Stupid Villain Tricks

It all started with an innocent phone call:

So that, before you know it, television watchers are tuning in to the most unexpected promo ever:

Unfortunately, a certain arch-nemesis of the Avengers also happens to be at his set:

YES, IT'S THE RETURN OF:

FABIAN STANKOWICZ

After his last crushing defeat at the hands of Spider-Man, Fabian has been biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to avenge himself on the Avengers. And now, after infiltrating the David Letterman set, he's put in place all of the elements of a carefully laid trap that will bring him fame at last:

When the Avengers have comfortably settled into Dave's comfy couch and their interview is underway, Fabian makes his move from the safety of the studio audience. First, by activating a sabotaged TV camera:

And just for good measure, the dumpster he's left backstage is rigged to become a deadly, armed steamroller:

But Fabian seems to have learned at least something from his earlier failed encounters with the Avengers. Rather than be in the driver's seat of these deadly creations, they serve as distractions to keep the Avengers busy so that he can take advantage of a priceless promotional opportunity:

Eventually, the Avengers figure out that their foe is the new guy sitting opposite Dave, and they attempt to take him out--only to find him protected by a force field. A little item of information that he was better off not sharing with his host:

So Fabian is off to do more time, though the courts seem to be taking his appearances as inconsequentially as the Avengers do. Yet eventually, his fortunes change when Captain America takes him under his wing (no, not as a costumed partner--that would probably be disastrous) and hires him as part of the Avengers support staff on Hydrobase, where he puts his inventor skills to work improving the team's various equipment and devices. He then went on to work more closely with Cap along with maintaining his association with the Avengers, though with some pitfalls along the way--battling a drug addiction, attempting suicide, and becoming a victim of Sentinel technology. The last I knew, he was recovering in a hospital. Hopefully, the nurses have the good sense to refuse any requests for a tool kit.