The first trailer for the She-Hulk: Attorney At Law series was just made available by the Marvel Cinematic Universe on May 17. A blink-and-you-miss-it moment has been building up anticipation throughout the more than two-minute long trailer. Someone seen fighting (or attempting to fight) an opponent is dressed very Power Ranger-like. People are speculating that the Frog Man’s moment to shine on screen has finally arrived.
Who, one could ask? We do not blame you, though. It is clear how far into oblivion this Marvel character has been driven. Eugene Patillo, better known as the Frog Man, first appeared in print in 1982.
He was the fifteen-year-old son of a villain who had briefly achieved success before retiring, making him one of Marvel’s silliest additions to their extensive roster of superheroes. This character has been called a “joker” and “just a dude” for far too long with only roughly 40 appearances. We are here to modify people’s perceptions of the She-Hulk series. So let us start right now!
FROG-MAN: Comic Book Appearance explored – The Son of a Supervillain Trying to Make Amends
Kerry Gammill and J.M. DeMatteis are credited for creating Frog Man in September 1982. His origin story was revealed in Issue 121 of the “Marvel Team-Up” series, just after Spider Man realised that the Human Torch, along with his inflated ego, was after him because the Speed Demon was out on the loose once more. The fact that Torch’s egocentric behaviour was displayed in full public view did not impress Spider Man.
The crowd of NYC folks that had gathered to witness this exchange also had one Vincent Patilio, a former villain – much like Speed Demon, although Demon’s days of glory were the present at that point and Vincent’s were his past. His child, young Eugene Patilio was with him at the time of the exchange between Spider-Man, Human Torch, and a policeman. Vincent though lost his cool and claimed how he hated “show-off superheroes” as the crowd glared at him.
His hatred was out there and it was loud enough for Eugene to try and calm his father down and make sure that they reached home. Little Eugene dragged his father far from the crowd, but not before a police officer had noticed them and guessed “he could be trouble”. Thankfully, the officer’s senior advised otherwise.
On their way home, Eugene quietly but firmly admonished his father for embarrassing him in public. According to him, the public’s eyes on him made him want to crawl into a hole and hide forever. Vincent said sorry, but he also tried to explain that the “costumed show-offs” were the worst reminder of his own past.
It was humiliating and torturous and only served as a prompt to the miserable life of failures and disappointments that he had built for his son and now-deceased wife to live through. Eugene gently told his father that he should not forget Vincent’s own words about life being about keeping one’s eyes on the future and not grappling with the past that has already gone by.
Reflecting on Vincent’s life, the comic panels go into a flashback to the time when Vincent was a small-scale scientist making pretty useless inventions that never qualified the standards of the US Patent Office. His best attempt at “making it big” was when he managed to come up with leaping coils that operated on power packs. Realising that he might have managed to finally have something of substance, he did not bother about a patent any more.
Instead, Vincent fashioned a costume, put his invention on his feet, and became Leap Frog – the super-villain. It was a short-lived fairy (or should we say devil!) tale for Vincent, as his career came to a quick halt when Daredevil defeated him. The flashback panels close here, and we are brought back to the present where Vincent is still reminiscing.
After serving his due time in prison, Vincent came home to his wife Rosie and son Eugene, wanting to start afresh. Rosie had been the earning member of the family for a while, but cancer caught up with her and she, unfortunately, fell victim to it. With no financial backup, Vincent ended up a job in Manhattan, selling inferior-quality merch.
He managed to pay rent, but not much otherwise. Eugene, while still a teenager in school, had to also find a job and chip in so they could live to say another day with food on the table. Vincent regretted it with every fibre of his being that his son was subjected to such a low quality of life, but he also knew that solely devoting time to studies wasn’t an option before Eugene.
Eugene never stopped being a support to Vincent though, and boy, Vincent did need that emotional relief. He didn’t deal with it well though, for when Eugene tried to lend a comforting hand and a few words as they reached closer to home, Vincent slapped him in sheer anger and frustration.
A quick second later, Vincent realised his frustration had made him abuse his own child, and he broke down. He confessed to Eugene that his time as Leap Frog haunted him to no end and that he was apologetic for having inflicted that pent up emotion upon Eugene. Once they got back home, Vincent asked Eugene to eat and slipped into bed to sleep his woes away.
Curiosity might have killed a cat or two, but Eugene had the determination to back his feelings up…and he decided to take the Frog’s legacy ahead just because, albeit with a twist. Digging into the closet in the hall, he found the old costume of his father. Quietly so as to not disturb his father, he went to his room and put the thing on. His idea was simple – relieve Vincent of his nightmares by making sure that the suit would be associated with good instead of random horrible happenings.
He truly made the costume his own by declaring that NYC had a new superhero Leap Frog to look forward to! Further on in the Issue, his intentions to help Spider Man and Human Torch led him to his first (accidental?) victory! Speed Demon was on his wrecking duties, all-uncontrolled and everything seemed to fall against him, except the new Leap Frog. Boosted by his “awesomeness” as he believed it to be, Eugene jazzed up his name and made a new identity for himself – Leap Frog.
The Speed Demon’s capture did make Vincent proud of his son, but when it dawned upon him that Eugene’s idea was to continue serving as a superhero, quite contrary to his own plans as Leap Frog, their relationship started seeing tough days. Some relief to their bond was brought when Eugene assisted his father in overpowering villain White Rabbit, all while donning his father’s old costume while Vincent himself wore another version of the Leap Frog’s costume.
In his story arc, Frog Man is also known to have been of some help to Captain America. When he failed in his endeavour to join the Defenders as a part of their superhero team, Spider Man came to Frog Man’s support, encouraging him to have his own group with Spider Kid and Toad. The trio called themselves ‘The Misfits’, and were formed with much enthusiasm. However, their unfortunate disbandment was quick.
Later ahead, Frog Man was held in captivity by Kraven the Hunter, a.k.a. Alyosha Kravinoff. He would drug Frog Man and other animal-themed “criminals” like him – the list included Vulture, Swarm, the second Kangaroo, Rhino, and others. Kraven’s reason for keeping them prisoners on a boat? Hunting pleasure. The drugs would have them at Kraven’s mercy, and he battled with them just to assert his dominance. The Punisher did end up stopping Kraven’s grossly misplaced intentions and actions, but Kraven managed to flee.
When the superhuman Civil War arc took place, Frog Man was seen as a potential recruit for the Initiative of Avengers. His place was in the Action Pack – the 15th team founded after the passing of the 50-State Initiative, which called for one S.H.I.E.L.D. sponsored superhuman team for each state of the USA. It so happened that when the Secret Invasion plot was ongoing, the Frog Man was revealed to be an infiltrator from Skrull who was mistakenly recruited. After the Invasion, Frog Man joined a support group that held meetings for people who had gone through the horrid experience of being substituted by Skrulls.
To his enormous credit, the Spider Island events had Frog Man be right beside the Avengers as they guarded the United Nations and defeated the attackers, U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. and Flag-Smasher. Frog Man had a long-standing desire to work alongside Ms. Marvel, and it is so said that by sheer, dumb luck, he managed to achieve that too – AND saving the day by winning a confrontation for them.
One of the last times that we heard of Eugene was him working at a Greenwich Village restaurant by the name of Issac’s Oysters, as a simple dining-room attendant. The restaurant was retired vigilante Gargoyle’s venture. However, he was remembered and brought forth again – with Gargoyle – as a part of a rather dubious group of superheroes.
This team was put together to assist Iron Man when he ventured into space to stop supervillain Korvac in his ways, occurring right when he reappeared as a threat. Iron Man and Hellcat were designated to stop the insanity that Korvac was intent upon executing – attaining Godhood. Korvac could track Tony Stark and Stark still had to recruit some allies, that is when Hellcat mentioned Frog Man as an option.
FROG MAN: Special Powers and A Peek at His Screen Career
To be fair and honest, Eugene has unfortunately not been given any outstanding superhuman abilities, but the upgrading of his father’s old Leap Frog outfit made up for some of it. Intellectually speaking, Leap Frog was smart and he learnt the American Sign Language!
The spring coils on the feet of the suit were now electrically powered, and Leap Frog could jump greater distances than ever before. His physical strength multiplied too when donning the suit, even though he could not walk straight and thus had slight issues with navigation control.
FROG MAN: His Fun Cameo in ‘Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes’
In what can be best described as a peek-a-boo cameo, Frog Man was seen in an episode titled “The Cure”, in the ‘Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes’ series. In the story, the Thing had lost his powers but the Fantastic Four needed an urgent replacement. Frog Man was under consideration, but the poor man made a complete fool out of himself in front of Mr. Fantastic and Human Torch. It does invite a few laughs when he is seen accidentally bumping his head on the ceiling while…well…jumping.
His rejection was taken quite lightly and made a comic relief of sorts, but the lack of seriousness in considering Frog Man is quite apparent.
FROG MAN: The She-Hulk Trailer Brings Him Back in Style
August 2022 is supposed to be a big deal for Marvel Studios. With the She Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+ coming right up, the Studios have laid eyes on the Incredible Hulk for the first time since 2008. If the trailer that dropped recently is any evidence, the audience is in for a ride because it seems some otherwise very background characters are continuing their journey with MCU.
About 1 minute and 22 seconds into the first trailer of the series, there’s a flash of a character reminiscent of the Green Ranger from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. If you freeze the frame, you will see what looks like a green and yellow colour combination outfit on a character. There have been no identity confirmations from Marvel yet, but die-hard fans of comics are assured that Frog Man is indeed coming back to life – ready to lend a webbed hand or two.
In hindsight, it does not sound too far off a musing. Frog Man has ties to the MCU just like She Hulk does – be it with Spiderman or Daredevil. Matt Murdock a.k.a. Charlie Cox, by the way, too is said to be a part of this series. It does not matter though how big the role of the Frog Man may be – as Marvel Studios president Kevin Faige said something along the lines of expecting the unexpected from characters when it came to the She Hulk series!
FROG MAN: Closing In
Ludicrous images and silly moments are what is most of the first trailer of She Hulk. Frog Man by himself is a slightly obscure figure, unfortunately, used so far only as the absurdity exemplifying his moniker. What is August 2022 going to bring to us is totally not along the lines of “usual, regular” at all.
Moreover, one must remember Frog Man’s true potential and reach. Writing him off altogether is not really an option, given there is a series ‘Secret Invasion’ coming up as well. The whole Skrull imposter plot is significant and ought to show Frog Man’s part just as well. Last, but definitely not least, SPUMC by Sony announced a merger with MCU and the extent of it is only increasing day by day, so we might as well see the Kraven story come to life on screen too.
Is Frog Man poised to leap into action, pun intended? We surely think so!