Origin
He was nicknamed “Silvermane” because his hair turned gray while he was in his forties. Silvio has been a criminal most of his life. As a teenager he had already joined the Maggia, which is a large organized crime family. He then created his own crime team by using his skills to rise up in ranks.
Creation
Silvermane was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #73.
Character Evolution
Silvio team joined up with HYDRA who were under the control of the Kingpin. But most of the crimes dealt with drugs and weapons. Silvio tried to experiment with drugs to find a way to make more money. They captured teenagers and tested the drug on them. Sadly it killed most of them. Two of the teenagers survived but, the drug gave them powers and they were known as Cloak and Dagger. This drug was very powerful and dangerous. Once the two teenagers found out they had these powers because of Silvio they wanted revenge. Spider-Man tried to protect the villains. But, Dagger used her powers and it gave Silvio a heart attack. To make so he survived they placed his brain in a robotic body. Now he was stronger and more powerful. He now wanted revenge and so Spider-Man had to protect Dagger. The battle went into a subway station where Silvio defeated Spider-Man and almost killed Cloak until Dagger apparently killed Silvio again. After that Kingpin got Silvio’s lifeless body. He tried to revive it so he could make a good assassin. So Silvio was alive once more. But, now his brain functioned on a lower level than before. They put a collar around his neck so they could control him by using pain. Spider-Man thought he was dead but, they battled once more and Spider-Man was defeated. Spider-Man was defenseless against the cyborg. But, Silvio let Spider-Man live and ignored KIngpins orders. Now, Silvio went after Dagger because when they had battled she had stolen some of his life force and he wanted it back. Now Kingpin made a fake drug deal to trick Dagger and Cloak into going there which would also make Silvio go there. Kingpin wanted Silvio back in his clutches. But, Spider-Man showed up there to with Black Cat. Cloak tried to teleport but, Silvio jumped in his cloak and teleported with him. Dagger was taken by Kingpin into penthouse to try to help Kingpins wife. But, her powers were to weak at that time to help. That’s when Silvio showed up at the penthouse. He beat Kingpin and Spider-Man at the same time. So that’s when the Answer gave up his life to give Dagger her powers back and so Silvio could get what he came for. So Silvio got the light back which restored his knowledge and he then left. Cloak and Dagger teleported away. Kingpin blamed Spider-Man for Dagger not helping his wife. Later Jack o’Lantern tried to kill Silvio. Instead he just destroyed his bionic body. So Silvio survived and was held at HYDRA until another bionic body was prepared for him. Later, Spider-Man tried to get Silvio defeated him and captured him. He would try to drain Spider-Man’s blood and make himself more powerful. So Spider-Man escaped but, was weak and left. That’s when Black Cat came and made the place explode and killed Silvio.
He’s Alive Again
Later, it turns out that the Silvio that had died was just a android and Silvio was actually alive and well. When he was running a crime organization in Las Vegas, he was about to teach someone a lesson, when Daredevil showed up. He slammed a slot machine onto Silvio and made his robotic body useless. Silvio got away and still came up with another plan. He took over all New York computers to cause some trouble. He then assembled a bunch of men (Beetle, Boomerang, Hydro-Man, Speed Demon) to capture Deathlok. He also created a new villian named Scorpia to help them do it. He wanted Deathlok’s body so he could become even more powerful. Deathlok’s body was under Silvio’s control. But, Deathlok defeated him in the end but, Silvio got away after finding his old robot body. It is shown that The Avengers stopped one of his crime mob meetings. A couple people were captured but, it is not known if he was captured or not.
Major Story Arcs
Secret of the Petrified Tablet
Silvio feared death and was always trying to find the key to being immortal. Later, he learned of a tablet that could restore anyone back to youth and so he started looking for this tablet. After he found the tablet, he kidnapped Doctor Connors so he could make the formula. Spider-Man soon heard of this and saved Doctor Connors. But, he could not stop Silvio from drinking the formula. The formula worked and returned him to his youth. But, the effects wore off and he returned to his normal age.
Powers and Abilities
In his human form, Silvermane had no superhuman powers. He was good at hand-to-hand combat and was an excellent marksman. He was also a brilliant strategist. Once he acquired his cyborg body, he obtained superhuman strength and senses.
Alternate Version
Ultimate Silvermane
Silvermane appears in the Ultimate universe in Ultimate Spider-Man. He is working with Hammerhead only to have Hammerhead smash his head in after he insults his intelligence.
House of M
Silvermane appears a younger crime boss of the families captured by the brotherhood.
Other Media
Television
- Silvermane appears in the 1981 Spider-Man cartoon, voiced by Paul Winchell.
- Silvermane appears as a frequent recurring villain in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. He was voiced by Jeff Corey as an old man, Townsend Coleman as an adult, Matthew McCurley as a child, and Cannon Young as a baby.
- Silvermane appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by the late Miguel Ferrer.
- Silvermane appears in Marvel’s Spider-Man, voiced by Nolan North.
Video Games
- Slivermane appears in the beta versions of the SNES and Sega GenesisSpider-Man Animated Series video games. He was replaced with a robot in the final versions.
- Silvermane is an exclusive villain in the Nintendo DS version of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Steven Blum. Silvermane fights the Spider-Man of the year 2099. It is explained by Madame Web that he’s still alive in the year 2099 is because of his cyborg status and plans on using his fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos to become immortal. Spider-Man takes down Silvermane by avoiding his missile and bomb attacks, thus wearing him down.
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Silvermane appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, as part of the “Cloak and Dagger” DLC.
Merchandise
- Silvermane’s cyborg head appears as a pack-in with the Marvel Legends Speed Demon figure from Hasbro, which was part of the Marvel Legends Absorbing Man Build-a-Figure wave.
- Silvermane was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
- Silvermane was later featured as a full figure in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of an Amazon-exclusive Spider-Man box set.