The macaque in the sunglasses is our star, voiced by Fred Tatasciore. Bryce is the ghost at his right, voiced by Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso). (Courtesy Marvel.com)
By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
Dec. 9, 2021 — Marvel’s Hit-Monkey came and went without much fanfare when all 10 episodes dropped on Hulu on Nov. 17. Which is a shame, because it’s good.
There are reasons why it received so little promotion. One is that it was schlepped over to Hulu, where the Mouse sequesters all its R-rated fare, instead of the higher profile Disney+. For another, it was a legacy project from the old Marvel Television days, when that was a separate affair run by Jeph Loeb. (Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios in 2019, and now all Marvel TV shows are run by Kevin Feige, like the Marvel movies.)
But I’m guessing the sheer weirdness of its concept was also a factor. Hit-Monkey stars a Japanese snow monkey, known as a macaque, whose tribe is annihilated by the Yakuza, along with an American hit-man named Bryce. Afterward, Bryce’s ghost advises Monkey on how to get revenge on the gangsters who ordered the hit, which usually involves lots of the old ultra-violence (and, oddly, an election for prime minister of Japan).
But it also featured tons of characters from Marvel’s extensive catalog, some of them pretty obscure. So you may be asking, like Paul Newman’s Butch Cassidy, “Who are those guys?” Let’s explore:
HIT-MONKEY
Well yes, he’s a Marvel character, that should be obvious. He’s had less than 30 appearances in Marvel Comics, though, so he’s not exactly Spider-Man level.
The TV show depicts his origin and first adventure pretty accurately, so I have little else to add. If you’re hungering for more macaque madness, seven issues have been collected in the Hit-Monkey: Bullets and Bananas trade paperback.
Monkey’s earliest adventures are collected in the Hit-Monkey: Bullets and Bananas trade paperback, including a team-up of sorts with Deadpool. (Cover art by David Johnson, courtesy Marvel.com)
FAT COBRA
All good Marvelites know that Danny Rand is the current holder of the “Iron Fist” title because he defeated the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, becoming the champion of the mystical, other-dimensional city of K’un-Lun. But when Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction began writing Immortal Iron Fist in the two-thousandsies, they revealed that this origin is echoed across six other “Capital Cities of Heaven,” with each city having its own champion.
Hence Fat Cobra, a sumo warrior who defeated the great snake Xiang Yao to become the champion of the mystical, other-dimensional city of Peng Lai. He can channel his chi like Danny, but instead of turning his fist into a thing like unto iron, he becomes physically powerful all over, can deaden his own pain and is able to channel electricity (shown on TV as being directed through his feet).
Fraction and Brubaker presented Fat Cobra’s past in Immortal Weapons #1 (2009), and it turns out he’s more than a century old — he channels his chi to retard aging. He killed for the first time in a drunken brawl in 1924. He fought on both sides of the Chinese Civil War (1927-49), battled dinosaurs in the Savage Land, killed kaiju on Monster Island, helped destroy Hitler’s S.S. Ninjas in World War II, sat out most of that war teaching self-defense classes at an all-girls school in Switzerland, performed bit roles in Hollywood movies, played in the NFL, fought in underground cage matches, competed with Volstagg in an Asgardian eating contest, taught kung fu to Elvis and sired innumerable children, mostly with prostitutes. (They all teamed up to kill him, and he killed them instead.) It took him three tries to defeat Xiang Yao.
When introduced in Hit-Monkey, Fat Cobra (voiced by Noshir Dalal) is in prison. Hardly surprising.
KINGPIN
A foe of both Spider-Man and Daredevil, Wilson Fisk is currently the kingpin of crime and mayor of New York City, and is about to give all its heroes a hard time in a crossover called “Devil’s Reign.” He was played by Vincent D’Onofrio in Netflix’s Daredevil series.
He only appears in Hit-Monkey in a picture on a tailor’s wall, but that was enough to get Marvel fans hopeful that he will appear again in Marvel movies or TV shows, hopefully played by D’Onofrio again, who killed in the role. (He killed rather a lot, honestly. Mostly people.)
LADY BULLSEYE
Benjamin “Bullseye” Poindexter is a Daredevil villain who can turn anything into a lethal weapon, because he never misses a throw. He was played by Wilson Bethel in Netflix’s Daredevil.
I guess he was busy, because Hit-Monkey uses his female counterpart, Maki Matsumoto, who was inspired to become “Lady Bullseye” by watching Poindexter easily dispatch many armed foes single-handedly. Matsumoto (voiced by Reiko Aylesworth) doesn’t have Poindexter’s uncanny ability, but learned various lethal skills from The Hand, a fanatical, criminal ninja organization that frequently runs afoul of Daredevil and the X-Men’s Wolverine.
Hit-Monkey TV doesn’t vary at all from the character’s comics origin, although she does inexplicably possess the “can’t miss” power.
OGUN
The demon-mask-wearing Ogun (real name unknown) appears as an ordinary, and easily-dispatched, Yakuza enforcer in Hit-Monkey. He has a better deal in the comics.
Introduced in 1984’s Wolverine and Kitty Pryde #1, Ogun is revealed as a long-lived swordsman, ninja, telepath and sorcerer who has learned how to cheat death. He acted as a surrogate father to Wolverine long ago, teaching him how to control his berserker rages. He later tried to steal Logan’s body (yep, that’s how he cheats death) and used teenage X-Man Kitty Pryde in the attempt. He failed, but yeah, he’s a pretty serious bad guy.
SILVER SAMURAI
The Silver Samurai in Hit-Monkey (voiced by Nadal) is depicted as a hero, but in the comics he is much more unsavory.
The original Samurai was Kenuichio Harada, the illegitimate son of Yashida Clan crime boss Lord Shingen, who is also the father of Mariko Yashida, with whom Wolverine had a torrid romance. (Until, spoiler, she died. Dramatically.)
The Yashida Clan has pledged loyalty to Hydra, so you know they’re bad news. And, just so you know, Harada battled John Belushi’s samurai character (and Spider-Man) in Marvel Team-Up #74 in 1978.
Harada was a mutant who charged his sword with his powers and had a ring that allowed him to teleport (he’s seen using it in Hit-Monkey). He’s been replaced by a second Samurai who uses technology to ape the original’s powers, but nobody cares.
YUKI
On Hit-Monkey, Yuki (voiced by Aylesworth) is a powerful ghost named for a character in Japanese folklore, usually called “Snow-Woman” (Yuki-Onna), but also various other names, like Snow-Daughter, Snow-Sister, Snow-Hag, etc. Yuki-Onna is variously described as a spirit, goddess or demon.
On TV, Yuki presents herself as the protector of Tokyo. After initially battling Monkey, she eventually realizes the righteousness of his crusade and teams up with him (against Silver Samurai and the police).
Once again, this is a character who is no hero in the comics. The print Yuki has also named herself for the snow spirit, but is only human. She’s a member of The Nail, five women who perform assassinations for The Hand. The Nail has existed for a thousand years, and the members are always blood descendants of the original five women who formed The Nail.
She’s had all of three appearances in Marvel Comics (Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #1-3), so she’s a pretty deep dive for a cartoon.
SEASON 2
Well, there isn’t one yet. Like its Hulu stablemate, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey is a fantastic freshman effort that nevertheless seems orphaned by the new regime. A second season is possible, but like with M.O.D.O.K., there’s been nary a peep from Marvel Studios about one.
But let’s hope it does return, because the first season finale set up an intriguing storyline. And a show this good — one with outstanding voice talents like Jason Sudeikis, Olivia Munn and George Takei — deserves it. C’mon, let’s make #MoreMarvelMonkey a thing!
Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Andrew Alan Smith) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).
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