Well, Marvel Is Big On Noir Stuff These Days

So why not a gangster-themed villain? I guess one could file this as another exercise in trying to find a use for a villain we haven't seen recently. Again, I'm drawing from JMS' Amazing Spider-Man, since he seemed to enjoy introducing villains, using them once, then moving on. I already talked about Shade, so I thought I'd take a whirl at Digger.

Digger was thirteen mobsters killed decades ago at a supposed peaceful meeting by an associate mobster, who had their bodies dumped in out in the Nevada desert. Flash to the present, a scientist wants to study gamma radiation as a potential starting point for life, uses a gamma bomb, and surprise, it some causes the various remains to merge together into a big green, angry conglomeration of thirteen mobsters, bent on revenge. Spider-Man ended up protecting the man responsible (while taping him admitting to the crime), and defeated Digger by keeping after him until he expended the gamma radiation powering him, causing him to basically fall apart, and drift away down the sewer.

OK, so he's dead right now. Big deal. This is the Marvel Universe we're talking about, there's gamma radiation allover the place there. Wouldn't be too hard for him to be exposed to sufficient amounts to allow Digger to reconstitute himself. Let's set aside Digger trying to get revenge on Forelli (the mobster that killed them), or Spider-Man. Those are obvious stories, right?

While he was around, Digger spent a little time reading whatever newspapers drifted by in the sewers, so he knows a bit about what's happened in the world during his absence, so he/it isn't completely "man out of time", but Digger certainly didn't adjust well to the times, very much a "things were better in our day!". I think there's some potential there, show Digger deciding to put together an "organization" and run it in what they would consider the "right" way, and how they conflict with modern rivals. Would there be difficulty recruiting people that met their standard? Would the way they ran things present a different sort of challenges for the heroes that would try and oppose them? Daredevil deals with organized crime a lot, so Digger might be a potential problem. Sure, Digger is probably way over Daredevil's weight class, but that's never stopped the Man Without Fear before*. Does the Falcon still focus on street crime, 'cause he could be another possibility.

The issue is that Digger basically fell apart once already because the gamma radiation powering ran out, so that would probably have to be an ongoing concern for them. There might be something in having what's left of Digger wash up somewhere else. Say in Africa, here's about this advanced country calls Wakanda, figures maybe they'd having something he could use, tries to barge in there, runs afoul of this new Black Panther. T'Challa fought the Hulk once upon a time, so this wouldn't be a bad warm-up for whoever is taking over the role. I suppose you could gear the stories towards Digger working to acquire/expose himself to sources of gamma radiation to keep himself going**. If he weren't busy running from Norman Osborn, it sounds like the sort of thing Iron Man might deal with. So maybe Hank Pym could look into it in his place. I'd suggest the Mighty Avengers, but they might be a bit much for just Digger. Other possibility: Digger joins the Thunderbolts, or some similar program in exchange for assistance with his problem. Probably results in him becoming Metallo-like, with a gamma power source stored on him somewhere.

Of course, the question arises how one convinces a body made of a baker's dozen of mobsters to work for the government. Here's one thought I've got: the minds/personalities/spirits the inhabit the body aren't static, frozen in time. They can learn, they can change, if they wish to. Maybe some of them have caught a glimpse of what's waiting for them, and would prefer to delay that day for as long as possibly, maybe even try and make amends for past misdeeds. Ideally, this would apply to some, but certainly not all of the personalities. In this way, you get an internal conflict in the character, and what desires are predominant depends on which one can gain control at a particular moment. I recall that Ellis' Thunderbolts had considerable infighting and politicking, mostly Moonstone trying to get more power, undermine Osborn, but struggling with Songbird, who doesn't trust her at all. Now you could get all that, in one character, with the different mobsters fighting amongst themselves, forming temporary alliances, things like. Remember, these guys were from roughly seven different criminal organizations***, and were sitting down to try and make peace when they were murdered. Their hatchets may not have been buried yet. That would make for a volatile, unpredictable character, whether operating as they head of a group, as a loner, or as part of a team.

Another thought: The death/decomposition while fighting Spider-Man, caused Digger to lose some personalities. Some of them had a lesser desire to survive/get revenge/whatever, and they've moved on. But when Digger reforms/resurrects, he/it gains personalities of any bodies that happen to be nearby. It would be a bit like Terror Inc., where he would add body parts as necessary from what was available around him, only personalities. This could potentially happen anytime they recharged, depending on their amount of damage they sustained previously, and whether there were any bodies nearby. Probably not feasible if one were to go with the "government provided constant gamma source" idea****. It would add a level of malleability to the character, similar to how Solomon Grundy isn't the same every time he emerges from that swamp. I don't think you'd want to change Digger too much, but it might be fun to add certain personality traits or interests, see whether they add something to the story, then keep or discard. If a personality wound up being disliked by the rest, there might even be the possibility of a story about Digger trying to reject that part, and problems that might cause depending on what it brought them.

So that's what I have at the moment. Also, I'm trying to come up with a good label for these posts, but I'm not sure what really describes it well, besides something like "fanwankery", thanks but no. I thought about "Villain Rehab", but that implies they're broken, or that I'm capable of rehabbing them, which which is more than a bit presumptuous. Any ideas would be appreciated.

* See battles with Ultron, Namor, Hogun the Grim, etc.

** I figure Digger can read up somewhere on what's put him in his current situation and work from there. Or he could go back to the site he was born at, and question some of the scientists that are probably still poking around their test site.

*** The six heads of the organizations, plus their lieutenants, plus Forelli's lieutenant, who arrived in his place, and was back-stabbing Forelli.

**** Though if you played Thunderbolts more like Suicide Squad, where anyone could die at any moment, you could have Digger deciding whether or not so and so would be worth adding to their little collective.