This week’s episode of She-Hulk: Attoreny at Law was light on the superhuman law attorney, and heavy on the woman behind the green suit. Jennifer Walters found herself needing some tender, love, and care at a retreat for rehabilitated super villains. Comicbook reports one of those villains was none other than a major foe of Marvel’s Ant-Man.
In the episode entitled “The Retreat,” Walters, played by Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, Perry Mason) is temporarily stranded at Emile Blonsky’s elusive rehabiliation estate following a check-in to fix his ankle monitor. After a literal run-in with two of Blonsky’s clients, Jennifer begrudgingly joins a group therapy session where she’s able to unpack her feelings about her new dual identity. Here we are introduced to a Marvel villain experiencing his own identity issues – The Porcupine.
According to Comicbook, The Porcupine was a villain introduced back in 1963 in issue #48 of Tales to Astonish. The moniker since then had been held by three men. In his latter years, The Porcupine was a mutant named Billy Bates. Unfortunately, he was assassinated by an anti-mutant hate group before his heroic career had a chance to take off. The second individual was Roger Gocking, who was more of a comedic foil than a menacing villain. He eventually would become a hero joining Spider-Woman and Ben Urich to solve crimes.
The first iteration of the villain – and the one represented in the show – was Alexander Gentry. Comicbook details that the scientist became a weapons designer for the Army. Through his experimentation he developed the ultimate battlesuit lined with weapons of all types. Afraid the government would not compensate him properly for the hardware, he kept the suit for himself and thus became The Porcupine.
Comicbook lists Gentry as a villain of not only She-Hulk but a major foe of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. He also played major roles in some of Marvel’s biggest narratives, including Dr. Doom’s problematic crashing of Richard Reed and Sue Storm’s wedding.
In the show, The Porcupine is actually an insightful and productive member of the therapy group. Played by newcomer Jordan Aaron Ford, per Comicbook, the reformed villain takes a big step in his own healing by removing his mask. Much like Jennifer, Porcupine had found solace in living as his alter ego and not removing his suit – which posed other hygiene issues.
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