Charlie Weiderman was the one student at Midtown High School more bullied than Peter Parker. Even Peter took advantage of Charlie to score some points with the in-crowd before guilt led him to make friends with his scorned classmate, but Charlie, beaten by his father at home and humiliated at school, only sought revenge. First, he ingested a homemade version of Captain America's super-soldier formula, which only landed him in the hospital; later, he tried to pull a knife on his tormentors. When Charlie slashed his classmates' tires and lied about it, Ben Parker told him never to come see Peter again.

As an adult, Charlie still searched for vindication. His father died and left him enough money to help fund the creation of a porous polymer compound that could completely cover a soldier and protect him from harm. Charlie eventually realized that his "skinsuit" would have to be composed of the energy-absorbing metal Vibranium to protect the wearer from any impacts. Charlie talked Peter into a letter of recommendation that swayed industrialist Tony Stark, who was aware of Spider-Man's true identity, into authorizing a large grant. When Peter saw Charlie's hasty shortcuts involving the volatile Vibranium, however, he wanted to pull the plug on the project. Frantic, Charlie rushed the procedure and the Vibranium blew up, encasing him in a skinsuit that bestowed the metal's properties on him.

Attempting to duck responsibility, maddened by the chemicals in his suit and by Peter's insistence that he turn himself in, Charlie went on a rampage, locating and killing Rich and Sheila, a young married couple who had both ridiculed him back in high school, fighting Spider-Man, and planning to kill Peter's relatives Aunt May and Mary Jane. Unable to track down the Parkers, Charlie settled for destroying Peter's apartment and the family home in Forest Hills. Recalling that the fluid Vibranium could be made solid by the use of extreme pressure, Spider-Man forced Charlie into an atmospheric chamber at Stark International, causing the skinsuit to harden, immobilizing him inside. Although doctors can penetrate the suit enough to take care of Charlie's bodily needs, he remains trapped within, perhaps for the rest of his life.