Origin

Julia Gao was an officer of the New York Police Department who was empowered by the Powers Act, a law created by former Mayor Wilson Fisk, to investigate superheroes for unlawful peacekeeping. After multiple confrontations with Spider-Man (Miles Morales), she became obsessed with taking him down, eventually deputizing superhumans as new Cape Killers.

Creation

Agent Gao first appeared in Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #1 by Cody Ziglar and Frederico Vincentini

Major Story Arcs

Carnage Reigns

Gao’s Cape Killers consisted of: Scorpion, Taskmaster, Electro, and Hightail. They are called into action when Cletus Kasady uses the Extrembiote, a combination of a symbiote dragon and the extremis virus, to turn New Yorkers into his puppets. They find themselves allied with Spider-Man (Morales) and the new Red Goblin (Normie Osborn), who can absorb symbiotes.

Unfortunately, their combined might was still not enough to take on Cletus. Most of the team is taken out, leaving Hightail and Miles to stand against Kasady until Iron Man arrived to help them. Reunited with Scorpion and joined by the new Red Goblin, Hightail and the others kept a bunch of Carnage zombies busy while Iron Man rigged an EMP to take out the Extrembiote that Cletus was possessing.

Gang War

When Hammerhead incited a gang war hoping the gangs would take each other out and the Maggia could swoop in and take over the city, Agent Gao sent the Cape Killers into the field to keep the peace in Brooklyn with Hightail leading this assignment. Frost Pharaoh and The Bumbler were leading gangs against each other, and they have already gotten the attention of Miles Morales. Because Miles was deputized by the mayor, the Cape Killers couldn't arrest him, so they reluctantly worked with him.

The Prowler recruited them all to help him take down Hobgoblin, who was trafficking Beyond Corporation tech to the street gangs of Brooklyn. In the ensuing fight, Hobgoblin's cache of explosives is triggered causing a massive explosion. Hobgoblin is assumed dead, and with Brooklyn safe again, Agent Gao reminds Miles that his truce with the Cape Killers is over. Luckily, the events of Gang War convinced the New York council to appeal the anti-vigilante law, thus disbanding Gao's current team.

Retribution

While the wheels of bureaucracy spin, Gao gets the most out of her Cape Killers while she can. After a successful mission against a power stealer named Snatcher, Gao breaks the news to the Cape Killers that the program is being shut down, and they might not get credit toward their sentence for their service. She promises to commute their sentence if they help her with a final mission: take down Spider-Man (Miles Morales).

Gao enters a reluctant deal with Rabble, allowing her to upgrade Scorpion, Gust, Hightail, Taskmaster, and herself with special armor. This armor should give them an edge over Spider-Man, who has managed to best them every time. Unfortunately, this armor also allows Gao to remote control the Cape Killers. When they still couldn't take out Miles, Gao took control of them and pushed them further. Miles gets some last minute help from his friends, including Rhino and his uncle, Prowler. They keep the Cape Killers busy while he goes after Rabble to free them from Rabble and Gao's control.