Cash Register Thief

The Cash Register Thief is the secondary antagonist of the 2012 superhero film The Amazing Spider-Man, the first installment in Marc Webb's Spider-Man Duology.

He is a small-time criminal armed with an unregistered firearm that seems to knock off small businesses in New York City. Although his role in the film series is relatively minor to the overall storylines, his actions indirectly lead up to the birth of Spider-Man.

He was portrayed by Leif Gantvoort. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, he was voiced by Chris Edgerly.

Biography[]

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)[]

Peter Parker was in a convenience store trying to buy some chocolate milk. He didn't have enough change so had to leave it. A man with sunglasses and a star tattoo on his left wrist behind Peter in the queue knocked something over, to distract the store clerk, then stole the money from the till before throwing the drink to Peter. The man then ran off, pursued by the Store Clerk who asked for Peter's help to catch him. Peter refused due to the owner's greed and the thief ran into Ben Parker, who tried to stop him from picking up his gun, which fell out of thief's jacket. The thief managed to grab his gun and shot Ben in the chest, the thief then ran off, and Ben died almost instantly. Peter, furious at both the thief and himself, ends up swearing revenge. This allows Peter to become Spider-Man.

Peter then listens to crime reports and follows any that sound like the Cash Register Thief. He locates and apprehends many criminals who fit the description, such as a local thug named Nicky and a car thief, but none of them have a tattoo on their wrist. His obsession with revenge gets himself in trouble with the NYPD led by Capt. Stacy, who vows to track down Spider-Man for the attacks, believing him to be a dangerous vigilante.

Even after the death of Capt. Stacy following the Lizard's defeat, and the police finally accepting that Spider-Man is the hero the people deserves, the Cash Register Thief is still at large and wanted by the police.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (video game)[]

While in the film continuity it's not known if Peter is still looking for him, in the game the first few missions involve Spider-Man looking for the Cash Register Thief, named in the game as Dennis Carradine. Eventually, Spider-Man finds him dead in a back alley, having been murdered by Cletus Kasady.

Trivia[]

Michael Papajohn, who played Dennis Carradine in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man film series, made a cameo appearance as Rajit Ratha's driver in The Amazing Spider-Man. However, he initially asked if he could play Uncle Ben's killer again, but the part was given to Leif Gantvoort.
As The Amazing Spider-Man video games are considered an alternative timeline and therefore non-canonical to the film duology, it's possible that the Cash Register Thief isn't named Dennis Carradine like the video game depicts and is possibly still alive and active, and that it may have been a different thief.
This is the first version of Uncle Ben's killer who apparently got away with his actions, as most of the other versions of the criminal were killed or apprehended by Peter Parker. This could somewhat be similar to most, if not all, other versions of Joe Chill, where he would seemingly get away with his crimes and presumably continue to be at large after murdering Bruce Wayne’s parents; as mentioned in the 2004 The Batman cartoon series, shown in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (although it can be implied by the viewer he may have been caught by the police afterwards since he was shown running away in fear), and mentioned in the 2022 The Batman movie.
Some theorized that his true identity is Cletus Kasady.
His actions getting away with thievery and murder could somewhat be similar to Bomb Voyage from The Incredibles.

Navigation[]

Villains

Marvel Cinematic Universe
Spider-Man: Homecoming: Bestman Salvage (Vulture, Tinkerer, Shocker #1, Shocker #2 & Randy Vale) | Mac Gargan | Aaron Davis
Spider-Man: Far From Home: Mysterio's Crew (Mysterio, William Ginter Riva, Victoria Snow, Gutes Guterman, Janice Lincoln, & Doug, Shanice) | Elementals (Molten Man, Hydro-Man, Sandman, Cyclone & Elemental Fusion) | Skrulls (Talos) | Obadiah Stane
Spider-Man: No Way Home: Earth-96283 (Green Goblin, Sandman & Doctor Octopus (His Tentacles)) | Earth-120703 (Electro & Lizard) | Sadie Deever | Venom | Mysterio

Marvel Cinematic Universe
Daredevil: Born Again: Kingpin

Cinematic Villains

Morbius
Michael Morbius | Milo Morbius | Vulture (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Madame Web
Ezekiel Sims