Brief History
“From north to south they call me Cottonmouth ’cause the scales tell the tale: Green for the money and gold for the honey! Aheheheheheh!!” — Cornell Cottonmouth.
Cornell Cottonmouth had a set of henchmen who at times would test Cage. Mr. Slick was Cornell’s right hand, and kept record of all their business transactions. He had a photographic memory so he never wrote anything down. A good business skill, but bad information for Luke Cage who was trying to get evidence of his frame up. During a fight with Cornell, Luke sent Mr. Slick out of a window many stories up, killing both Mr. Slick and his evidence.
Mike & Ike were two henchmen who got their butts handed to them when they tried to fight Luke Cage. They were originally supposed to bring Cage to Cornell, but they pissed him off, and Luke beat them up. After being forced to take Luke Cage to Cornell, Mike & Ike are never heard from again.
Shadowland
Cottonmouth resurfaced during the evens of Shadowland as a pimp in a criminal section underneath the West Side Highway which he calls Purgatory. When the new Power Man shows up, he promptly denies physically abusing a girl named Elle saying that he “pimps with his mind.” The new Power Man promptly breaks his teeth ensuring that he never uses his vicious bite again.
Creation
Cornell Cottonmouth was created by Len Wein and George Tuska and first appeared in Power Man #19.
Other Media
Television
Luke Cage
Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes’ character is played by Mahershala Ali.
Cottonmouth is a rich man who owns a huge club in Harlem. His club is doing well, but he wants more money. It is clearly shown, that in order to obtain more money, he sells drugs to drugs cartels.
Furthermore, Cottonmouth’s cousin, Mariah, is running for the elections, to become the councilwoman of Harlem.
Cottonmouth wants to get rid of Luke Cage, due to the fact that Luke interfered with his business. Cottonmouth does not appreciate it and tries several ways to kill him, all to no avail.
He eventually tries to break him mentally, by telling him that he can reveal Cage’s past to the public any time he wants. He tells Luke that he should either obey him or Cottonmouth will reveal the truth which will result in Luke being arrested again. Unfortunately, things do not go well for Cottonmouth.
Mariah comes over to his place and they discuss about their childhood. Cottonmouth tells Mariah things, but she does not agree with him. He goes on and on, but Mariah disagrees and eventually starts yelling at him. She leans forward to him and suddenly pushes him really hard. Cottonmouth falls over the balcony and dies.