(Spider-Woman III#6 (fb) - BTS) - The man who would become known as Shadowcaster was born in ancient Egypt. After committing an unspecified offense that angered the pharaoh, he was entombed alive. Before his death, he sold his soul to unrevealed demons who granted him immortality. Still stuck in his coffin, he only escaped in the early 20th century when the tomb was unearthed during a dig. Driven mad, he began to plan his revenge, writing about his exploits in a series of diaries.
(Spider-Woman III#5 (fb) - BTS) - Shadowcaster eventually moved to the United States where he set up residence in an abandoned house at the far end of Long Island, near the Hamptons.
(Spider-Woman III#5) - After
reading about an exhibit of ancient Egyptian artifacts at the Manhattan
Museum of Antiquities, Shadowcaster decided to use his lightbending
powers to steal the objects he needed for his plans. Blending in with
his environment, he appeared to be a living shadow and made his way to
New York City. At the museum, his shadow form was noticed by Mattie
Franklin who was on a school trip with her class. Quickly changing into
her Spider-Woman outfit, she attacked Shadowcaster but fell for his
gimmick and only focused on his shadow. This allowed him to gain the
upper hand, mocking the young heroine as he proceeded to beat her up.
When he slammed her into a display case full of mummies, she rattled her
long enough for Shadowcaster to abscond with several mystical artifacts.
In his rush to get away, he knocked over a security guard who could do
nothing to stop him. (Spider-Woman III#5 - BTS) - Frustrated by her ineffectiveness against this new villain, Spider-Woman swore to take him down with the help of Jessica Drew and Madame Web. Both had never heard of Shadowcaster before.
(Spider-Woman III#5) - At his
Long Island residence, Shadowcaster used the artifacts to start a week
long mystical ritual he believed would grant him ultimate power and
allow the world to taste the full fury of his wrath.(Spider-Woman III#6 - BTS) - As a result of the ritual, Shadowcaster created a mystical serpent staff and a headband he donned to get his revenge plan underway.
(Spider-Woman III#6 (fb) - BTS) - Hoping to learn more about Shadowcaster, Mattie and Jessica Drew decided to pay a visit to the virtually omniscient Morris Maxwell. After asking some very specific questions, the two heroines learned where they could meet the villain: his Long Island home.
(Spider-Woman III#6) - While Jessica and Mattie made their way to Long Island, Shadowcaster had left his home for another trip to New York City. Visiting the New York Museum of Anthropology, he gained access to the facility right before closing time. By taking out security guard Roger Sherman, he had the run of the place for himself. He headed for the museum's Egypt exhibit and was furious to find a pharaoh on the throne, because it reminded him of his painful past. He knocked over the mannequin and sat on his throne, using the powers of his newfound serpent staff to start a transmogrification ritual.
(Spider-Woman III#6 - BTS) - Shadowcaster's magic ritual caused a ripple effect of psychic energy picked up by Madame Web who sensed the coming of a very ancient evil. Web quickly contacted Spider-Woman and told her to rush back from Long Island to help.
(Spider-Woman III#6) - By the
time Mattie Franklin arrived, Shadowcaster was emanating massive amounts
of mystical light energy to animate the mannequins in the exhibit,
recreating the Egypt of old. He even had one of the concubine women make
out with him on his throne. Disgusted, Spider-Woman swooped in and
destroyed the animated doll. This infuriated Shadowcaster who fired a
series of magical blasts from his staff. Easily dodging the rays,
Spider-Woman grabbed the serpent staff away from Shadowcaster and
clumsily fired a shot that destroyed his throne. Deciding to deal with
his opponent by becoming 'one with the shadows', he turned invisible and
attacked her. For a moment, Mattie was unsure what to do until she
figured out Shadowcaster wasn't a walking shadow at all. Adjusting her
strategies to deal with her invisible foe, she pummeled him into
submission. Resigned to his fate, Shadowcaster manipulated a jewel on
his hand and seemingly committed suicide, leaving only an ebon,
shadowlike figure on the floor.(Spider-Woman III#6 - BTS) - In the aftermath, Mattie conferred with Jessica Drew who had found and studied Shadowcaster's diaries. What she read only left her more puzzled. She could not begin to tell who had empowered Shadowcaster and what his goals were. They concluded that only someone like Doctor Strange might hope to answer these questions and they considered handing the diaries to him for further study.