Dennis Carradine

The Burglar
Name:	Dennis Carradine
Alias(es):	Carjacker Spike
Portrayed by:	Michael Papajohn
First appeared:	Spider-Man
Last appeared:	Spider-Man 3 (flashback)

"Thanks!"

―Dennis Carradine to Peter Parker

Dennis Carradine is a major antagonist of the Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy.

He was a robber and carjacker in New York City. He is based heavily on the role of The Burglar from the Marvel comics created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. His character was left unnamed in the first film, credited as "Carjacker", and was revealed in the third film.

He was played by Michael Papajohn.

History

Early Life

Dennis Carradine was born in October 31st 1964 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He was a criminal, and often robbed and mugged many people with his partner Flint Marko.

The Murder of Uncle Ben

In 2002, Dennis robbed a fight promoter of his money, shortly after Peter Parker had been cheated by the promoter. 

"Get in! What are you doing?"

―Dennis to Flint after he killed Ben

Dennis was indirectly responsible for Ben Parker's death. He distracted his partner, Flint, who had the gun in his hand. Seemingly unaware of Ben's presence, Dennis ran into Flint with the money had robbed from the fight promoter, causing Flint to accidentally shoot Ben, while Carradine got into the car. Shocked at the murder, he stole Ben's car and escaped, leaving a distraught Flint behind.

Death

"Who's there?"

―Dennis as he loudly questions Spider-Man's whereabouts upon and after hearing and feeling loud vibration of an unseen underground train underneath the warehouse making it rock and shake violently which the warehouse made the train noise horrifying as it as it vibrates the walls and the floor whichever also allows the train to vibrate the entire warehouse which made him blame the shadow for an offscreen train he overheard.

"Don't hurt me. Just give me a chance. Just give me a chance!"
"What about my uncle? Did you give him a chance? Did you?! Answer me!"

―Dennis, terrified as Peter corners him.

The robber was caught by Spider-Man in an abandoned warehouse. He was quickly overpowered and disarmed by the wall-crawler. Cornered, Dennis begged to give him another chance to get out of the building, but Peter who has refused his request and grabs him. Upon seeing the robber's face in the light, Peter realized that this was the same man who robbed the fight promoter. Despite his best efforts to kill him, Carradine ends up falling through a window to his death after Peter snapped his wrist, his body soon being found by police.

Legacy

"The night Ben died, I hunted down the man who I thought did it. I wanted him dead. I got what I wanted. It didn't make it better. It took me a long time to learn to get through that darkness."

―Peter to an alternate version of himself.

Two years following his death, Parker confessed to Aunt May that he let the thief go resulting in Uncle Ben's death. May, though understandably shocked at first, lets Peter know that she does not blame him after a few days of coming to terms with the information.

A few months later Parker and May were shocked to learn from the police about Flint Marko. Following the final battle with Venom, Marko confessed hadn't intended to be a criminal and that he was only doing to get money for his sick daughter Penny.

Over two decades following Ben's death, a now grown up and matured Peter Parker convinced an alternate and younger version of himself not to kill his Aunt May's murderer Green Goblin, citing him causing Carradine's death as not making the pain of Uncle Ben's death any easier.

Trivia

• In the Spider-Man 2002 video game, his weapon of choice was a shotgun and a flash grenade instead of a gun and a knife. He was the first boss in the game.
• While Dennis Carradine is only a minor villain in the long run, he is by far the single most important villain since if he did not exist, Peter would never have become Spider-Man as we know him today. In essence, Carradine's actions were necessary for Spider-Man to become a hero as Uncle Ben's death is the main reason Peter became a costumed hero and adopted his famous "with great power comes great responsibility" morality.
• The retconning of Dennis Carradine into the accomplice of Uncle Ben's killer, who turned out to be the Sandman, rather than the killer himself was one of the main criticisms Spider-Man 3 received, as most fans feel like this undermines the emotive talk scene between Peter Parker and Aunt May in Spider-Man 2, where Peter admits his fault in Uncle Ben's death by letting Carradine escape. It should be noticed, however, that if Peter stopped Dennis from the start, Flint would have never shot Uncle Ben.
• Before Spider-Man 4 was cancelled in favor of The Amazing Spider-Man reboot, Michael Papajohn was approached to reprise his role as Dennis Carradine once more in the film. However, it's unknown if Carradine was intended to appear in flashback sequences like in the previous film or if he was going to appear in some other way.
• In The Amazing Spider-Man reboot, Michael Papajohn made a cameo playing the driver of Rajit Ratha, making him the only actor alongside the late Stan Lee to play a role in both the films of Sam Raimi and Marc Webb. Interestingly, Papajohn actually asked if he could portray Uncle Ben's killer again, but the part of the Cash Register Thief was given to Leif Gantvoort.
• The sound effect for The Warehouse scene that made Carradine say 'Who's There' was an unseen train heavily shaking the entire warehouse vibrating it's walls, the floor and the windows with the motor and the engine underneath the warehouse as a shadow loomed above Carradine.

• • Plus, The post producers have added this sound effect into the soundtrack after the film work is finished.

• • This sound will help you to recognise this noise.

See Also

• Cash Register Thief