Princess Python, the Flying Gambonnos, Cannonball, the Clown, the Strongman, and others. Led by the Ringmaster, the Circus of Crime has the most diverse list of superhero opponents in the Marvel Universe. One would be challenged to name a hero who has not at one time or another battled the Circus of Crime or even been included on their roster.
A Long History of Crime
The Circus of Crime debuted in 1962 in Incredible Hulk #3. They soon appeared in several series, battling the Avengers (in Avengers #1 in fact!), Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Thor. The Circus attempted to create havoc when Yellowjacket married the Wasp (Avengers #60) to get revenge on Thor.
But the Circus of Crime has roots even earlier than that. The original Circus (with different performers, of course) allied themselves with the Nazis and confronted Captain America back in World War II. Fritz Tibold, the original Ringmaster of the circus, used it as a front to hide Nazi sympathizers and murder government officials. Maynard Tibold, his son, assumed the role of Ringmaster upon his father's demise and moved the circus to America.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please focus your attention on the three rings..."
The standard method of operations for the Circus of Crime was to hold performances like any other circus. During the performance the Ringmaster would hypnotize the audience then the performers would rob them. The audience exited after the show, not even aware that they had been swindled.
To make this work, the Ringmaster used a swirling disc on his hat that would amplify his natural hypnotic talent. The disk is actually a portable version of the nullatron, a device created by Nazi scientists. The Red Skull temporarily enslaved the Invaders with it in World War II. Later the Ringmaster had special disks grafted into his eyes to allow him to hypnotize individuals. He still uses the nullatron in his hat to mentally dominate large crowds.
An Impressive Roster
While I listed the most common roster of the Circus of Crime at the top of this blog, they have had many big names join them both willingly and unwillingly. These include the Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Swordsman, She-Hulk, Mystique, Devil Dinosaur, Moon Boy, Dragon Man, and even Howard the Duck.
They've run afoul numerous groups including the Avengers, the Defenders, Generation X, Power Pack, the Thunderbolts, and even the Dallas Cowboys. Individual opponents range from Deathlok to all iterations of Spider-Man (including Peter Porker, the Spider-Ham) and many others.
Will the MCU go to the Circus?
Good comic collecting speculators strive to discover villains and storylines that could appear in future MCU stories. I believe that the Circus of Crime could make great opponents in one of Disney's television series. The Circus could be given a really edgy twist using a minimum of special effects. Imagine the murderous Clown, the seductive Princess Python, the mighty Strongman, or the tumbling Gambonnos coming to life on the small screen. The Ringmaster himself has much in common with the evilly popular Purple Man from the Jessica Jones Netflix series.
It's possible that the circus might fit into an unpredictable series like Wanda/Vision. It is more likely they show up in the upcoming Hawkeye series. Remember, in the comics Hawkeye learned his trade from the Swordsman at a traveling circus. Will the Circus of Crime be making a screen debut in the near future, or will this long-running gang of miscreants remain Almost Infamous?
Another thank you to Steve C for recommending this topic!
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