Earl Jenkins, aka The Jitterbug, is a character in the WB TV superhero series Smallville, appearing in the Season One episode "Jitters" as the main antagonist.
He was portrayed by the late Tony Todd, who also played Candyman in the franchise of the same name, Grange in The Crow, Captain Darrow in The Rock, King Deucalion in Minotaur, Shadow in Shadow: Dead Riot, Benjamin Juma in the 24 franchise, Reverend Zombie in the Hatchet film series, The Fallen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Dreadwing in Transformers: Prime, Darkseid in the LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes film series, Zoom in the Arrowverse, Space Kook in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, Darkseid in the DC Animated Movie Universe, Luther Thompson in Scream, William in Tales from the Hood 3 and Venom in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
Biography[]
Earl Jenkins once worked as a farmhand on the Kent family farm twelve hours a day for six seasons until he took a job at the LuthorCorp Fertilizer Plant Number Three as a janitor. During his time at the plant, he was assigned to clean Level 3, a secret area of the plant where LuthorCorp conducted agricultural experiments using meteor rocks to speed up crop growth. The fertilizer was applied to the crops as a green mist.
During this time, an explosion occurred and Earl was later transferred to LuthorCorp Headquarters in Metropolis. Following Earl's transfer, LuthorCorp shut down the third level of the fertilizer plant. He was exposed to an unknown chemical (Kryptonite) following the accident that left him with a dangerous affliction that sent him into violent seizures.
Earl's body would spasm so fast that he destabilized the structural bonds of whatever he touched, making him dangerous to other people and was fired from LuthorCorp as a result. Because of this condition, his wife left him but the condition persisted and threatened his own life.
Earl went to visit his infant son in Metropolis but was unable to hold due to his tremors and left the apartment before his wife Belinda could catch him. Earl then went to the LuthorCorp Plaza building during a rain storm. He tried to take his prescription pills but was trembling so badly that he dropped the bottle and the pills spilled into the street ruined in the pouring rain.
He ran to the building and called his friend Will, the maintenance man, to let him in to see Lionel Luthor. Will told him to leave and Earl violently seizures causing the glass in the lobby to shatter. Will ran up and helped him to his feet, wanting to take Earl to the doctor, but Earl got another case of the jitters while he's still had a hold of Will. Having had his arms around him, Earl accidentally broke Will's neck, killing him. Horrified, he ran off into the night.
Earl then went to the Kent Farm hoping to speak with Jonathan but he and Martha were out of town while Clark threw a wild party at his house. Clark and Whitney found Earl in the barn. Just then Earl began to seizure again but when Clark reaches out to him, it was like reaching out to meteor rocks. They then took him to the hospital.
At the hospital, Deputy Miller arrives in Earl's room where he is causing a ruckus. Earl is standing but shaking so badly that anyone who approaches is thrown across the room, even Clark. When the fit ends, Earl collapses to the floor. Clark returned home and told his parents about Earl who was at the hospital and wanted for murder. Clark also told them that he couldn’t get close to him because it made him sick the same way meteor fragments do. Jonathan and Clark went to the hospital to check on Earl.
The doctor explains that he is suffering from some kind of mineral poisoning. Tiny bits of the mineral have implanted under his skin. His body is trying to push them out which causes the uncontrollable seizures. He claimed it all started after an explosion at the LuthorCorp plant six months ago, but there is no record of any explosion. When Jonathan enters Earl's room, Earl explains the explosion that occurred. When he was caught in a shockwave, LuthorCorp shut down the whole level and transferred Earl to Metropolis.
Earl asked Jonathan to help him get back into the plant, so he can figure out what was in that fertilizer. Jonathan can't help him, police from Metropolis are on their way to take him back, but Clark has a field trip to LuthorCorp Smallville Fertilizer Plant No. 3. Earl has escaped police custody, and he is in the plant at the same time the field trip is being conducted.
When he tried to find Level 3, he found a wall where the hall to the elevator used to be. Clark left the others and slips through a door marked authorized personnel only. The rest of the tour goes on to the control room. Earl bursts in and takes the plant manager and the students hostage, at gunpoint, demanding to be taken to Level 3. The plant is evacuated. A mob of worried parents gathers outside the plant.
Clark brought Earl some blue prints in an attempt to prove to him that there is no Level 3 but Earl is unconvinced. Lionel tried to talk to Earl but he has another episode and grabs a valve to steady himself. It comes off in his hands and hits Clark across the face. Clark is fine, but the pipe was leaking methane gas. Whitney wants Clark to help him take Earl out. Clark can't help, so Whitney tries to do it himself but fails. Lex Luthor promises to be Earl's hostage if he lets the others leave the plant. He also promises to take Earl to Level 3, although Lex believes it to be in Earl's imagination.
Clark uses the intercom system to tell Earl that he found the elevator. When Earl leaves the control room, Clark enters and uses his super strength to turn the valve (without the handle) and shuts off the methane leak. Earl drags Lex down to the closet.
They find that Clark has broken a hole through the wall, and they can see the elevator. Lex is honestly surprised, but when they enter the elevator, there were only two buttons for Levels 1 and 2. Earl touches the blank space where a third button might have been, and it lights up under his finger. Lex was truly astonished. They descend and walk out on a catwalk. Earl said there used to be an enormous cornfield down below, and every night they sprayed it with a green mist, but it was all gone.
Clark arrives just as Earl is having another fit. He grabs the handrail and the catwalk begins shaking violently. It gives way, and Earl and Lex end up dangling 30 feet above a concrete floor. Clark tries to help but he becomes sick as he approaches. He pushes through his sickness and pulls Earl back up to the catwalk. He sends him to the elevator, and then pulls up Lex. As they head to the elevator, Earl starts to have another seizure. The two race along the catwalk before he can shake it free again. They all tumble into the elevator just as the catwalk crashes to the floor.
Upon leaving the plant, he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Lex pledged to help Earl get the best possible health care, much to Lionel's aggravation. Earl sadly died six months later, his condition finally taking its toll on him.
