Cornelius Van Lunt

Cornelius Van Lunt is a wealthy, ruthless businessman who operates as the criminal mastermind Taurus, secretly leading the Zodiac — a syndicate of twelve villains — bringing him into repeated conflict with the Avengers.

A shadowy figure who slithered into the Marvel Universe in 1970, Cornelius Van Lunt made his debut in The Avengers #72, conjured by the legendary Silver Age team of Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema. He's the kind of cunning, dangerous presence that keeps Earth's Mightiest Heroes — Vision, the Scarlet Witch, Clint Barton, and Janet Van Dyne among them — on their toes, and his ties to the Zodiac make him one of Marvel's more deliciously sinister corner-office villains. Despite a relatively select number of catalog appearances, his footprint stretches across more than five decades of Avengers history, a testament to just how memorable an impression he left. For collectors hunting the connective tissue of classic Marvel villainy, Cornelius Van Lunt is a name worth knowing.