Origin
During the Infinity War, Adam Magus created doppelgangers of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and sent them to Earth to attack the heroes. When Doppelganger encountered Spider-Man, he was already engaged in battle with the Hobgoblin (Macendale).
Hobgoblin defeated the doppelganger by impaling it on a fence. Later Demogoblin found Doppelganger and infused it with supernatural energy. This energy allowed Doppelganger to remain on earth even after Magus was defeated.
Creation
Doppelganger was created by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim in 1992 and first appeared in Infinity War #1.
Story Arcs
Doppelganger was directed to a grudge against the Hobgoblin. When Doppelganger and Demogoblin teamed up to defeat the Hobgoblin, Spider-Man protected the Hobgoblin.
As the battle continued, it led to them joining another battle where Dan Ketch and Johnny Blaze battled a group of Deathspawn and Venom. Doppelganger and Demogoblin are pulled underground by the Deathspawn and two deathspawn take residence within Doppelganger.
Maximum Carnage
Doppelganger lurked around New York until the Maximum Carnage storyline. Doppelganger ran into Carnage who mistook Doppelganger as Spider-Man.
Shriek liked Doppelganger and adopted it as her son. During their spree, Demogoblin and Carrion join the group. Carnage’s ‘Family’ battle Spider-Man, Black Cat, Cloak, Venom, and others. When Shriek started showing rebellious behavior, Carnage attacked her. Doppelganger defended Shriek until it got gutted and kicked into the street by Carnage.
Carnage: Family Feud
Recently, however, Doppelganger mysteriously returned from the dead hunting down a truck that was holding Shriek prisoner. As he was pursued through New York by Spider-Man and Iron Man it encountered a woman whose sedan had been hit by the truck after a crazed mob forced it to stop.
When the woman realized that Doppelganger was crying out for its Mother, she tried to help it open the truck only to end up being severely injured as an energy blast fired by a tech-suit wearing man calling himself Royal Blue tore through Doppelganger and ‘killed’ him. However, it was revealed that he was not killed and ‘woke up’ on the autopsy table. He is then imprisoned by Hall Industries, only to later be broken out by Shriek. Doppelganger aids Shriek in causing havoc throughout New York, but is soon defeated by the new symbiote Scorn.
Powers & Abilities
True to his purpose, Doppelganger has abilities very similar to Spider-Man, including his degree of superhuman strength, agility, stamina, reflexes, and speed. He can also stick to walls and shoot organic webbing from the palms of his hands – all six of them. Unlike Spider-Man, Doppelganger has two additional sets of arms, with each hand possessing razor-sharp talons that can easily tear through human flesh. Doppelganger is actually physically stronger than Spider-Man, although how much exactly is uncertain. This may be in part from his feral nature, as he seems to be limited to animal instinct, although his attachment to Shriek makes him follow her instructions to a degree. His body has recently begun taking on a rather malleable nature, allowing him to take on somewhat different shapes. He has also shown to be able to recover from a considerable and otherwise fatal injury.
According to scientists who were able to briefly study Doppelganger after his apparent death, he is “inorganic and may not have been legally alive to begin with.”
Other Media
Television
- In the Spider-Man: The Animated Series episode “The Wedding,” a mentally unstable Harry Osborn is shown attending therapy sessions with Dr. Ashley Kafka. It is shown that Harry suffers from recurring nightmares where his father Norman and his ex-girlfriend Mary Jane are attacked and killed by a monstrous, demonic version of Spider-Man. The evil Spider-Man in Harry’s dream strongly resembles the Doppelganger, and was likely designed as an homage to the character.
Video Games
- Doppelganger appeared in the 1994 video game Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, as a recurring boss.
- Doppelganger appears as a playable character in the Spider-Man Unlimited mobile game.
Merchandise
- Doppelganger was featured in ToyBiz’s action figure line for Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
- Doppelganger was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
- Doppelganger was featured in Diamond Select’s Minimates line as part of a two-pack with Venom.
- Doppelganger was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as part of the Molten Man Build-a-Figure wave, which was released to coincide with Spider-Man: Far from Home wave.