- "You like my Biggie photo? Me too. You know what draws your eye when you look at that? The crown... Wanna know why? 'Cause everybody wants to be the king."
- ―Cottonmouth to Shameek Smith[src]
Cornell Stokes, also known as Cottonmouth, was the owner of Harlem's Paradise, a nightclub in New York City. His criminal ongoings began to threaten Luke Cage's world, making them unexpected foes.[1]
Biography
Early Life
At a young age, Cornell was a great pianist and wanted to pursue a career. But with Mama Mabel basically running the neighbourhood of Harlem and being head of the family mob, she wanted something different for Cornell. One night she forced Cornell to kill a young thug in the basement, for dealing with drugs outside of her mob. He returned upstairs from the basement with blood on his hands where he returned to his piano. Mama Mabel comforted him with a hug as she put her hands on top of him. Next, Mama Mabel confronted Pistol Pete, her late husband's brother, for making a deal with the Puerto Rican mob. She forced Cornell to lead him outside at gun point. Mariah came out and started shouting at Uncle Phil, until Cornell shot him twice, killing him.[citation needed]
Personality
To be added
Abilities
This section requires expansion |
- Expert Tactician: To be added
Equipment
To be added
Relationships
Family
- Mama Mabel † - Grandmother
- Peter 'Pistol Pete' Stokes † - Uncle and Victim
- Mariah Dillard - Cousin and Killer
Allies
- Henry Hunter/Pop †
- Hernan Alvarez/Shades
- Willis Stryker/Diamondback
- Turk Barrett
- Zip †
- Domingo Colon †
- Benjamin Donovan - Lawyer
Enemies
- Shameek Smith † - Victim
- Chico Diaz †
- Luke Cage - Former Employee
- New York City Police Department
- Rafael Scarfe † - Ally turned Victim
- Misty Knight
- Connie Lin
- Tone † - Subordinate turned Victim
- Domingo Colon † - Situational Ally
Appearances
Appearances for Cottonmouth |
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in chronological order: |
Trivia
- In the comics, Cornell Cottonmouth was a heroin trader that wanted to recruit Luke Cage for his organization when Cage was wrongly accused of drug trafficking with heroin stolen from Cottonmouth by Willis Stryker.
Behind the Scenes
- According to Cheo Hodari Coker, the attitude of the rapper Biggie Smalls, a friend of Coker, was a strong influence for this version of Cottonmouth.[2] Coker has also compared Cottonmouth to Simon Adebisi from Oz, Stringer Bell from The Wire and Rowan Pope from Scandal.[3]