Jarvis
Edwin Jarvis. Art by Jim Cheung.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #59 (Nov 1964)
Created by	Stan Lee Don Heck
In-story information
Full name	Edwin Jarvis
Supporting character of	Avengers Iron Man Spider-Man

Edwin Jarvis is a fictional supporting character in the Marvel Comics titles, The Avengers, Iron Man and Spider-Man.

Publication history

Jarvis first appeared in Tales of Suspense #59 (November 1964), and was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.

Edwin Jarvis received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #4, and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers (2004).

Fictional character biography

 | quote="Born of modest origins, he had quickly risen through the ranks of household employ, his loyalty and dedication finally placing him at the apex of domestic service — as valiant valet to the Earth's Mightiest Heroes!"
 |source= — Prologue from an Avengers backup story featuring Jarvis[1]}}

Jarvis served in the British RAF and was their undefeated boxing champion three years running. After the war he moved to America where he became butler to Howard and Maria Stark and watched over their mansion even after their deaths.

The Starks' son, Tony, called the first meeting of the Avengers as Iron Man and donated the house as headquarters, so that it became Avengers Mansion. Jarvis grew accustomed to the guests and served the Avengers for many years thereafter, acting as a father figure to some of the newcomers. He was the only one to stay with the Avengers for their entire existence, a distinction not even Captain America can claim. As a result, Cap has stated that Jarvis should be regarded as just as much of an Avenger as he is.

Jarvis spent some time as the primary babysitter for Franklin Richards, the super-powered son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman when they were residing at the mansion. He also served as the sponsor to future Avengers member Silverclaw while she was growing up, and she has come to regard him as an uncle.

Being butler to the Avengers meant that Jarvis has had to deal with their enemies himself on several occasions. In Avengers #59 and #60 (December 1969, January 1970) he was assaulted by intruders into the mansion and bound and gagged. He has also been involved personally in many adventures, including leading the evacuation of a stalled subway train during a city-wide disaster and battling a demonically possessed car. During this time he dated a woman he rescued named Glory. Jarvis defended the floating Hydrobase against a horde of robots built by Doctor Doom during the Acts of Vengeance crisis. He was present when one of the many incarnations of the Masters of Evil attacked the mansion. He was brutally beaten while Captain America was forced to watch. It took some time for Jarvis to recover from his injuries. He even wore an eyepatch for some time. Jarvis personally confronted Loki, risking great danger, after realizing the villain had tricked his way inside the mansion in Avengers #400.

In his duties as the Avengers' butler, he was entrusted with items of great power, including the Casket of Ancient Winters.

When the New Avengers were formed, Jarvis was called back after taking a holiday "for the first time in years," having been informed that his 'special' services were once again needed. Jarvis often confronts Wolverine over the man's poor kitchen etiquette, a battle only new member Spider-Man's Aunt May was able to win. Jarvis struck up a relationship with May, who had moved into Stark Tower with Peter and Mary Jane after her house burnt down. When Spider-Man switched sides during the Civil War, however, Aunt May and Mary Jane fled Stark Tower to live in hiding.

In a recent New Avengers "Civil War" story, Jarvis was shot by an employee of Tony Stark, who was opposed to Stark using technology he invented to enforce the Superhuman Registration Act. However, it appears Jarvis recovers from this wound, as in Civil War: The Initiative, he is shown to be working again. He also humorously mentions that if Tony Stark allowed "that Tigra %^#$" in the new incarnation of the Avengers, Tony would need to find someone else to do the laundry. Tigra had worked for Tony Stark's side throughout the entirety of the Civil War incident.

In Spider-Man: One More Day, Jarvis is given a slightly over $2,000,000 check by Stark to pay for Aunt May's hospital bills after an angry confrontation with Peter. She was dying after being shot by a sniper (hired by The Kingpin) in revenge once Stark convinced Spider-Man to unmask. Jarvis visibly breaks down upon seeing her in the hospital bed, confessing his deep love to the Parkers.^[2]

As a consequence of the "One More Day" storyline, the Spider-Man comics have undergone a major continuity overhaul, of which many consequences have yet to be revealed. With Peter Parker's identity secret again, there may be no way to connect May and Jarvis; an issue of New Avengers is advertised as addressing Spider-Man's "new" history with the team, which would include this time period.

In Secret Invasion, it is revealed that Jarvis has been replaced by a Skrull agent(though the exact time is unclear, after the events of Secret Invasion, it was revealed in a summary of Secret Invasion, when describing the Jarvis Skrull, that it was apparently before Jarvis started his relationship with May).^[3] Using a computer virus, he disables a number of Stark Enterprises facilities, as well as Stark's Iron Man armor. This agent also obtained access to Tony Stark's records on Robert Reynolds (The Sentry) in order to discover his weaknesses, as the Skrulls were unable to duplicate his powers because its limits were unknown even to Stark.^[4] He later approaches Maria Hill on the destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in the middle of the ocean and tells her to surrender along with her crew. She uses a Life Model Decoy in that spot as the real one escaped and detonated the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. During the fight between Veranke and Criti Noll's forces against the heroes and villains, The Skrull-Jarvis (who somehow survived the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier explosion) watches from Avengers Tower as the energy washes over hero, villain and Skrull alike. While holding Jessica Jones and Luke Cage's child, he comments that it doesn't matter if the Skrulls win or lose, so long as "God's" will is done.^[5]

After the final battle, the real Jarvis is discovered alive, prompting Jessica Jones to discover that her baby had been taken by the Skrull impostor.^[6] Jarvis is later shown in a support group meeting with the others that had been replaced by Skrulls.^[7] The Skrull Jarvis is found the hideout he got shot by Bullseye.^[8]

During the "Earth's Mightiest" arc, the real Jarvis, having refused to serve under Norman Osborn's new group of Avengers is sought out by Hercules and Amadeus Cho to be a part of the new Mighty Avengers team, Amadeus having done the math and found Jarvis to be the one constant of the Avengers.^[9]

Personal life

• Jarvis once started a pen pal relationship with a young girl who would grow up to be the superhero Silverclaw. Her trip to America to meet Jarvis would be foiled when she was forced into helping terrorists in a massive attack. Silverclaw's efforts helped the people in danger at the airport, including Jarvis himself.

• Jarvis has developed a dislike for former Avenger and Initiative member Tigra. He refers to her as a 'bitch' to Tony Stark when he was contemplating members for a new team, and went as far as threatening to quit if Stark asked her to rejoin the team. It has not been revealed why these feelings exist. This was possibly the skrull imposter of Jarvis.

Other versions

House of M

In the House of M: Iron Man series, the A.I. system in Tony Stark's suit is referred to as "Jarvis".

Marvel Zombies

In the Marvel Zombies mini-series in which all of the world's superheroes (and many of the villains) are transformed by a sentient alien virus into flesh-eating zombies, it is revealed that Jarvis was torn apart and shared-out amongst the Avengers. As Colonel America speculated, he appears to have been so mortified by the spectacle of his beloved Avengers as hungry corpses that he barely put up a fight.

MC2

Jarvis, now with visibly gray hair, continues to serve as the butler to the Avengers Next in the MC2 universe.

Ultimate Jarvis

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Jarvis is gay and is much more sarcastic and acerbic towards his employer, Tony Stark. Here Jarvis is the personal butler of Tony Stark, and not of his Avengers-like team, the Ultimates. While Tony dated and eventually became engaged to his teammate, the Ultimate version of Natasha Romanova, aka Black Widow, Jarvis was shown to be continuiously at odds with her and both were quick to hurl insults at the other. Jarvis was later shot in the head by Natasha when she revealed herself to Stark as the traitor within the Ultimates team. His death (along with Black Widow's betrayal) might be contributing factors to Tony Stark's descent into full-blown alcoholism.

Other media

Television

• Edwin Jarvis appeared as a supporting character in Avengers series voiced by Graham Harley.

Film

• Jarvis made a quick appearance as Tony Stark's butler in Ultimate Avengers (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) and has a slightly larger role in the movie's sequel.
• Jarvis appears as an A.I. in the 2008 film Iron Man, running the internal systems of Tony Stark's home and being uploaded into his armor to help him (possibly based on HoM Jarvis). He can converse with Stark with considerable sophistication and is sarcastic concerning his creator's recklessness. He is voiced by Paul Bettany, who admits he had little idea of what the role was even as he recorded it, simply doing it as a favor for his friend, director Jon Favreau.^[10] In Peter David's novelization of the film, Jarvis is revealed as an acronym for "Just A Rather Very Intelligent System."^[11] Bettany will return to voice JARVIS in Iron Man II^[12]

Video games

• Edwin Jarvis appears as a non-playable character in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Philip Proctor. He is seen in Stark Towers. Edwin Jarvis has special dialogue with Deadpool, Iron Man, Spider-Woman, and Captain America.

• The AI Jarvis appears in the Iron Man video game voiced by Gillon Stephenson. He serves as a source of information for the player informing them of any incoming soldiers or machines that they should be aware of.

References