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Edward Byron
Edward Byron
Name: Edward Byron
Alias(es): "The Guru"
Portrayed by: Thayer David
First appeared: The Amazing Spider-Man
Appears in: 1 Film
"You deserve to be the miserable fools you are because you'll never be happy, by trying to be happy."
―Edward Byron[src]

Edward Byron is the real name of a mysterious new age guru who featured as the antagonist in the 1977 film The Amazing Spider-Man. The character was solely created for the movie and has no afilliation with the Marvel Comic books. The character has not been seen or mentioned before or since.

History[]

Edward Byron masters the art of mind manipulation and one day arrives in New York City. He uses these powers to place several people under his control to rob banks to fund his operations. To assist him in his plans he has a band of samurai trained warriors who work as bodyguards and enforcers. Byron's antics eventually catch the attention of the authorities and NYPD Captain Barbera and his partner Monahan investigate.

Byron escalates his plans and threatens to have 10 New Yorkers under his control commit suicide unless the city pays him a $50 million ransom. Freelance photographer Peter Parker becomes aware of this threat and, under the guise of his costumed persona of Spider-Man, managed stop Byron's plans and saved the city.

After her father, Professor Noah Tyler was one of the victims of the mind vontrol, Judy Tyler reveals to Peter that her father was meeting Byron and thought he may know what was wrong with Noah. She asked Peter to accompany her to meet him at his next public meeting. Byron met the two and Peter grows sceptical of his methods. Later Peter intercepts a strange signal on his computer and tracks it to its source discovering it is Byron's therapy centre. He then visited Byron and said he would like to join his group. Byron siezed the opportunity to provide a mind tampering device on Peter and gave him instructions to jump off the Empire State building at 12pm Friday. Byron's mind control kicks in and Peter heads towards the Empire State building. The police arrest Byron's men sent to pick up the ransom so Byron proceeds to activate his signal but Peter's signal blocked it. It backfired and brainwashed Byron himself. Spider-Man convinced Byron to turn himself in.

Trivia[]

  • His character's use of mind manipulation is similar to that of The Mad Hatter, a villain of rival comics publisher DC's superhero Batman.
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