Daniel Butcher, born as Jackson Pollard and also known by his supervillain identity Jack O' Lantern, is the main antagonist of the 2021 Marvel based fanfilm/presentation X-Men: Halloween and he returns as a supporting antagonist in the 2022 crossover fanfilm DC & Marvel: Fiction is Justice. He is a young worker at Cable's Superbar who views the entire populace of the universe as "evil" and "cruel", and he intends to reshape the universe as he sees himself as a perfect being. He is also Psylocke's third and final archenemy after Nimrod and Archangel.

He is portrayed by Wes Bentley who also played Blackheart from the original Marvel movie Ghost Rider and Michael Hexer from Scream: Revived.

History[]

Beginnings[]

As a child at some elementary school, his original name was Jackson Pollard before he changed his identity later on in life. At the schoolyard, he made friends with Ava Starr and the two played together every single day, as they have both felt lonely and abandoned, neglected by their abusive teacher and the other popular kids. After he changed his identity to Daniel Butcher, he found his job at Cable's Superbar, managed by the mutant Nathan Summers who also happened to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Daniel loved his boss, and Nathan even treated him like the son he never had, up until the moment in which Daniel was teaching kids how to make jack o lanterns and the kids threw their lanterns on him, as it has caused the bar to go on fire since the jacks were explosive. After the bar got messed up and the kids have managed to humiliate Daniel, Nathan came and fired him out of anger. A depressed and sad Daniel walked on the street and eventually he met the HYDRA agent Jasper Sitwell. Jasper offered him a supervillain's suit made of golden armor, and told him that HYDRA have high hopes on his chaotic nature. Desperate to have his revenge on the entire world populace, Daniel took the suit for himself and promised Jasper to let his anger out on people and wreak havoc for HYDRA. His ultimate plans under HYDRA's supervision were to break a water dam near the city so he could flood up the Thames Tunnel and break the doorway into a locked up cave which is linked to the tunnel, and he would then obtain the hero crystal (which also Mordo was after it) and reshape the world as he sees it fit, and with himself as the respected prime ruler. He eventually started working at the S.H.I.E.L.D heroic museum together with Elizabeth Braddock / Psylocke and Ava Starr. As Ava and Psylocke went to S.H.I.E.L.D's mutant base, they have asked Daniel to look after the museum and it's new item, the iron jack o' latern until they come back. He was left alone, and thus he used that opportunity to get rid of his boss and then steal the iron jack o lantern. Eventually, he managed to do these things and since then he has become the ruthless and tyrannical supervillanious terrorist called the Jack O' Lantern.

Reuniting with Ava Starr / The Ghost[]

The Jack O' Lantern started his revenge business as he went towards one of the kids who teased him and threw on him jack o'lanterns. He wanted to kill the kid, but Psylocke and Ava / The Ghost stopped him. As The Ghost held him so he would not escape justice, he shot at her laser and escaped the two superheroines. He eventually got to the Superbar and killed Nathan, who confessed to him how much he is sorry before he was killed. Psylocke and The Ghost have eventually reached the destination as they've caught up with the Mad Jack and they have fought against him. In the middle of the battle, Daniel reveals to The Ghost that they know each other from the past. She then begins to remember, and Daniel successfully convinces Ava to join his forces and conquer the universe by using the hero crystal. The Ghost brutally defeats Psylocke, who is now alone, and she attempts to kill Psylocke, but the Jack O' Lantern reminds The Ghost that they still need her for a bigger plan.

Final Battle and Defeat[]

He later discusses matters with The Ghost and Jasper Sitwell. Jasper threatens to torture them if they fail on their mission. Psylocke then goes with her lover Victor Creed to the same field in which she used to play as a child. As she confesses her past to Victor, The Ghost becomes invisible and spies after them. Eventually, The Ghost reveals herself, and signals The Jack O' Lantern to enter the scene. Psylocke tries to defeat the Mad Jack, but The Ghost injects her with a serum that causes her to loose her consciousness and tell the truth about whatever she thinks in her mind. Daniel successfully extracts the information about the crystal's whereabouts, and he goes with the ghost to break the dam of water so he could flood the Thames tunnels as the water breaks the wall between the cave and the tunnel. Psylocke however convinces The Ghost to turn back to the good side and assist her so they can stop The Mad Jack from destroying the world. The Ghost and Psylocke eventually defeat him before he manages to break the dam and flood the tunnel. Daniel is now powerless, and he is eventually arrested for his massive crimes.

Personality[]

Daniel went through a tragic, hard and frustrating background and therefore he became a vengeful, tyrannical and brutish warlord and terrorist working for HYDRA. He was willing to do anything so he could be respected, even if he had to reshape the world under his own image just for the sake of people following him.

Trivia[]

• He is the first version of Marvel's Jack O' Lantern to appear in a live-action movie.

Link to the fanfilm[]

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XpJ97EWUOdoikw3lNcGbi0JXAKNzN3RFsyOsSstdTMs/edit?usp=sharing