Who is the Lizard? Powers & weaknesses in Marvel Comics explained

The Lizard makes his return to video games in the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but his comic book history dates all the way back to Spider-Man’s earliest adventures.

The Lizard showing up in trailers for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is exciting, but it’s no surprise. Fans were given their first tease of long-time Spider-Man character Curt Connors appearing in the post-credits stinger from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. 

Debuting in 1963’s The Amazing Spider-Man #6, The Lizard is simultaneously Spider-Man’s most trusted ally and his deadliest foe. Spidey’s often relied on Curt Connors’ scientific acumen as much as he has The Lizard’s terrifying strength, but he’s also had to fight an unhinged Connors on multiple occasions. 

Much like other characters, the Insomniac Games version of Connors will likely have some similarities to his comic book counterpart. If that’s the case, Spider-Man may have found a new rival who can match him intellectually. 

Who is The Lizard in Marvel Comics?

How Curt Connors became The Lizard

Doctor Curt Connors became obsessed with reptiles’ regenerative capabilities after losing his arm in the army. He spent years studying how reptiles regenerated their tails and developed a serum to give humans a similar ability to regrow limbs. 

The serum worked, but it worked too well. Conners grew back his missing arm but also grew a tail and thick, scaly green skin. He attempts to make a counter-serum, but the transformation is slowly dulling his senses. As the Lizard brain takes over, he lacks the ability to understand the process of creating the counter-serum. 

How Spider-Man beat the Lizard

When Spider-Man is challenged by J. Jonah Jameson to fight The Lizard, Peter tricks Jameson into flying the two to Florida. Spidey attempts to stop The Lizard but is soundly beaten in their first encounter. 

In the aftermath, Spider-Man discovers Connors’s wife and learns of his transformation. With Dr. Connors’s notes, Spider-Man develops a counter-serum and faces him again. 

Though Spidey successfully cures Connors in this instance, it doesn’t really stop him. He continues his experiments and periodically regresses to the Lizard form over time. Currently, Connors is able to control the transformation via an inhibitor chip. The chip allows him to retain his human intellect and will regress him to his human form if he displays any aggression. 

The Lizard’s powers and weaknesses

Enhanced strength, speed & durability

Connors undergoes a transformation whenever he turns into The Lizard. In addition to regrowing his missing arm, he develops a more reptilian appearance. 

As The Lizard, Connors has thick, scaly skin, which is resistant to even Spider-Man’s punches. He also gains enhanced strength and durability and grows a tail he can whip at opponents. 

Regeneration/healing factor

The Lizard can recover quickly from any damage he takes. This isn’t quite on par with Wolverine’s healing factor, but it is substantially more potent than an average human. 

Like the various reptile species Connors experimented on, The Lizard can also regrow missing limbs. He’s also been shown to regrow his tail if he should lose it while transformed.

Mental control over reptile life

In his earliest appearances, The Lizard is shown to have telepathic control of reptilian life. His first appearance has him controlling alligators to fight Spider-Man. They’re shown to harmlessly return to normal once Connors reverts to his human form. 

For a time, Connors was stuck in his Lizard form with no semblance of his human self, known as The Shed. As The Shed, he had the ability to influence the so-called lizard part of the human brain, which let him regress a human to their most basic instincts. 

Weakness to cold

Like a real reptile, The Lizard is susceptible to extreme cold. As part of his transformation, he becomes cold-blooded and needs to find ways to heat his body. 

By hitting him with extreme cold, such as liquid nitrogen or the refrigerator car of a train, Spidey can stop him in his tracks.

Weakness to stress

In his human form, Connors is highly susceptible to stress. Getting too stressed out or excited, such as when Morbius, the Living Vampire, attacked him, can cause him to transform.

Extremely stressful environments trigger the Lizard transformation, creating a vicious cycle where Connors is always at risk of transforming. 

That’s a quick and dirty history of The Lizard in Marvel Comics. Before you dive into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, take a look at some of our other handy guides and content:

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