The Jackal (Miles Warren)

• Core Identity: A brilliant but pathologically obsessed professor of genetics, Miles Warren's unrequited love for his student Gwen Stacy spiraled into madness following her death, leading him to master cloning and adopt the supervillain persona of the Jackal to psychologically torture his nemesis, Spider-Man.
• Key Takeaways:
• Role in the Universe: The Jackal is one of Spider-Man's most significant and personal antagonists, a scientific mastermind whose primary weapon is not physical force, but the erosion of identity and the exploitation of grief through genetic manipulation. He is the architect of the infamous Clone Saga.
• Primary Impact: His most profound impact on the Marvel Universe was the creation of clones of both Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker. This act introduced long-term characters like Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker and, for a time, cast the very identity of the original Spider-Man into doubt, causing deep and lasting psychological trauma.
• Key Incarnations: As a character intrinsically tied to the comic book death of Gwen Stacy, the Jackal is a major villain in the Earth-616 continuity. He has not appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), where the narrative of Peter Parker's life has followed a different trajectory, making a direct adaptation of his origin story highly unlikely.

Professor Miles Warren was first introduced as a supporting character in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965), created by the legendary duo of writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Initially, he was simply a science professor at Empire State University (ESU), a background figure in the academic lives of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. He was portrayed as intelligent and respectable, a far cry from the villain he would become. The transformation into the Jackal occurred nearly a decade later, in the wake of the groundbreaking and tragic storyline, “The Night Gwen Stacy Died.” Writer Gerry Conway, seeking a villain whose motivations were deeply personal and rooted in that specific tragedy, conceived of the Jackal. With artist Ross Andru, Conway retroactively established Warren's secret obsession with Gwen, making him the perfect character to be driven to insanity by her death. The Jackal made his official debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (February 1974), the very same issue that introduced the Punisher, making it one of the most significant single issues in Marvel history for its introduction of key characters. The Jackal's creation was a narrative masterstroke, allowing the writers to explore the lingering trauma of Gwen's death and to physically bring her “back” via cloning, creating a unique and deeply unsettling threat for Spider-Man. He represented a new breed of villain: one whose primary goal was not world domination or wealth, but the meticulous psychological destruction of the hero.

Miles Warren was a distinguished professor of biochemistry at Empire State University. He was widely respected for his intellect and was a mentor to many students, including Peter Parker and the brilliant, radiant Gwen Stacy. Publicly, Warren was a model academic, but privately, he developed a deep, paternal, and ultimately inappropriate and obsessive affection for Gwen. He saw her as the pinnacle of purity and intelligence, the daughter he never had. The turning point in Warren's life was the catastrophic death of Gwen Stacy at the hands of the Green Goblin. Consumed by grief, Warren's mind shattered. He refused to accept her death and, in his warped sorrow, needed someone to blame. He fixated on Spider-Man, who was present at her death, and became convinced the wall-crawler was a menace responsible for taking his beloved Gwen away. His grief coincided with a breakthrough in his research. Warren had been a student of the High Evolutionary, the master geneticist, and had secretly perfected a cloning process. He obtained cell samples of Gwen and Peter from his teaching assistant, Anthony Serba. In his hidden lab beneath his home, he successfully grew a perfect clone of Gwen Stacy. The sight of her, alive again, solidified his descent into madness. To torment Spider-Man, he also created a clone of Peter Parker, intending to have the clone destroy the original. During this period, Warren began to lose his grip on reality. His colleague, Professor Seward Trainer, had once jokingly referred to him as “the Jackal” for his tenacity. Warren, in his broken state, embraced this moniker. He designed a green and brown costume with sharp claws and adopted the persona of The Jackal, a cunning predator to hunt the “Spider.” He orchestrated a complex series of events, culminating in a showdown between Spider-Man and his clone, believing he was acting out of a twisted sense of justice for Gwen. This first “Clone Saga” ended with the apparent death of both the Jackal and the Peter Parker clone in an explosion, leaving the original Spider-Man to secretly dispose of the clone's body, forever haunted by the experience. However, as is common in comics, death was not the end. It was later revealed that Warren had cloned himself, and the Jackal who died was merely one of many. This retcon allowed him to return decades later and orchestrate the second, far more expansive Clone Saga of the 1990s, revealing that he had been manipulating events from the shadows all along.

To be unequivocally clear, Professor Miles Warren and his villainous alter ego, The Jackal, do not exist within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999). He has never been seen, mentioned, or alluded to in any film or television series to date. The reasons for his exclusion are rooted in the specific narrative choices of the MCU. The Jackal's entire motivation stems from the death of Gwen Stacy. In the MCU, Peter Parker's primary love interests have been Liz Allan and Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson. Gwen Stacy has not been a character in his life. The death of a character analogous to Gwen, Aunt May in Spider-Man: No Way Home, served a similar purpose of maturing Peter through tragedy, but the villain responsible was the Green Goblin from another universe. Furthermore, the concept of cloning and the intricate, often confusing plotlines of the Clone Saga are difficult to adapt for a streamlined cinematic narrative. The MCU has generally avoided such complex comic book continuity in favor of more accessible stories. While genetic engineering exists in the MCU (e.g., the Super Soldier Serum, the High Evolutionary's experiments in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), the specific and personal nature of the Jackal's cloning obsession has no direct counterpart. While fan theories occasionally speculate on how a character like Miles Warren could be introduced—perhaps as a disgruntled former Stark Industries scientist or a university professor encountered by Peter Parker at MIT—there is currently no canonical basis for his appearance. The thematic role of a mentor-figure-turned-villain who attacks Peter on a personal level was largely filled by Quentin Beck / Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

The Jackal's threat level comes from his mind and his creations, though he has evolved into a physical threat over time.

• Abilities:
• Genius-Level Intellect: Warren's intelligence is his greatest asset. He is a world-class expert in multiple scientific fields, including genetics, cloning, biochemistry, and biology. His ability to create stable, viable clones of complex human beings is a feat few in the Marvel Universe can replicate.
• Master of Deception and Psychological Warfare: He is a cunning strategist who excels at long-term planning and manipulation. His schemes are designed not just to defeat Spider-Man, but to mentally break him by attacking his identity, his memories, and his sense of self.
• Enhanced Physicality (Jackal Form): After his initial appearances, Warren began experimenting on his own genetic code with a “Jackal Virus.” This eventually mutated his body, granting him superhuman attributes. His strength, speed, agility, and reflexes were enhanced to levels comparable to Spider-Man. This transformation also gave him razor-sharp claws on his fingertips, pointed teeth, and a more bestial, jackal-like appearance, eliminating the need for a costume.
• Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: In his enhanced form, the Jackal is a ferocious and unpredictable fighter, combining his superhuman agility with his natural claws and teeth to deadly effect.
• Equipment:
• Advanced Cloning Laboratories: The Jackal operates out of numerous secret, high-tech labs equipped with cloning pods, genetic sequencers, and computer systems necessary for his work.
• Cloning Technology: His primary “equipment” is his proprietary cloning process. This includes stasis pods for accelerating clone growth and memory-imprinting devices to transfer the original's memories and personality into the clone. A key flaw he often struggles with is “clone degeneration,” a cellular breakdown that can cause clones to dissolve into a genetic slurry.
• Clawed Gauntlets: Before his physical transformation, he wore gloves tipped with sharp steel claws, capable of tearing through fabric and flesh.
• Anesthetic Darts: He frequently employed small projectiles filled with potent tranquilizers to subdue his victims non-lethally.
• Personality:
• Obsessive and Delusional: The Jackal is defined by his obsession with Gwen Stacy. His entire worldview is filtered through the lens of her death and his perceived role as her avenger. He often speaks to her clone as if she were the original, unable or unwilling to accept the reality of his own actions.
• Arrogant and Egotistical: Warren possesses a severe god complex. He sees his ability to create life as proof of his superiority over common humanity and especially over Spider-Man. He takes immense pride in his intellect and delights in explaining the brilliance of his plans.
• Sadistic and Cruel: He derives genuine pleasure from the emotional and psychological torment he inflicts. He views Spider-Man's suffering as righteous punishment and designs his plans to maximize his enemy's pain.

As the Jackal is not present in the MCU, his abilities and personality can only be analyzed in a hypothetical context for a potential adaptation.

• Potential Abilities: An MCU version would almost certainly retain the genius-level intellect as his core trait. The source of his cloning knowledge could be adapted to fit MCU lore, perhaps by reverse-engineering Chitauri biology, studying Skrull DNA, or misappropriating Pym or Stark technology. If a physical transformation were included, it would likely be the result of a failed experiment with a substance like the Extremis virus or a corrupted form of the Super Soldier Serum.
• Potential Personality: The core obsession would be the most crucial element to translate. To do so, the MCU would need to establish a character for Peter to lose who is also deeply admired by a future Miles Warren. Given the current MCU timeline, this would be a difficult narrative hurdle. Alternatively, his motivation could be altered to a more general scientific hubris, a desire to “conquer death” that puts him in conflict with the Avengers and Spider-Man, similar to the High Evolutionary's motivations but on a more personal scale.

The Jackal rarely has true “allies” in the traditional sense; he has pawns, creations, and temporary partners of convenience.

• The Gwen Stacy Clone (Abby-L): His most significant creation. The first successful clone of Gwen was both the object of his affection and his primary tool for tormenting Peter Parker. The clone's own journey of self-discovery and rejection of Warren's plans is a central part of her character arc. Later versions and iterations of the Gwen clone would continue to plague Spider-Man's life.
• Carrion (Malcolm McBride): A tragic figure created by Warren. McBride was a fellow professor at ESU whom Warren duped, infecting him with a powerful genetic virus. This transformed McBride into Carrion, a being with powers of decay and telepathy, who believed himself to be a degenerated clone of Warren himself. He was a weapon pointed squarely at Spider-Man, entirely manipulated by his creator.
• The “Scrier” and Judas Traveller: During the 1990s Clone Saga, Jackal was revealed to be working in concert with these mysterious figures to manipulate Spider-Man and Ben Reilly. This “cabal” was part of a larger, convoluted plot to study the nature of good and evil, with Peter Parker as the test subject.

• Spider-Man (Peter Parker): This is one of the most personal rivalries in comics. The Jackal hates Spider-Man with a burning passion, blaming him for Gwen Stacy's death. But his goal is not simply to kill Spider-Man; it is to make him suffer, to strip away everything he is. The Jackal's greatest weapon against Peter is Peter's own past, his love for Gwen, and his very identity. No other villain has so successfully made Peter Parker doubt who he truly is.
• Ben Reilly (The Scarlet Spider): As the “perfect” clone of Peter Parker, Ben Reilly represents the ultimate embodiment of the Jackal's genius. However, Ben's development of a distinct, heroic personality and his own moral code is a profound defiance of his creator's intentions. Their relationship is a twisted parody of a father and son, with Ben fighting to prove he is more than just a copy while the Jackal seeks to control or destroy the creation that escaped his influence.
• Kaine Parker: The first, flawed clone of Peter. Kaine was afflicted with clone degeneration from the start, leaving him scarred and mentally unstable. He was initially a violent and unpredictable pawn of the Jackal, used to further torment Peter and Ben. Over time, Kaine evolved into a complex anti-hero, but his deep-seated trauma and hatred for his “father,” the Jackal, remain a core part of his character.

The Jackal is a quintessential lone wolf, preferring to work from the shadows and control his own experiments. His affiliations are few and far between.

• High Evolutionary: Warren's most significant connection is his past as a student and assistant to the High Evolutionary at Wundagore Mountain. It was under the High Evolutionary's tutelage that Warren gained the foundational knowledge of genetics that he would later pervert to create his cloning technology.
• New U Technologies: During the Clone Conspiracy storyline, Warren operated as the CEO of this front company. He used its seemingly benevolent mission—curing disease and even reversing death—to mask his true plan of global genetic blackmail. The company employed a number of resurrected supervillains who were “loyal” in exchange for the daily medication needed to keep their cloned bodies stable.

(Featured in The Amazing Spider-Man #141-150) This foundational storyline established the Jackal as a major threat. After a series of manipulations, the Jackal kidnaps Ned Leeds and forces Spider-Man to confront him at Shea Stadium. There, he reveals his identity as Professor Miles Warren and presents Peter with his two greatest creations: a perfect clone of Gwen Stacy and a perfect clone of Spider-Man himself. He forces the two Spider-Men to fight to the death, with the “winner” earning the right to be the “real” Peter Parker. The battle ends in a massive explosion that seemingly kills both the Jackal and the Spider-Man clone. This event left a deep psychological scar on Peter, who was forced to confront a living copy of his lost love and question his own authenticity for the first time.

(A massive, line-wide event spanning multiple Spider-Man titles) This is the storyline for which the Jackal is most famous and infamous. It began with the return of the Spider-Man clone from the 70s, who had survived and created a life for himself as “Ben Reilly.” The Jackal resurfaces, revealing he also survived, and unleashes chaos. The central plot hook was the Jackal's claim, seemingly backed up by scientific tests from his associate Seward Trainer, that Ben was the original Peter Parker and the Peter the world had known for years was the clone. This revelation shattered Peter's world, leading him to temporarily retire as Spider-Man and hand the mantle to Ben. The saga was incredibly complex, introducing dozens of new clones like Kaine and Spidercide, and was ultimately revealed to have been orchestrated by a resurrected Norman Osborn. The Jackal was the central antagonist for much of the run, a gleeful agent of chaos reveling in the destruction of Peter's life.

In this major event, the Jackal took his genetic manipulation to a city-wide scale. Working as the chief scientist for the villainous Spider-Queen (Adriana Soria), he helped develop a virus using genetically modified bedbugs to grant all of Manhattan's inhabitants spider-powers. His goal was to then mutate them further into monstrous spider-creatures under the Queen's control. This storyline showcased the Jackal's scientific ambition beyond his personal vendetta, proving he was a threat capable of bringing New York City to its knees. He also created a clone of Kaine, “Spider-King,” to serve as his muscle.

This modern storyline saw the Jackal return with a new, sophisticated look (a red suit and an Anubis mask) and a terrifyingly ambitious plan. Under the guise of a benevolent CEO, he ran New U Technologies, a company offering a revolutionary “cure” for death itself. He was actually using a new, advanced form of cloning to create “reanimates”—perfect clone bodies that could house the consciousness of the deceased. He brought back dozens of Peter's dead friends and foes, including Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy, and Doctor Octopus, offering them a new life in exchange for their loyalty. His endgame was to intentionally release the Carrion Virus on a global scale, making his cloning process the only cure, effectively giving him control over life and death for the entire planet. The event forced Peter to make impossible choices and ultimately saw Ben Reilly corrupted, leading to him taking over the Jackal mantle himself for a time.

• Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610): The Miles Warren of this reality was a far less significant character. Instead of a geneticist, he was a hypnotherapist who was hired by Harry Osborn to make Harry forget crucial information about his father's life as the Green Goblin. His role as a genetic mastermind was largely absorbed by this universe's version of Doctor Octopus, who was responsible for creating several clones of Spider-Man, including the female clone Jessica Drew (the Ultimate Spider-Woman).
• Spider-Gwen (Earth-65): In the universe where Gwen Stacy became Spider-Woman, Miles Warren is still a professor, but one with a creepy, villainous streak. He is a scientist working for the clandestine organization S.I.L.K. and is obsessed with creating animal-human hybrids, specifically by splicing lizard DNA (from this reality's Peter Parker, who became the Lizard) with others. His obsession with Gwen is still present, but it manifests as a desire to experiment on her rather than a romantic fixation.
• Ben Reilly as The Jackal: Following the events of The Clone Conspiracy, a mentally shattered and repeatedly resurrected Ben Reilly took on the Jackal's name and costume. Operating out of Las Vegas, he sought to build his own criminal empire, using his intimate knowledge of both Peter Parker and the Jackal's methods. This was a dark inversion of his heroic legacy, showing how the trauma inflicted by his creator could corrupt even the noblest of heroes.
• Marvel's Spider-Man Video Game Series (Earth-1048): Miles Warren has not appeared in the Insomniac Games universe. However, the games are rife with themes of genetic modification (Mr. Negative's powers, the Devil's Breath bioweapon, the research at Oscorp). Fan speculation is high that he could be introduced in a future installment as the architect behind a potential clone-focused storyline.

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