Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Hit-Monkey Season 1.Hulu’s Hit-Monkey came as a surprise to most folks, including myself. It’s a strange offshoot in the Marvel Comics brand involving a snow monkey (Fred Tatasciore) haunted by a dead hitman (Jason Sudeikis), who becomes one of the deadliest assassins of any simian species. But the comic and the show both somehow overcame the tide of monkey-related media failures to successfully make for a clever, blood-soaked, bad-ass Marvel franchise all its own. Hulu has become Marvel’s dumpsite for R-rated fare, as they won’t abide dirty words or worse on Disney Plus, and Hit-Monkey lives up to that paradigm in being off-the-wall bonkers with adult content in a good way.
As a Marvel property, it of course includes a few of their famous characters who originated outside of the pages of Hit-Monkey. Here’s your guide to those characters and their backstories beyond their involvement with the primate.
1. Fat Cobra
Fat Cobra (Noshir Dalal) is primarily a villain in Marvel comics and a nemesis of Iron Fist. He was born in one of the seven capital cities of Heaven, and as such, inherited certain gifts and healing properties. He was rejected by his father as a baby because of the special needs required due to his immense girth, and was put out to sea in a basket. But he eventually found land and training in kung fu in Peng Lai. He has done some good in his life, including hunting monsters with Ulysses Bloodstone and fighting Nazis with Union Jack. After many battles and trials, he eventually become the Immortal Weapon of Peng Lai.
In Hit-Monkey, the title character follows a lead into a prison, where he becomes entangled in the matches of an underground fighting pit and encounters Fat Cobra. Despite Cobra’s supernatural abilities, Hit-Monkey manages to best him. When commanded to finish him by the overseer of the pit, dubbed “The Accountant," Hit-Monkey refuses, and instead teams up with Fat Cobra to take out the Accountant. Fat Cobra shows up again in Episode 10 to assist Hit-Monkey in kicking the crap out of Silver Samurai (also Dalal).
2. Yuki
Yuki has a deep history in Marvel comics. The name was adapted from that of a Japanese snow goddess that lured men to their deaths, much like a harpy. The original Yuki was a member of the Nail, a select team of female assassins who killed for the Hand. The last known Yuki was a member of a more modern Nail created by Daredevil himself and led by Colleen Wing.
The Hit-Monkey version of Yuki (Reiko Aylesworth) seems to be a ghostly incarnation of the original. In Episode 5, the spirit of Yuki busts out of her coffin and goes after Hit-Monkey, blaming him for all the carnage that has occurred on Japanese soil because of him. She fights Hit-Monkey, but eventually realizes that he is fighting for the good of Japan, and tells him that he may call on her whenever he is in need of her service. In Episodes 9 and 10, she shows up to defend Japan’s new Prime Minister (George Takei) alongside Silver Samurai. She winds up helping Hit-Monkey to fight Silver Samurai and defeat the forces of evil.
3. Silver Samurai
Silver Samurai, otherwise known as Kenuichio Harada, has long been a villain of Marvel superheroes who visit Japan (and sometimes when they don’t. He’s a mutant whose powers are tied to his supernatural katana blade. In the comics, he is the half-brother of Mariko Yashida (a major heartthrob of Wolverine’s), and in the film The Wolverine, her grandfather. In either case, he is most often cast as a villain, but sometimes as a noble warrior of Japan.
In Hit-Monkey, he’s kind of both. As one police officer explains, “he’s a mutant medieval warrior and sworn protector of the Prime Minister, and a giant asshole.” He shows up in Episode 9 of the show to guard said Prime Minister when a pro-monkey protest erupts outside the federal building. In Episode 10, he foils Hit-Monkey’s attempt to sneak into the building via a food cart when he demands some of the vendor’s fare and smashes the cart upon denial. This ignites a climactic fight between Silver Samurai and Hit-Monkey and his allies.
4. Lady Bullseye
Lady Bullseye has a dark past in Marvel comics lore; a young Japanese girl who was imprisoned by the Yakuza and meant for human trafficking. But the original Bullseye slaughtered her captors and freed her. She was captivated by her savior and thereafter strived to be like him. Since then, she has been a constant thorn in Daredevil’s side, much like her role model.
In Episode 6 of Hit-Monkey, Lady Bullseye (also Aylesworth) gets called in by the Bonsai Master to take care of the primate. Throughout the rest of the series, she does her best to kill the monkey, but fails at every turn. Finally, in the last episode, Hit-Monkey’s ghost mentor, Bryce, finds a way to corporally put Lady Bullseye in a full nelson while a cop shoots her to death.
Hit-Monkey Season 1 is available for streaming on Hulu.