Initiative
Avengers Academy
AbilitiesVia bone medallion:
Minimal empathic senses
Ability to turn any part of his body into any part of a dinosaur's body

Reptil is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is best known as a supporting member on The Super Hero Squad Show and a member of the Avengers Academy in the comics.

Publication history[edit]

A Marvel comic book titled Avengers: The Initiative introduced Reptil for the first time in that publication. The character was created by Christos Gage and Steve Uy.[1] Reptil was a regular character in all 39 issues of Avengers Academy from 2010 to 2013. The character also appeared in Avengers Arena, a series by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker for Marvel NOW!.[2] The character's role in comics was revisited in the 2021 one-shot King in Black: Spider-Man, where Reptil served as a supporting character. In the same year, Reptil was featured in a 4-issue limited series titled Reptil, which was written by Terry Blas and penciled by Enid Balám.

Fictional character biography[edit]

Humberto Lopez is a young boy who had registered with the Fifty State Initiative and was living with his grandfather. When S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Valerie Cooper was putting together a squad to go after Stegron in his plot to reanimate dinosaur fossils, Tigra was placed in charge of the squad and was told to recruit Humberto to help them. Tigra was worried since Humberto had not gone through training yet. When going after Stegron, Humberto explained about his parents and how he got his powers.

His parents, Isaac and Jessica, were palaeontologists who dug up a crystallized bone when he was with them in the desert. The medallion had a strange energy in it that had to do with dinosaurs. Under the codename Reptil, Humberto used it to obtain the abilities of any dinosaur by thinking of it, and even had the empathy to sense dinosaurs and other reptiles.

Upon arrival in Camp Hammond, Reptil went through training for a couple of days. While going through training with different members of the Initiative, Reptil learns the good and bad sides of it. Tigra tells Reptil that being a hero is a responsibility. He tells her that his parents disappeared a year ago on a dig and that he wants to become a hero to find them.

With the help of Baron Von Blitzschlag attaching a device to increase Humbertos's dinosaur empathy, the team locates Stegron. When discovering that he and his dinosaur herd are going to attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in South Dakota, Tigra's group intercepts them. However, Stegron took control of Komodo's mind and told her to attack her teammates. Reptil acts hot-headed during the fight and attacks Stegron, but is beaten down. Stegron and his dinosaur herd escape. Reptil suffers a mild concussion and Dr. Cooper tells him that his rash behavior allowed Stegron to escape, and he endangered the lives of his teammates. Tigra speaks to Dr. Cooper in private and asks her to give Humberto one more chance to go out on the field. Valerie tells Tigra that if Reptil messes up, then his career with the Initiative will be over. Tigra speaks to Humberto a few days later and reminds him to stay balanced and not to overcommit. She tells him that everyone has problems and that he is lucky enough to be in a position to learn from other's mistakes and his own.

When Stegron attacked another S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Wyoming, his force of dinosaurs was taken down by a combination of good teamwork and Reptil's abilities. It turns out that Stegron was attacking various S.H.I.E.L.D. bases to locate Moon-Boy (who had been captured from the Savage Land). Stegron was only targeting Moon-Boy so that he could gain control of Devil Dinosaur. Reptil tells Tigra that Moon-Boy is innocent and does not deserve this. Tigra tells him they probably can do something for this, but he has to make a tough choice. She tells the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and agents that Moon-Boy was eaten by one of the dinosaurs, and Reptil was sent home because he just got in the way and was completely useless.

In reality, Reptil managed to fly out with Moonboy and take him back to his home to Nevada. Tigra meets Humberto there and they are soon greeted by Ka-Zar and his pet smilodon Zabu. Ka-Zar thanks Tigra and Reptil for bringing Moon-Boy back to him safely and invites Reptil to take Moon-Boy back to the Savage Land. After Moon-Boy is reunited with Devil Dinosaur, Ka-Zar tells Reptil that he will help him find his parents.[3]

Heroic Age[edit]

Soon after this as part of the Heroic Age event, Reptil is captured and taken to the US and imprisoned in a government facility. Under the orders of Norman Osborn, experiments are performed on Reptil in an attempt to see if enough stress could turn his whole body into a dinosaur until the word of Norman Osborn's fall. As the agents of the H.A.M.M.E.R. began destroying all the evidence about Norman's clandestine and illegal projects, Reptil manages to escape as the agents were about to murder him. As he escapes the facility, he is approached by Justice and Hank Pym who invite him to become part of the Avengers Academy.[4]

Along with the other students, all of them having been somehow affected by Norman Osborn, Reptil is told that they are the most promising of the heroes Osborn sought out. During their first training session, the students notice the staff arguing about them. By accessing secret computer files, the students realize that, rather than because they showed promise, they have been chosen for the academy because the staff believes they have the greatest potential to go rogue and become supervillains.[5]

During a battle, Mentallo takes control of Reptil's mind and forces him to fly headfirst towards the ground. The threat of imminent death allows Reptil to fully transform into a dinosaur. This saves Reptil's life because Mentallo cannot control the dinosaur's reptilian mind. However, Reptil cannot control himself in this form either. His teachers think that his tendency to repress his troubles instead of dealing with them is the reason for his lack of control. They want him to accept help, but he is reluctant to talk to staff of the academy. Since the best superhuman therapist Doc Samson is gone, they ask Jessica Jones to talk to him. He opens up to her and they talk about many of the things that have been troubling him including his parents, but he keeps his concerns about his fellow students and the academy itself private.[6]

When Korvac returns, Reptil and his fellow studies are placed into future versions of their bodies by Korvac's estranged lover, Carina, to fight him. After Korvac is defeated, Reptil finds himself trapped in his older body.[7] On a day trip to New York, the students run afoul of Arcade, during which Reptil meets Spider-Girl, and they quickly become friends.[8] Spider-Girl attends Academy's "prom night". When she tells him that she liked him the way he was, Reptil then decides to reverts to his teenage body.

After the battle with Korvac he convinces Tigra to allow him and the team to fight Electro. It turns out the entire Sinister Six was with him and they easily defeat the students. Reptil blames himself. He develops great leadership skills and is able to guide the team against Absorbing Man and Titania's attack on the Infinite Mansion during the "Fear Itself" storyline, especially now that since his connection with his future self, he can turn his entire body into a dinosaur without losing control and change his body mass by turning into larger and smaller beasts.[9]

Later, Reptil's brain is switched again with his future self. His future self-attempts to help Hybrid take over the school in order to ensure a future timeline will exist where he and Finesse have a child.[10] However, his future self cannot cope with the guilt of killing fellow students, so he contacts Veil and Jocasta, who are able to defeat Hybrid. It is hinted that this particular timeline might still have been saved.[11]

Avengers Vs. X-Men[edit]

During the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Reptil and the students initially do not take kindly to the junior X-Men, but eventually come to understand the difficult situation that the mutants were forced into by adult superheroes, not unlike their present situation. When Sebastian Shaw attempts to free the mutants, the Avengers Academy students side with them, so Tigra feints defeats and allows them to escape.[12] He and the students defend Juston Seyfert's Sentinel against a Phoenix Force-powered Emma Frost.[13]

Final Exams[edit]

Reptil and White Tiger are de-powered by Jeremy Briggs when he steals their amulets. Only once they mentally communicate with their amulets and vow to die in order to fulfill their destinies, do the amulets fall from Coat of Arms's hands.[14] Once re-powered, they are able to defeat Brigg and his cronies. He and the rest of the students are graduated to associate Avengers. In the final issue, he and White Tiger are shown to be romantically involved.[15]

Avengers Arena[edit]

As part of the Marvel NOW! event, Reptil is abducted alongside Mettle and Hazmat from the Academy by Arcade in the pages of Avengers Arena.[16] He is badly injured by a flame attack from an unknown assailant.[17] Hazmat and X-23 try to bring Reptil to the edge of quadrant 2 to get medical supplies for Reptil's burns. At that point, Reptil wakes up and Hazmat is overjoyed. When Hazmat and X-23 tell Reptil that Chase attacked him, Reptil clears Chase's reputation, saying that Deathlocket was the one who attacked him.[18] Reptil, Hazmat, and X-23 are still trying to get to the edge of Quadrant 2 for medical supplies. Reptil is finally feeling well enough to walk and shape-shift. Hazmat initially tells him not to expend the energy and that they will leave no one behind. Just then, Hazmat activates a cloud of smoke, engulfing the three. When the smoke dissipates, it is revealed that the smoke is trigger scent and X-23 goes feral, attempting to kill Hazmat and Reptil. Reptil shape-shifts into a pterodactyl and evacuates Hazmat away from X-23.[19] Reptil turns into a plesiosaur in order to hunt some sharks for him and Hazmat to dine upon. The remaining teenage heroes catch up to them and are invited to have shark steaks with them. Cullen Bloodstone confronts Reptil about their camping out on the beach while a war's going off elsewhere. Cammi interjects to agree with Cullen Bloodstone before saying she is heading out to either find Nico or avenge her. Reptil heads back to shake Hazmat out of her funk. The issue ends with everyone agreeing to go back out into Murderworld.[20] As chaos ensues in Murderworld, Anachronism attacks X-23 only to be attacked by Reptil.[21] As Hazmat is close to exploding, Reptil swims her out to sea so that the explosion cannot harm anyone. The explosion causes everyone to stop fighting each other. When the surviving teenage heroes are rescued, Reptil is fished out of the water by a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.[22]

After some time of recuperating from the explosion, Reptil resurfaced where is recruited by Leonardo da Vinci to join a new program that is intended to replace the defunct S.H.I.E.L.D. and is seen sparring with Striker.[23]

Knull's Symbiote Invasion[edit]

During the "King in Black" storyline, Spider-Man runs into Reptil in his Pteranodon form who is carrying an old woman named Mrs. Volkov who he is trying to get home. While helping Reptil to get Mrs. Volkov to Staten Island, Spider-Man is then attacked by a swarm of Symbiote Dragons. Spider-Man was able to web some of them up as he and Reptil near the Staten Island ferry. Reptil notes that he cannot turn into anything big enough to combat a Symbiote Dragon as Spider-Man notes that his Tyrannosaurus form would not work either. Spider-Man then gets an idea as he helps Mrs. Volkov onto the ferry while Reptil dives into the water and emerges as a Mosasaurus which bites into the Symbiote Dragon and drags it underwater. With help from Mrs. Volkov evacuating the passengers to the lifeboats, Spider-Man jury-rigs a harpoon the ship's generators. When the Symbiote Dragon emerges, Spider-Man quotes Captain Ahab's last words from Moby-Dick and throws the electrified harpoon into the Symbiote Dragon's tongue enough to destabilize and be reduced to goo. Reptil makes it to the surface as Spider-Man states that they should work on saving people.[24]

Solo series[edit]

Following the events of Outlawed,[25] superheroes under the age of twenty-one have been made illegal, forcing Reptil and his grandfather Vincente to move in with his Aunt Gloria Quintero and twin cousins Eva and Julian. As they prepare for an upcoming Mexican heritage event, Reptil faces off against a new villain named Megalith who has the answers to what became of his parents.[26] Eva is revealed to be a witch in training, via online courses, while the openly gay Julian creates a new outfit for Reptil to face new threats.[27] It is also implied that Reptil is now in a relationship with Anya Corazon.[28]

Powers and abilities[edit]

Reptil wears a crystallized bone medallion that allows him to take on the abilities of different dinosaurs just by thinking about them. He initially cannot fully transform into a complete dinosaur, but can shape-shift various parts of his body into different dinosaur appendages like a tail to strike enemies, changing his arms into pterodactyl wings, or having claws like a Velociraptor. However, after briefly possessing the body of his future self in a fight against Korvac, he retains the ability to fully transform into a full dinosaur. He possesses the strength and ability of whatever dinosaur he is using, and his skin turns red and scaly whenever he uses his abilities. He is also capable of healing much faster from deadly injuries when he is in a dinosaur form.[29]

Reptil also has some empathy abilities with dinosaurs. He can sense other reptiles, but he cannot control them or influence their behavior at this time.

His amulet is magical in nature and embedded into his chest. Not much is known about it except that it is not actually the source of his powers, but only the catalyst that allows him to use them.[6]

In other media[edit]

Television[edit]

  • Reptil appears in The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Antony Del Rio.[30] This version is a junior member of the eponymous squad whose medallion is an Infinity Fractal that was sent back in time and renders him immune to other Fractals' powers. Throughout the first season, Reptil assists the squad in collecting Infinity Fractals and fighting Doctor Doom and his Lethal Legion until the squad discover the truth about Reptil's powers. While Reptil gives up his medallion to rebuild the Infinity Sword, his prolonged exposure to the Fractal enables him to transform without it as well as shapeshift into whole dinosaurs.
  • Reptil appears in Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight!, voiced again by Antony Del Rio.[30] This version is a member of the Avengers Academy who is partnered with the adult Avengers during a "ride-along" program.[31]
  • Reptil appears in Marvel Super Hero Adventures, voiced by Jesse Inocalla.[30]
  • Reptil appears in Spidey and His Amazing Friends, voiced by Hoku Ramirez.[32] This version sports a blue hair streak and similarly colored dinosaur forms.

Video games[edit]

Collected Editions[edit]

Title Material Collected Published Date ISBN
Avengers: The Initiative - Disassembled Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil and Avengers: The Initiative #20-25 December 9, 2009 978-0785131687
Avengers: The Initiative - The Complete Collection Vol. 2 Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil and Avengers: The Initiative #20-35, Avengers: The Initiative Special August 16, 2017 978-1302906870
Reptil: Brink of Extinction Reptil #1-4 and Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil December 7, 2021 978-1302930172

References[edit]

  1. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ^ Sunu, Steve (13 September 2012). "Hopeless and Walker Populate "Avengers Arena" For Marvel NOW!". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  3. ^ Avengers: The Initiative Featuring Reptil (May 2009). Marvel Comics.
  4. ^ Enter the Heroic Age #1 (May 2010). Marvel Comics.
  5. ^ Avengers Academy #1 (June 2010). Marvel Comics.
  6. ^ a b Avengers Academy #6 (November 2010). Marvel Comics.
  7. ^ Avengers Academy #11-12 (March–April 2011). Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ Giant-Sized Avengers Academy #1 (May 2011). Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Avengers Academy #19. Marvel Comics.
  10. ^ Avengers Academy #25. Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Avengers Academy #26. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ Avengers Academy #31. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Avengers Academy #33. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Avengers Academy #36. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ Avengers Academy #39. Marvel Comics.
  16. ^ Avengers Arena #1 (December 2012). Marvel Comics.
  17. ^ Avengers Arena #4. Marvel Comics.
  18. ^ Avengers Arena #5. Marvel Comics.
  19. ^ Avengers Arena #6. Marvel Comics.
  20. ^ Avengers Arena #11. Marvel Comics.
  21. ^ Avengers Arena #17. Marvel Comics.
  22. ^ Avengers Arena #18. Marvel Comics.
  23. ^ Invincible Iron Man #600. Marvel Comics.
  24. ^ King in Black: Spider-Man #1 (March 2021). Marvel Comics.
  25. ^ Outlawed' #1 (May 2020). Marvel Comics.
  26. ^ Reptil #1 (July 2021). Marvel Comics.
  27. ^ Reptil #2 (August 2021). Marvel Comics.
  28. ^ Reptil #4 (November 2021). Marvel Comics.
  29. ^ Avengers Academy #17. Marvel Comics.
  30. ^ a b c d e "Reptil Voices (Marvel Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 11, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  31. ^ "NYCC 2015: Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! Announced | News | Marvel.com". Archived from the original on 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  32. ^ "Alice! Mickey! Pooh! Spidey! Disney Junior Announces Slate of New Original Series and Shorts, Along With Returning Franchises, Debuting Across Disney+ and Disney Junior Platforms Through 2024 at First-Ever Disney Junior Fun Fest" (Press release). Disney Branded Television. April 29, 2022 – via The Futon Critic.

External links[edit]

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