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| “ | I am invisible because I am the same thing you look at every dreadful, dull day. I am the day before you realize everything has gone horribly, horribly wrong. I am the Chameleon. | „ |
| ~ Dmirti Smerdyakov, also known as the Chameleon. |
| “ | It's all right, Teresa. This is all a part of the process. At least we're finally being honest with one another. You came here because you want to know, don't you? You want to know if you're like them. | „ |
| ~ Chameleon. |
Dmitri Smerdyakov, better known as the Chameleon, is a major antagonist in the Marvel Universe. Not counting the Burglar who killed Uncle Ben, he is Spider-Man's oldest enemy and the first supervillain the wall crawler ever faced. He is a Russian super-spy, a master of disguise, and a brilliant actor. He is the half-brother and former servant of Kraven the Hunter, and the two have often teamed up against their common adversary: Spider-Man.
The Chameleon can make a life-like mask of anyone he meets, and can mimic nearly any voice he hears. He uses these uncanny talents in pursuit of criminal and terrorist activities. Nobody has ever seen his real face, as he always wears a hard plastic white mask under his disguises.
Later, Chameleon gained the power to mentally alter his form and voice, similar to Mystique. In one of those adventures he nearly got the police to believe he was Spider-Man himself, in their unforgettable encounter.
After Spider-Man revealed his identity during the events of the Marvel Civil War, Chameleon got together a small gang of supervillains consisting of Electro, Molten Man, Will-O'-The-Wisp, and Scarecrow to take down Spider-Man/Peter Parker in his own house. They were however, thwarted by Spidey and Black Cat.
In Other Media[]
Spider-Man (1967)[]
Charles Cameo, was directly based on the Chameleon However, the name Chameleon was not allowed to be used in the show due to already being in “Marvel’s Super Heroes” (1966). Charles Cameo first appeared disguised as the Prime Minister of Rutania planning to steal twenty million dollars from the United States government by pretending that Rutania was in poverty and needed money from the USA. However Spider-Man managed to reveal him as an imposter. He appeared again stealing priceless treasures by disguising himself as Peter Parker, J. Jonah Jameson and Spider-Man.
Spider-Man (1994)[]
Chameleon in Spider-Man: The Animated Series
In Spider-Man The Animated Series, Chameleon first appears in the episode "Day of the Chameleon", where he's sent by terrorists to stop a peace agreement. He's defeated by Spider-Man because Chameleon disguised himself as Peter Parker. Since then, he's often shown to work for the Kingpin. Instead of masks, he uses a projection belt until Dr. Landon gave him the power to shift his shape without the belt. In the episode "The Price of Heroism", he turns out to be the brother of Electro instead of Kraven and the son of the Red Skull. He finally gets caught by Spider-Man after Electro betrayed his two relatives.
In this series, he only speaks when he's disguised, but he never speaks in his true form. His grunts, as heard in the episode "Battle of the Insidious Six", are provided by Jim Cummings, which hints that the Chameleon can talk, but simply chooses not to.
The Spectacular Spider-Man[]
Chameleon in Spectacular Spider-Man
In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Chameleon serves as one of the main antagonists due to him helping out the Green Goblin near the series end. He first appears in the episode "Persona", where he tries to steal the alien-symbiote but is interrupted by Black Cat. Later he disguises himself as Spider-Man to rob banks with the help of Tinkerer and Mysterio. While trying to steal money from a party on a ship, he's caught by Spider-Man. He reappears in "The Final Curtain" when Spider-Man fights the Green Goblin while Harry and Norman Osborn watch them from a helicopter. Suddenly Harry remembers that Norman said sorry to Spider-Man the day before, something Norman never does in this show. He grabs the mask, revealing "Norman" to be Chameleon who says "I did not sign in for this." and escapes with a parachute. As Norman said, Chameleon already appeared before "Persona", in the episode "The Uncertainty Principle" where he was disguised as Norman and tried to steal company's secrets for a competitor. Chameleon was voiced by Steve Blum and, although it remains unknown whether he is related to Kraven in this show, has a Russian accent.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Video Game)[]
In the video game adaptation of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Donald Menken walked into the office of Wilson Fisk. Donald removed his mask really revealing himself to be the Chameleon.
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
While yet to have an antagonistic role, in Spider-Man: Far From Home, a character named Dimitri works with Nick Fury and Maria Hill during their missions to New York. His last name Smerdyakov, was revealed when Peter Parker looked at him with his E.D.I.T.H. glasses.
Trivia[]
- Dmitri was revealed to have an American friend named Joe Cord.
- The source of his abusive past was that the father had been drunk and abused Sergei. Then Dmitri was terribly influenced with the abuse due Sergei's anger.
- His name was created from the Russian novel The Brothers Karamazov. Derived from "Dmitri" and "Smerdyakov"; Smerdyakov derives from the word smerdet meaning "to stink"/"son of the reeking one" in Russian.
- Originally, the Chameleon had no superhuman powers and simply used makeup and elaborate costuming to impersonate his targets. In order to do this, he implemented a device in a belt buckle that emitted a gas that helped him mold his features. This method of disguising was perhaps a forerunner to that of The Question, who was later created by Steve Ditko after his run on The Amazing Spider-Man.
- Even though he was Electro's brother in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, "The Rogues' Challenge" game on the DVD Spider-Man: The Return of the Green Goblin stated he worked for Kraven the Hunter as a servant as a boy. The other questions involve how he betrayed Kingpin for the Red Skull and helped Richard Fisk from Peter Parker. Incidentally, in the comics, Sandman betrays the second Sinister Six.
- Dmitri Smerdyakov appears as one of the allies of Nick Fury and Talos in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Whether he will turn evil and become the Chameleon remains to be seen.
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Alistair Smythe | Beetle | Big Man | Blizzard | Blob | Carnage | Carnage (Spider-Man: The Animated Series)| Carrion | Chameleon | Crossbones | D'Spayre | Darkhold Dwarf | Doctor Octopus | Diablo | Electro | Green Goblin (Earth-98311) Green Goblin (Bart Hamilton & Norman Osborn) | Hammerhead | Hand | Hitman | Hobgoblin (Earth-98311) Hobgoblin | HYDRA | Inheritors | Ironclad | J. Jonah Jameson | Jack O' Lantern | Jackal | Kaine | Kingpin | Korvac | Kraven the Hunter | Lady Octopus | Lizard | Mad Thinker | Man-Wolf | Marquis Radu | Mephisto | Morbius | Montana | Morlun | Mysterio | Owl | Phil Urich | Rhino | Rose | Roxxon Energy Corporation | Sauron | Scorpion | Shocker | Shriek | Sinister Six | Spider-Man (Earth-98311) | Swarm | Tarantula | Taskmaster | Thanos | Thunderbolts | Tombstone | Typhoid Mary | U-Foes | Vapor | Vector | Venom | Vulture | Whiplash | X-Ray | ||
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Comics Movie | ||
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Alchemax | Chameleon | Daemos | Discord | Doctor Doom | Doctor Octopus | Electro | Frost Giants | Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) | Hitman | Hobgoblin | Inheritors | J. Jonah Jameson | Juggernaut | Kraven the Hunter | Lash | Man-Spider | Maestro | Magneto | Morlun | Mussaret | Mysterio | Phil Urich | Public Eye | Punisher | Roxxon Energy Corporation | Scorpion | Sinister Six | Spider-Slayers | Spot | Symbiotes | Tyler Stone | Venom (Eddie Brock & Kron Stone) | Vulture | Winston | ||
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Adolf Hitler | Black Cat | Carnage | Chameleon | Crime-Master | Doctor Octopus | Electro | Enforcers | Fancy Dan | Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) | Hammerhead | Inheritors | J. Jonah Jameson | Lizard | Kraven the Hunter | Morlun | Montana | Ox | Sandman | Vulture | ||
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Baron Wolfgang von Strucker | Batroc the Leaper | Beetle | Backlash | Blizzard | Boomerang | Bulldozer | Carnage | Chameleon | Chance | Deadpool | Doctor Doom | Doctor Octopus | Electro | Frightful Four | Galactus | Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) | Hammerhead | Hitman | HYDRA | Hydro-Man | J. Jonah Jameson | Jack O' Lantern | Jigsaw | Justin Hammer | Kang the Conqueror | Kingpin | Madame Viper | Maggia | Piledriver | Prowler | Puma | Punisher | Red Skull | Rhino | Rose | Sabretooth | Sandman | Scorpion | Shocker | Silver Sable | Sinister Six | Spymaster | Symbiotes | Thunderball | Trapster | Trick Shot | Venom | Vulture | Whiplash | Will-O'-The-Wisp | Wizard | Wrecker | ||
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Alistair Smythe | Beetle | Black Cat | Boomerang | Brothers Grimm | Carnage | Chameleon | Cindy Moon (Earth-65) | Doctor Octopus | Electro | Fang | Green Goblin (Bart Hamilton & Norman Osborn) | Hitman | Hobgoblin | HYDRA | Inheritors | J. Jonah Jameson | Jack O' Lantern | Jackal | Kingpin | Killer Shrike | Kraven the Hunter | Maggia | Manyeo (Songi) | Melter | Mister Negative | Montana | Morlun | Mysterio | Kasha | Ox | Phil Urich | Rhino | Rose | Saya Ishii | Shocker | Silvermane | Sin-Eater | Sinister Six | Spot | Tarantula | Vulture | ||
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Alchemax Kingpin's Associates Earth-42 Others | ||