Driven insane by his mutation, Gargan instead turned to a life of crime as the Scorpion, and went on to menace both Spider-Man and Jameson, whom he held responsible for his transformation.

The character made his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), portrayed by Michael Mando.

Mac Gargan debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #19 (December 1964), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko.

[24][25] Mac Gargan was a private investigator initially hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker is able to obtain incredible pictures of Spider-Man.

Jameson then decides to hire Gargan as the subject of a barely-tested process that would endow him with the useful characteristics of a particular animal with the help of Farley Stillwell.

[33] After being released from prison for good behavior, the Scorpion hunts down Spider-Man and tries drowning him in a cement vat, hoping to use the boost to his reputation to become an underworld boss.

He ruins his prospects on his first mission, to capture a war hero, when he cannot resist creating a hostage situation simply to bring Jameson to him for revenge.

He is among the supervillains who were supplied with enhanced technology by Lucia von Bardas and sent to attack the heroes involved in Fury's Secret War.

[51] Even with these additional powers he is still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man, as Captain America, Iron Man, Daredevil, Yellowjacket, and the Fantastic Four deal with the rest of the Twelve.

After feeding a Skrull to a hungry Venom that has become more bestial than human, Osborn gives him a medication that resets the symbiote to the size it was when it possessed Spider-Man originally.

[83] After Morgana is defeated in the past by Iron Patriot and Doctor Doom, Mac returned to his "Spider-Man" form with only a slight headache.

[85] Later, attempting to find out Norman Osborn's plans for his son Harry, the real Spider-Man, with the aid of the Invisible Woman, manages to capture Gargan by using a sonic generator and takes his place to infiltrate the Dark Avengers.

After getting reprimanded by Norman Osborn for eating Wolfram's arm, Gargan kills the stripper and places her dead body in J. Jonah Jameson's bed while he is gone in an attempt to frame him for her murder.

At the same time, Redeemer visits the injured General Wolfram and recruits him alongside other villains who have had limbs bitten off by Gargan (namely Dementoid, Doctor Everything, Eleven, and Hippo) in a plan to take down "Spider-Man" (who is believed to be the root of their problem).

A bomb threat is placed by Redeemer to lure Spider-Man into an intervention, though Gargan instead devours Hippo and Eleven, badly injures Dementoid, and beats Doctor Everything into submission before turning him over to the police.

At the Big Apple Festival, the two attack him, with Dementoid, General Wolfram, and both gangs involved in the turf war entering the fray to try to kill Spider-Man.

Osborn informs him that Bullseye and Daken will get over being hurt, but warns Gargan that if he goes out of control again, he will suit up as the Iron Patriot and take care of him personally.

[90] During the opening chapter of "Utopia," the Dark Avengers are sent into San Francisco to quell the mutant riots and battle any X-Men they can find.

When Namor and Emma Frost are revealed to be double agents on Cyclops' side and defect with Cloak and Dagger, an irate Osborn gathers the Dark Avengers and the remaining Dark X-Men, Gargan included, ordering them to bring him Namor's head and Emma Frost's heart and to make sure that Cyclops sees them do it.

Due to the sheer number of X-Men, Osborn is forced to retreat when informed that the only way to win would be to kill all the mutants on the island, an option which is not politically viable.

[98] During the "Big Time" storyline, Mac Gargan is seen at the Raft superprison, having been separated from Venom: the symbiote's removal was causing medical problems due to the side effects from his original genetic mutation.

[113] In a prelude to the "Hunted" storyline, Scorpion is among the animal-themed characters captured by Taskmaster and Black Ant on Kraven the Hunter's behalf.

[114] During the "Sinister War" storyline, Scorpion was with the Savage Six when they attacked the world premiere of the movie that Mary Jane Watson and Mysterio were in.

[120] During the "Venom War" storyline, Scorpion runs into the Wild Pack and asks them to help him get out of town amidst the Zombiote invasion.

In addition to his superhuman physique, he was traditionally armed with a cybernetically-controlled, seven-foot mechanical tail, with a tool steel articulated framework which can whip at 90 miles per hour.

[citation needed] As Venom, Gargan has gained the ability to shoot webbing and climb walls like Spider-Man, and can disguise himself as other people or blend in with his background.

[62] A special "medication" provided by Norman Osborn allowed Venom to assume a smaller, more human-looking form similar to when Spider-Man had control of the symbiote.

[108] Before he assumed the identity of the Scorpion, Mac Gargan was a skilled, if somewhat greedy and unscrupulous, private investigator, who admitted that he would go through anything "just so long as the pay is good!

The years of being outsmarted and beaten, despite his physical superiority over Spider-Man, complement the similar hatred possessed by the symbiote, and has allowed it to almost completely control Gargan.

[126] Unlike Eddie Brock, any inhibitions Gargan had about harming innocent bystanders has been eliminated with his bonding to the symbiote, most likely because he had such little regard for others to begin with.