- "The strongest of them all, the one that destroyed my earth. It's the one that took my family."
- ―Mysterio to Spider-Man[src]
Molten Man[1] was an illusion created and controlled by Quentin Beck, representing the Elemental of fire.
History[]
- "They were born in stable orbits. Within the black holes, creatures formed from the primary elements. Air, Water, Fire, Earth. The science division had a technical name. We just called them Elementals."
- ―Mysterio to Spider-Man[src]
Using the illusion projectors and the Stark Industries combat drones designed by William Ginter Riva, Quentin Beck created a realistic illusion of the creature made of fire and molten lava. Gutes Guterman also came up with a story about the Elementals from a parallel universe that got to Earth through a dimensional rift resulting from the Snap, with the Elementals - specifically Molten Man - having destroyed Beck's "previous Earth" and "killed his family".
Beck gave the fabricated story that Molten Man was the most powerful elemental of the four (not including the Elemental Fusion, introduced later), and that it grows bigger and stronger by melting metal onto its body. Once it reached a certain size, it could destroy the Earth's core. Beck sent Molten Man to Prague, alerting 'Nick Fury' and 'Maria Hill' of the location prior to the illusions' arrival, giving him and Spider-Man the chance to set up for the coming battle.[2]
Prague Battle[]
- "Peter, listen to me. The best hope you have, the only hope, is to stop it here now, no matter what the cost. Maneuver it away from civilians if you can, but most important, keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it'll draw power from the Earth's core. After that, there's no way to stop it."
- ―Mysterio to Spider-Man[src]
Molten Man was unleashed in Prague, and Spider-Man worked with Mysterio to prevent the supposed destruction of Peter's Earth that Molten Man would cause. They began to fight it as Ned Leeds and Betty Brant watched from a ferris wheel, trapped. Ned didn't want to give away the secret of Peter Parker being Spider-Man, not even to his then-girlfriend, and told her it was a European knockoff called Night Monkey. Molten Man destroyed and "absorbed" a carousel, "growing" bigger. Peter attempted to web up the Elemental as it approached the ferris wheel Ned Leeds and Betty Brant were in, but Beck's tech created actual fire to appear as if Spider-Man's webbing just burned away.
That's when Mysterio arrived from above, "blocking" Molten Man from attacking Parker with a green force field as Molten Man pounded on it, and Mysterio and Spider-Man decided to go to Plan B. Twice, Parker successfully swung an object Molten Man could not absorb at him, followed by Mysterio "blasting" Molten Man, which seemed to be working. Parker and Beck were doing good keeping the Elemental away from the metal ferris wheel, which would gain it enough power to destroy the Earth's core. When Beck mentioned this, right on cue, Molten Man threw its fists to the ground and let its lava trail under the ground straight to the ferris wheel, absorbing some of its metal before Mysterio came in and started blasting Molten Man.
When Parker attempted to save Ned Leeds and Betty Brant who were trapped in a ferris wheel near the battle, he hit one of the invisible drones and knocked its projector off, which got knocked over to where Michelle Jones was hiding as she was suspicious of Peter and also had a secret crush on him. MJ proceeded to steal the drone. Molten Man continued to attempt to approach the ferris wheel, with Mysterio keeping it back, however, with its subterranean grip still on the wheel, it begins to topple slightly, as Ned and Betty scream. Spider-Man swings over to help them as he webs it to a building just as "Nick Fury" and "Maria Hill" - who were communicating with Mysterio and Spider-Man during the fight - drive in on the scene.
Mysterio successfully pinned Molten Man against a wall but it was against metal scaffholding, and as such, Molten Man absorbed it and "became too powerful". Mysterio then started preparing to give his life to stop the Elemental like he "should have last time". Despite Peter's pleas, Beck flew right inside Molten Man and blew the elemental up from the inside, destroying it and "saving" Prague from the threat. Molten Man had truly been an illusion by Beck, but Beck's faked selflessness was enough for "Nick Fury" to request he stay to defend the world from other threats - as he miraculously survives the feat - as well as prompting Peter Parker to give Beck the E.D.I.T.H. glasses, giving him and his crew full access to E.D.I.T.H.'s associated Stark drones.[2]
Capabilities[]
Molten Man was created as an illusion resembling a creature made of fire and molten lava. With the holographic system designed by Quentin Beck, Molten Man's appearance was utterly realistic, and with Stark Industries Combat Drones, Molten Man was able to cause real damage. Molten Man used attacks based around fire, blowing out blasts of fire from his arms, which was in reality caused by Drones with attached flamethrowers.
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Molten Man is Mark Raxton, an Oscorp Industries scientist who worked as the lab assistant of Spencer Smythe. When Raxton tried to steal an experimental new liquid metallic alloy developed by them for the Spider-Slayers to sell it for his own profit, a fight ensued and Raxton spilled the liquid over himself, becoming Molten Man. He was also the son of Doris Raxton and the stepbrother of Liz Allan.
- In Molten Man's introductory scene, a car with the license plate "ASM 28965" is visible. This is a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #28 from 1965, which was the first appearance of Molten Man.
- Molten Man bares more of a resemblance to Fire, a creation of Diablo's and a member of the Elementals of Doom.
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Molten Man replaces Hellfire as a member of the Elementals.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Production visual effects supervisor Janek Sirrs stated in an interview with IndieWire that during development of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Molten Man was depicted as a gold man sporting a buzz cut and a pair of tighty-whities. They ultimately retained a hint of his buzz cut for "nostalgic reasons."[3]