Whiplash

Real Name
Mark Scarlotti

Occupation
Former agent of Trevor Donohue, Justin Hammer, weapons designer and agent of the Maggia, head of research for Stark International Cincinnati

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Cleveland, Ohio

Known Relatives
Anthony Scarlotti (father), Barbara Scarlotti (mother), Trudi Scarlotti (wife, deceased), unidentified son (in foster care)

Group Affiliation
Formerly worked for the Maggia, Death Squad, Justin Hammer’s B-Team

Education
College degree in engineering

Height
6’1”

Weight
215 lbs.

Eyes
Blue

Hair
Blond

Powers
None

Abilities
Mark Scarlotti was a brilliant engineer and weapons designer that had expert fighting skills with a whip and nunchucks. He was also a moderate hand-to-hand combatant.

Other Info
Mark Scarlotti was a brilliant young man who graduated with top honors from college. He also had a promising job at Stark International; However, when he became friends with the wrong people, things went downhill fast. He made some bad deals with hopes of a big payoff.

Eventually, Mark worked developing weapons, first for the Maggia, then for himself. He took a more active role in their activities and became the costumed criminal known as Whiplash. Whiplash designed two cybernetically controlled whips that could be converted into nunchucks or vaulting poles. The whips could be spun so fast that they could even blow Spider-Man’s webbing away from Scarlotti preventing him from being ensnared. Whiplash used a necro-lash which could be electrically charged by his gauntlets, released from its handle to deliver a concussion charge, or he could turn up the electric charge to its maximum which caused anything it hit, including Iron Man’s armor, to become brittle. Scarlotti also wore a costume made of steel mesh that could absorb a bullet’s impact or the force from a punch from Iron Man. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the group and/or character. Also, the third picture posted is of Whiplash's first costume.)

Whiplash's first real test put him up against Iron Man; however, Whiplash could not eliminate him. Suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of his armored foe, Scarlotti upgraded his weaponry and took a new alias. He remerged on the crime scene with a new attitude and called himself Blacklash. (Click on the highlighted name above to learn more about Iron Man. Also, the first picture posted is of Scarlotti in his Backlash costume.)

As Backlash, his appearance changed, but his track record did not. After a huge defeat from Iron Man, Mark Scarlotti decided to return back to his home town with thoughts of giving up his criminal career and making a new life for himself.

Back in his hometown, Scarlotti attended an Electronics and Engineering Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. He was hoping to make some contacts or land a legitimate job, but his publicly known criminal identity prevented that from happening. Angered that he couldn’t catch a break, he went to visit his parents at their bakery, but his father disowned him and his mother had to turn her back on him. Even at the local hang out, Mark was nothing but a big joke. His only friend was his high school buddy, Rusty, who became a police officer. The locals didn’t want him, his parents were ashamed of him, and his criminal record would never have allowed for a life he would accept. Therefore, it was no surprise that Mark made a deal with the Maggia once again when they were in need of his services. Scarlotti's assignment was to assassinate a scientist at the convention. However, with the timely arrival of Jim Rhodes (as Iron Man) and Spider-Man the target was able to escape. (To learn about Jim Rhodes--aka War Machine--just click on his name above.)

Unfortunately, Mark soon became an operative for Justin Hammer, another rival of Tony Stark. Hammer called on Scarlotti for various reasons, even if he had to turn him against other Hammer employees. In one of these situations, Backlash and the Rhino were sent after the Scorpion who had double-crossed Hammer. However, this led to a confrontation with Spider-Man, and in the end, Rhino and Blacklash were able to fulfill their mission by retrieving the upgraded costume that Scorpion had kept from Hammer; they left Scorpion and Spider-Man behind. (To learn about the different highlighted characters above, just click on their names.)

Much later, when an ancient being called the Architect was looking for an assassin to kill him, he called upon Blacklash and many others to converge on New York to compete against one another. However, by this time Scarlotti was back in Ohio and was married and had a son. But, he continued to have a difficult time accepting the life he was forced to live. Still looking for a way to make some real money, Scarlotti decided to take one last job and traveled to New York for the competition. Upon his arrival in a run down hotel, he was ambushed by the assassin called Bullet and had to be hospitalized. Mark called his wife, Trudi, and confessed that he was up to his old ways, and asked her to come to New York so that he could do this one last job and put his life of crime behind them. Trudi did as he said and went to the hospital he was in. Mark asked her to go to his hotel and pick up his Blacklash costume because he didn’t want to be ambushed again. She hesitantly agreed. However, once inside Mark’s hotel room, Trudi was surprised by an assassin called Shatter-head. Mark went back to his hotel, worried sick why Trudi hadn’t returned to the hospital yet, and found her dead body along with a taunting Bullet who described what Shatter-head had done. Enraged with his wife's death, Scarlotti destroyed Bullet. Meanwhile, Shatter-head found himself another target: Elektra. However, before Shatter-head could do anything, Blacklash attacked him from behind, killing Shatter-head. Now face-to face with Elektra, Scarlotti broke down in tears as he grieved for his wife. Elektra let him live and Scarlotti left New York. (To learn about the Architect and/or the assassins above, just click on their highlighted names.)

Later, Mark Scarlotti returned with a new costume, new weapons, but with his old alias: Whiplash. (Whiplash returned with upgraded armaments with a kinetic whip and a cat-o-nine-tails. Whiplash also used a flying platform and jet discs for both transportation and mid-air combat.) This time, he was more ruthless and was determined to bury his past as Blacklash forever. Later on, during a fireworks display, Whiplash attacked an unsuspecting Iron Man. The two fought and Whiplash had the advantage until one of his whips got struck by lightning, and the resulting explosion knocked both of them unconscious. (Whiplash in his new costume is shown above in the forth picture posted.)

However, sometime later, Iron Man’s armor became sentient and was faster and more efficient than before. When Whiplash and Iron Man battled again, Whiplash couldn’t even lay a hand on him. The armor remembered Scarlotti’s last assault on them and proceeded to viciously beat Whiplash despite the protests of the Tony Stark inside the armor. Whiplash tried to tell his foe that he was only doing this to get his son back since he was taken away from him. Whiplash did everything he could to stop the thrashing even to the extent of telling Iron Man who it was that hired him. However, against Tony and Mark's wishes, the armor continued to pound Whiplash until he was no longer moving. Iron Man’s armor unintentionally killed Mark Scarlotti, but didn’t show any remorse once it realized what it had done. The armor left the area dropping Whiplash into the river below.

To learn more about Whiplash, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Whiplash_%28Mark_Scarlotti%29.

Mickey Rourke plays Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2. This Whiplash in the movie is basically a mix of the Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash from the comics. The Vanko name is connected with being the Crimson Dynamo, and the armor worn by Ivan in the movie is similar to the Crimson Dynamo armor. However, the electric whips are Whiplash's signature weapons. So, basically, Marvel Entertainment totally messed with the comic book story line of Whiplash. But, I thought they did a great job because the movie was AWESOME! (The most recent portrayal of Whiplash in the comics is shown in the fifth picture posted above.)