Jim Shooter — the controversial former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics who conceived and wrote 1984’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, the first company-wide crossover in the history of comics — has died. He was 73. Writer and former DC Comics editor Mark Waid, who once described the Shooter-scripted Legion of Super-Heroes story in 1968’s Adventure Comics #369 as “the single most influential-to-my-craft story I ever read,” took to social media to announce the news on Monday, writing in a Facebook post that Shooter died from esophageal cancer.

“I’ve just received word that Jim Shooter passed away of esophageal cancer, which he’s been battling for some time,” Waid wrote on the Facebook post. “I realize that for many he’s been a controversial figure in the past (game knows game), mostly with regards to his managerial style, but my experiences with him lay outside that realm and began with my lifelong love for his writing beginning with the first time I ever picked up a copy of Adventure Comics in 1967.”

Born September 27, 1951, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Shooter cut his teeth writing for DC at the age of 14. Shooter first wrote and penciled 1966’s Adventure Comics #346, featuring Superboy and the future’s Legion of Super-Heroes, after being commissioned to write Supergirl and Superman stories. During his years at DC, Shooter created Superman villain Parasite in 1966’s Action Comics #340 and went on to create such Legionnaires as Princess Projecta, Ferro Lad, Karate Kid, and the 30th century supervillains the Fatal Five.

“For those who don’t know, Jim broke into comics at the age of 14. Let me say that again: 14. I don’t know about you, but when I was 14, I could barely put sentences together on paper,” Waid wrote. “During a hospital stay, he’d been given some Marvel and DC comics and could clearly see how much more exciting the Marvel books were and couldn’t understand why DC’s books couldn’t have that same vitality. Having no idea how comics scripts were done, he literally wrote and drew a Legion of Super-Heroes story on notebook paper and sent it in to editor Mort Weisinger, who put him to work immediately — having no idea how young he was until later.”

The protégé of then-National Periodicals (later DC) editor Mort Weisinger, whose run on the Superman titles introduced such characters as Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog, Shooter, then 17, left DC for rival publisher Marvel for a three-week stint in 1969. Shooter characterized his time working with Weisinger as “abusive.”

Shooter would return to Marvel when then-editor-in-chief Marv Wolfman offered him a position in the Marvel Bullpen in 1975. By 1978, Shooter had succeeded Archie Goodwin as editor-in-chief, overseeing the Chris Claremont-penned Uncanny X-Men, John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, Walt Simonson’s Thor, and Roger Stern’s Amazing Spider-Man, and X-Men spinoff Dazzler, which Shooter conceived with Alice Donenfeld and John Romita Jr. “with some help” from Stan Lee, Al Milgrom, Roger Stern, and Tom DeFalco.

He implemented a “continuity bonus,” described by Shooter as “the first incentive system in mainstream comics,” to keep creators on successive issues, as well as life insurance for freelancers, standardized creator contracts, and a royalty system. “I fixed a lot of things, but my greatest frustrations were the royalties and artwork return, which were delayed by lawsuits. I also increased rates, doubling them, and then doubling them again, because we started to make more money,” Shooter recalled in 2010. “I tried to standardize and boost the rates up. Superstars like Frank Miller? He got paid like the old guys, because he’s Frank Miller. I did respect the creative contributions like the age and seniority of the guys. I made sure guys who’d been there for twenty years weren’t getting the minimum. I also respected genius.”

Byrne, writer of Alpha Flight (1983-85), claimed that Shooter enforced a “no gays in the Marvel Universe” policy under the strict Code of the Comics Code Authority. Shooter’s interference with the Dark Phoenix Saga in the iconic Claremont-Byrne Uncanny X-Men run was just one of several creator conflicts that led to an exodus; as Wolfman put it in 2003, “Professionals left Marvel in droves” after Shooter took the reins of Marvel.

In 1984, in the midst of popular toy lines like G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe, toy makers Mattel wanted an “editorial concept” to tie to a new Marvel-based line of action figures. That concept became Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, at the time the biggest crossover in the history of the Marvel Universe. The 12-issue series, written by Shooter, edited by DeFalco, and penciled by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton, was as successful as the toy line.

The original Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars assembled Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains — the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, and Spider-Man among them — who were pit against supervillains like Doctor Doom, Galactus, Ultron, Doc Ock, and the Wrecking Crew by the cosmic being known as the Beyonder. The series famously featured the debut appearance of Spider-Man’s black alien costume in issue #8.

Shooter also wrote the sequel, the 1985 nine-issue limited series Secret Wars II, drawn by Milgrom. The 1984 series inspired writer Jonathan Hickman’s multiversal crossover Secret Wars in 2015, which is being adapted into Marvel Studios films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The post Jim Shooter, Former Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief Who Wrote Secret Wars, Dies at 73 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Dane Whitman seems to be finished before he really got started, but fans are not satisfied to leave it that way. A new fan art poster making the rounds on social media shows what Kit Harington might look like if he got to take on his character’s superhero persona Black Knight, complete with the Ebony Blade. Harington took on the role in Eternals back in 2021, and while it now seems likely that movie won’t have a sequel anytime soon, there’s always a chance any of the characters might be pulled back into the MCU for a future story. In the meantime, fans are eagerly fusing Harington’s most dramatic photos with Marvel Comics to imagine the big screen Black Knight for themselves.

Harington made his MCU debut in Eternals, but unlike the main ensemble, he didn’t get a chance to play a superhero. Harington was cast as the scientist and historian Dane Whitman, but at that point in the story, he hadn’t taken up the mantle of Black Knight. However, he did seem to know about his family’s ancestral sword, and even of the curse it carried. Presumably, a sequel to Eternals might have focused on Whitman taking up the blade, but at this point, no sequel is in the works.

Whitman has a long legacy in in Marvel Comics, and it has evolved a lot over the years, so there’s no telling how the MCU might have portrayed the Black Knight. The moniker actually goes back to ancient times, when Whitman’s ancestor wielded the Ebony Blade and fought alongside King Arthur himself. Whitman’s uncle used the cursed sword for evil, and in the earliest comics, he was defeated by Iron Man. With his dying breath, he passed the sword on to Whitman and charged him to restore the family’s honor.

Read Next

Game of Thrones Star Kit Harington Admits Final Season Was “Rushed”and There Were “Mistakes”

Things would likely go a bit differently in the MCU, especially with what we know of their version of Whitman so far. He alluded to some disagreements with his uncle, but his relationship with Sersi (Gemma Chan) seems more relevant to his potential superheroics. The post-credit scene of the movie featured Whitman confronting the Ebony Blade, apparently tempted by disembodied whispers.

Many fans thought Whitman was a great role for Harington after his time on Game of Thrones, where he played another brooding, sword-wielding hero with a dubious legacy named Jon Snow. Harington himself has admitted to the similarity, and to the real reason for his interest in the MCU. Last year, he told GQ, “I’m not gonna pretend I took that [role] because it was different and interesting. If Marvel calls, you gotta do it.”

Hopefully, Marvel will call again someday and Harington will be compelled to reprise the role. In the meantime, Eternals is streaming now on Disney+ for those interested.

The post Marvel Fan Art Finally Gives a Game of Thrones Star Their MCU Moment appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Thor is one of the strongest characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’s the son of Odin, after all, and the God of Thunder, which allows him to create electrical energy out of thin air. Despite all his gifts, Thor chooses to use a weapon for most of his life, Mjolnir. The hammer allows the Asgardian to focus his power, and it doesn’t hurt that it packs a serious punch. Thor isn’t the only character in the MCU to have experience with Mjolnir, though, as his sister, Hela, used it before him. When she shows up on Midgard in Thor: Ragnarok, she destroys the weapon, leaving her brother between a rock and a hard place. He learns to control his powers without the hammer to defeat Hela, but his next fight isn’t so simple.

Thanos comes knocking in Avengers: Infinity War, and because of his mission to collect the Infinity Stones, Thor knows it’s going to be easy to beat him. The God of Thunder travels to Nidavellir to forge Stormbreaker, an axe that doesn’t come with the prerequisite that someone has to be worthy to wield it. However, Thor makes it clear to Star-Lord that not just anyone can use a weapon as strong as Stormbreaker. There are a few other characters up for the challenge, though.

1) Bucky Barnes

Steve Rogers proves himself worthy in Avengers: Endgame, saving Thor from Thanos using Mjolnir. During the ensuing battle, the two heroes switch weapons, and Steve picks up Stormbreaker without any problems. While Bucky Barnes isn’t as strong as his best friend, he’s still a capable super soldier who can toss cars and pull off other impressive feats. There’s no doubt he could grab Stormbreaker and swing it around if the opportunity arose.

2) John Walker

John Walker is in the same boat as Bucky, but Thunderbolts* makes it seem like he’s a bit stronger than his teammate. While the group is trying to escape Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’s safehouse, John jumps higher than any super soldier before him to see how deep they are underground. Leaping doesn’t prove his skills with a weapon, but it seems fair to assume that he can withstand a lot more than a regular human.

3) Drax

While Thor is lecturing Star-Lord in Infinity War, he tells everyone on the ship they wouldn’t be able to wield a Thanos-killing weapon. He’s wrong about Drax, as the Guardian of the Galaxy is far from a run-of-the-mill alien. He possesses super strength and durability, which he uses against some impressive foes. Picking up Stormbreaker would be light work for the Destroyer.

4) Vision

Vision shocks all of the Avengers when he picks up Mjolnir shortly after being born. He even uses the hammer later to teach Ultron a lesson. While the original Vision is no longer around, his replacement, White Vision, is just as powerful. He may not be in a fighting mood after the events of WandaVision, but wielding Stormbreaker isn’t a challenge that he would fail.

Read Next

Only One Original Avenger Doesn’t Have A Replacement In The MCU (Yet)

5) Nebula

The MCU makes it clear that it’s not fun having Thanos as a father. He tortures his girls, but Nebula gets the worst of it, with the Mad Titan replacing most of her body with cybernetics. The one silver lining is that she’s incredibly powerful after the operations, always giving the Guardians a run for their money. While Nebula doesn’t have experience with brain-melting weapons, they can’t be any worse than what she’s already gone through.

6) Adam Warlock

The Sovereign spend a lot of time creating Adam Warlock, and while it appears to be for their own gain, it turns out the High Evolutionary is behind the whole thing. He wants to create the perfect specimen, but Adam fails to meet his expectations. Despite his flaws, Adam is still one of the strongest characters in the MCU. He takes out the Guardians in just a few minutes, and it wouldn’t have even taken that long if he had Stormbreaker.

7) Shang-Chi

Thor’s weapons are going to become yesterday’s news if Shang-Chi learns how to control the Ten Rings. The objects give him incredible power, making him strong enough to defeat giant beasts. The God of Thunder knows a little something about that, so maybe he and Shang-Chi can trade weapons and have a friendly competition.

Do you think the characters on this list could wield Stormbreaker? Which other MCU characters have a shot? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 7 MCU Characters That Could Definitely Wield Stormbreaker appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiered two years ago this month, and tragically, we’re another two years out from what is sure to be a breathtaking conclusion of the animated trilogy with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The long wait feels particularly cruel since Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended with on a cliffhanger with Miles meeting the Earth-42 version of himself. Since there is no Spider-Man in that universe — the radioactive spider was transported into Miles’s Earth-1610 and bit him instead — Earth-42 Miles has become a villain, The Prowler. The reveal left us at the edge of our seats and with our heads spinning.

So how are we biding the time until Beyond the Spider-Verse hits theaters on June 4, 2027? Diving into each and every fan theory on TikTok, of course! Here are our top five we hope are in fact part of the franchise’s third installment:

1) Beyond the Spider-Verse Will Open with an Epic Spider-Team and Earth-42 Sinister Six Battle

We’re obsessed with this theory from popular creator Supes for a number of reasons. Not only would a Spider-Team versus Sinister Six battle be an epic way to kick off the film, it would be an awesome, action-packed way to get us reoriented in the Spider-Verse after four years away. Furthermore, the Beyond the Spider-Verse footage shown at CinemaCon earlier this year indicates that Supes might be on the right track here. Green mentions that Sony showed footage of Miles fighting Prowler Miles. It’s very likely that the clips shown at CinemaCon were smaller moments within a larger battle that involves more players…like the Spider-Team we see at the end of the last movie and this universe’s version of the Sinister Six.

2) Miguel Got Miles’ Canon Events Wrong

Creator Shelby Hallow isn’t the only fan online claiming Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 got canon events wrong, but we love her explanation. She doesn’t believe that Miles’ major canon event is his dad’s death. In explaining that nearly all Spiders lose a family member, mentor, plus a close friend and/or significant other to become the hero they’re destined to be. However, both versions of Miles – our protagonist from Earth-1610 and the Earth-42 Prowler version of Miles we meet at the end of the movie, have lost either their father OR their Uncle Aaron. Therefore, by Shelby’s reasoning, Miles is slated to lose, or at the very least be emotionally estranged from, a non-family mentor like Peter B. Parker or Gwen.

We really hope this isn’t true, we also can’t forget that Earth-1610 Miles wasn’t destined to be Spider-Man. He’s an anomaly, therefore do the canon rules even apply to him? For Peter B. and Gwen’s sake, we hope not. We also really hope someone other than Miguel clears up how canon events work in Beyond the Spider-Verse. While the fans may not agree on much, we all seem to feel that Spider-Man 2099 is either mistaken, or hiding something when it comes to the canon.

RELATED: 3 Questions Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Needs to Answer

3) Miles Will Enlist Earth-42 Miles /The Prowler to Help Him

Going off the theory that Miguel’s canon event theory is flawed and the rules may not apply to Miles, an anomaly, Alex Brizard takes it a step further. He believes that through enlisting Earth-42 Miles to help him, they will be available to save everyone, along with keeping the universes in tact by working together. Brizard references Miles’s pointing out that one can have their cake and eat it too if they have two cakes. In Beyond the Spider-Verse, the two cakes are the two Miles who team up to save their loved ones and keep the multiverse in tact. Given that some of the footage screened at CinemaCon from Beyond the Spider-Verse also includes the two Miles working together in addition to squaring off, we like where Alex is headed with this one.

Also shoutout to Evan’s theory that Beyond the Spider-Verse will include a live-action Miles Morales. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has previously said they’re waiting for the animated Spider-Verse trilogy to complete before the character formally enters the live-action MCU. What better way to introduce the next major incarnation of Miles than for him to be passed the torch by his animated self?

4) Miguel Will Redeem Himself by Sacrificing Himself to Save Miles

While Miguel was certainly an antagonist in Across the Spider-Verse, at the end of the day, he’s still a Spider-Man. Creator @kailazi points out that though Miles and Miguel spent most of Across the Spider-Verse at odds, it would make a very meaningful turn of events and arc for Miguel if he saw the error of his ways. Especially since the general consensus is that he’s definitely got a few things wrong about the multiverse. Furthermore, sacrificing himself for Miles would be a tragic, but certainly powerful way to redeem himself after the chase through Nueva York in Across the Spider-Verse.

5) Miles and Gwen’s Universes Will Merge

Out of the all the fan theories circulating about Beyond the Spider-Verse, this may be the one we’re most obsessed with. Ryan and Daniel from Just the Nobodys Podcast break down all the visual hinting and foreshadowing throughout both Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse that could potentially support this. Universes merging rather than catastrophically colliding in an incursion would be a big departure from most of Marvel’s multiversal rules, but if any film could pull it off, it would likely be Beyond the Spider-Verse. Plus, we’re suckers for a happy ending, and would love to see what a blended universe where Peter and Gwen get to coexist would look like.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse swings into theaters June 4, 2027. Until then, drop your fan theories in the comments below.

The post 5 Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Fan Theories We’re Obsessed With appeared first on ComicBook.com.

In the 1990s — before the era of on-demand streaming services — Fox Kids network was where fans could tune in to Saturday morning cartoons like X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-97) and Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994-98). These days, where the Fox Kids block is a thing of the past and TV Guides are a relic of a bygone era, those beloved ’90s cartoons can be streamed anytime on Disney+ alongside the new Marvel Animation series X-Men ’97 (2024) and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025).

After launching Hits & Heroes, an always-on channel on Disney+ that featured throwbacks like the X-Men and Spider-Man animated series in cable-style programming before it was discontinued in May, The Walt Disney Company is bringing Disney+ exclusives X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man to cable.

Both of the Marvel Studios Animation series will join the line up of Disney-owned cable channel FXX starting today (June 30). The entire 10-episode first seasons of X-Men ’97 and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are scheduled to air throughout the week, concluding with their respective season finales on Friday, July 4.

Read Next

7 Insights From X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

See the listings below for the airing schedule, which has sandwiched X-Men and Spider-Man between episodes of 20th Television animated series The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Futurama, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers.

X-Men ’97 — a decades-later revival of 1992’s X-Men: The Animated Series, which picks up where the original show left off in 1997 — premiered on Disney+ in 2024 as the first X-Men project produced by Marvel Studios. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, a new animated Disney+ series set in a parallel timeline inspired by the MCU, swung onto the streaming platform earlier this year with Hudson Thames (Marvel’s What If…?) voicing the web-slinger. Both shows have sophomore seasons in the works at Disney+.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man FXX Schedule

Monday, June 30

Season 1 Episode 1 — “Amazing Fantasy” 5:00 PM
During high school orientation Peter’s life is forever changed; a new era of Spider-Man begins here.

Season 1 Episode 2 — “The Parker Luck” 5:36 PM
Peter begins an exclusive internship, but his first day is way more complicated than he expected.

Tuesday, July 1

Season 1 Episode 3 — “Secret Identity Crisis” 5:00 PM
Peter deals with the fallout of his secret revealed; Lonnie’s perfect life falls apart.

Season 1 Episode 4 — “Hitting the Big Time” 5:37 PM
Peter and Norman work through creative differences; Lonnie undergoes a loyalty test.

Wednesday, July 2

Season 1 Episode 5 — “The Unicorn Unleashed” 5:00 PM
Peter makes a new friend; Lonnie finds himself in the sights of a dangerous gang.

Season 1 Episode 6 — “Duel With the Devil” 5:37 PM
Peter’s night off is derailed when he must suit up to stop a mysterious intruder.

Thursday, July 3

Season 1 Episode 7 — “Scorpion Rising” 5:00 PM
Peter and Lonnie face the consequences of their secret lives; Spider-Man faces his biggest threat.

Season 1 Episode 8 — “Tangled Web” 5:37 PM
Norman gives Spider-Man an ultimatum, causing Peter to do some soul-searching.

Friday, July 4

Season 1 Episode 9 “Hero or Menace” 5:00 PM
Spider-Man swings into action, as Lonnie looks to settle a score and Norman visits an old friend.

Season 1 Episode 10 — “If This Be My Destiny…” 5:37 PM
Peter’s internship takes a dark turn with the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

X-Men ’97 FXX Schedule

Monday, June 30

Season 1 Episode 1 — “To Me, My X-Men” 6:12 PM
Cyclops races to find the source of a new anti-mutant technology.

Season 1 Episode 2 — “Mutant Liberation Begins” 6:51 PM
When Magneto is forced by the UN to stand trial, a group of anti-mutant rioters test his resolve.

Tuesday, July 1

Season 1 Episode 3 — “Fire Made Flesh” 6:15 PM
The team is propelled into a tragic confrontation with an immortal mad scientist.

Season 1 Episode 4 — “Motendo; Lifedeath – Part 1” 6:53 PM
Jubilee must relive the X-Men’s greatest adventures when she’s transported into a 16-bit video game.

Wednesday, July 2

Season 1 Episode 5 — “Remember It” 6:13 PM
Select members of the team head to Genosha; a press event risks airing the X-Men’s dirty laundry.

Season 1 Episode 6 — “Lifedeath – Part 2” 6:56 PM
Storm is forced to face her worst fears in order to free herself.

Thursday, July 3

Season 1 Episode 7 — “Bright Eyes” 6:15 PM
The X-Men finds Sentinel inventor Bolivar Trask, realizing they’ve been played by a mastermind.

Season 1 Episode 8 — “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1” 6:55 PM
The X-Men must face a new threat.

Friday, July 4

Season 1 Episode 9 — “Tolerance Is Extinction, Pt. 2” 6:15 PM
Magneto’s attack on Earth sets introduces a Civil War within the team.

Season 1 Episode 10 — “Tolerance Is Extinction, Pt. 3” 6:52 PM
The X-Men’s dream is put to the test as mutant-human relations reach a tipping point.

Read Next

Marvel’s X-Men ‘97 Directors Tease More Cameos, Multiple Timelines in Season 2

The post Marvel Bringing X-Men, Spider-Man TV Shows From Streaming to Cable (For a Limited Time) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Heroes are almost always born out of tragedy. Peter Parker receives incredible abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider, but it takes him losing Uncle Ben to understand that he has a responsibility to help people. Still, some iterations of Spider-Man see Peter give in to his dark side initially and try to get revenge on his uncle’s killer. The Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Wanda Maximoff goes down a similar path after losing her parents in Sokovia at a young age. She and her brother, Pietro Maximoff, allow HYDRA to experiment on them, and the Mind Stone unlocks something in both of them.

By the time Earth’s Mightiest Heroes run into Wanda in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she’s all about knocking Tony Stark down a peg because his weapons killed her parents. Ultron gives her that opportunity, but his true plan isn’t something she can get behind. Wanda decides to help the Avengers, and together, they take down Ultron. Unfortunately, Wanda’s life after the Battle of Sokovia doesn’t get any easier.

Scarlet Witch Never Catches a Break in the MCU

After her brother’s death, Wanda turns over a new leaf and grows close to Vision. The Sokovia Accords tear them apart briefly because they end up on different sides of the argument, but after Captain America breaks Wanda out of the Raft, they get back on track. Wanda and Vision stick together throughout the events of Avengers: Infinity War, ending up in Wakanda when the Black Order comes looking for the Mind Stone. While the Avengers keep it out of their hands, Thanos comes knocking and, with five Infinity Stones in his back pocket, makes quick work of them. Wanda can only watch as Thanos rips the Mind Stone out of Vision’s head, and before she can even properly grieve, she’s turned to dust.

Wanda returns during the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame and sets her sights on the Mad Titan. He escapes her wrath, but he doesn’t last much longer, being dusted along with the rest of his army. Wanda can’t handle all the pain, though, so she takes over Westview, New Jersey, creating a sitcom-like environment that all the residents can’t escape. Her mistakes catch up to her, and after embracing her identity as the Scarlet Witch, she says goodbye to the children she conjured. However, Wanda doesn’t think it’s fair that she keeps losing everyone she loves, which leads her to use the Darkhold’s power to search for her children across the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Read Next

Avengers: Doomsday Raises a Big Question About the X-Men

The titular hero goes to great lengths to stop Wanda from sacrificing America Chavez, even dreamwalking into the body of a dead Stephen Strange. Fortunately, Wanda ultimately realizes the error of her ways and gives her life to destroy all the versions of the Darkhold. It’s a sad ending for a hero who has to go through so much, but at least she gets to say goodbye on her own terms.

Now, a decade later, the MCU is introducing a character who has it even worse than Scarlet Witch.

The Thing’s Life Could Be Full of Heartbreak After Fantastic Four: First Steps

Ben Grimm has it harder than all of his Fantastic Four teammates because his powers don’t require effort to manifest themselves. His body is always made up of rocks, which makes day-to-day tasks difficult. While the marketing for The Fantastic Four: First Steps shows that the Thing is in good spirits due to being beloved by children and adults alike, it’s only a matter of time before his appearance becomes an issue. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg because Ben may have another curse that hurts his soul even more.

The final trailer for First Steps features a shot of the Thing with a beard, which is a relatively recent addition to the source material. Jonathan Hickman and Ron Garney’s Fantastic Four run sees the Future Foundation create a serum that allows Ben to turn human one day per year. The only downside is that he only ages in his human form, meaning he’s essentially immortal. Reed Richards visits the future in the comic and runs into Ben, who’s sporting a lengthy rock beard and a bad attitude. The Thing’s friends have been dead for centuries, and he just has to go on without them. The origin of Ben’s beard in First Steps is still a mystery, but if it has anything to do with time travel, it’s going to give the hero a taste of his lonely future.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25, 2025.

Do you think the Thing could be a more tragic character than Scarlet Witch in the MCU? Where do you think his rock beard comes from? Let us know in the comments below!

The post A New MCU Hero Just Usurped Scarlet Witch as the Franchise’s Most Tragic Character appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Worlds are colliding in Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel Studios has already announced that the followup to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame will assemble stars from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fox-made X-Men movies, including Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), and Kelsey Grammer (Beast). But in a behind-the-scenes crossover, Marsden can be seen training alongside Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu.

See the image that Marsden and Liu’s trainer shared on Instagram below:

It remains to be seen what roles Marsden’s Cyclops and Liu’s Shang-Chi will play in Doomsday, and whether they’ll meet as enemies or allies. Marsden’s X2 co-star Alan Cumming previously suggested — potential spoiler warning — that the mutant X-Men will battle the Fantastic Four in the multiversal crossover.

Marsden last appeared as Scott Summers, the ruby quartz visor-wearing, optic blast-firing field leader of the X-Men, in a cameo in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Marsden’s X-Man was a core member of the team in 2000’s X-Men and 2003’s X2 before being killed off in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, only for a time-traveling Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to alter the timeline in Days of Future Past, undoing the Last Stand deaths of Scott, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), and Professor X (Stewart).

Liu made his first, and so far only, appearance in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as the master martial artist who now wields the ancient and mystical Ten Rings. The last we saw him, Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) — alongside the Avengers Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Bruce Banner/Smart Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — told Shang-Chi that the Ten Rings were emitting a beacon and sending a message to… somewhere.

Read Next

Avengers: Doomsday Cast and Their Roles in Marvel’s Secret Wars, Explained

Alongside Marsden and Liu, the Avengers: Doomsday cast includes returning Marvel stars Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom/Doctor Doom, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Letitia Wright (Shuri/Black Panther), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Namor), Mabel Cadena (Namora), and Alex Livinalli (Attuma) are all set to return alongside Thunderbolts*/New Avengers‘ Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova/Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent), and Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds/Sentry).

Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Channing Tatum is reprising his role as card-slinging Gambit, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/the Thing) rounding out the ensemble.

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to release in theaters on December 18, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on Dec. 17, 2027.

Read Next

7 Insights From X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series

The post Avengers: Doomsday Cast Photo Reveals Unexpected X-Men & MCU Crossover appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After Netflix and Marvel pulled the rug out from underneath The Defenders Saga shows, it felt like those versions of Daredevil and Co. would never appear again. It would have been easy for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to ignore them altogether because their shows barely touched on larger events or heroes. However, the support of Netflix’s characters gave Marvel Studios confidence that there was still room for them somewhere. Matt Murdock showed up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, while Wilson Fisk made his way into Hawkeye. Eventually, Marvel Studios went full steam ahead, greenlighting Daredevil: Born Again, which brought Murdock and Fisk back together again.

The Disney+ show initially went its own direction and avoided tethering itself to the events of the Netflix series. However, partway through production, it was clear that something was off. A creative overhaul occurred, and while it was evident in the final product, the changes paid off because the end of Season 1 went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to please everyone, with at least one person taking issue with the fact that Born Again “nerfed” Kingpin.

During an exchange on X, a fan explained that they think Disney made Kingpin weak, just like it did the Hulk in Avengers: Endgame. Fisk actor Vincent D’Onofrio chimed in, saying that he doesn’t agree with the sentiment.

“I have to say i disagree with all that you say,” the actor said. “To be honest my performances have been called many things but never nerfed. Lol. Yet i don’t play the part just for you and you don’t watch tv just for me. So we are even and i accept your criticism. No matter the lack of good sportsmanship, fairness and legitimacy.”

After receiving the classy response, the fan once again came after Disney’s iteration of the villain, saying he does things the Netflix one never would. In response, D’Onofrio schooled the naysayer about how much effort it takes to bring a character to life and how a performance isn’t for any one person.

“I control my characters performance. You are a bit green when it comes to your knowledge on making a show. The detail, the writing, the technologies and the overall structure and architecture in laying out the storyline and executing performances. You keep saying it’s the writing that is the problem. You may not like it. Many do though,” he explained. “We can’t please everyone but we can please millions and they’ve said so. Our fans are very loud. Lets say i were you and i hated the portrayal of kingpin as much as you do. I’d stay away from it. I’d champion storytelling that i love instead of dragging writers and someone’s performance. As an actor i fail in my eyes everyday and also in my past work many times but i keep trying to get it right. All creative types have that in common. What we don’t do is try and ruin millions of others fun when we don’t like a piece. Instead we champion the stuff we do like and become inspired by it. Try it. It makes life so much more sustainable and yes, inspiring.”

While there’s an argument to be made that Fisk doesn’t have the gloves off at the start of Born Again, there’s a clear story reason for that. Season 2 is going to be a very different story, though, since Fisk declared war on vigilantes in New York City.

Read Next

Ironheart Has Me Convinced That (Most of) Marvel’s Disney+ Shows Should’ve Been Movies

Kingpin Will Have the Gloves Off in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2

Fisk, who becomes mayor of NYC, puts together an Anti-Vigilante Task Force in Born Again Season 1 to take back the streets from heroes. He locks up anyone he sees as a threat, including Punisher, and doesn’t look like he’s going to let his foot off the gas anytime soon in the finale. Dardevil’s only recourse is to raise an army of his own, and when he eventually takes the fight to Fisk, the villain isn’t going to be able to hold back if he wants to keep control of the city.

Daredevil: Born Again is streaming on Disney+.

Do you think Kingpin was “nerfed” in Daredevil: Born Again? What do you want to see out of him in Season 2? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Daredevil Star Responds Perfectly to Claims Born Again “Nerfed” Their Character appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ever since the success of Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel hasn’t been able to keep Wade Wilson and Logan away from each other. The duo is currently headlining Deadpool/Wolverine and is part of the cast of Weapon X-Men. Anytime you put Wolverine and Deadpool together, it turns into a money-making endeavor. This is probably part of the thinking behind another series pairing the popular X-Men together, except this time, they won’t be going about it alone. Two more characters are joining them, and it’s two people Deadpool and Wolverine are very familiar with, and fans will recognize.

Marvel released a preview of Wolverines & Deadpools #1 by Cody Ziglar, Roge Antonio, Guru-eFX, and VC’s Travis Lanham. The comic brings Wolverine and Deadpool together with their daughters, Laura Kinney and Ellie Camacho, respectively. Previously known as X-23, Laura Kinney now officially shares the Wolverine mantle with her father, Logan. After her father was killed by the villainous Death Grip, Ellie Camacho took up the Deadpool mantle while sporting Wade’s healing factor.

The preview begins with an ominous, mysterious voice speaking to a kid named Julian. The figure appears to break into Julian’s home and reaches out with a hand to take Julian away to someone and their “royal court.” Next, our Wolverines arrive too late to save the day. They find Julian’s parents killed, and a small axe left behind as a possible murder weapon. Deadpool is the one who alerted Logan and Laura to someone stealing mutant kids from a town.

Read Next

5 Reasons Wolverine Was Actually A Great X-Men Leader

Wade Wilson and Ellie Camacho teleport into the town. They also find a small axe left in the debris in the middle of the street. The preview of Wolverines & Deadpools #1 ends with Deadpool saying, “Don’t tell me you’ve finally arrived…” while his text balloon is surrounded by floating red hearts.

“The past 15 issues I’ve spent writing Wade and Ellie have been a dream come true,” Ziglar shared. “Getting to finish out their journey with two of the coolest mutants is just a cherry on top—I can’t explain just how much I look forward to exploring the father-daughter dynamics with these four!”

“CLAWS & MUTANTS. MERCS & MOUTHS. DEADPOOLS & WOLVERINES!” the description of Wolverines & Deadpools #1 reads. “What’s better than THE BEST THERE IS partnered up with the MERC WITH THE MOUTH? How about adding daughters ELLIE CAMACHO and LAURA KINNEY to the mission as they go up against a classic X-VILLAIN? Wolverines & Deadpools, baby!”

Wolverines & Deadpools #1 goes on sale Wednesday, July 2nd. Let us know your thoughts on the book in the comments below!

The post Wolverine and Deadpool Are Teaming Up Again (& You Won’t Believe Who’s Joining Them) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Ultimate Universe is on the verge of adding one of Marvel’s elite franchises. We’re already in the second year of the Ultimate Universe, and so far only one title (Ultimate Wolverine) has been added to the line. However, we do have the first crossover, the five-issue Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, and several exciting storylines taking place in other comics. Ultimates serve as the stand-in for the Avengers, and we’ve also seen the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanks to The Maker, we’re missing one big, established Marvel superhero team, but it looks like they are on the cusp of officially debuting.

Marvel released the covers and solicits for October’s Ultimate Universe titles, which include Ultimates #17 by Denis Camp and Juan Frigeri. The cover by Dike Ruan features Doom, aka Reed Richards, walking through a dust-filled background. One notable addition to Doom’s costume is the Fantastic Four logo on his chest, alluding to a possible reunion of the Fantastic Four. Ultimates #17’s solicitation also teases the Ultimate Fantastic Four.

“Now that the Ultimates are using the Immortus Engine to its full capacity, Doom’s dream of the Ultimate Fantastic Four may finally be realized…,” the solicitation reads.

ULTIMATES #17

• Written by DENIZ CAMP
• Art by JUAN FRIGERI
• Cover by DIKE RUAN
• On Sale 10/22
• THE ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR?
• Now that the Ultimates are using the Immortus Engine to its full capacity, Doom’s dream of the Ultimate Fantastic Four may finally be realized…

September 2024’s Ultimates #4 revealed what happened to the rest of the Fantastic Four in the Ultimate Universe. The story is told from four different perspectives, slowly peeling back the curtain on how the Maker manipulated events to ruin the Fantastic Four before they could become the heroes they were destined to be. Doom uses the Immortus Engine to look back into the past, showing how the Ultimate FF were snuffed out of existence.

Read Next

Marvel’s Ultimate Characters, Ranked

Maker manipulated the space launch that should have granted the Fantastic Four their powers. Thanks to Maker messing with Reed’s calculations, the Fantastic Four missed their window for the cosmic storm. Then their cockpit was bombarded with fire, killing Johnny. The remaining three are blamed and put on trial, with Ben committing suicide in an abandoned rock quarry. It’s unknown if he really killed himself or if Maker is also responsible for his death. Meanwhile, Sue Storm slowly died from radiation poisoning. 

With Reed Richards as the last remaining member of the Fantastic Four alive, Maker kidnapped and tortured him, brainwashing Reed to believe that his name is Doom, complete with placing Doctor Doom’s trademark mask on his head. Later, Doom begins experimenting on rats to recreate the cosmic accident that should have created the Fantastic Four. For now, the mice keep dying, and the experiments are a failure.

But since Doom has access to the Immortus Engine, he could theoretically use it to travel into the past and rescue the Fantastic Four. Whether or not that’s a good idea remains up for debate.

Ultimates #17 goes on sale October 22nd. Let us know your thoughts on the Ultimate Fantastic Four in the comments below!

The post One of Marvel’s Most Popular Teams Is Finally Joining the Ultimate Universe appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Loki is one of the first major Marvel Comics villains, appearing for the first time in Journey into Mystery #85 in 1962, and then serving as the catalyst for The Avengers forming as a team in Avengers #1 in 1963. Based on the classic Norse god of mischief, Loki has spent much of his existence as one of the main villains in Thor comics, although he has also served as a thorn in the side of many other Marvel heroes over the years. However, in the early 2000s, after the “Civil War” storyline ended, Marvel changed up Loki and made him a lot more interesting with new variants that allowed him to become an antihero, and at times, a genuine Marvel Comics hero.

There have been several variants of Loki in Marvel Comics over the years. Some have been deadlier than others, and many are incredibly interesting and much more than just the villain most fans know him to be. This only includes the Loki variants from the comics and does not include those from the MCU or animated cartoons, but there are still plenty to choose from — and they all have their charms.

7) Alligator Loki

Alligator Loki appeared for the first time in his own comic book, Alligator Loki Infinity Comic #1, in 2022. The character became incredibly popular after appearing in the Loki series on Disney+, and his comic book series ran for an impressive 48 issues before ending early in 2025. He first appears through a portal when he attacks Thor, but soon becomes Thor’s pet and friend in the comics.

As in the Disney+ series, Alligator Loki has the same basic traits as the regular Loki, but he has a much more childish personality, pulling pranks and seeming more like Jeff the Land Shark than the supervillain fans have grown to love. That said, the best Alligator Loki appearances also include Jeff, as they have a great rivalry.

6) Ultimate Loki Odinson

The original run of Ultimate Marvel Comics saw the company trying to update the characters as if they had been created at that time. It was a way to clean up the confusing continuity for new readers and make them more relatable for kids just starting to discover comics. However, it was also a way for Marvel to make the comics more realistic. Deaths here were supposed to matter, and the origins were less fantastical. This made the entire addition of Thor interesting, as no one knew what he was supposed to be in this world. However, it also made Loki just as interesting as he continued to be a thorn in his brother’s side.

Loki used his reality-shuffling abilities to make people think he was a regular human. He then convinced SHIELD that Thor was an escaped mental patient — not an actual superhero or god. He then used his role as the god of mischief to try to start World War III and made Thor’s life a living hell throughout his run. However, in the end, he wasn’t as interesting as the regular Loki. The more recent Ultimates line turned Loki into a horrible character, an overweight, cruel, and mostly lazy King of Asgard until Thor finally regained control.

5) Ikol (King Loki)

King Loki is an interesting variant because he is the Loki who won. This is a Loki from the future who worked to manipulate Kid Loki to do what he wanted to ensure he remained King in as many timelines as possible. Teen Loki even called himself Ikol for a while, believing this was his fate. This was an interesting look at what could have happened if Loki turned fully evil when he worked as an Agent of Asgard alongside the All-Mother of Asgardia, as she had wished.

This was a tragic Loki, as he initially became a genuine hero, only to have the world and other heroes refuse to trust him, always referring to his past. He finally snapped after this rejection and caused the annihilation of Earth and the death of all humanity. He became the King of Asgard and ruled with terror, as this was the cruelest and most devious variant of Loki in Marvel Comics history. However, as with most versions, he ended up dying a hero to save the world and rekindle the sun after helping Thor defeat Gorr the God Butcher.

Read Next

Marvel Killed Off Thor And I’m Disappointed How Obvious the Killer Turned Out to Be

4) Teen Loki

Teen Loki is Kid Loki aged up, but the increase in age took something away from the character. Kid Loki tried to help train Wiccan in magic to help him better control the powerful urge to become the Demiurge. However, Kid Loki’s magical powers were limited by his age. As a result, he asked Wiccan to use his powers to age him up so he could have stronger magic, and it turned him into a teen/young adult.

This eventually moved him away from the Young Avengers, which was disappointing. Instead, Marvel Comics began its Loki: Agent of Asgard series, which saw him become a super-spy for the Asgardians, helping to atone for all his past sins. Marvel was clearly trying to make Loki more of a hero/antihero in the comics to match his MCU version, but it was still a step down from his fantastic run as Kid Loki in Young Avengers. This did, however, lead to several interesting storylines, including President Loki and the God of Stories.

3) Prime Loki

This is the original Loki, who existed mostly up to Ragnarok and the creation of Lady Loki. This Loki was the main villain who appeared in The Avengers #1 and helped cause that superteam to form, and the Loki who has tried to kill Thor more times than most fans can count. He wasn’t a hero, and whenever he did do good, it was almost always for selfish reasons. He was a bad guy on the level of Doctor Doom or Kang, always there to make things hard on the heroes.

However, this also mostly made him one-dimensional in many of his appearances. Despite that, Loki is an iconic Marvel Comics villain and was for decades before the company began to experiment with him as a hero or antihero. He was always a fan-favorite villain, whether in Thor comics or others, and that is why he was such a popular choice for the Marvel Cinematic Universe when it launched.

2) Lady Loki

In 2004, Ragnarok finally happened, and all the Asgardians died while Thor went into cosmic hibernation. Marvel did this right before Civil War, which kept Thor from being a wrinkle in those plans. After Civil War ended, Thor was resurrected and began bringing back the former Asgardians one at a time. However, he had no plans to bring back Loki since he couldn’t trust his brother, so Loki found a unique way back. He returned as a woman.

Loki stole Sif’s body and returned when he tricked Thor into resurrecting him by pretending to be his former lover. As Lady Loki, the character claimed to want to start fresh and do better, but soon began to manipulate Thor and the Asgardians, just as Loki did before. Lady Loki eventually teamed with Norman Osborn’s Cabal. This is where Loki finally turned the corner by sacrificing herself to save Asgard and the world in Siege.

1) Kid Loki

Kid Loki is one of the best Loki variants ever introduced in Marvel Comics because it took the long-time Marvel villain and helped make him one of the most interesting characters in the new era of comic book stories. Kid Loki showed up after Loki sacrificed himself in Siege, and the resurrected former villain quickly joined the Young Avengers team, which was one of Marvel’s best storylines in comics when released. Just like adult Loki, no one could trust Kid Loki, but he proved he was on the side of good when the chips were down.

There is a similarity between Kid Loki and someone like Damian Wayne in DC. Both are arrogant kids who feel they are the most important characters in their story and think they know what is best for everyone around them. When Kid Loki first appeared, it wasn’t as interesting when Thor brought him to Asgard, and no one there trusted him. However, once he was added to the Young Avengers lineup, he became one of the best Loki variants Marvel ever created.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

The post Every Loki Variant, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While fans wait for the second season of X-Men ’97, the Disney+ animated season is revealing some behind-the-scenes details on your favorite characters. Excerpts from a new art book will provide an in-depth look at Marvel Animation’s Emmy-nominated revival of X-Men: The Animated Series. Picking up where the original series left off when it aired its final episode in September 1997, this new series features returning cast members and a revamped but familiar art style. X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series goes on sale this week, and excerpts feature new looks at three of the show’s main characters.

ComicBook has the exclusive preview of excerpts from X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series. Those excerpts feature character designs for Magneto, Beast, and Jubilee. With Professor Charles Xavier believed to be dead, he left the X-Men to his longtime friend and sometime rival, Magneto. The Master of Magnetism had an interesting character arc through the first season, going from reluctant hero to world-ending threat. Magneto gets a new look in X-Men ’97, and X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series gives a closer look, with some insight from the creative minds behind the animated series.

The character design sheet for Magneto shows several different iterations of the costume Magneto wore in the Uncanny X-Men #200 storyline, “The Trial of Magneto.” Artist Paolo Rivera draws four different designs, with all four highlighting the large “M” on Magneto’s chest. There’s also an outfit from Uncanny X-Men #202, as well as a redesign that gives Magneto a white beard.

We then move on to more colored designs by Leinil Yu and the team of Steven Choi and Sylvia Filcak-Blackwolf, before Amelia Vidal and Franco Spagnolo finish things off with uncolored designs. These final designs display Magneto with different facial expressions, showing the range of the art team.

“So we do start with the iconic cover, which I love,” said Episodic Director Chase Conley about Magneto adopting the costume from Uncanny X-Men #200’s cover. “We wanted to showcase the big M on his chest, because he represents mutantkind on trial. It’s an unjust trial, but it’s just one big M, like Mutants, and then you see the U.N. behind him. [Mutantkind] is on trial in front of the entire world.”

To wind up, we end with designs for Beast and Jubilee. Ryan Lang, Jordi Lafebre, and Steve McNiven are the artists credited with the first three designs for Beast. The blue furball is in three different poses. Next, Amelia Vidal draws Beast with a white lab coat, with Steven Choi and Vy Tran providing inked character designs with helpful notes attached, such as placing shadowed blacks where light doesn’t enter, like on Beast’s neck, while also using blacks to accentuate anatomy. We end the look at Beast with a front and back design by Steven Choi, Paul Harmon, Mark Taihei, and Sylvia Filcak-Blackwolf.

Read Next

5 X-Men Stories X-Men ’97 Fans Need to Read

Jubilee is featured in her signature yellow rain jacket by Steve McNiven, Ryan Lang, and Jordi Lafebre. The one by Lafebre gives Jubilee a more human appearance. Amelia Vidal, Franco Spagnolo, and Vy Tran work on Jubilee’s facial expressions before Mark Taihei and Mariko Yamashin focus on Jubilee’s upper body. We end with front, side, and back perspectives by Mariko Yamashin and Sylvia Filcak-Blackwolf.

X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series features storyboards, character sketches, vehicle designs, new costumes, stills, animatic frames, cels, and so much more that detail every step of the process that the talented team of animators, designers, and storytellers undertook to bring viewers the further adventures of Wolverine, Storm, Bishop, Beast, Jubilee, Cyclops, and the rest of Marvel’s most famous mutants.

X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series goes on sale July 1st. You can purchase a copy here.

Excerpt from X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series (Abrams) by James Field

© 2025 MARVEL

The post X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series Excerpt Reveals New Character Designs (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The new Ultimate Universe has been a smash hit at Marvel for the past couple of years. With a new initiative set on giving fans what they’ve wanted for a long time with the stories in Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman and Peach Momoko’s brand new take on the X-Men with her manga influenced work on Ultimate X-Men. There’s something for everyone in the new Ultimate Universe and it’s easily one of the best things to come from Marvel Comics in a long, long time. If there would be any fault to it whatsoever it’s that there aren’t enough titles in the line. Sure, we’ve seen different takes on characters in supporting roles but sometimes there are character who need their own full series and that’s what we’re here to talk about now: the Ultimate Universe is good and we want more.

The following is a list of characters we’d like to see get their own Ultimate stories. Some have been mentioned in the Ultimate Universe or have already appeared and some are just character’s we think would be a good fit. Not everyone is exactly who they are in the 616 universe or even their 1610 counterparts; some of these characters may be a bit of a departure. Time will only tell if some of these happen and there’s a good chance of something bigger for a few of the choices listed here but they all have merit — and we’d love to see these stories come to life.

1) Daredevil

Daredevil is undoubtedly one of Marvel’s best selling characters and it’s a mystery why we haven’t seen Daredevil properly show up in the Ultimate Universe. While we have seen Matt Murdock appear as a priest similar to how he was left at the end of the Chip Zdarsky run, I don’t believe Matt would be the Man Without Fear in the Ultimate Universe but that doesn’t mean the mantle can’t have it’s time. For a spin based on some current ideas in 616, the idea of having Elektra as Daredevil, the Woman Without Fear isn’t a new idea, but having her be the only Daredevil on earth 6160, would be the makings of an excellent Ultimate series.

While having Elektra be in the lead role, I’d imagine Matt would still be present in the pages of the book. Whether he is there as Elektra’s love interest or as a priest to support her spiritual needs, it would be a misstep to not include the two together. If this book would ever happen it could be another huge hit much like Ultimate Spider-Man.

2) Hawkeye

Appearing in the pages of The Ultimates by Deniz Camp, Charli Ramsey is an original character under the mantle of Hawkeye. Charli found the Hawkeye costume in the trash in their debut issue and joined the Ultimates and has been a fan favorite ever since then. At time of writing this article it was announced recently were getting an Ultimate Hawkeye one-shot. While a step in the right direction, Charli has shown so much personality in less than a year and has proven themselves as a worth heir to the name Hawkeye.

Now it may be a bit tricky for any of the Ultimates to go solo now, who’s to say what will happen once The Maker is released from his city, if the Ultimates are successful they may be able to start their own solo adventures. If that is the case, Hawkeye would be the perfect one to strike out solo in a full length or mini series. Hawkeye absolutely deserves it.

3) Fantastic Four

Perhaps the most tricky and yet hoped for book might be a new run on Ultimate Fantastic Four. While the Storm siblings and Ben Grimm are currently confirmed dead due to the Maker’s meddling, Reed Richards still remains with his abilities and intellect just as this universe’s Doom. If the plot to save the rest of them is successful it could lead to Ultimate Fantastic Four, or perhaps a new version of the team could form. It all depends on what happens when the Maker is released.

Now for the hypothetical new team, with Doom being the only surviving member he could still lead a new team. What of the others? I could see some of the other members of the Ultimates joining Doom making a makeshift Fantastic Four. Potentially bring on Jim Hammond’s Human Torch rather than Johnny Storm, you could add Lejori Zakaria’s She-Hulk and perhaps Hank Pym as well — the possibilities are endless and regardless of how any of that goes, Ultimate Fantastic Four would be fantastic to see again in some form.

4) Blade

Next up we have the one and only Blade. A common name among characters who deserve the Ultimate treatment across comic book store chit-chatting. I think one of the biggest possibilities you could do for Blade is to make him a vampire hunting humans similar to that of Ultimate Wolverine currently. You can do that or have him be the origin of all thing supernatural on earth 6160 with Dracula being apart of the Maker’s council.

Another huge opportunity is to finally give Blade his credit where it’s long been overdue. After his last couple of books, it’s a surprise he’s not a bigger character in the 616 universe. Maybe the Ultimate universe could be the stepping stone into making Blade a more prominent character among the most casual or comic readers. Then again a book of Blade hunting down monsters in the Ultimate Universe would be fun regardless of how you position it. Just give us more Blade is really what I’m saying.

5) Gwenpool

Gwendolyn Poole is not actually a character in the Ultimate Universe at the moment, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t be. The idea here would be to have a miniseries similar to Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, where Gwenpool jumps to the new Ultimate Universe and is confused about everything as this is something she hasn’t read at all. Given Gwen’s abilities and personality, any title even in the Ultimate Universe with her would be a full-on comedy and could easily find its audience. Throw in Kate Bishop or Jeff the Land Shark and you have a great little adventure. Fans — especially Gwenpool fans — deserve it.

6) The Sentry

In a similar position as Blade, Sentry has not been a hugely active character for Marvel comics in quite a few years. As one of Marvel’s many Superman analogs in the main Marvel universe, Sentry has become a bit lost in the mix and that’s where the Ultimate Universe comes in. There isn’t a Superman analog in the Ultimate universe as it stands and Sentry could become the main one on earth 6160.

As for how to change the Sentry, you could change him up a little bit and split him up from his evil counterpart, The Void. This could be a controversial change to the Sentry but what’s the Ultimate universe without some changes to the source to make it a bit different? The Sentry has a lot of potential to bring in more readers from the movie fanbase as he’s the fan favorite from The Thunderbolts* film but the Ultimate Universe might be a great place to really have some fun with the character.

7) Dr. Strange

While we do have a new Sorcerer Supreme in the pages of Ultimate Black Panther, with the character of Inan, Stephen Strange has not made an appearance in the Ultimate universe proper. Taking a page from DC would be to make Strange akin to that of Absolute Martian Manhunter. Taking a lot of the core concepts but making an almost original character could be something very interesting and Strange would be the perfect fit. Making him a mutant and with a connection to the Ancient One or Dormammu for a twist could be exactly what we need there.

Having Stephen Strange in the Ultimate Universe as a different type of character in a potential ongoing or maxi series could be a huge win for more Ultimate titles as a whole. Despite the argument of quality over quantity, Marvel definitely needs a few more titles in it’s catalogue and you almost can never go wrong with magic.

8) Inhumans

With only a handful of appearances in recent years, the Inhumans have not appeared in a while for Marvel. With their name and reputation tarnished after a failed television show and becoming hated in by comic fans during the Uncanny Inhumans era, they are needing a fresh start. With a large enough cast to fill out their own team book and a rich enough mythology to spare, the Inhumans are ripe for the picking of an Ultimate refresh.

They could keep their base on the moon as well as keeping the cast of characters similar. All you have to do is change some of their dynamics. Having them begin to slowly move to Earth and live amongst the humans, they could become another heavy hitter against the Maker and his council. The possibilities are endless but it’s time for the Inhumans to come back.

9) Ghost Rider

The Spirit of Vengeance is a title passed down from many people over the years. Spanning from an old west phantom to a herald for Galactus, there are many different things you could do with Ghost Rider. With one of the most iconic looks in all of Marvel comics, Ghost Rider should make the jump to the Ultimate Universe as a new potential member of the Ultimates. Having the Spirit of Vengeance help in the fight to take on the Maker and his council could be a massively powerful weapon for Doom and company.

With a ton of different people who could become the Spirit of Vengeance it feels like it might be time for Danny Ketch to return to the mantle. Johnny Blaze could always be the mentor in this reality and the story could always lead to Robbie being a support to the team for a nice little cherry on top. Danny has long been a fan favorite and has been requested to return for a long time. The Ultimate universe could be the right place.

10) Cloak and Dagger

Last but certainly not least we have Cloak and Dagger. One of the best couples in Marvel’s library of character and currently blowing up from Marvel Rivals, this could be the perfect opportunity to throw them in for new readers to discover. The twist with this title would be to make their book a lower stakes romance. With a beautiful love story in 616, it would make sense to keep that going in the Ultimate Unitverse.

The common idea would be to switch Tyrone and Tandy as Cloak and Dagger respectively. It may not be the most original idea but it could always get a lot long term readers to check them out here. Including their origin of fighting drug dealers, they could have a sort of cross country adventure stopping drug lords while finding how they feel about each other. Just something a little different to round out our list here.

Who all do you think deserves their own Ultimate book? Is it time for Marvel to give us Ultimate Moon Knight or Ultimate Heroes for Hire or something new? Let us know in the comments!

The post 10 Marvel Heroes Who Deserve Their Own Ultimate Book appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Every year, Marvel Comics introduces new heroes and villains. With 2024 being the launch of the X-Men’s From the Ashes arc, it’s no surprise that several new mutants have appeared on the scene. One group, the Outliers, is stealing the show, but they’re far from the only ones worth talking about. These new heroes have immense potential, with at least one prophecy tied to their stories. Naturally, their powers, styles, and personalities vary quite drastically. Some are bubbly rays of sunshine, while others are obsessed with death, though perhaps not in the way one might expect. Readers have already begun figuring out which characters they love, and which they can do without.

From the Ashes is the latest X-Men event, following the fall of Krakoa. As such, the newest generation of mutants comes at a time of uncertainty, as mutant-kind is forced to reintegrate with humanity. Some heroes are up for the challenge, while others are less certain of what their path in life is going to look like. The bulk of new heroes hail from Uncanny X-Men, or Exceptional X-Men, with a few stragglers coming from X-Factor and NYX. So if you’re not reading all four series, you may have missed their debuts.

10) Xyber (Daniel Choi)

Intro Series: X-Factor

Daniel Choi, aka Xyber, is one of two new mutants introduced during the X-Factor‘s ten issues. He’s the youngest member of the team, and honestly, he’ll tug at your heartstrings. Daniel Choi was a late addition to the team, replacing the ever-shifting roster (things have not been going well for this team, to put it lightly). Unfortunately, this does mean that Daniel was thrown a bit into the deep end. Daniel’s first mission was at the Yardslac nuclear power plant, where he went up against a bunch of armed and dangerous enemies.

Here’s the problem for young Daniel Choi: as a new mutant, he knows that his ability lets him create strong electromagnetic pulses. However, he lacks one serious advantage, as he doesn’t know his own limitations. He must have missed getting assessed by Beast, and that stinks. As such, Daniel is terrified that each major blast he causes could be his last, literally. Daniel lives in perpetual fear that his gift will stop his heart. Poor kid. In a way, we hope we don’t see him again, as he’s better off living a quiet life without action or danger.

9.) Local (Real Name Unknown)

Intro Series: NYX

Local is a new mutant introduced during NYX, and while he never becomes an official X-Men, he does make friends with the likes of Kamala Khan. Readers never got to learn Local’s real name, though we do know that he is some form of techno-path. He can short-circuit surveillance, tie systems together, and create all sorts of merry mayhem in the technological field. This is exactly why Mr. Friend (a puppet of Mojo) targeted the young mutant.

For a few issues there, it looked like Local was either dead or a permanent victim of Mojo’s schemes. On the bright side, the actions of NYX took down Mojo, sort of freeing Local in the process. Local joined in on the fight, ultimately sacrificing himself in the process. At least that’s what they want us to think. Local became part of the city, in a very literal sense, with his consciousness transferring into the city itself. There’s a chance he’ll live on like this, much like Danny the Street in DC Comics.

8.) Axo (Alejandro Mateo Luna)

Intro Series: Exceptional X-Men

Alejandro Mateo Luna, aka Alex, is a young mutant first introduced in Exceptional X-Men. He’s a kind soul with the rather unfortunate luck of being an obvious mutant after the rise and fall of Krakoa. Alex has the unique ability to perceive and control emotions around him. More specifically, he can make people confess their biggest secrets or vulnerabilities. He can also make them feel whatever he wants, with the color of his skin changing accordingly. However, it’s safe to say that Alex doesn’t always love or appreciate his ability. Much like the early days for Rogue, he sometimes struggles to turn it off.

Alex is one of three mutants who begin training with Kate Pryde. It all began when a fellow classmate stepped in to try and protect him from being bullied. Instead of helping, she sort of escalated the situation, resulting in Kate stepping in to help out. Since then, they’ve been training with Kate and later Emma Frost and (sometimes) Iceman. As part of this new team, Alex picked up the mantle of Axo. He’s still feeling a bit reluctant about the whole superhero situation, but recent events may change his perspective.

Read Next

Why I Think the Current Uncanny X-Men Should Be the Blueprint for the MCU’s X-Men

7.) Melee (Thao Tran)

Intro Series: Exceptional X-Men

Remember that student who tried to help Alex? That was Thao Tran. She saw that he was being bullied for being a mutant, and as a fellow mutant, she couldn’t let it slide. As mentioned above, that didn’t go so well. At least it brought her and Axo to the attention of Kate Pryde, who reluctantly agreed to train the three teens. Thao is a stubborn and determined character who believes in speaking up for others.

Thao Tran has two abilities that can work together. First, she can go intangible, allowing her to pass through people and objects. So finding Kate Pryde as an instructor was huge for this young mutant. The second ability is invisibility, but she seems to have even less control over this aspect, at least for the moment.

6.) Bronze (Trista Marshall)

Intro Series: Exceptional X-Men

Trista Marshall is the first new mutant introduced during the events of Exceptional X-Men. She and Kate Pryde met at a concert, where the two had to work together to safely get away from an anti-mutant guard and his wraith. Kate simply wanted to drop Trista off and be done with the whole thing, but Trista had different ideas, having, in her mind, found her new mentor.

When Kate introduced Trista to Thao and Alex, she immediately organized them into a group of three and convinced them they needed Kate as their collective mentor. The rest, as they say, is history. As an aspiring mutant hero, Trista dubbed herself Bronze, a hat-tip to her ability to transform her skin into a bronze-like metal. In this form, she’s quite durable and strong; she just needs to learn how to fight. She can also create retractable cables of the same material, giving her a more ranged attack.

5.) Ransom (Valentin Correa)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

In many ways, Valetin Correa is the most assertive of The Outliers, so he often gives the appearance of being the leader. He hails from Argentina, and he was quite literally born without a heart. That’s not a figure of speech, as there’s a black hole where his heart should be. This black hole heart can absorb attacks and redirect the force out through his hands. Basically, his ability is both offensive and defensive.

Valentin didn’t have the best childhood, having been kidnapped at a young age. Rather than pay the ransom, his parents let him be. Unsurprisingly, the stress of the situation let his powers manifest, killing his captors in the process. That may explain why he opted to go with Ransom for his hero name. Ransom is young and determined, and it’s clear he cares deeply for his crew. He has been seen lecturing them about safety and respecting each other’s feelings. No wonder he often comes off as the group’s leader.

Read Next

10 Greatest X-Men Villains (And You Think One Is a Hero)

4.) Jitter (Sofia Yong)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

Sofia Yong made her way to America from Singapore. Much like the rest of her new group, we don’t know much about how she got here. Sofia has a very unique ability, in that she can acquire virtually any skill, but only for a minute. She used this to her advantage at school, passing exams and the like. It didn’t go as well when she tried to use it to defend herself against bullies, as she accidentally really hurt one of them. There is one thing that lets Sofia stand out among her new group, as she deals with stuttering when she’s feeling less confident or talking to new people.

Now she’s a member of The Outliers, having been chased by the Hag. Taking on the name Jitter, she has learned the limits of her abilities. Basically, she can learn anything, from physical skills like martial arts and acrobatics to linguistic skills and beyond. Touching upon the same areas repeatedly has given her a better grasp of hand-to-hand combat and acrobatics.

3.) Deathdream (Hotoru)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

Hotoru, aka Deathdream, is a powerful mutant who has embraced the darker side of life: death. He died four times on the day he was born, and since then has been able to change his state (alive or dead) at will. He can control spirits but struggles with concealing his inner darkness. We don’t know how Hotoru ended up in the US or with The Outliers, but it’s safe to say he’s found a family with this group. The only time Hotoru has allowed himself to appear vulnerable is with the group, including his attempts at being kind around Calico and her situation.

By controlling the spirits of the dead, something he learned from his deceased mother, Deathdream can do all sorts of things, including letting these spirits inhabit his body to gain access to their abilities. Thanks to his connection with death, Hotoru doesn’t need to worry about things like poison, and he has an accelerated healing factor. It probably helps that nothing will keep him dead for long.

2.) Calico (Becca Constance Simon-Pinette)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

Becca Constance Simon-Pinette is the last of the new mutants introduced in Uncanny X-Men. As part of The Outliers, she goes by Calico. She lived a sheltered life, but the more we learn of her story, the clearer it becomes that she also lived a life of fear and abuse. As such, but the time she runs away with the rest of The Outliers, she’s still firmly denying that she’s a mutant. With time, she does learn to grow and accept that part of herself.

Calico has a psychic connection with her horse, Ember. Honestly, it’s way more complicated than that, as both the girl and the horse are not quite what they seem. She can summon Ember at will, create armor for the two of them, and even psychically create flames. Calico easily has the potential to be the most powerful in her group, but she has yet to work through all of her mental blocks. However, with Jitter and Ember at her side, she can probably do just about anything she sets her mind to.

1.) Granny Smite (Real Name Unknown)

Intro Series: X-Factor

Last but not least, there’s the oldest member on this list. Granny Smite may not be young by any stretch, but she only recently learned of her mutant ability. That makes her of the latest generation, in a warped way. Granny Smite’s origin is pretty tragic. She is both immortal and invulnerable, a fact she didn’t learn until her house burned down, with both her and her husband inside. Granny Smite survived, but her husband did not.

Sadly, that was only the beginning. One incident could be chalked up to luck or a miracle, after all. She was on a plane with her son and his family when it crashed. Everyone died except for her, confirming her ability. Because of this, and because she’s now alone in the world, Granny Smite signed up for X-Factor. Here, she hopes they’ll finally throw her into a situation that will lead to her death. Yeah, it’s dark. That said, Granny Smite has quickly become a fan-favorite character. With X-Factor canceled, many fans have expressed hope for seeing Smite in another series, any series.

The post The Newest Generation of X-Men, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Right now is an interesting time to be a fan of the X-Men. The Krakoa Era was a revolution, and the X-Men books became the hottest superhero comics of them all in 2019 and 2020. Writer Jonathan Hickman was responsible for some of the best X-Men stories of all time, and the other books in the line were killing it. However, Hickman’s original outline started to change as his collaborators added their own ideas, and he left the books, allowing the other creators to take the story in new directions. However, the Krakoa Era started to peter out without Hickman and the ending was nowhere as great as the beginning. Marvel ended it early, giving the X-Men to Marvel editorial legend Tom Brevoort, who kicked off the new “From the Ashes” era in the summer of 2024. While there was some early sales success, there was nowhere near the esteem that the Krakoa Era got in its beginning.

Marvel fumbled the X-Men by allowing Hickman to leave the X-Men books and stretching out the Krakoa Era to make more money — the X-Men books kept the company going through COVID — and “From the Ashes” continues that fumble. The X-Men books have a load of problems, and it honestly doesn’t really seem like anyone actually wants to fix them. The X-Men are one of Marvel’s greatest franchises, but I don’t think they’re salvageable at this point.

The X-Men Are Dead…

The main problem with “From the Ashes” is that there are no new ideas in the vast majority of the books. The status quo doesn’t have an overarching story behind it, like most of the X-Men runs of the 21st century have. Instead, it feels more like the ’90s books, where the X-Men were pretty much just there. There’s one word that has become synonymous with “From the Ashes” and that’s rehash. X-Men is basically Bendis’s Uncanny X-Men mixed with Morrison’s New X-Men. Wolverine is trying to be Larry Hama Wolverine and failing miserably. X-Factor was basically X-Force/X-Statix mixed with the ’90s government X-Factor team, and X-Force just felt aimless, like the X-Force books before their return in the Utopia Era. Exceptional X-Men was Generation X set in the ’20s. Uncanny X-Men is the most original book of the bunch (and the best), but uses the Claremont method of character based storytelling that builds and builds. Phoenix and Storm aren’t rehashes, although making Jean Grey Phoenix again is definitely nostalgia pandering. Several have already been cancelled, and others are on the chopping block, with ends already announced for most of the second round of books. “From the Ashes” is far from a failure, but there’s really nothing exciting going on in the books. It honestly kind of feels like the line is treading water until the X-Men’s MCU debut film comes along, and the comics will basically echo whatever happens there.

Read Next

10 Greatest X-Men Villains (And You Think One Is a Hero)

There’s nothing wrong with simple X-Men stories. Not everything needs to be an era. However, the X-Men work the best when there’s something more than just cool stories. The last time the X-Men were truly great was Grant Morrison’s New X-Men (look, I love the Krakoa Era too, but it was remarkably uneven, especially as time went on) and it worked because Morrison had an idea that evolved the X-Men. The post-House of M era had a massive change, cutting the dross of the mutant race away. The Utopia Era was all about the X-Men trying to survive with greatly reduced numbers. The Schism Era gave Wolverine a chance to lead. Even the bad post-Secret Wars (2015) years had an idea behind them — the Terrigen Mist clouds and the rise of the Inhumans — even if it was a bad idea. “From the Ashes” has nothing like that, and it feels extremely cynical. Tom Brevoort doesn’t seem to have love for the X-Men (or their fans; check out how he answers fan questions on his Substack) and the only idea he seemed to bring was “rehash”. It feels like no one cares about the X-Men at Marvel, other than as a way of boosting sales. The X-Men have a lot of books right now, but no one is excited for the vast majority of them. We’re all waiting for the teams to reunite back at the X-Mansion. That’s the obvious endgame of “From the Ashes” and it’s about as exciting as an empty piece of paper.

…Long Live the X-Men

The X-Men are as cold as Iceman right now. Sales are pretty good, but the massive success of DC’s Absolute line, which started around the same time as “From the Ashes”, quickly overshadowed the X-Men line. While things aren’t completely lost — Uncanny X-Men and Storm are sensational — the line is stale and predictable. We all kind of know where it’s all going to go. Xavier will come back to Earth. The X-Men will kick the humans out of the X-Mansion. The fractured teams will come back together. The only idea behind “From the Ashes” seems to be MCU synergy.

I don’t really know what to do about the line. There’s really no easy fix for the X-Men, because it doesn’t feel like Marvel thinks there’s anything wrong. One of the problems with Marvel is that they only listen to the sales, and not the fans’ complaints. As long as the X-Men books keep selling, Marvel won’t change anything. The irony of that is that’s exactly what happened in the ’90s. The writing got worse and worse, but Marvel didn’t care because the books sold. It wasn’t until things completely fell apart later in the decade that Marvel broke the emergency glass, brought back Claremont, and then got Morrison to fix it all. The X-Men are heading that way again, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone out there who wants to change course.

What do you think about the X-Men right now? Sound off in the comments below.

The post Marvel Really Fumbled the X-Men And I’m Not Sure Anything Can Save Them Now appeared first on ComicBook.com.

“The end and yet… the beginning.” So reads the last shot of the final storyboard for the 1997 series finale of X-Men: The Animated Series, ending on a heroic and dramatic upshot of the X-Men — Cyclops (Norm Spencer), Jean Grey (Catherine Disher), Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith), Jubilee (Alyson Court), Wolverine (Cal Dodd), Beast (George Buza), Gambit (Chris Potter), Rogue (Lenore Zann), and Morph (Rob Rubin) — beneath a dawn skyline alongside Magneto (David Hemblen). The storyboard by artist Dan Veesenmeyer describes the mutants, looking upward after bidding a heartfelt farewell to their mentor Professor Charles Xavier (Cedric Smith), as “hopeful, determined, as if they look towards the future!”

For nearly three decades, fans who grew up watching X-Men: The Animated Series could only imagine what the future might hold for the uncanny X-Men after “Graduation Day.” A blockbuster movie franchise and animated adaptations like 2000’s X-Men: Evolution and 2009’s Wolverine and the X-Men continued the adventures of Marvel’s mutants on both the big and small screens, but it wasn’t until 2024 that the series that defined the X-Men for an entire generation returned, like a phoenix from the ashes, as X-Men ’97.

“For thirty years, people have been asking, ‘Can X-Men [The Animated Series] please come back? Can they do some more episodes? Anything?'” Julia Lewald, a writer on X-Men: TAS and a consulting producer on X-Men ’97, writes in the foreword to X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series (Abrams Books, July 1). The official behind-the-scenes art book is a comprehensive guide to the decades-later revival of the beloved ’90s Fox Kids Saturday morning cartoon.

Chronicling the making of the Emmy-nominated X-Men ’97 with storyboards, character sketches, costume designs, stills, cels, animatic frames, and insights from the cast and creators, the book from author James Field (The Art of The Batman) is a veritable Cerebro, containing exclusive intel from the 10-episode first season and the upcoming season 2 of the Marvel Studios Animation series.

Here, ComicBook has rounded up a few of the many revelations readers will find in the 223-page book (out July 1), which can be pre-ordered at Abrams Books or retailers like Amazon.

A Legend Reborn

Brad Winderbaum, X-Men ’97 executive producer and Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, pitched a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. Having started his career as an associate producer on the 2000 X-Men movie, Feige “was as excited as I was,” Winderbaum recalls in the book. “His first questions: ‘Can we get the music?’ and ‘Can we get the cast?'”

Marvel tapped John Andrew Grush and Taylor Newton Stewart (collectively known as the Newton Brothers) to re-record composer Ron Wasserman’s iconic X-Men theme song and reunited the original show’s surviving cast members, including Dodd as the metal-clawed Wolverine, Sealy-Smith as the weather-wielding Storm, Zann as power-absorbing Rogue, Buza as the erudite, blue-furred Beast, Adrian Hough as the swashbuckling Nightcrawler, and Chris Britton as the villainous Mister Sinister.

Ray Chase replaced the late Spencer as the voice of Cyclops, and Matthew Waterson took over the role of Magneto from Hemblen. (Both Spencer and Hemblen died in 2020.) Original X-Men: The Animated Series actors Disher (Jean Grey), Alyson Court (Jubilee), Ron Rubin (Morph), Chris Potter (Gambit), Lawrence Bayne (Cable) returned in new roles, with series newcomers J.P. Karliak (Morph), A.J. LoCascio (Gambit), Holly Chou (Jubilee), Jennifer Hale (Jean Grey), Isaac Robinson-Smith (Bishop), and Ross Marquand (Professor X) coming aboard to voice the mutants who protect a world that hates and fears them.

“I think it seemed like something that would never happen; they could never conceive of it, and the fact that they’re all back enthusiastically in the recording booth and really giving it their all, I mean, some of these performances are unbelievable,” Winderbaum says of the cast reunion.

Just as synonymous with X-Men: The Animated Series‘ voices is the theme song and the opening title sequence. “It’s that song and it’s that animation,” notes Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, VP of Marvel Animation. “It’s this call to arms for fandom. You hear it and you’re like, ‘Yep, I’m on board.’ It’s like a bugle sound. It’s the promise of what the show’s going to be.”

The Best There Is

Next, Marvel hired Beau DeMayo (Moon Knight) as Head Writer “after his inspiring pitch that not only honored the original show but also elevated it by reflecting on the world of the past thirty years,” Winderbaum continues. (DeMayo was dismissed from the series just days before its premiere on Disney+ last March.) Winderbaum’s team included co-executive producer Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt (Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man), supervising producer-director Jake Castorena (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Head of Marvel Studios Visual Development Ryan Meinerding (Avengers: Endgame), and lead character designer Amelia Vidal (What If…?).

Finally, Winderbaum consulted the team behind X-Men: The Animated Series: Julia and Eric Lewald and series producer and director Larry Houston. “Their guidance throughout the creation of X-Men ’97 showed us how to bring these characters to life,” Winderbaum says. “They told us about the challenges and limitations they encountered in making the original series and how they overcame obstacles. In an attempt to emulate our collective memory of X-Men: The Animated Series, we created our own rule book so we could retain the look and feel of the original.”

Second Genesis

Picking up where X-Men: The Animated Series left off decades earlier, Marvel’s X-Men ’97 was designed to be “fresh but familiar in this day and age,” Castorena says of the sequel to the original series that aired 76 episodes over five seasons between 1992 and 1997.

“The original pitch was about reviving the series, not about rebooting it and not about remaking it,” Winderbaum adds. “One of the reasons was there are so many stories in the X-Men comics that you could continue telling in that X-Men: The Animated Series style.” As for revisiting the Jim Lee-inspired designs of the ’90s series, Winderbaum says, “The bigger question is: Why go back to a style that seems antiquated or old-fashioned instead of creating some big CG extravaganza on-screen? The real reason is because I love that aesthetic; I love the way that show looks.”

“We are a revival. There’s already a sandbox that we are fortunately beholden to,” says Castorena. “It’s a combination of what we learned so far in animation — the recognizable nineties style of the show, making it producible in this day and age and designing to where we can keep the quality.”

X-Men: Blue & Gold

X-Men: The Animated Series adapted such seminal X-Men comic storylines as Days of Future Past, the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga, and Fatal Attractions, while X-Men ’97 cited comics like the Inferno crossover, the Storm-centric Lifedeath, and New X-Men‘s “E Is for Extinction” as some of the biggest influences for season 1.

Another major influence was the ’90s blue-and-gold era of X-Men. Not only did the team split into two field squads due to an expansive roster — Cyclops’ Blue team and Storm’s Gold team — but the Lewalds’ show bible for X-Men: The Animated Series also broke the seasons by dividing each story’s roster of characters into “A-team” (the most prominent in a story), “B-team” (somewhat prominent in a story), and a “C-team” (least prominent in the story).

For X-Men ’97, the “A-team” consisted of Cyclops, Jean, Magneto, and Storm, prominent characters with their own multiple-episode arcs; the “B-team” was Rogue, Gambit, and Jubilee, with their own episodic arcs; and the “C-team,” Wolverine, Morph, and Beast “to bring flair and color to stories while also having their own moments to shine.”

Weapon X-Man

Wolverine, for example, has been the X-Man since even before The Animated Series aired its final episode in 1997, with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine taking center stage in everything from 2000’s X-Men movie to his own trilogy to 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. While Logan may be on the “C-team” this time around, rather than being at the forefront, the creators wanted to show other sides of Wolverine — namely through his relationship with mom-to-be Jean Grey and his close bond with the shape-shifting Morph.

“We’re seeing how he actually integrates, not just him being that lone wolf,” Castorena notes. Adds episodic director Emi/Emmett Yonemura, “What people want to see with Wolverine is the brawler, the one who’s going to get in there and basically be your tank and your damage dealer, which I love about him. But you know, it’s fun to explore his soft side because I think you have to always balance it out … I think his masculinity comes from his age, the fact that he has all this experience, the fact that some Wolverines have seen a horrible future with the X-Men. So there’s a lot to unpack with him.”

In adapting stories like Inferno and E Is for Extinction into one over-arcing story that converged in the three-part “Tolerance Is Extinction” season finale, Vasquez-Eberhardt says, “You have these characters and the emotional journey they’re going through. To do justice to all those stories, [even with] our love of these individual characters, you have to be very careful. It all has to tie together. It has to deliver on this big promise of these epic storylines.”

“To Me, My X-Men!”

When field leader Cyclops (Ray Chase) utters that command — rallying Wolverine (Cal Dodd), Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith), Rogue (Lenore Zann), Gambit (A.J. LoCascio), Beast (George Buza), Morph (J.P. Karliak), and Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith) inside a crater he shatters with an optic blast unleashed from behind his ruby quartz visor in mid-air — it’s a raw display of power.

Cyke’s superhero landing was also “one of the biggest animation challenges,” according to FX Lead Designer and FX Supervisor Chris Graf. “I did roughly twelve design stages for that shot to sell each moment that a new [visual effects] element was introduced.”

“This scene was important to show how powerful and capable Cyclops actually is, and it was also extremely important to our showrunner and directors that Cyclops finally got his long-overdue cinematic moment to really sell his strength as team leader,” adds Graf, who animated the shot himself.

“With all the different layers of sand, wind, dust, optic blast, and shockwaves, it ended up taking roughly eighty hours from start to finish to animate the six-second scene,” he adds. “It was very important in design to make sure we got the idea across that his optic blast is concussive — and not a laser made of heat — and that he can also adjust the power level needed when fighting different types of characters. Being able to reduce his power levels to use them in a fight against common thugs or turn them up when he’s fighting three-story-high Sentinels was a level of precise control we wanted to make sure the leader of the X-Men had.”

X-Men ’97‘s “To Me, My X-Men” series premiere ends with its own seismic shift in the X-Mansion: the X-Men’s archnemesis, Magneto, the mutant Master of Magnetism, tells the team that he’s inherited everything from the last will and testament of Charles Xavier. In setting up The Trial of Magneto and a reformed Magneto leading the X-Men — another classic story from the comic books — Castorena reveals, “That ending went through a few different scene and tonal changes.”

“The first episode has to really be a delicate balance of fresh but familiar, because if we come out and start swinging, like our team does in [Episodes] 2 and 3, it’s awesome, but it’s just slightly elevated. You have to gain the audience’s trust first. You have to let them know we understand what the X-Men are; we understand the shoes we have to fill.” Like X-Men: The Animated Series, Castorena continues, “The whole series is founded on cliff-hangers to get you to want to come back for more. So what’s a bigger, better cliff-hanger than the X-Men’s most notorious foe coming in and saying, ‘Oh, yeah. By the way, this is all mine.'”

Next Time on X-Men ’97…

Over 223 pages, X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series explores the 10- episode season 1 with dedicated chapters. But in Marvel fashion, the book concludes with its own teaser for X-Men ’97 season 2.

The season finale, “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 3,” ends with the X-Men believed dead, having stopped Bastion (Theo James) from hurling Magneto’s Asteroid M into the Earth to cause an extinction event. Bishop informs Forge (Gil Birmingham) that the X-Men are lost to time after “E-Day,” leaving them to form a new team for a rescue mission next season.

Season 1 left off with Xavier, Magneto, Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Beast in the past in the year 3000 BCE, the time of En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M’Cormack); Wolverine, Storm, and Morph MIA in the present; and Cyclops and Jean with a young Nathan Summers, the future Cable, in the year 3960. Season 2 will span all three timelines, with En Sabah Nur — aka Apocalypse (voiced by Marquand) — also returning in present-day Genosha in a mid-credits scene.

X-Men ’97 season 2 “is going to be some of the most beautiful work I think we’ll get to see in episodic TV animation,” Castorena teases. “Just as far as what our color and paint team is doing for environments and designs. I’m just really excited for what our internal team is doing to help differentiate all that good stuff. And I’m sorry you guys are going to have to wait to see it. But, you know, let us bake the cake.”

In an afterword, Castorena writes that the original X-Men: The Animated Series was a success because the Lewalds and Houston honored the source material.

“Now that show is our source material — what we’re continuing from, standing on the shoulders of X-Men: The Animated Series. It’s our North Star, and it’s why I think X-Men ’97 has been embraced by the fans — because we have the best team in the game, and we’re fans ourselves. We’re making the stories that we want to see, and we have the support of a studio that cares about the quality of our storytelling and values the source material,” the supervising producer-director writes. “Y’all have no idea what’s coming at you for season two. The team is setting a new bar for narrative and visual storytelling in television animation. I’m seeing a true marriage of artists across the globe working together to make something genuinely special.”

“If I could tell six-year-old me what I get to see and do, he wouldn’t believe it,” Castorena concludes. “I could also tell him that it’s OK to like what you like and to be who you want to be. But he wouldn’t need me to say any of that… because he already had the X-Men.”

X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series is available July 1 from Abrams.

Read Next

X-Men ’97 Alternate Ending Would Have Introduced Two Fan-Favorite Mutants (Are They in Season 2?)

The post 7 Insights From X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel’s Disney+ shows almost always have trouble finding their footing. The first few (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki) all pushed the boundaries of what superhero TV could be, but dropping in the middle of the night on the East Coast didn’t help them dominate water cooler conversations like the movies did. Disney eventually fixed the release times for its original content, and the episodes started to feel more like events. Echo got the short end of the stick, with the show dropping all of its episodes at once, but Marvel Studios learned a lesson. It’s taking a different approach with Ironheart, which dropped its first three episodes on Disney+ on July 24.

Ironheart, which follows young genius Riri Williams after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, takes some big swings in its first batch of episodes. Most aspects of the show are firing on all cylinders, but a few need fine-tuning before everything wraps up in Episode 6.

1) Right: Putting Riri Williams in Tough Spots

Compared to the movies, Marvel Studios’ shows can feel like a walk in the park. The stakes aren’t all that high, and the villains leave a lot to be desired. Ironheart bucks that trend by having its titular hero struggle and do shady jobs to make ends meet. The end of Episode 3, in particular, sees Riri come face-to-face with her mistakes and enter a situation she will have to work hard to escape.

2) Right: Making The Hood a Complicated Villain

On paper, the idea of a bad guy wearing a magical hood that gives him incredible abilities sounds pretty ridiculous. Parker Robbins has a code, though, and he uses his garment to take from the rich and provide opportunities to the poor. Ironheart teases in its first three episodes that The Hood is getting some help, but he doesn’t seem totally on board with his master’s decisions, which is more than a lot of evildoers can say.

3) Right: Differentiating Chicago From Other MCU Cities

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has visited Chicago a few times in the past, but Ironheart is the first time it has taken center stage. Riri returns to her hometown after getting kicked out of MIT and isn’t all that happy about it. She’s still dealing with childhood trauma, and it’s hard to be around figures from her past. However, all the colorful characters make the city feel alive in the same way New York City does in so many MCU projects.

4) Right: Giving Riri a Unique Co-Pilot

Iron Man always had an AI entity in his suit while flying around. Well, Riri follows in his footsteps after learning about AI in Wakanda, creating N.A.T.A.L.I.E., which is modeled after her late friend Natalie Washington. Having a personal connection to her AI makes Riri’s life harder, but it helps the story out tremendously, with N.A.T.A.L.I.E. acting like the angel on her creator’s shoulder.

Read Next

6 Years On, The MCU Still Can’t Escape Its Thanos Obsession

5) Right: Having Joe McGillicuddy Be a Legacy Character

When Joe McGillicuddy shows up in Ironheart, he seems like a one-and-done character who’s just going to give Riri some tech and get out of dodge. That doesn’t end up being the case, as Joe turns out to be Ezekiel Stane, the son of Iron Monger. Zeke is becoming obsessed with the idea of upgrading his body, which never ends well but makes for great television.

1) Needs to Be Better: The Hood’s Supporting Crew

The Hood runs a tight ship, only bringing in crew members that he believes have potential, and anyone who disappoints him wrong doesn’t last long. Unlike Robbins, however, his colleagues aren’t all that complex. Ironheart needs to do a better job of fleshing them out, especially with Josh gone.

2) Needs to Be Better: The Evil Villain Teases

Every episode of Ironheart teases that The Hood isn’t really the one in charge. He keeps his cloak in a mysterious chamber and communicates with someone who’s not in the room with him. There are plenty of rumors about who The Hood’s master is, but no matter which comic character the show is bringing to life, it needs to reveal them sooner rather than later because the breadcrumbs are getting stale fast.

3) Needs to Be Better: The Inevitable Finale Fight

The action in Ironheart hasn’t been an issue yet, but it feels like every Marvel Disney+ show falls flat on its face in the last episode when the hero and villain throw hands. The only way for the show to avoid that fate is to get ahead of things and have Ironheart and The Hood duke it out a couple of times. That way, the final confrontation doesn’t have everything on its shoulders.

Ironheart is streaming on Disney+.

How do you feel about Ironheart‘s first three episodes? What do you think the show can improve on before it ends? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 5 Things Marvel’s Ironheart Is Already Doing Right (And 3 Things I Hope Get Better in the Final Episodes) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The war for the fate of New York City in Ultimate Spider-Man is already reaching a boiling point, and it’s only just getting started. Gwen Stacy and her Order of Mysterio has declared an open battle against the Kingpin and his men, and as much as Harry Osborn supports his wife, he also wants to stop her from going too far. To do that, he recruits Spider-Man to back him up and make sure everyone is held accountable as they fight to free their home from Fisk and the Maker’s wicked regime. Of course, there are multiple aspects to every side of this war, and young Richard Parker, now called Venom, is caught up in the middle as he tries to help his new girlfriend, Black Cat. Unfortunately, helping her might just mean betraying his dad and everything he stands for.

The Spiders Are Swinging Again

Ultimate Spider-Man #18 starts with Harry and Peter finally reuniting in the Parkers’ hiding spot in Arizona. Not just that, but Harry brought Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson along to help look after the family while Spider-Man and Green Goblin clean up their city. Peter wishes his family goodbye, and loads up with Harry to head back home. Unfortunately for his sanity, Richard snuck on board with his invisible Venom suit. He was texting his newly-minted girlfriend Felicia, who begged him to come back to New York and help her get out of some serious family trouble. What teenage boy/fledgling superhero could ever not respond the same way Richard did?

Read Next

Ultimate Spider-Man’s Sinister Six Explained

Regardless, after they get back to NYC, Harry and Peter hit the streets to take out some low level villains. They also stop by Peter’s house, where they find Otto Octavius squatting ever since Gwen fired him from Oscorp. Peter leaves the insanely smart scientist webbed up in his house for the crime of stealing his slippers, then leave to actually meet up with Gwen. Venom, for his part, swings his way to the place where Black Cat asked him to meet. He expects to find her in some kind of trouble, but instead he finds Kingpin and the rest of the still-loyal Sinister Six waiting for him alongside Felicia. Fisk tells Richard that he doesn’t need to be afraid, and all they want is for him to help them get to Spider-Man. Felicia had been reporting back all of their texts to the Six, and Richard got comfortable enough to slip up and let them figure out he’s connected to the Web-Slinger in some way. Betrayed and hurt, Richard asks Felicia if she lied about the two of them, but she says no. She really does like him, but she smiles and says that this betrayal is just in her nature.

Venom May Be Spider-Man’s Next Enemy

Things definitely aren’t looking good for Richard right now. He obviously doesn’t stand a chance against anyone in that room on their own, let alone if they all work together. Richard probably didn’t give out any sensitive information about his family, but at this point that hardly matters, considering Fisk is intending to squeeze that out of him right now. I can’t imagine Richard willingly telling them anything, but that might not even be an option. When Peter and Harry were kidnapped by Kraven before, he used a mix of torture and drugs to force them to reveal their secrets, and while the hunter is dead, I can’t imagine Fisk doesn’t have similar ways of making people talk. Even if he never tells the villains anything, the best case scenario is that the Sinister Six take him hostage, but maybe Richard and his Peter AI can lead them on a goose chase to give his dad a chance to save his bacon.

Kingpin might be about to learn everything there is to learn about Spider-Man, and it’s hard to imagine a worse person knowing his secret identity. The format for all the Ultimate Universe books is to skip forward to a new month every issue, and I don’t have any idea how they’re going to handle this cliffhanger with that kind of time jump. Still, I am more than excited to find out.

Ultimate Spider-Man #18 is on sale now!

The post Spider-Man’s Latest Threat Will Surprise You (& The Stakes Have Never Been Higher) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

14 years after she made a cameo appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger, Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer has now been imagined as iconic X-Men hero Emma Frost, who deserves redemption in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. English actor Dormer starred as Margaery Tyrell in 26 episodes of Game of Thrones between 2012 and 2016, but, a year prior, she made her debut in the MCU. She was wasted by Marvel Studios, however, but there’s still a chance she could get justice, especially if she is recast as Emma Frost in the MCU’s upcoming X-Men reboot.

This casting choice has been imagined in fan art shared by @70.6ix on Instagram, showing off how perfect Natalie Dormer would be as Emma Frost, and bringing the villain-turned-hero’s trademark keen eye for fashion to life. Since her appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger, Dormer has become a much more renowned star, appearing not only in Game of Thrones, but also in The Hunger Games, In Darkness, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, and more. Dormer has proven her talent time and again, and she’d excel as Emma Frost.

Back in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Natalie Dormer appeared as “Private Lorraine.” She met Steve Rogers’ Captain America (Chris Evans) after his first experience on the front line – in which he saved hundreds of men. On behalf of all the wives in America, Lorraine kissed Rogers, much to the shock of Rogers and the chagrin of Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Lorraine was never seen again, which meant that Natalie Dormer was relegated to just the very small role of the briefest romantic interest in the MCU, which is far less than she deserves.

Her role of film director Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I and II showed off more of Dormer’s action skills, while her long-running for of prospective Queen in Game of Thrones delivered some other qualities that are reminiscent of Emma Frost. Most notably, Frost’s sense of fashion, commanding personality, and seductive temperament were displayed repeatedly in Margaery Tyrell. @70.6ix’s fan art proves that Dormer has the perfect look for Emma Frost, and an actor of this caliber is just what the character needs.

Emma Frost has previously been played by Finola Hughes, Tahyna MacManus, and January Jones, but none of these interpretations captured entirely what makes the character so brilliant. Generation X’s Frost was perhaps the most comic-accurate depiction, while MacManus’ incarnation wasn’t even named “Emma Frost,” and Jones’ version was dull and lifeless. In Marvel Comics, Frost, who starts as a villain, eventually ends up leading her own X-Men team as a hero, and Natalie Dormer is the perfect candidate to bring her whole story to life in the MCU.

Do you want to see Natalie Dormer debut as Emma Frost in the MCU? Let us know in the comments!

The post X-Men Fan Art Gives A Game Of Thrones Star Justice 14 Years After the MCU Wasted Her appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Sure, Marvel’s main heroes are the center of any show. Usually, the clue’s in the IP’s title.
But let’s be real, sometimes the most unforgettable moments and most unforgettable characters are working in the margins. These side characters, often with limited screen time, manage to steal the scene, our hearts, and sometimes the entire show, thanks to their charisma, humor, or sheer unpredictability.

Whether they’re fan-favorites with cult followings or unsung gems, here are 10 side characters in Marvel television we think made it better.

10) Hernan “Shades” Alvarez – Luke Cage

Theo Rossi’s Shades Alvarez was never the loudest villain in the room, but he was always the most dangerous. Shades was cool, calculating, and endlessly compelling. Rossi played him with a quiet menace and emotional complexity that elevated Luke Cage‘s grounded tone.

More than just a gangster, Shades was a strategist with a moral compass shaped by love, loyalty, and survival. His relationship with Mariah Dillard revealed layers of vulnerability, making him more than just muscle, and gave the show some of its most emotionally charged moments. Balancing love, power, and betrayal, Shades was the rare Marvel antagonist who felt like he could have carried his own series.

Not driven by chaos or vengeance, Shades was about control, and Rossi’s subtle expressions and simmering intensity made every scene count. Alvarez proved that in the Marvel universe, the most dangerous players are often the ones pulling strings from the shadows. And in a show bursting with powerful voices, he never needed to shout to be heard.

9) Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez – Agents of SHIELD

Elena Rodriguez, known as Yo-Yo, was the heart of Agents of SHIELD. Introduced in Season 3, Natalia Cordova-Buckley’s character grew from a reluctant ally to one of the most reliable members of the team. Her power to bounce back to her starting point always served as a metaphor for her internal struggle.

By the final seasons, Yo-Yo’s journey included losing and regaining her powers, facing intense trauma, and stepping into leadership roles. Her evolution was one of the most satisfying arcs in the entire SHIELD run, and it’s time more fans gave her the credit she deserves. Whether she was standing up to Coulson or saving the timeline, Yo-Yo never backed down from doing what was right, even when it hurt.

8) Taweret – Moon Knight

Who expected a giant hippo goddess to become one of the most beloved parts of Moon Knight? Antonia Salib’s Taweret walked … well … waddled into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and instantly stole hearts as well as the show.

The Egyptian goddess of childbirth and the afterlife injected levity into the show’s darker themes. And her quirky line delivery and bubbly demeanor turned what could have been a terrifying afterlife guide into a comedic fan-favorite. Her compassionate guidance of Marc and Steven through the Duat gave the characters — and viewers — a much-needed emotional anchor.

Taweret’s childlike curiosity, paired with divine wisdom, made her instantly lovable. She brought humor without undermining the stakes, and her genuine concern for souls in the afterlife lent a calming and emotional depth to a fantastical premise. Salib’s enthusiasm for her role and respect for the souls she shepherded gave Taweret a rare combination of warmth and wisdom. She’s proof that in a show as layered and intense as Moon Knight, even a hippo goddess can bring emotional clarity.

7) Mrs. Hart/ Sharon Davis – Agatha All Along

Debra Jo Rupp’s performance as Sharon Davis, aka Mrs. Hart, was a masterclass in tonal control. In WandaVision, she had a minor role, but her performance was outstanding. The dinner scene featuring Mr. and Mrs. Hart was the audience’s first real clue that something was deeply wrong in Westview. Her capacity to switch from chirpy, sitcom housewife of Vision’s Boss to a terrified hostage trapped behind forced cheeriness was chilling.

In Agatha All Along, Sharon returned with a richer backstory, as someone now grappling with traumatic fallout from Wanda’s mind control. Rupp injected layers into what could’ve been a one-note character, making Sharon both heartbreaking and hilarious. She was never a green witch, she was just a woman who wanted to garden, and Agatha plucks her and puts her on the road, which she tries to make the best of.

She has — quite literally — been plagued by witches, and though she has been set free by Wanda, she’s still magical collateral damage. Her death scene in Episode 3 walked a fine line between comedy and tragedy, showing Rupp’s uncanny ability to ground the absurd in real emotion.

6) The Cast of Rogers: The Musical – Hawkeye

What could have been a throwaway gag turned into an unforgettable MCU moment.
We’re not even pretending to be sorry to add this cast to the list. Rogers: The Musical was the perfect parody of how pop culture within the MCU mythologizes its own heroes, and it became the highlight of the Hawkeye series.

The Broadway-style song-and-dance number recapped the Battle of New York with campy costumes and dramatic flair. Beyond its humor, it symbolized the disconnect between heroism and public perception. Clint Barton’s visible discomfort during the show was more than just a dislike of such a cringeworthy performance, it was a hit right to his survivor’s guilt.

It wasn’t ever meant to be perceived as a “good” musical, but fans absolutely loved the corny, awful Broadway take on a tragedy, that it even got a stage show run at the Disney parks. And quite frankly, we could’ve watched it all daaaaaay!

5) Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl) – The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Daniel Brühl’s debut as Zemo in Captain America: Civil War, as a disillusioned Sokovian soldier and grieving family man, was fantastic. But the real joy came when he reinvented Zemo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as a charismatic, morally complex anti-hero. No longer just a vengeful villain, Zemo showcased wit, intelligence, dance moves, and a code of ethics that set him apart from the majority of the big bads.

His dance scene may have gone viral, but it was his sharp insight into superhuman ideologies that gave the show gravitas. He became both a foil and reluctant ally to Sam and Bucky, constantly challenging their worldview. Brühl brought elegance and ambiguity to Zemo, making viewers question if he was truly the bad guy. He didn’t need powers to be powerful—his intellect and unpredictability did the job.

Read Next

7 Times TV Villains Were More Popular Than the Heroes

4) Mobius – Loki

Before Loki launched, fans were dubious how Owen Wilson would fair in a role not connected to Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn. But we were all extremely happy with what we saw. Wilson’s Mobius brought warmth, humor, and philosophical depth to Loki. More than a TVA pencil-pusher, Mobius was the emotional compass of a story filled with existential dread and multiversal chaos.

His scenes with Tom Hiddleston were a perfect balance of camaraderie and soul-searching. Mobius’ quiet belief in Loki’s potential made him a surrogate for the audience, offering hope that even the God of Mischief could change. Wilson’s understated performance and his longing for a life beyond bureaucracy (jet ski dreams, anyone?) gave the show its most human moments, and a character that many want to see return to the MCU.

3) Madisynn – She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Possibly one of the greatest and most beloved side characters with barely any screen time. Madisynn King appeared for one episode and tottered away in her stilettos as a legend. Patty Guggenheim turned a tropey party girl into a comedic icon whose honesty and unfiltered charm won audiences over instantly.

Her chemistry with Wong worked beautifully, and gave the Sorcerer Supreme a fresh, lighthearted level to his personality. Madisynn became the Walter Matthau to his Jack Lemmon, and they ended up being BFFs. Their sitcom-worthy rapport turned what could have been filler into fan-favorite material. Madisynn’s casual navigation of magical mayhem, paired with her unique speech patterns, made every line she delivered instantly meme-worthy. She proved that sometimes, a single scene-stealer can reshape the tone of an entire show.

2) Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) – WandaVision

One of the longer serving side characters within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Darcy Lewis first appeared in Thor way back in 2011. She’s evolved from Jane Foster’s wise-cracking comedic assistant to a sharp, snarky astrophysicist. It was her insight and sarcasm gave WandaVision its wit.

Kat Dennings imbued Darcy with dry humor and scientific brilliance that felt both natural and vital to the story. Many fans saw her role within WandaVision as a deserving rebirth after her short appearances in Thor: Dark World. The show proved Darcy was more than just pithy quips. She was intelligent; she connected dots no one else could, helping to unravel the mystery of Westview.

Her interactions with Jimmy Woo showcased a unique chemistry rarely seen in the MCU, and her refusal to be sidelined in a male-dominated agency felt empowering. She bridged the audience’s understanding of the show’s meta-sitcom structure and provided a grounded, yet humorous lens into its surreal mystery.

1) Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) – WandaVision

Which brings us onto the legend that is Jimmy Woo. Not content with stealing the limelight from Paul Rudd in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Woo went from background FBI agent wanting to learn magic to a breakout star in WandaVision, thanks to Randall Park’s charming, earnest, and quietly hilarious performance which instantly endeared him to fans.

His card trick callback was a nice a nod to his earlier MCU training but also symbolized how far he’d come. Park’s skillful balance of humor and professionalism as Woo brought credibility to S.W.O.R.D.’s investigation of the Westview anomaly.

His collaboration with Darcy Lewis added an enjoyable buddy cop dynamic that offered levity amidst the show’s psychological tension. Woo’s grounded approach reminded viewers of the human cost behind superhero antics, and his competence without superpowers made him even more impressive. No wonder fans campaigned for his own series.

The post 10 Side Characters Who Completely Stole Marvel Shows appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Tony Stark has always taken pride in being a man who’s prepared for every situation. In a universe filled with monsters and gods that threaten to destroy the world daily, he has developed numerous armors to battle such cosmic threats. With dozens of suits, each more advanced than the last, Iron Man has an arsenal that makes him one of the Avengers’ most powerful members. Some suits are designed for specific tasks that they fulfill perfectly, while others are highly adaptable and can be used in various situations. No matter the suit, though, it can’t be ignored that Tony is a technological genius. 

Whether designed to contend with Marvel’s heaviest hitters or just a product of Tony’s obsession with upgrading, these are the ten Iron Man suits that put this human on the same level as gods.

10) The Model 72 “Mysterium Armor”

Made from the special metal Mysterium, the Model 72 armor is one of Tony’s most durable suits. Once, while Tony was wearing it, a Sentinel Zero assassin android made of adamantium tried to kill him with its claws. However, the Mysterium proved to be so tough that the adamantium claws bent on impact like they were made of paper. Iron Man used this suit to help the X-Men fight off a Sentinel invasion. And where earlier models struggled to overpower a single Sentinel, the Mysterium Armor allowed Tony to knock the head off one in a single punch. Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense.

9) The Model 57 “Fin Fang Foombuster Armor”

Standing 20 stories tall, this behemoth of armor was designed to fight the equally gigantic alien dragon Fin Fang Foom. The suit featured repulsor cannons and electrical charges that allowed Tony to inflict considerable damage on the giant fire-breathing monster. However, what it had in size, it lacked in durability, as Fin Fang Foom eventually managed to overpower and dismantle the building-sized mecha. Thankfully, the Fin Fang Foombuster could deploy a swarm of nano Iron Man drones to enter the dragon and defeat it from the inside.

8) The Model 50 “Endo-Sym Armor”

When Tony lost his morality during the AXIS event, he created a synthetic symbiote-like armor that was directly linked to his mind. Being made of a liquid smart metal, the Model 50 could shapeshift into a giant Hulkbuster armor. He could have it latch onto his enemies and imprison them. It was also capable of tanking and absorbing bolts of lightning from Storm. Captain America destroyed the suit during the 2015 Secret Wars, and Tony would finally regain his sense of humanity.

7) The Model 51 “Prime Armor”

The Model 51 is practically Tony’s Swiss-Army-Knife suit. It takes the best features of all his previous armors and combining them into one all-purpose armor. It’s able to achieve its high level of adaptability because it’s made of nanobots that can transform into any tool or weapon Tony needs. The suit can even transform itself into a giant Hulkbuster armor or turn completely invisible. When not in use, the suit can be compartmentalized and transformed into a bracelet on Tony’s wrist, which can be activated with a single thought from its creator thanks to a telepathic link.

6) The Model 68 “Virtual Armor”

One of Tony’s most impressive inventions is the eScape, an entire virtual universe where the only limits were his imagination. Initially, Tony would use the eScape to trap villains in a virtual prison and fight them while he stayed safely behind a computer. However, if there’s one thing that can be said about Tony, it’s that he knows how to bring his ideas into the real world. Tony would convert this universe into a real suit of armor made of hard light holograms that could manifest whenever he wanted and could even create any weapon he could think of. It is the perfect weapon for such a creative thinker and genius.

Read Next

Marvel’s Iron Man #1 Variant Covers Showcase Tony Stark’s Improvised Iron Man Armor

5) The Model 73 “Sentinel Buster Armor”

The Model 73 was designed specifically to destroy machines created using his technology. When the human supremacist Feilong took over Stark’s company and started making a Sentinel army, Iron Man teamed up with the X-Men to stop the villain. When the Sentinels attacked, Tony deployed the Model 73 “Sentinel Buster Armor.” This suit towered over the Sentinels and could stomp and crush dozens of them with ease. The suit’s unibeam could also instantly incinerate the robots. However, it was ultimately overwhelmed by the seemingly never-ending Sentinel army.

4) The Model 22 “Thorbuster Armor”

While Tony, for the most part, is adamant in his hatred of magic, when it comes to creating a contingency plan in case the god of thunder goes rogue, he’s willing to make an exception. When given a powerful energy crystal by Odin, Tony converted it into a power source for his new armor, the Thorbuster. This came in handy when Thor went on a rampage, threatening to wipe out all of humanity. Not only could the Thorbuster tank direct hits from Mjolnir, but it could absorb any energy Thor threw at it to make itself stronger. It was the very first armor Iron Man had created that had allowed him to contend with a god, but it wouldn’t be the last.

3) The Model 61 “Godkiller Armor MK II”

Inspired by the original Godkiller Armor, which was designed by an ancient race to kill Celestials, Tony developed his own version of the massive suit. This turned out to be an excellent idea. When Dark Celestials invaded the Earth, Iron Man was ready to suit up and fight these beings head-on. The Godkiller Armor MK II is so large and powerful that it required eight nuclear reactors to power it. It was capable of interplanetary flight and allowed Tony to battle beings that could warp reality. Unfortunately, it wasn’t built to fight multiple Dark Celestials at once and was eventually destroyed.

2) The Model 63 “Godbuster Armor”

Within the virtual universe known as the eScape, Tony created a suit so destructive that even he feared its full potential. When powerful, god-like AI entities, known as the Controller and Motherboard, took over the eScape, Tony designed a suit that could challenge them. The Godbuster Armor was so strong that it was able to destroy the entire virtual universe, along with the AI controlling it, in a single shot. Tony even created a real-life version of the suit, but he had it destroyed after a single use, as he realized it was too dangerous to exist. No wonder Tony nicknamed it “the ultimate weapon.”

1) The Model 70 “Cosmic Iron God Armor”

The Model 70 Armor was originally a less high-tech suit that Tony made, based on his older suits, because he felt that he relied too much on modern technology. That would all change, however, with the return of Michael Korvac. When Korvac sought to take the Power Cosmic from Galactus to become an all-powerful god, Iron Man tried and failed to stop him. Iron Man, though, tapped into the Power Cosmic himself, and the energy fused with his armor, giving Tony omnipotence. He could warp reality, travel across the cosmos in an instant, and even increase the intelligence of every person on the planet. While Tony meant for the Model 70 to be a return to basics, it had inadvertently allowed him to achieve true godhood.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

The post 10 Most Powerful Iron Man Suits Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The cast of HBO’s The Last of Us has included several veteran stars from various Marvel movies and TV shows, both in and out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many of the most popular, bankable, and successful actors around today have appeared in projects developed by Marvel, bringing dozens of vibrant, complex, and powerful characters from Marvel Comics to life. The fact that so many stars have appeared in Marvel’s movies and shows means it would have been hard to cast the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us without including some Marvel veterans.

The Last of Us hit our screens in 2023 as a live-action adaptation of Naughty Dog’s critically-acclaimed video game from 2013. The series saw Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) take Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the United States, 20 years after an outbreak of a mutated form of Cordyceps fungus, to seek a cure for the infection that has taken control of much of the world’s population. The Last of Us Season 2 released in 2025 to continued critical acclaim, spotlighting Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and the Washington Liberation Front’s battle against the Seraphites, and Season 3 is in development.

Over two seasons, The Last of Us has featured a total of 11 actors who have also appeared in various Marvel media. These stars have appeared in projects including The Avengers, Runaways, Agents of SHIELD, What If…?, and more, while Pedro Pascal will soon be debuting in the MCU’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While some of these actors have only had brief roles in both their Marvel projects and The Last of Us, others have been crucial to the development of both, and this list will surely expand as both franchises develop.

1) Ashley Johnson as Beth & Anna

Ashley Johnson holds a special role in The Last of Us’ history, as she not only appeared as Ellie’s mother, Anna, in Season 1’s finale, “Look for the Light,” but she also provided the voice and motion capture for Ellie in the original video game and its 2020 sequel. Before any of this, however, Johnson made a brief appearance in 2012’s The Avengers as Beth, who was saved by Steve Rogers’ Captain America (Chris Evans) during the Chitauri attack. Beth appeared in a news report thanking the Avengers, acting as the voice of those in support of the team.

2) Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes & Tommy Miller

Although he hasn’t appeared in the MCU proper, Gabriel Luna played a huge role in Agents of SHIELD Season 4 as Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider. Since his departure, there has been speculation of him joining the MCU officially, but this hasn’t yet occurred. Luna instead made the move to The Last of Us, where he debuted as Tommy Miller, the brother to Pascal’s Joel, who reunites with Joel in Jackson, Wyoming, and ends up becoming an uncle figure to Ellie, which was particularly important following Joel’s death in The Last of Us Season 2.

3) Graham Greene as Skully & Marlon

Graham Greene’s role in The Last of Us was tiny, but provided a great moment of connection and teamwork between Joel and Ellie after they watched Henry (Lamar Johnson) kill his brother, Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard), and himself. Greene’s Marlon appeared alongside his wife, Florence (Elaine Miles), as a couple living in the Wyoming wilderness who help Joel and Ellie find their way to Jackson. Greene had a larger role in the MCU’s Echo series as Skully, Maya Lopez’s (Alaqua Cox) grandfather-figure who helps her rekindle her relationship with her grandmother, Chula (Tantoo Cardinal).

RELATED: The MCU’s New Marvel Spotlight Banner Explained

4) Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon & Dina

Before Isabela Merced makes her DC Universe debut as Hawkgirl, she starred alongside Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and Celeste O’Connor in Madame Web as Anya Corazon. She surely wouldn’t want to be solely associated with Madame Web, however, considering the film’s poor performance, but her role as Dina in The Last of Us has earned her a lot more credibility and appreciation. Dina was introduced in The Last of Us Season 2 as Ellie’s love-interest who joins her in Seattle on her hunt for revenge, and she’ll surely have a large part to play in Season 3, too.

5) Ariela Barer as Gertrude Yorkes & Mel

Also introduced in The Last of Us Season 2 was Ariela Barer’s Mel, a member of Abby’s group, a former Firefly who joined the WLF and was a part of the scheme to murder Joel. Mel was later tracked down and accidentally killed by Ellie during her rampage through Seattle, which marked the demises of both Mel and her unborn child. Marvel fans will know Barer as Gertrude “Gert” Yorkes in Hulu’s Runaways series, the child of villainous time-travelers, and the companion to a genetically-engineered dinosaur. Runaways is not canon to the official MCU timeline.

6) Joe Pantoliano as Ben Urich & Eugene Lynden

Similarly, Joe Pantoliano had a tiny role in The Last of Us Season 2, appearing in just one scene in Episode 6, “The Price,” as Eugene, Gail’s (Catherine O’Hara) husband who became infected and was put down by Joel, who refused to bring him home to say goodbye. Pantoliano starred 23 years prior opposite Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Clarke Duncan as New York Post reporter Ben Urich in 2003’s Daredevil. Urich was portrayed by Vondie Curtis-Hall in Daredevil on Netflix, and his legacy continues in the form of his niece, BB Urich (Genneya Walton), in Daredevil: Born Again.

7) Robert John Burke as Smitty & Seth

Robert John Burke is another actor who has had a minor role in both the MCU and in The Last of Us. He appeared briefly as Navy SEAL Smitty in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, who worked with the CIA to search for vibranium, and was attacked by the Talokanil. He had a larger role in The Last of Us as Seth, a resident of Jackson who, while drunk, insults Ellie and Dina at the New Year’s party with a derogatory slur. Seth later apologises and provides aid to Ellie and Dina before they sneak out on their mission for vengeance.

8) Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne & Javier Miller

It was great to see some of Joel and Tommy’s backstory explored in a brief flashback in The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 6, “The Price,” as their relationship with their abusive father, Javier (Tony Dalton), was detailed. Javier and Joel’s conversation was one of Season 2’s most touching and heartfelt moments, and Dalton excelled in this role, just as he does as Jack Duquesne, aka the vigilante known as Swordsman, in Hawkeye and Daredevil: Born Again. There are hopes that Duquesne will soon fully embrace his role as a sword-wielding hero in the MCU.

RELATED: The Last of Us Answers a Major Joel Backstory Question That Even the Games Ignored

9) Jeffrey Wright as the Watcher & Isaac

Although he hasn’t yet made a live-action appearance, Jeffrey Wright has been a crucial part of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, as he provided the voice of Uatu the Watcher in all three seasons of the animated What If…? series. There are hopes that Wright will appear as a live-action version of the Watcher in the MCU’s Phase 6, while his role of Isaac in The Last of Us will also be better developed in Season 3. Isaac was a FEDRA commander who defected to the Washington Liberation Front, and is now at war with the religious group, the Seraphites.

10) Danny Ramirez as Joaquín Torres & Manny

Danny Ramirez’s Joaquín Torres is a relatively new addition to the MCU, but he has quickly become a very important character. First introduced as a US Air Force intelligence officer and ally to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Torres returned in 2025 as the MCU’s new Falcon in Captain America: Brave New World. The Phase 5 movie teased his inclusion in the roster for Sam Wilson’s upcoming Avengers team, though it remains to be seen which other heroes will be joining the new Captain America and Falcon.

In The Last of Us, Danny Ramirez hasn’t yet had too much to do. He debuted as Manny, a member of Abby’s group in the WLF who is part of the ploy to murder Joel for his actions in Salt Lake City. Manny wanted to also kill Ellie, getting rid of any witnesses, but the group stopped him, ultimately leading to Owen, Nora, and Mel’s deaths. Fans of The Last of Us Part II’s video game will know that Manny is set to have a larger role in The Last of Us Season 3, told from Abby’s perspective.

11) Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards & Joel Miller

Pedro Pascal is one of the most bankable stars in film and TV right now – he seems to pop up in everything. His next major project, however, will be The Fantastic Four: First Steps, where he will be debuting as the MCU’s official Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, the leader of Marvel’s First Family. Pascal was a polarizing choice for Mister Fantastic, but he is a remarkable and talented actor, so there’s no doubt he’ll deliver a tender, intelligent, and fatherly performance as Reed Richards. He could take notes from his role in The Last of Us for that.

Joel Miller was central to the development of The Last of Us Season 1, as he is tasked with getting the immune Ellie across the country to try and seek a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Along the journey, however, Joel and Ellie form a father-daughter bond that informs Joel’s killing spree to save her. Joel was brutally murdered by Abby in The Last of Us Season 2, so it’s unclear if he’ll will return in Season 3, but since Pedro Pascal seems to be everywhere we turn right now, we’ll still have plenty to look forward to.

Who are your favorite actors who have appeared in Marvel’s movies and TV shows and in The Last of Us? Let us know in the comments!

The post 11 Marvel Actors Who Have Also Appeared in The Last of Us appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Next month, the Fantastic Four will make their return to the big screen with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The film’s release is nothing short of groundbreaking. For one, it marks the first time in a decade — a period during which Marvel superheroes have dominated the movie industry — that fans will be able to see “Marvel’s First Family” back in theaters. More importantly, it will be the first time the Fantastic Four are officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Since the MCU’s debut with Iron Man in 2008, the absence of the Fantastic Four has been particularly striking, especially given that many of the threats and storylines featured in the MCU originally involved the “Baxter Building Quartet” in the comics.

Interestingly, the sidelining of the Fantastic Four in the MCU has also been reflected in the Marvel Comics universe, where one would expect Marvel to have complete creative and editorial control. This represents an ignominious downgrade of Marvel’s first superhero team — a mantle they should never have lost in the first place.

The Fantastic Four – Marvel’s Original “A-Team”

The Fantastic Four should be Marvel’s flagship team because they are its first “go team.” Years before the Avengers and the X-Men were even conceived by Marvel’s creative and editorial staff, there was the Fantastic Four — Marvel Comics’ first full-fledged superhero team. It’s safe to say that without the Fantastic Four’s success, the world might never have known the Avengers or the X-Men. Through the Fantastic Four, Marvel established many themes, elements, styles, and storytelling features that became foundational to the success of the Avengers, the X-Men, and Marvel Comics in general. It’s no wonder, then, that the Fantastic Four are celebrated as “Marvel’s First Family.”

[ RELATED: Fantastic Four #31 Is the Epitome of What a Fantastic Four Comic Should Be (Review) ]

The Fantastic Four demonstrated early on that superhero teams are anything but perfectly harmonious groups singularly focused on defeating evil. Instead, the series revealed that even heroes who protect their communities can be deeply flawed individuals. The team often faced personal and interpersonal struggles that sometimes hindered their effectiveness, making them far more relatable than the more rigid and idealized portrayals of groups like DC’s Justice Society or Justice League. This nuanced approach to team dynamics would later be echoed to great effect in Marvel’s other “super groups,” such as the Avengers and the X-Men. The Avengers’ origin itself serves as a prime example of how the dysfunctional team dynamic introduced in the Fantastic Four can still overcome its negativity to produce heroic results.

Another key distinction was that, rather than concealing their identities, the Fantastic Four embraced their roles as public heroes — operating not just as a team, but as a family. While many of these elements weren’t entirely new to the superhero genre, the Fantastic Four added a distinctly Marvel twist to them. For instance, their frequent interactions with other superheroes helped solidify Marvel’s groundbreaking concept of a shared universe. Then there were their villains. The Fantastic Four introduced some of Marvel’s most iconic antagonists, from Doctor Doom to Galactus. They also explored advanced scientific concepts like the Negative Zone, the Ultimate Nullifier, and cosmic radiation, further enriching Marvel’s lore.

The MCU Killed the Comic Book Star

As Marvel expanded its team titles with the Avengers, X-Men, and later the Defenders—despite the Fantastic Four being one of the key influences in developing the “mighty” Marvel super team concept — it was natural for the Fantastic Four to lose some of their popularity as these other teams gained theirs. This trend became especially noticeable during Marvel’s expansion into movies.

Initially, this occurred in a piecemeal fashion, with Marvel selling the rights to its most popular titles — including the Fantastic Four — to various movie studios, allowing them to produce films based on those characters. However, the film rights for other titles, such as the Avengers, remained with Marvel. The movies released during this early period of Marvel movie adaptation varied widely in quality and appeal, with the Fantastic Four films often cited as some of the weakest.

[ RELATED: Every Marvel Studios Movie Nominated for an Oscar (Only Two Have Won) ]

After establishing its own movie studio, Marvel Studios, in 1993, Marvel also got into the movie-making business using content from titles it did not license out or had gotten the rights back, including Iron Man and Hulk. Marvel Studios’ efforts eventually led to the release of Iron Man in 2008, marking the beginning of the MCU. Disney acquired Marvel a year later and invested heavily in the expansion of the MCU, whose success has been unprecedented. Indeed, as the MCU gained in popularity, so did the comic book content on which it was based.

That success, however, did not extend to the Fantastic Four, whose rights weren’t under Disney’s license, making them ineligible for inclusion in MCU films. As the spotlight shone brighter on more popular titles and characters from both creative and consumer perspectives, it was inevitable that a once-groundbreaking series like the Fantastic Four would fade into the background. Indeed, as with their early film productions, the effort on the comic side has failed to reignite interest despite the fact that the team was at times under the creative direction of some giants in the field, including John Byrne, Tom DeFalco, and Jonathan Hickman. They were not enough to stop the more than a few Marvel fans from ridiculing it as one of Marvel’s most forgettable groups.

Fantastic Four 2025 – Is it “Cloberrin’ Time” Again?

Their long-awaited arrival in the MCU promises to unlock exciting new storytelling possibilities and reconnect the franchise with its foundational roots in Marvel Comics continuity. Now that Disney has regained the rights to the characters, it’s clear the studio is positioning the team for a more prominent role within the MCU. With growing signs of “superhero fatigue” surrounding the Avengers and X-Men, the timing might be perfect for a fresh dose of family-oriented superpowered fun.

Assuming its entry into the MCU does well, the Fantastic Four film should significantly re-popularize the team’s brand with the public, boosting the comic book franchise. But even if it doesn’t, the Fantastic Four should still be considered Marvel’s flagship team. Not only were they Marvel’s first superhero group, but with over 700 issues spanning more than 60 years, their stories uniquely balance wonder, intellect, and heart in a way no other Marvel team can replicate or replace.

The post The Fantastic Four Should Be Marvel’s Main Team (So Why Aren’t They?) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel has created so many incredible characters since they launched their superhero comics in the early 1960’s, including their heroines. As the years have gone on, those heroines have been some of their best and most powerful characters ever put to the page and have had an impactful history. With so many amazing characters, we want to look at their best heroines and see how they’ve stood the test of time. With hundreds of characters it was hard to pick a few but we went through and ranked the five best heroines in all of Marvel comics. It was no easy task but these are the characters the best represent Marvel as a whole.

The X-Men alone could have their own list of best heroines, but Marvel is so much more than the X-Men and so are Marvel’s heroines. Taking into account power, scale, cultural relevance, popularity and legacy, these are the best of the best among Marvel’s female heroes. Let’s take a look.

5) Captain Marvel

Starting off is Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel herself. Originally known as Ms. Marvel and a female counterpart to Mar-Vell the original Captain Marvel, Carol has gained more power and a lot more character to stand on her own in the years since her debut. With a small stint with the X-Men as Binary and a lot of run-ins with the Avengers, Carol has transformed herself into one of the premiere power houses of the Marvel universe and for good reason.

Once she took the mantle of Captain Marvel, Carol went from just any regular Avenger to a frequent leader of the team. Not being afraid to speak her mind and do the right thing, Carol’s stubborness is one of her strengths as a character. Willing to do what she thinks is necessary is what makes her so much fun as a character and her having the power to back herself up just tops it off.

4) She-Hulk

After being shot by a mobster, Jennifer Walter was saved by a life saving blood transfusion by her cousin Bruce Banner. Due to her cousin being the Incredible Hulk, she was then transformed into the Sensational She-Hulk. Initially created as a gender swapped Hulk, Jennifer became so much more than that. With a much funnier personality and the ability to joke around with her fellow heroes, she became a popular staple for the Avengers and a substitute for The Thing in the Fantastic Four on more than a few occasions.

In a way to make the character catch a lot more attention after a few solo attempts John Byrne gave her the ability to break the fourth wall. Already as strong as her cousin and a lot more confident as a character, giving her the ability to laugh and converse with the audience is one of her biggest strengths while also having the ability to be serious when the situation arises. Throwing all of these elements together you get a whole lot more than a genderbent Hulk, you get a character that can carry a series all by herself and still give the fans what they want.

3) Jean Grey/Phoenix

Jean Grey originally debuted as the fifth and “final” member of the original lineup of the X-Men. Once described as the least powerful member of the team would later become at the time the most powerful cosmic entity in the universe 100 issues later. With the awesome power of the Phoenix, Jean Grey became a standout member of the X-Men from issues #101-129 of The Uncanny X-Men until she became corrupted and turned into the Dark Phoenix. With the saga of both Phoenix and Dark Phoenix, Jean was out of the picture for a while until her triumphant albeit confusing return in X-Factor #1 in 1986.

Whether it’s from her various times as Phoenix or not, Jean is one of the most unique characters in the X-Men. Going from being initially the least powerful member and eye candy for the boys Chris Claremont completely overhauled her and made her the most powerful being in the universe. That and added with her conflicting emotions of not being in control of her power and wanting to have a simple life with Cyclops added more than she was ever perceived as. Having her return later on, Jean’s friendship with Storm became a huge part of her dynamic leading her to some of the highest status moments she’s ever had and is absolutely deserved. Jean carries the world on her shoulders while having the time to fight her own struggles and it shows how incredible she really is.

2) The Invisible Woman

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, is the heart of the Fantastic Four and Marvel’s first lady so to speak. Debuting in Fantastic Four #1 by the greats Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, Sue set the stage for heroines in Marvel comics and is the blueprint. While she’d later go on to become the wife of Mister Fantastic, she stood as her own character with motivations in saving the world and not trying to be a love interest which broke down a lot of barriers for women in comics. I think it’s safe to say every heroine in Marvel wouldn’t exist without her.

While not looking like it, Sue is the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four. With her abilities to create a bubble in your brain in a fight, she can be quite the lethal force if she chooses so. Her choice in remaining as a hero and a mom is what separates her from the rest. Being compassionate for her family is what drives her as a likeable character; she wants to see the good in everyone and will do anything to help them achieve it. The ability to balance her very different family life as Sue Storm is just as impactful as being the Invisible Woman.

1) Storm

What hasn’t Ororo Munroe done at this point? Become the leader of the X-Men? Check. Help save the world from world-ending threats? Check? Briefly be granted her powers back by becoming an Asgardian? Check. Become the Queen of Wakanda? Check. We celebrate Storm on her 50th anniversary as one of the best heroines in not just all of Marvel but all comics. Having started as a new recruit to the X-Men featured in Giant-Size X-Men, Storm has risen above and beyond the ranks, and that’s what earns her the top spot on the list.

Storm has created one of the greatest legacies in all of comics and not just Marvel. Being one of the most powerful members of the X-Men right off the bat is an incredible feat to have alone. Later rising up the ranks as leader without her powers is another to prove how much she can be trusted. Storm is also one of the best teachers of the group. Having come from the streets as a child and losing her powers at a point, she has seen the dark side of life but still powered on like nothing happened. Facing Loki with the promise of getting her powers back and denying them shows how much she will work for what she wants. Storm is a natural leader and will make sure everyone will reach their true potential and that’s what gets her the top spot on this list.

That wraps up our list the greatest Marvel heroines ranked, is there anyone we missed? Let us know in the comments.

The post 5 Greatest Marvel Heroines, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel fans instantly fell in love with Miles Morales and the rest of the Spider-Man variants found in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a love continued into the second film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Fans are still patiently waiting for the third installment of the series to drop, as we all know the wait will be worth it. Both films introduced dozens of Spider variants, including favorites like Peter B. Parker and Spider-Man Noir. The second film doubled down on introducing new variants, with hundreds of them working together across the multiverse. However, there’s still a surprising number of variants we haven’t seen on the big screen.

The latest news from Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse makes it seem like we’ve got a bit more waiting to do, with a 2027 release date seeming more and more likely. Set to cap off the trilogy, the film could very well be our last chance to see new Spider-Man variants on the big screen. With a couple years to go, we’re going to continue to hope these Spider-Man heroes make an appearance.

1) Savage Spider-Man (Earth-83043)

Peter Parker of Earth-83043 was unfortunate enough to be involved in the plane crash that killed his parents. Unlike them, he survived, but it’s here that his story takes an even stranger twist. Peter found himself in the Savage Land of his Earth, where the Giant Spiders quickly set upon the young man. While they didn’t kill him, they did bite him a lot. At least it had the side effect of giving him powers.

In this new form, Peter Parker became the protector of the Savage Lands. Thus, most people call him Savage Spider-Man. He would later join the Spider-Army against the Inheritors, getting involved during one of the major final battles.

2) Spider-Ma’am (Earth-3123)

Sometimes, it isn’t Peter Parker who gets bitten by that spider. Sometimes, it’s somebody he loves. May Parker of Earth-3123 was accidentally bitten by a radioactive spider one day, and all she was trying to do was deliver her beloved nephew’s lunch. In true superhero form, Aunt May donned a costume and a mantle to fight evil while protecting those she loved.

May became Spider-Ma’am, and much like earlier renditions of Peter Parker, she took to fighting crime as a way of making money for her family. Spider-Ma’am was involved with the Totem War, rising up alongside the rest of the Spider-Army. She mostly did it out of fear of what would happen to her husband and nephew if she didn’t, but that just makes us love her more. Her story gets a little weird after this point, as when the Inheritors had their consciousness placed into human infants, she adopted the lot. In a later conflict against Morlun, she revealed to him that she had eaten his family. She’s still the most huggable Spider-hero around

3) Ghost Spider (Earth-11638)

Not every version of Peter Parker is steeped in tragedy. Peter Parker of Earth-11638 lived in a world where everything seemingly went well for him. His uncle didn’t die a tragic and preventable death; he was popular, and he was also very successful. So successful that he launched Parker Technologies. It’s through this company that Peter Parker gained access to the multiverse, luring other Spider-Men into his universe to take their powers.

The Peter Parker of Earth-616 however got through to this variant, convincing him that what he was doing was wrong. Peter Parker of Earth-11638 eventually died, sending his soul to Hell. That’s not the end of the story, as he came back as his own form of the Ghost Rider, aka Ghost Spider. To make up for his checkered past he now saves heroes separated from their realities.

Read Next

3 Questions Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse Needs to Answer

4) Spiders-Man (Earth-11580)

Most of the time, even those who aren’t overly fond of spiders can get over Spider-Man’s theme, the same cannot be said for Spiders-Man. Peter Parker of Earth-11580 had the misfortune of falling into a chamber full of genetically modified spiders. The spiders unintentionally absorbed Peter Parker’s consciousness, letting them take on his personality and identity. The still donned the iconic costume and tried to save the day.

While the original Peter Parker of this universe may be dead and gone, the spiders who absorbed him keep his memory alive, at least a little bit. They’ve battled the Green Goblin, saved Gwen, and became involved during the events of Spider-Geddon. While their appearance in the Spider-Verse franchise would be off-putting for some, you’ve got to admit it would add variety to the crew.

5) Patton Parnel (Earth-51412)

Patton Parnel is one of many Spider-Man variants who didn’t live a good or happy life. He was raised by an abusive family before getting bitten by a radioactive spider. While it did give him some power-ups, he was also not as fortunate as other Spider-Man versions. Instead of getting only good spider attributes, Patton becomes a more obvious spider-human hybrid, complete with fangs, eight eyes, four arms, and four legs. He can partially or completely transform, so at least he stood a chance of blending in when needed.

Unfortunately, his transformation doesn’t end there. Patton found himself uncomfortable and hungry, and while we won’t list everything he ate, he did eventually begin consuming people. Patton Parnel could have become a very dangerous force on Earth-51412 had Morlon not chosen that exact moment to arrive, killing the variant before his story was allowed to continue.

6) Cosmic Spider-Man (Earth-13)

Naturally, the variants of Spider-Man often deviate from the norm, bonding with different allies and entities. For example, Peter Parker of Earth-13 bonded with the Enigma Force, effectively giving him the power of Captain Universe. As Cosmic Spider-Man, this version is easily one of the most powerful.

Early in Cosmic Spider-Man’s hero career, he was recruited by the S.H.I.E.L.D. of Earth-41940, having him join the Spider-Men to battle against the Multiversal Sinister Six. From there, Cosmic Spider-Man did everything in his power to save the day, though he eventually fell during the Totem War. Solus killed the hero, leaving him for the Inheritors to eat. While his story may have ended in the comics, it could restart or continue in the Spider-Verse world.

Read Next

Spider-Verse Teases Big Miles Morales Twist (& Fans Should Be Excited)

7) Old Man Spider (Ezekiel Sims, Earth-4)

In case the name didn’t give it away, Old Man Spider, aka Ezekiel Sims, has a long history in both his universe and in Marvel Comics. Like Peter Parker, there are many versions of Ezekiel Sims across the multiverse. One of these versions has appeared in the Spider-Verse franchise as Spider-Therapist. But the Earth-4 version has yet to make its way to the big screen.

Ezekiel Sims stepped into the role of Spider-Man on his Earth, and as such, helped the rest of the Spider crew fight against the Inheritors. Old Man Spider spent his life trying to protect civilians and Spider-Man variants.

8) Aaron Aikman (Earth-31411)

Aaron Aikman’s path to becoming Spider-Man is very different from most versions of Peter Parker. Dr. Aaron Aikman dove into the world of medical science, specializing in the medical application of venom, specifically insect venom. It’s not hard to see where this leads. He would later willingly alter his DNA, infusing spider traits. Simultaneously, he developed cybernetic armor to help further augment his powers and abilities. It may be a hat-on-a-hat, but it worked for him.

As a result of the dual paths leading to Spider-Man of Earth-31411, Aaron Aikman looks like a cross between Spider-Man and Iron Man. He rose up to battle many classic villains, and would later become involved in the fight against the Inheritors. Sadly, this is where his story ends, at least in the comics. His story could always continue in the Spider-Verse movies.

9) Web Weaver (Cooper Coen Earth-71490)

Readers and viewers all know that it isn’t always Peter Parker who gets bitten by a radioactive spider. There have been several iterations of new names and faces, including Cooper Coen of Earth-71490. Cooper’s origin story isn’t quite like Parker’s, for a variety of reasons. Cooper became a masked hero after his own family cast him out for being gay. He used his love of fashion to create a stunning costume, complete with black and yellow details.

As a superhero, Cooper took on the name of Web-Weaver. His time as a hero put him against many variations of classic villains, such as Kraven, Symbiotes, Rhino, and Chameleon. Unsurprisingly, he would later accept Spider-UK’s offer to work with the rest to save the Spider-Verse.

10) Poison (Earth-70134)

There are all sorts of Spider-Man heroes across the multiverse, including at least one version of Peter Parker who fully bonded with his Venom Symbiote. Peter Parker of Earth-70134 didn’t go the heroic route many fans are used to, instead falling to the temptation that Symbiotes offer. Bonded with his Symbiote, Peter donned the moniker Poison, and he became a villain in his own right.

Peter dubbed himself Poison in a heated argument with his wife, Mary Jane. He was trying to convince her to bond with another Symbiote spawn, and it didn’t go well. As a villain, Poison has battled classic heroes like Wolverine and Luke Cage. It’s not hard to imagine what sort of complications Poison could add to the Spider-Verse.

The post 10 Spider-Man Variants We Still Need to See in the Spider-Verse Movies appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The X-Men’s biggest problem has never been the hatred of mutants or the evil actions of supervillains, but their own inability to advance. It feels like every couple of years the X-Men move through the same plot points and the same arcs, only to be reset back to square one each time. This is of course a problem for every comic book character in some shape or form, but it is especially bad for the X-Men, who spend years carving out an exciting new direction in the face of tragedy, adversity, or hope, only for it all to be immediately thrown back to the comfortable status quo. And nearly every time Marvel resets them, they do so using Jean Grey. Jean is Marvel’s mutant reset button, both emotionally and physically and it’s something that is holding the X-Men back.

Jean is an Emotional Crutch

Jean Grey, especially with the original team, is the heart of the X-Men. She is more often than not the team’s emotional center, being the one everyone can turn to when they need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to understand them. She is phenomenally caring character, who is always there to support her friends and those that she cares for. Most prominently, she and Cyclops are known to have one of the best relationships in Marvel, however, this is perhaps the biggest point where Jean is consistently used to reset a standard. Jean and Scott are Marvel’s premier love story, so they constantly want the two together, but at the same time they repeatedly tear Jean away. These periods always follow the same pattern, where Jean disappears and Scott moves on, such as with Madelyne Pryor and Emma Frost, only for Jean to return and for Scott’s other relationship to immediately fall apart as he runs back to Jean. This has resulted in massively controversial and out of character decisions, such as Scott and Madelyne’s marriage falling apart and Emma and Scott never resolving their own relationship before it was thrown under the rug and forgotten about. 

Read Next

The Phoenix Force Just Got a New Host (And It Could Be Disastrous)

Of course, the other most famous example of Jean’s existence resetting someone’s emotions is Wolverine. When he first joined the X-Men, there was a plot point of Wolverine developing feelings for Jean, which were decidedly unreciprocated.  Eventually Wolverine moved on from Jean, developing several other relationships that were both much healthier and far less hated by fans. And yet, every time Jean returns from some convoluted absence, Wolverine almost immediately goes back to harboring intense love for her, which drags up the same tired, old love triangle that nobody really likes. These emotional resets always coincide with a break in the other person’s character, with Wolverine or Cyclops throwing away years of character development to go back to devoting themselves entirely to Jean. Of course, while these moments are annoying, what Marvel does with Jean on a cosmic scale is much worse.

Jean Always Signals a Return to the Comfortable

Take a look at every time Jean returns from the dead and what that does to the X-Men. Prior to the retconing of her original death, Cyclops had happily retired from superheroing and was living with his wife and son, and the rest of the original X-Men were members of other prominent superhero teams. Then Jean returns, and all of that is thrown away for the formation of X-Factor, which saw the original team reconnect. Then Jean died again, and soon after there was the ever so classic storyline of the Phoenix Force returning and corrupting one of the X-Men, thus leading to a beloved character’s tragic death, except this time it was Cyclops killing Professor X. And again at the end of the Krakoan age, it is Jean who restores all of the mutants’ lives, which inadvertently leads to the island of Krakoa ascending to a higher realm. This, against many fans’ wishes, brought the X-Men back to a much more familiar style of heroics, which although I think was for the best for the team, is seen by many as a step backwards yet again.

These are just a scant few examples of how Marvel always uses Jean as a reset button for its mutant characters. So many pivotal moments are defined either by Jean’s death, her return, or something relating to the Phoenix Force. Jean is an incredible character who deserves to be treated as such, but so often she is downgraded to the “person that makes the change that undoes everything” in the X-Men comics. Now, for the first time, Jean is on her own in her own title, and perhaps this means we will get to see Jean be allowed to grow as her own character, instead of being defined as a bulldozer for others.

The post Face It, The X-Men Never Truly Evolve (And It’s All Jean Grey’s Fault) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The X-Men will join the fight to save the multiverse in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, but their exciting return also brings with it some headache-worthy continuity questions. Long before the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the X-Men franchise was the biggest superhero ensemble around, kicking off with 2000’s X-Men (which itself was instrumental in sparking the modern superhero movie craze) and running for over two decades before unceremoniously ending in 2020’s The New Mutants. That would later change with 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine bringing Hugh Jackman’s Logan back into action, and that would just be the start of the Fox X-Men franchise’s unexpected resurrection.

With the announcement of Marvel Studios’ multiverse double-header Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, both film’s casts are packed to the gills with both MCU regulars and pre-MCU Marvel movie alumni returning to their roles, including key members of the Fox X-Men cast roster. However, as enthralling as it is for the millions who hold a warm place in their hearts for the X-Men franchise to see it play such an integral role in Doomsday and Secret Wars, the characters’ returns also raises a big question of continuity that, ironically, Deadpool & Wolverine can be thanked for.

Deadpool & Wolverine Was Presented as a Goodbye to Fox-Marvel (at First)

Following the announcement of Hugh Jackman’s return to his signature role in Deadpool & Wolverine, the movie gradually began to stand out as a very different kind of Marvel Studios production. By the time it was released into theaters, to even call Deadpool & Wolverine an MCU movie at all felt like a stretch, with the movie’s only real link to the franchise being the presence of the Time Variance Authority. Instead, Deadpool & Wolverine plays as more of a nostalgic love letter to Fox’s Marvel properties (and to a lesser extent New Line Cinema’s with Wesley Snipes’ return as Blade), to the point of even finally bringing Channing Tatum’s never-realized Gambit to life (Tatum’s Gambit is also confirmed to return in Avengers: Doomsday).

Indeed, Deadpool & Wolverine even includes a photo album-style tribute to Fox’s various Marvel Comics-based productions – including 2015’s much-maligned Fant4stic – set to Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” While it wasn’t a comprehensive return for every pre-MCU Marvel movie star or character, Deadpool & Wolverine‘s loving tribute to the Fox-Marvel era was a warm, heartfelt goodbye to so many Marvel superhero properties that brought the company’s characters to the big screen long before the MCU began. Since then, the cast lists of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars have made that goodbye much more complicated.

Read Next

10 Marvel Characters That Need to Be in Avengers: Secret Wars

Avengers: Doomsday & Avengers: Secret Wars Have Huge Fox-Marvel Casts (but From Which X-Men Universe?)

With the casts of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel Studios is assembling quite possibly the largest ensemble of any superhero movie ever made (and that’s without any confirmation of Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men returning, both of which seem like very strong possibilities indeed). Fox’s X-Men franchise in particular is set to see a massive comeback via the Doomsday/Secret Wars story with the sheer number of cast members returning to their respective roles. However, that also raises questions about how Doomsday and Secret Wars will treat the canonicity of the X-Men franchise, given how Blade, Elektra, X-23, and Gambit join Deadpool & Wolverine. Specifically, each character was pruned from their respective universe by TVA agent Mr. Paradox (Matthew Macfadyen) and dropped into the purgatory known as the Void, with their individual realities being wiped out.

While the movie indicates that Blade, Elektra, and Gambit’s timelines were restored (TVA agent Hunter B-15 responding “I’ll see what I can do” to Wade’s request), the X-Men franchise is a more complex situation, in part because of its own multiple retcons and continuity issues deriving from attempts to reconcile said retcons in everything from X-Men: First Class to X-Men: Days of Future Past. 2017’s Logan also once sat in an ambiguous place in the X-Men universe’s timeline, but Deadpool & Wolverine seemingly made it canon to the Deadpool franchise’s timeline. However, even that has its own problems with the aforementioned retcons and multiple timelines of the X-Men franchise, and with the lack of clarity in Deadpool & Wolverine itself over whether all of the X-Men movies effectively fit into the timeline of Logan, and how that is even possible with the divergent continuities in movies like the quasi-franchise finale of Dark Phoenix and the one-and-done of The New Mutants, both released post-Logan (“These timelines are so confusing,” as Wade himself observes in the first Deadpool). All of that raises a lot more questions about the Doomsday–Secret Wars story and the X-Men cast’s return in them.

How Are the X-Men Being Utilized in the Secret Wars Story (& What Is It Treating As Canon?)

With the X-Men franchise undergoing its timeline reboot in X-Men: Days of Future Past, having a standalone finale of sorts in Logan that has since been retconned into Deadpool’s own timeline, and still having loose ends of continuity with Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants after Logan, bringing Fox’s X-Men cast back in Doomsday and Secret Wars could be the most TLDR-dependent aspect of both movies. Even the theoretical but likely-seeming return of Hugh Jackman is far easier to facilitate, with his Logan in Deadpool & Wolverine being a multiverse variant unconnected to the Fox X-Men franchise. Moreover, Deadpool’s carefree attitude and fourth-wall-breaking makes genuine concerns about continuity all but a moot point in Deadpool & Wolverine, an advantage that Doomsday and Secret Wars don’t have.

Perhaps the easiest way for the X-Men cast to return would be a similar mechanism as Jackman’s own return in Deadpool & Wolverine, presenting them as variants from another reality than the continuity-jumbled Fox-Marvelverse. That could even be a narrative asset, reuniting Jackman’s Wolverine with a surviving team of X-Men from another Earth and giving him one last ride with his found family. By the same token, Doomsday and Secret Wars might actually make an effort to parse the “McAvoy or Stewart” timeline issues with some kind of clarity in the Fox X-Men cast’s presence in the story. In any case, tampering with the fabric of the multiverse always opens a can of worms, and in the multiverse-spanning adventure of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, sorting out exactly which universe the X-Men hail from, what its timeline of events is, who its anchor being is, and why the TVA has left it alone might be the toughest nut for it to crack after the premature Fox-Marvel farewell in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Deadpool & Wolverine is available to stream on Disney+, and Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars will be released in theaters on December 18th, 2026 and December 17th, 2027.

The post Avengers: Doomsday Raises a Big Question About the X-Men appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The X-Men rose to prominence in the ’80s, with multiple books grabbing the attention of readers. The team was at a creative peak as well, with brilliant creators like Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Marc Silvestri, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Byrne, Paul Smith, and many others giving readers amazing stories. The X-Men were Marvel’s most complicated characters, and the success of the ’80s led the X-Men to some of their greatest stories ever. Then the ’90s happened. On the one hand, saleswise, the X-Men were at the height of their powers, easily beating every other Marvel and DC Comics on the stands. Creatively, things weren’t nearly as good, but this was the case for the vast majority of Marvel comics in the decade of extreme. The X-Men can be pretty overrated at times, and the ’90s are a perfect example of that — they were the bestselling books, but they weren’t always the best books.

However, that doesn’t meant there aren’t some great stories from the ’90s. The X-Men books had some amazing artists, and while some of the writers aren’t exactly beloved, they did a great job at times. Looking at the X-Men books in the ’90s, there are definitely some diamonds in the rough, stories that gave readers the kind of action they desired from the team. These ten X-Men stories are the best of the ’90s, and still stand up to this day.

10) “Onslaught”

“Onslaught” doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to superhero comics, but I’ve always felt the hatred for it was overstated. “Onslaught” is prime Marvel event cheese, a well crafted story that did everything that it promised it would do. Onslaught was a cool villain idea, and definitely presented a challenge for the heroes of the Marvel Universe. Onslaught taking over New York City and sending the Sentinels against the heroes made for some exciting stories, and the Uncanny X-Men and X-Men issues were especially good, as were the bookend issues. Seriously, go back and read Onslaught: X-Men #1 and Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. They are everything you could want out of Marvel event comics, and if you read the “Phases” issues (there were two type of chapters of “Onslaught” — the main issues were called “Phases” and the less important were called “Impacts”), you’re going to get a pretty good story.

9) “The X-Cutioner’s Song”

1992 was a bad year for the X-Men. Jim Lee, Whilce Potracio, Marc Silverstri, and Rob Liefeld left the X-Men office to found Image Comics. This was a massive blow, because the X-Men line had been built around them the moment that Chris Claremont left. However, Marvel had a plan and “X-Cutioner’s Song” was the cure for losing their biggest talents. Professor X is shot with a techno-organic virus by Cable, with the various X-Men teams scrambling to find the mutant soldier and X-Force. However, things are much more complicated than all of that, and by the time the smoke clears, the true identity of Stryfe is revealed and Apocalypse has come back. “X-Cutioner’s Song” is pure ’90s X-Men goodness, a well drawn story with some big shocking moments. It stands on the shoulders of giants to give readers a cool story, with some killer art from Andy Kubert, Brandon Peterson, Greg Capullo, and Jae Lee. It’s not the best written story, but it’s still a great ride.

8) “X-Tinction Agenda”

In a lot of ways, “X-Tinction Agenda” is the last gasp of the ’80s in the X-Men books despite releasing in 1990. The story saw former X-Factor ally Cameron Hodge team with the Magistrates of Genosha, along with a mind-controlled Havok, to attack the X-Men. The team, along with the New Mutants and X-Factor, jump into action, attacking Hodge in order to save their kidnapped teammates. This is an exciting X-Men story, closing out the Genosha plotlines, and has some amazing art from Jim Lee and John Bogdanove (Rob Liefeld was there too, but no one thinks his art is amazing anymore). Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson did a great job with this story, and it is one of the last great X-Men stories of the Claremont/Simonson era.

7) “Fatal Attractions”

“Fatal Attractions” is a huge turning point for the X-Men books in the ’90s. It brought back Magneto, thought dead since X-Men (Vol. 2) #3, as he prepared the world for his most devastating attack. Magneto begins trying to recruit mutants from around the world who are “worthy of Avalon”, his new space fortress. The X-Men and their allies at their lowest ebb following the death of Illyana Rasputin, and a high-level defection shocks the team. When Magneto paralyzes the world, the team springs into action, leading to one of the most important X-Men comics of the ’90s, X-Men (Vol. 2) #25. When it was all over, Magneto was mindwiped and Wolverine’s adamantium had been torn out his body. “Fatal Attractions” is pretty uneven — the only legitimately great chapters are Uncanny X-Men #304, X-Men (Vol. 2) #25, and Wolverine (Vol. 2) #75 — but those three chapters are pretty amazing, all things told. Plus, it’s one of the most important stories of the ’90s. It changed the X-Men and Marvel’s most popular hero of the ’90s for years to come.

6) “Children of the Atom”

After Claremont and Simonson left the X-Men books, the writing wasn’t the best (well, except for Wolverine (Vol. 2), which had the best writers of the X-books throughout the decade). This lasted until the later stages of the decade, when Marvel got Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle to write X-Men and Uncanny X-Men respectively. I recommend their entire run, but we’re going to focus on two stories on this list. The first of them is “Children of the Atom”, running through Uncanny X-Men #360 and X-Men #80. It kicks off with Charles Xavier, who hadn’t been seen since “Operation: Zero Tolerance”, recruiting a new team of X-Men to battle the main team. That’s pretty much the whole of the story, as the two teams of X-Men clash, resulting in a battle at the site of the X-Men’s first fight with Magneto at Cape Citadel. This story has it all — great characterization, excellent action, and gorgeous art from Chris Bachalo and Brandon Peterson. It’s a simple story, but it’s the best of the best.

Read Next

New X-Men Is the Greatest X-Men Run of the 21st Century

5) X-Men (Vol. 2) #53

Mark Waid had a very short run on X-Men (Vol. 2), leaving the book because of clashes with writer Scott Lobdell. His six issue run is pretty cool in general, and the best issue is X-Men (Vol. 2) #53, by Waid and Andy Kubert. Jean Grey is pulled to the Astral Plane by Onslaught, where the two of them verbally spar, as Onslaught tries to convince Jean Grey that Professor X isn’t everything she thought he was. There’s no big action in this issue, just some really cool moments between Onslaught and the patron saint of the X-Men. The art is in his issue is amazing, and is easily among the best work Kubert did on the title. This issue was so hype back in the day, as it was the first time we actually saw Onslaught, but even without all of that hype, this is still a pretty great comic.

4) “Magneto War”

“Magneto War” ran through X-Men: Magneto War #1, Uncanny X-Men #366-367, and X-Men #86-87, by Alan Davis, Fabian Nicieza, and Leinil Yu. Magneto returns, deciding to hold the world hostage by threatening to reverse the magnetic poles of the Earth. The X-Men spring into action, but they’re not the only ones, as an enemy from Magneto’s past employs Joseph to destroy the Master of Magnetism. This story kicked off Alan Davis’s sometimes maligned run as writer of Uncanny X-Men/X-Men (I’ve always enjoyed it, personally, and definitely recommend it). Davis had to tie up a lot of loose ends established over the ’90s, and this story gave readers the truth about Joseph. All in all, it’s definitely an excellent story, giving readers all of the great stuff that X-Men fans love.

3) Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #268

Chris Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men was winding down by the time the ’90s began, both in length and quality (X-Men group editor Bob Harras was pushing the artist’s ideas over Claremont’s own, so not every story was the best), but there are some great stories from this time. One of the best, and most legendary, is Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #268, where Claremont and artist Jim Lee teamed up to tell the story of Wolverine’s first meeting with Black Widow and Captain America. This is one of those classic stories, as it fleshed out the pasts of three of Marvel’s most important characters. It’s all-around excellent, giving readers action, adventure, and some of the best Jim Lee art of his time on Uncanny X-Men.

2) “The Hunt for Xavier”

Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle’s run on the X-books does not get nearly enough credit for just how great it is, and “The Hunt for Xavier” is a perfect example of why, which ran through Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #362-364 and X-Men (Vol. 2) #82-84. The X-Men finally get some clues on where Xavier is, and find themselves facing their greatest challenge yet — the sentient Cerebro, who is also hunting down Professor X. What follows is an action packed epic, as the X-Men have to face an enemy who knows all of their weaknesses. This is peak ’90s X-Men starring the best roster of X-Men of the decade (yes, better than the Blue Team). The art by Chris Bachalo, Adam Kubert, Leinil Yu, and Pascual Ferry is excellent, bringing this mini epic to life brilliantly. This is a vastly underrated story, and every X-Men fan owes it to themself to check it out.

1) X-Men (Vol. 2) #1-3

Chris Claremont and Jim Lee’s final X-Men story together is easily the best X-Men story of the ’90s. It introduced fans to the Blue/Gold Team split, debuted the Acolytes, and made Magneto into the X-Men’s greatest enemy again, instead of his place as an ally of the team, which Claremont had developed since the ’80s. This story made millions of people X-Men fans, and remains highly ranked among X-Men stories. It can be a tad overrated at times, but it’s still a near perfect story to hand to any new fan of the team, even over thirty years later. It contains probably the best X-Men/Magneto fight of all time, and Lee’s art is the best of his decades spanning career.

What are your favorite ’90s X-Men stories? Sound off in the comments below.

The post 10 Best X-Men Stories of the ‘90s, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel Studios has teased the existence of Mephisto in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for several years, and the demonic supervillain might finally be ready to make his debut. Inspired by Mephistopheles, a demonic character from Faust legend, Mephisto made his first appearance in Marvel Comics back in 1968’s Silver Surfer #3. Since then, he has become one of the most prominent, threatening, dangerous, and powerful supervillains, facing the likes of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, the Scarlet Witch, and many more, perfectly priming him for a new live-action makeover.

Mephisto was previously played by Peter Fonda in 2007’s Ghost Rider, and then by Ciarán Hinds in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, but he is yet to make his MCU debut. Despite not yet making a physical appearance, there have been several hints, teases, and references regarding Mephisto in the MCU, dating all the way back to 2012’s The Avengers. This has picked up in recent years as Mephisto seems ready to finally debut in the MCU, with speculation suggesting he’ll pop up in Ironheart’s upcoming episodes, and perhaps even in his own Special Presentation.

6) Mephisto’s Name Was Glimpsed Back in 2012’s The Avengers

2012’s The Avengers was the first MCU project to mention Mephisto, though this was only in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, non-explicit moment. Mephisto’s name appears in a file on the Tesseract that Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) hands to Steve Rogers’ Captain America (Chris Evans). While Rogers’ finger blocks most of the paragraph, the file seems to suggest that Mephisto was a consultant for SHIELD during the organization’s investigation of the Space Stone. Mephisto had dealings with the Infinity Stones in Marvel Comics, so this makes sense, but it seems this detail has since been retconned or ignored out of existence.

5) WandaVision Included a Lot of Devil Imagery

Mephisto debut theories were rife during WandaVision’s release on Disney+ in 2021. Aside from Agatha Harkness’ (Kathryn Hahn) suggestion that “in the details” isn’t the only place that the “Devil” resides, surely hinting at Mephisto, the appearance of Billy and Tommy Maximoff also connects back to Mephisto. In the comics, the Maximoff twins were magically created by the Scarlet Witch using pieces of Mephisto’s soul. The fake Pietro Maximoff (Evan Peters) also referred to the twins as “Demon Spawn,” spurring countless theories – but Mephisto never actually made a physical appearance in the Phase 4 series.

4) Loki Teased a Devil in the Window

Loki’s premiere in 2021, “Glorious Purpose,” saw Time Variance Authority analyst Mobius (Owen Wilson) clearing up a disturbance on the Sacred Timeline in a French church in the 1500s. One of the church’s stained-glass windows depicted a devil-like figure with a blue tongue that many attributed to be Mephisto. “It’s honestly just a super weird coincidence,” Loki director Kate Herron confirmed during a 2021 interview with ET Online, however. “Like, it’s genuinely a reference to Loki – the horns, he was cast out of heaven, that’s what it’s a reference to… it’s not a nod to [Mephisto].”

3) Madisynn Might Have Crossed Paths With Mephisto in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Madisynn King (Patty Guggenheim) was a fan-favorite addition to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s cast, especially because of her unlikely friendship with Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong). During her first appearance alongside Donny Blaze (Rhys Coiro), Madisynn was sent to a hell-like dimension through a portal, where she struck a deal with a demonic goat named “Jake.” Theories have suggested that Jake may be connected to Mephisto, perhaps residing in his hell dimension, or even being the villain himself in disguise, but Marvel Studios hasn’t yet confirmed this.

2) Jennifer Kale Name-Dropped Mephisto in Agatha All Along

While discussing the fate of Agatha Harkness’ son with Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke) in Agatha All Along episode 3, “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials,” Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) name-dropped Mephisto. This was the first actual mention of Mephisto by name in the MCU, confirming the supervillain does, indeed, exist. Kale’s comment also implies that there are already “Agents of Mephisto” running round, which creates some exciting possibilities for upcoming Marvel projects. While Scratch is not an Agent of Mephisto, it’s good to finally hear his name in the MCU.

1) Ironheart’s First Three Episodes Clearly Set Up Mephisto’s MCU Debut

The latest MCU series to release is Ironheart, which debuted with its first three episodes on June 24, 2025. Ironheart has long been rumored to be including Mephisto’s first appearance in the MCU – expected to take place in the last three episodes, releasing on July 1, 2025. Ironheart’s first three episodes have already teased the demon many times, most notably with the debut of Parker Robbins’ Hood (Anthony Ramos), who seems to have struck a deal with Mephisto, who he hears through disembodied voices and strange visions, to become a superpowered criminal.

Read Next

Ironheart Official Episode Guide Teases the Arrival of One of Marvel’s Best Characters

In Ironheart’s premiere, the Hood exclaims, “Holy Hell,” when Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) first flies into Chicago in her Ironheart suit. Several other mentions, including Riri’s mother (Anji White) stating, “Get behind me, Satan,” when NATALIE (Lyric Ross) appears on her painting, Robbins suggested “He” did something to turn him into the Hood, and Clown (Sonia Denis) questioning whether Robbins “wrestled [the Hood] off a demon,” all also hint at Mephisto and demonic imagery. This was also seen in the music choice, as Nina Simone’s version of “Sinnerman” from 1965 repeats the lyric, “Go to the Devil.”

Posters painted with the word “Faust” can be seen behind Riri while she’s speaking to the NATALIE artificial intelligence, with some figures that sport horns – clearly reminiscent of Mephisto. The demon’s voice also repeatedly appears throughout these first episodes, at one time asking, “What is it you most desire?” – a classic Mephisto move, while Robbins also sees hallucinatory visions of his partner in crime, John (Manny Montana), dying, and of Riri Williams. There’s little doubt Mephisto will finally appear in Ironheart’s upcoming episodes, and could have a very bright future in many future MCU stories.

Do you want to see Mephisto in the MCU after all these years? Let us know in the comments!

The post Every MCU Tease Of Mephisto (& All The Fake-Outs) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Predator is enjoying a resurgence in popularity after the release of Prey, its animated follow-up, Predator: Killer of Killers, and the future release of Predator: Badlands. But this triumphant return for the movie monster isn’t just relegated to the screen. The intergalactic hunters have made a return to the comics page, too, with Marvel. The latest additions to the long-running Predator and Alien crossover stories feature the alien hunting the likes of Wolverine, Black Panther, and soon enough, the entire Marvel Universe. These latest additions to the Predator legend join several others since the early ’90s that have garnered attention and delivered some fun stories.

While several classic characters from outside Marvel and DC Comics have had run-ins with the Yautja hunters, like Judge Dredd, Tarzan, and Archie, the big two’s heroes grab more eyeballs.

With the impending release of Predator Kills the Marvel Universe, we thought we’d take a stroll down memory lane and rank the best of these big two crossovers. Some of these choices shouldn’t be a surprise, including the top pick, but all of them are worth your time. Scroll down to see our choices and add them to your own list.

1) Batman vs. Predator

The original superhero crossover with the titular alien hunter was this award-winning tale from Dave Gibbons and the Kubert Brothers, Andy and Adam. It plays out a lot like Predator 2 on the big screen, with Batman in the Danny Glover role, investigating slayings by the Predator while trying to defuse a mob war.

After tussling and almost dying, Batman returns to lick his wounds and heal in the Batcave. This gives the Predator more time to run amok until Batman is out of a full-body cast and into a sonar exoskeleton to increase his strength and counter his temporary blindness. Batman battles the alien and seemingly beats it as a ship carrying other aliens arrives. Tops the list for the art alone, but it’s not a terrible story. That’s a strength shared by the second entry in the list.

2) Predator vs. Wolverine

How it took until 2023 for Wolverine to face the Predator is a big mystery. The matchup is a total win on paper that could easily have the same type of trilogy Batman ends up having. The story certainly spans enough time for Logan to fill three series, starting in 1900 in Alaska and continuing to modern-day in Canada. All aspects of Wolverine’s history come into play, with the Yautja hunting him across the decades, covering his time with Weapon X, the moment his skeleton is coated with adamantium, his time in Japan, and finally an encounter at the X-Mansion that almost leaves Professor X dead.

The 100-year showdown is brutal top to bottom, with Logan taking a beating and continuing. It ends with the Predator realizing he is outmatched, finally using his wrist bomb to take out Logan. This fails, of course, and we’re left waiting for what’s next.

3) JLA vs. Predator

To pit the Predator against the Justice League, DC Comics had to take a few extra steps to make the battle more even. When the Dominators capture the league during a space mission, a group of Predators who have been monitoring things attack and are later given powers similar to the League’s, which forces the heroes to go through some hoops to defeat the super-powered hunters.

The whole story could seem silly at times, but in the end, it is an interesting twist on the concept we’ve seen play out daily. Giving the Predator super-powers, evening the showdown a bit, is worth it to open things up to the imagination. It also fits in with other similar crossovers.

4) Batman vs. Predator II: Bloodmatch

This and the original Batman vs. Predator held an interesting place for your young author, who was just trying to find his way through the world. Where the original showdown was a stylish, simple story that hit on all cylinders, its sequel was lacking. Where the first story just pitted Batman against the hunter, this becomes a super-sized showdown where Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Huntress, and a bunch of mobsters do their best to contend with a murderous Yautja. On the other side, we have other Predator aliens that are opposing the main baddie, causing some confusion for Batman.

In the end, the murderous Yautja is killed by his species while trying to escape Earth in their ship. The pursuing ship is killed in the process, though, so it’s unclear exactly what will happen next. It’s also supremely violent for a Batman comic, which is fine.

5) Superman vs. Predator

Pitting Superman against anybody can be a chore given his superpowers. So when he stumbles upon a ship in the Central American jungle, he joins with S.T.A.R. Labs to investigate. After an alien virus does a number on him, he realizes his powers have been affected by the disease. Not only does this give us an excuse to bring the Predator in for a fight, but it also makes the showdown somewhat even. If Superman had his powers, this would be a short fight. As it stands, the series dropped with three issues back in 2000.

6) Predator vs. Black Panther

Returning to the Marvel Universe for a bit, we get the Predator invading Wakanda for its Vibranium store. Benjamin Percy has been a prime voice to bring these crossovers to the page, with each seeming to take a different route than previous groups when it comes to some of the showdowns. Where Wolverine gives the Predator a classic showdown, the Predator gets a little bit of a new directive in this hunt against Black Panther.

The main goal this time seems to be the Predator’s desire to get his people’s hands on vibranium and competition with opposing factions. T’Challa gets to show why he’s the king of Wakanda, while Shuri also shows that she can be scary when pressed, fighting the invaders. It’s damn cool and a nice companion to the classic storyline delivered with Wolveirne.

7) Predator vs. Spider-Man

The current Marvel crossover featuring Spider-Man and the titular alien hunter gives fans one of the more sadistic villains in the form of Skinner. Unlike past versions of the Predator, Skinner is a sadistic type who only seeks to inflict pain and has abandoned the clan’s honorable side to just kill and maim.

It’s all the stuff you would expect to oppose Spider-Man, who doesn’t seem like a rube waiting to be picked on by school bullies or large alien hunters. Even if it seems like he outclasses the Yautja with his powers, the battle is still fierce and requires Kraven the Hunter to return.

8) Batman vs. Predator III: Blood Ties

The third entry in the Batman vs. Predator series and the unofficial rubber match for the movie monster and the Caped Crusader. This time, Robin is along for the ride, as well as a few villains like Catwoman and Mr. Freeze. The latter’s temperature control saves his life, while Batman puts his freeze gun to good use elsewhere. It’s Batman’s actions and the way he carries himself that put this showdown to bed, with Batman blasting the creature with Freeze’s freeze gun.

Agree with our picks? Have another special story you’d like to see play out on the big screen? Let us know in the comments.

The post Best Predator Crossovers With Marvel and DC Heroes appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Thor is one of Marvel’s most storied characters, having starred in multiple books and movies since his debut over 60 years ago. Thor currently stars in Immortal Thor, a name that proved to be a misnomer, since Thor dies in it. Immortal Thor has hewed much closer to Thor’s mythological roots, and writer Al Ewing promises changes to Thor in the next phase of his story with the character. Immortal Thor has been the most inventive Thor comic in ages, and has been very good, but there’s also something that feels rather stagnant about the whole thing. It’s nowhere near a bad comic, but it’s honestly been kind of predictable, and I’m not talking about the death of Thor, which the comic presaged in its opening issues.

If we’re being honest, Thor has been in a rut for a long time. As a solo character, it feels like Thor stories all sort of tread the same ground, and despite the quality of Immortal Thor, the series just feels like more of the same. Thor has become a stagnant character and there needs to be a big change. Marvel fans love Thor; he’s one of the most fun Avengers to read about, and his solo adventures have often taken fans to some amazing places. His fights are always fun to see, and he serves an important role in the Marvel Universe. However, none of that has kept him from falling into the rut he’s in. Can Marvel make Thor feel fresh again? The answer is yes, and the solution can be found in classic Marvel comics.

Thor Is a Much More Versatile Character than He Gets Credit For

Thor was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (well, created is the wrong word, but you get the drift) in Journey Into Mystery #83. One of the things you have to remember about the early Marvel Universe, as well as superhero comics in general, during the Silver Age is how much sci-fi was part of the formula. While Marvel’s Thor definitely had mythological roots, the Asgard of Jack Kirby was a futuristic paradise, and the clothes of the gods who lived there looked more like something out of a sci-fi story than the more traditional garb they wear nowadays. The original Thor stories weren’t the myth-influenced stories we’ve mostly been getting for decades now, but the kind of sci-fi stories that Kirby was known for. Kirby liked to write and draw gods for the modern day — look at his work at DC on the New Gods and the Eternals when he returned to Marvel in the ’70s — and his Thor stories all had that same taste of sci-fi to them. Kirby’s Asgard was a techno-mythological wonderland, where the gods of old used their power and brilliance to create a world unlike the one in the Edda sagas of Iceland. Over the years, the sci-fi influence of Kirby faded, and readers started to get stories that were influenced by the Norse myths than Kirby’s love of techno-gods.

Read Next

Everything We Know About Thor Is Changing (& It Could Have Huge Impact the Marvel Universe)

Asgard went from a futuristic Golden City to one that would be more recognizable to mythology scholars. I remember when it was announced that the MCU would make the Asgardians into aliens, and a lot of fans lost their minds. However, one of the things I loved about the Asgard of the MCU is the way that it echoed the Asgard of Kirby. The MCU captured the sci-fi flavor of Thor that the comics had left behind. I love Walt Simonson’s Thor and many of the runs that took inspiration from it, but they’ve placed Thor into a restrictive environment. Thor is an amazing cosmic character, and just keeping him around Asgard and Earth is wasting the character. There used to be a time when Thor went into space and fought the Silver Surfer. He battled Thanos and the Celestials on their home turf. He was more than just the guy who spoke Shakespearean English and constantly had to deal with the drama of his family. He was more than the King of Asgard. He was a god for the modern age, not one for the feudal age.

As In All Things Comics, Kirby Is the Answer

I loved the fact that Immortal Thor felt like an actual mythological story. While many creators go for half measures, Ewing went all the way and it was sensational. However, as good as the book is, it’s just the same kind of Thor story we’ve been getting for a long time. The last time Thor was great, it was when we had Jane Foster as Thor, and it worked so well because it was a different Thor. The Odinson can still have that kind of energy, and the answer is by doing what Kirby did.

Jack Kirby understood that sci-fi and mythology are two sides of the same coin, and he treated Thor as such. Those old Thor stories are amazing, because they found a way to be ancient and modern. We need more of that from Thor. Thor is sometimes thought of the Superman of the Marvel Universe (not counting the many Superman analogues in the Marvel Universe), and Superman stories go in all sorts of directions. It’s time to get back to Thor doing that. Leave Asgard and the Norse stuff alone for a while. Thor is bigger than all of that, and can work in any kind of story. Creators just need to embrace the creative energy that brought us the character in the first place.

Do you want Thor to evolve? Sound off in the comments below.

The post I Hope Marvel Finally Does Something to Evolve Thor as a Character appeared first on ComicBook.com.

There are plenty of impressive feats in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Just when it looks like Thanos is going to finish off Thor, Captain America proves himself worthy by wielding Mjolnir and saving his friend. The God of Thunder also gets a chance to show off when he holds open the forge on Nidavellir to help create Stormbreaker, a weapon he later uses to do serious damage to the Mad Titan. As great as those moments are, though, there’s one that usurps them, and it doesn’t even happen on the big screen. No, the MCU’s most impressive accomplishment comes in the second season of Disney+’s Loki.

The multiverse is in grave danger in Loki Season 2, so the God of Mischief seeks out a variant of He Who Remains to help. They plan to repair the Temporal Loom that protects the Sacred Timeline, but things go off the rails pretty quickly. Loki must make the difficult decision to venture out to the End of Time by himself and hold the branches of the multiverse together. However, while it’s great that the Asgardian finally finds his glorious purpose in his solo series, he’s not the only MCU character up for the challenge.

1) Hela

Loki has to put his durability to the test to survive the End of Time, and it’s not a journey just anyone could survive. His fellow Asgardians can endure just as much as he can, though, and his sister, Hela, proves more formidable than most. It also helps her case that her mastery of sorcery would come in handy in a situation that calls for an influx of energy.

2) Frigga

Frigga has everything going for her that her son Loki does, but she has one advantage: she taught him everything he knows. With endless amounts of Asgardian knowledge in her mind, she’s sure to have a trick up her sleeve that makes her visit to the End of Time agreeable. Frigga just has to hope there aren’t any Dark Elves around who want to fight.

3) Captain Marvel

While the first non-Asgardian on this list doesn’t have any experience with magic, she knows a lot about energy. Carol Danvers gains powers from the Tesseract and immediately becomes one of the MCU’s strongest characters. Her ability to manipulate cosmic energy makes her the perfect candidate to recharge the multiverse branches without having trouble holding them together.

4) Ancient One

Doctor Strange proves himself to be a great Master of the Mystic Arts, helping defeat heavyweights like Thanos and Dormammu. However, he’s still not at the level of the Ancient One, who protects the Sacred Timeline on countless occasions. She proves in Avengers: Endgame that she’s well aware of the multiverse, so there’s no doubt she would step up to the plate if called upon.

Read Next

10 Best Fighters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

5) Starfox

Starfox hasn’t shown off his abilities in the MCU, but if he’s anything like his comic book counterpart, holding together the multiverse would be another Tuesday for him. Thanos’ brother has incredible durability, and the ability to manipulate energy is also on his baseball card. While Loki and Starfox are unlikely to cross paths, if the God of Mischief needed a breather, there are worse options than the Eternal.

6) Adam Warlock

The Sovereign creates a being to get revenge on the Guardians of the Galaxy with the help of the High Evolutionary. They get more than they bargained for with Adam Warlock, though, as he has no trouble beating the Guardians to a pulp. Once he comes around, he shows off some impressive skills that would come in handy at the End of Time, including incredible strength and energy manipulation.

7) Thor

There can’t be a list about Loki without his brother appearing somewhere. While Thor doesn’t have the God of Mischief’s magical prowess, there’s no one better at producing energy. Thor could grab the multiverse branches without breaking a sweat, with the only potential hiccup being that they get a little scorched by the time he gets to the thrones.

Loki is streaming on Disney+.

Do you think the characters on this list could hold the multiverse together? What other MCU heroes or villains have a shot at achieving the feat? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 7 MCU Characters That Could Hold the Multiverse Together Like Loki appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Hulk is the strongest one there is, and he smashes any and all who stand in his way. Be they man, monster, or celestial being, the Incredible Hulk will always find a way to be strong enough to bring them down. This even extends to when he battles against actual gods, which has been shown plenty of times during his clashes with Thor and Hercules. Sometimes, however, the Hulk shows us not just that he can go toe to toe with the strongest in the multiverse, but reminds us exactly what being the strongest there is means. Hulk’s power goes beyond normal strength, and when he cuts loose, he demonstrates feats equivalent to just about any god out there. Here are five times that the Hulk’s unfathomable strength made him practically indistinguishable from a god.

1) Shook the Multiverse with A Punch

The U-Foes are some of the Hulk’s most classic foes. The team was a group of power-hungry friends that sought to recreate the spaceflight that gave the Fantastic Four their powers. Bruce Banner attempted to avert this launch, which made the U-Foes swear eternal vengeance on Puny Banner and his green alter ego. In The Incredible Hulk #304, the Hulk was transported to a different dimension by Doctor Strange, where he encountered the U-Foes once again. Ironclad, the member with the ability to control his own density and with strength that rivaled the Hulk’s, immediately rushed him. The two heavyweights clashed, and the force of their blows reverberated across every single dimension. The Hulk had assistance with this feat, but the strength required to send a shockwave across literally infinite dimensions is unfathomable, and definitely shows just how strong these two monsters are.

2) Ripped Apart the Cosmos with a Clap

The Incredible Hulk #126 sees the Hulk once again transported to a different dimension against his will, which seems to happen to the hero an awful lot. This time, he was transported by a group of cultists, who wanted the Hulk to fight the villain Night-Crawler, unrelated to the heroic mutant. The two had a long, drawn out fight that finally ended when Night-Crawler launched a sonic blast at the Jade Giant, which he deflected with a clap. Except the Hulk didn’t just deflect the sonic attack, the force of his thunderous boom tore apart the very cosmos around them, leaving only the rock they stood on. And he did all of that on accident, not knowing his own strength! 

Read Next

Hulk’s Newest Role in the Marvel Universe Will Surprise You

3) World Breaker Hulk

The World War Hulk storyline was the result of Marvel’s own group of morally grey and way too smart heroes, the Illuminati, jettisoning the Hulk into space because they felt he was too dangerous to let live on Earth. Long story short, he wound up taking over a gladiator-style planet and launching a revenge-fueled invasion of Earth after his ship exploded and killed his wife. Hulk tore through some of Marvel’s strongest heroes with ease that even he never showed before. He crippled Doctor Stranges’s hands, sent the unstoppable Juggernaut flying, and went blow for blow with the Sentry. At the end, however, he learned that his friend and servant Miek allowed the ship to explode to reignite the Hulk’s rage to conquer and destroy. The Hulk was angrier than he’d ever been before, radiating pure gamma energy, and with a single step sent an earthquake across the entire United States. He screamed for Iron Man to take him down before his rage destroyed the world, and he did, but the Hulk very nearly tore a continent apart with a step. If he had thrown a punch, I can’t imagine the destruction that’d been left behind.

4) Punched Through Time

Most of the Hulk’s life is people throwing him around to do whatever it is they want, I’m noticing, which is definitely enough to make anybody mad. The Incredible Hulk #135 saw Kang the Conquerer get in on this action. Wanting to go back in time and finally destroy the Avengers for good, Kang attempted to travel far into the past, only to find himself repelled by a storm in the timestream. Undeterred, Kang realized he only needed someone with enough power to smash through the storm, and there’s no one better at smashing than the Incredible Hulk. Kang convinced Hulk that doing what he said would help rid himself of Puny Banner for good, and the green behemoth agreed without hesitation. Kang launched the Hulk into the timestream, right before the raging storm, but unlike the would-be conqueror, Hulk punched his way through the blockade with next to no effort. Everyone talks about the absurdity of Superboy-Prime punching reality, but nobody acknowledges equally insane feats like the Hulk punching through time. It’s not as insane as the retcon punch, but he did literally punch time so hard it let him through! That deserves some kudos.

5) The Hulk Below All

All of these anecdotes have covered times when the Hulk has shown power similar to that of a god, but this is the time when the Hulk was actually God. The being that rules the entirety of Marvel Comics is the One Above All, their version of God, but while He is pure love and the spirit of heroism, He is not without rage. The Immortal Hulk storyline showed us a thankfully averted timeline where the very manifestation of the One Above All’s rage, the One Below All, merged with the Hulk to bring an end to all of existence. The Hulk was His avatar, the mortal shell that allowed Him to wreck His rage across the endless cosmos that He created with His own hands. The One Below All is the One Above All’s very own Hulk, and thus our loveable green Hulk was chosen to be His hand of hatred. The Hulk was quite literally God and brought an end to everything. This is without a doubt his strongest form of all time, and the time when he smashed more than anyone or anything ever.

So there we have four times when the Incredible Hulk was basically everything but a god, and one time when he actually was one. If this list proves anything, it’s that Hulk is not someone that you ever want to be on the bad side of. Which of these moments was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 5 Times The Hulk Was Basically A God appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Doctor Doom has decided that if the Avengers won’t bend to his will, then he’ll need his own version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. That’s how we wound up with the Superior Avengers, a group of mysterious characters from the future who all borrow the monikers of established villains. There is a greater mystery behind these “heroes” that continues to play out in Superior Avengers, but what fans have really wanted to see is what happens when the impostor Avengers meet the real deal. That highly anticipated matchup is finally happening; the only question is who will walk away alive. WARNING: Spoilers for Superior Avengers #3 below.

Superior Avengers #3 is by Steve Foxe, Luca Maresca, Mattia Iacono, Kyle Hotz, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Cory Petit. It picks up in the bedroom of Doctor Doom’s son, Kristoff Vernard, who just had a sexual tryst with the leader of the Superior Avengers, Killmonger. She has a complicated history with Victor Von Doom, whom the Superior Avengers blame for ruining their future. While they pretend to serve Doom, the Superior Avengers are secretly working to assassinate him for ruining their world in the future.

Kristoff and Killmonger are interrupted by Doctor Octopus, who says that Graviton has escaped from the Raft. The Superior Avengers head off to Detroit to detain Graviton, but the real Avengers are already on the scene.

The Avengers vs. Superior Avengers: Who Will Win?

Graviton boasts that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves since it’s taking two Avengers teams to defeat him. Captain Marvel says this isn’t going to be one of those times where the heroes fight each other while the bad guy gets away. Killmonger counters that they’re taking Graviton back to Latveria with them, but there’s enough room in Doom’s dungeons for anyone who opposes his rule.

With that setup, we see the two teams square off. Scarlet Witch matches up with Onslaught, and she takes offense to this person wearing Magneto’s helmet in front of her. Onslaught says that while Scarlet Witch doesn’t know them, it was her family that sealed mutantkind’s fate. She retaliates by literally ripping Onslaught in half.

Read Next

10 Best Avengers Stories of All Time

Sam Wilson’s Captain America faces Abomination, and the villain’s green armor and shield bring back bad memories of Secret Empire‘s Hydra Cap. Captain Marvel attempts to help Iron Man stop Graviton, but she’s interrupted by an attacking Killmonger. Their scuffle is where we learn Killmonger carries an Adamantium blade that was meant for the Black Panther. Vision rushes to aid Iron Man, but his sensors are picking up an anomaly with Abomination. When Vision is confronted by Ghost, his eye rays blast a hole through her. Visions says he didn’t intend to mortally harm her, and his blast wasn’t calibrated to deal a lethal blow. However, that doesn’t take away from the gaping hole in Ghost.

“As for deciding the roster, one of the first characters I landed on was a new female Killmonger, who I thought had a lot of potential to introduce a new dynamic to that legacy—and maybe even go toe to toe with a certain princess,” Superior Avengers writer Steve Foxe told ComicBook ahead of the title’s launch.

He continued, “My hope was to subvert expectations with some of these names, and to surprise readers with what they actually get when they hear ‘Abomination’ or ‘Onslaught.’ I don’t want to spoil too much about any of them, but exploring their unique voices has been a huge chunk of the fun on the book, especially since Luca knocked all of their designs out of the park, pretty much on the first try.”

I’d say expectations were definitely subverted. Readers still don’t know the real reason why the Superior Avengers want Doctor Doom dead, or why they’re pretending to be on his side. Also, are Onslaught and Ghost dead, or are the Avengers being tricked? My money is on this being a ploy by the Superior Avengers, but you never know.

The post Doctor Doom’s Avengers Finally Clash With the Real Avengers, and There’s Some Major Deaths appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the bar had been raised for Marvel Cinematic Universe movie trailers. Previous trailers for the studio’s works (save for that excellent Iron Man teaser) had largely been competent, but not exactly super memorable works in editing and song choices. Even 2012’s mega-hit The Avengers featured more routine trailers compared to other, weaker blockbusters of the same year, such as Prometheus. With Guardians of the Galaxy, though, multiple trailers and posters rife with personality had preceded the feature’s extraordinary box office run.

With these trailers, the pressure was on for whatever Marvel Cinematic Universe feature dared to go next. Normal trailers wouldn’t do in this brand-new world. Luckily, Avengers: Age of Ultron was just around the corner, and its initial teaser trailer remains one of the greatest Marvel trailers in history.

What’s in the Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer?

In October 2014, when the Age of Ultron teaser debuted, the mechanical villain Ultron was not a household name. Yet the Disney/Marvel Studios marketing team decided to go all in on this baddie, as the film’s teaser immediately began with James Spader’s Ultron delivering a menacing monologue. Ominous imagery of people screaming and mechanical arms reaching up while drenched in goo began to fill the screen. Then, a ramshackle Ultron clone emerges from the darkness to confront the familiar Avengers. All the while, Spader’s eerie vocals keep solidifying to viewers why this new Avengers villain is worth keeping an eye on.

Once the Marvel Studios logo hits the screen, the teaser launches into a cover of the Pinocchio song “I’ve Got No Strings” sung by a children’s choir. Though doing this kind of thing was already a bit of a trailer cliche at this point in 2014, the ominous take on a famous Disney tune still worked like gangbusters in suggesting how truly distorted the world was under Ultron. Even reliably peppy Disney tunes can become creepy. The rest of the teaser played with such uncomfortable alterations of the status quo, including showing Thor screaming in agony, that same God of Thunder grabbing Tony Stark by the neck, and other displays of the Avengers no longer being assembled.

Rarely in the history of MCU marketing materials has a trailer for a Marvel Studios title been this grim. There are no jokes to punctuate the atmosphere (though the second Age of Ultron trailer would feature some of the final film’s many gags), and the teaser eventually ramped up the volume of both cover song and Ultron’s vocals, sealing a downright apocalyptic tone to the teaser. The final shot of the teaser is Ultron, in his final robotic form, peering down at an off-screen target while murmuring, “There are no strings on me,” before the title card comes up. A fantastic grim conclusion to a strikingly haunting teaser.

Read Next

The 7 Worst Marvel Cinematic Universe Trailers

Why Else Is the Age of Ultron Teaser Noteworthy?

In the years since the Age of Ultron teaser premiered, both its central needle drop and Spader’s eerie voice work have become legendary. However, what the teaser doesn’t get enough credit for is lending grandioseness and even an apocalyptic air to certain Age of Ultron moments that play as zippier or artificial in the final cut. Bruce Banner scrambling in the winter woods after leaving his Hulk form, a side-view of a Hydra tank barging into new terrain, or Clint Barton darting between trees exude a grim atmosphere with this teaser’s editing and music choices.

Similarly, shots of Steve Rogers kicking open a door in a Hydra base and looking down in horror suggest shocking discoveries and grim expansions of the original Avengers that didn’t quite occur in the final film. Age of Ultron has plenty of charms and some truly great sequences, but it’s also a messy movie trying to do too much. That doesn’t just mean certain Age of Ultron teaser moments are better here than in the final cut. The whole teaser, in fact, has a tonal cohesion that Ultron itself lacked across its 141-minute run time.

Even the confidence in not undercutting the end-of-days vibes with humor has become easier to appreciate in the years since this teaser debuted. Subsequent MCU productions like the Black Widow post-credit scene struggled to balance drama with humor, so the full-throttle commitment to a uniquely despair-drenched atmosphere is welcome. Being the first MCU trailer after the outstanding Guardians of the Galaxy trailers wasn’t an easy ask. However, the Age of Ultron teaser lived up to the challenge and then some, in the process becoming one of the best Marvel trailers ever.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is now streaming on Disney+.

The post This Avengers Trailer Is Still One of Marvel’s Best of All Time appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Death is a fixture of superhero comics. Once a taboo subject that would lead to compelling stories, the deaths of both major and minor characters have become par for the course. With fans making bets for how long it’ll take for the dearly departed to return, death has become a largely a normalized plot device. While very seldom the death of superheroes stick, some characters return quicker than others much to the dismay of a lot of readers wanting a lasting impact with repercussions. Whether it was for a decade or as little as a few months, there are characters we all knew from the outset simply wouldn’t stay dead.

Becoming popularized by the infamous “The Death of Superman” storyline, many characters would follow suit with their own “Death of” titles. Whether it’s for an upcoming storyline or for a sales boost, the tactic has overstayed its welcome as a plot device and here are six instances of big deaths that we knew wouldn’t last.

1) Superman

Starting off strong with the one that kickstarted the trend, “The Death of Superman” was one of DC’s biggest storylines of the 90’s. This is the best story on the list and it makes sense why. Introducing a new extreme threat for the Man of Steel to stop and die in the process of doing so gave DC a huge hit. Being in the speculator market era with various polybagged covers, it was a huge event to sell to everyone with one drawback: did anyone actually think he was gone for good? It would be insane to kill him off for good.

With weird happenings all over Metropolis and the Fortress of Solitude, the writing was on the wall. Follow that with the emergence of four replacement “supermen”, the real was bound to return and he would. In hindsight seeing the sales boost from this it’s no wonder they followed suit with “Knightfall” over in Batman despite not killing him. This story however works for Superman and Superman only while everything other major hero death since has felt cheap for the most part.

2) Batman

In the events of Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis event, Batman was seemingly killed by Darkseid in issue #6. The death was a bit of an outlier as, for a moment, It did seem possible that Batman really had perished but somehow Batman would survive. Instead of striking Batman with his omega beams, Darkseid instead used the omega sanction which sent him back through time.He also created a clone of Batman and the charred remains were the skeleton the audience saw making people believe the hero was dead. But, this is Batman, one of the biggest heroes in popular culture so we all knew this woudln’t last. It would be revealed one issue later that Batman was alive and stuck with some cavemen in the past. He would of course return properly a little over a year later.

3) Wolverine

Written in 2015 during the no X-Men or Fantastic Four era of Marvel Comics, Wolverine was killed off in The Death of Wolverine. Through losing his healing factor and fighting off one of the men who gave him adamantium, Wolverine was suffocated as he was covered in the molten metal. It was a tragic and controversial end for Logan that was not super popular. However as Secret Wars was on the horizon we would have two Wolverine titles during that time in the form of All-New Wolverine following Laura Kinney as Wolverine and a new Old Man Logan title with a version of Logan still around. That alone was a clue that it was only a matter of time before Wolverine returned properly — and he did. In 2018 fans would get their wish as Logan came back from the dead and has been back to his usual self since then.

4) Ms. Marvel

In an attempt to save Mary Jane Watson, Ms. Marvel was killed as she shape shifted into Mary Jane. It was a tragic moment for fans of Kamala Khan who in her short time was a very popular hero. Kamala’s death was a huge loss to all who loved her and for many, Ms. Marvel was one of the best Marvel creations in recent years. Until they turned around and brought her back to life as a mutant just a few months later. Previously an Inhuman, it was the character’s co-creator G. Willow Wilson who revealed she was supposed to be a mutant from the start but was denied due to the mutant embargo. Killing off — and then bringing back — Kamala paved the way for the character to get that pivotal reset of sorts. She stayed dead for a month or two until it was announced she was back.

This particular death was met with a lot of concerns with the big one being “what was that point?” It was revealed a bit prior that Wilson’s intent for Kamala to be a mutant is why she became a mutant in the Ms. Marvel television series and to make the comics reflect that Kamala was killed for the span of a week in the universe, give or take. Now that she’s back and an X-Men all is good but the event itself still leaves a sour taste for many, particularly since it’s a death that everyone knew wouldn’t really stick.

5) The Human Torch (Johnny Storm)

In 2011 Marvel did the unthinkable and killed the Human Torch in Jonathan Hickman’s legendary run. Acting as a climax of sorts to the story, Johnny would sacrifice himself to save the rest of his family from a horde of Negative Zone creatures. With no way to save himself, the loveable goof of the team was gone. With that as the end to issue #587, the series saw the aftermath his death and how everyone grieved in #588 which ended the series for the time.

While Spider-Man joined in place of the Human Torch at Johnny’s request, there’s no way Marvel actually killed the fan favorite right? You would be correct, so much so that Johnny never actually died and was still stuck in the Negative Zone being revived constantly. While the characters believed him to have died, we the audience didn’t. The lack of believability ultimately lessened the emotional weight of losing the beloved member of the Fantastic Four for fans.

6) Literally any member of the X-Men

Who hasn’t died in the X-Men? Almost everyone in the X-Men at the very least once. If you’re Jean Grey, that number is too high. At any point in the X-Men’s history someone will be dead or recently returning from dead, it’s that common for them. What’s a devastating action for any character that dies and returns is tough as is, but for the X-Men that’s what they call Wednesday. It has become so popular they figured out a way to revive themselves constantly when they were in Krakoa. It’s gotten so ridiculous that no X-Men death has any real stakes anymore. Fans just don’t buy it, and for good reason.

What are some of the other death in comics you know wouldn’t stick? Let us know down in the comments.

The post 6 Superhero Deaths We Knew Wouldn’t Stick appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The general assumption is that the first film in a series is the best film in the series. But it’s not always so. Plenty of people like Terminator 2: Judgment Day more than The Terminator, and just as many favor Aliens over Alien and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter over Friday the 13th. They’re not wrong and they’re not right, it just all comes down to taste. Well, that and the fact that all the aforementioned sequels genuinely give their franchise-starters a run for their money in terms of quality. The same applies to superhero movies. In fact, if there’s a subgenre where sequels find a way of vastly improving upon what was established in and worked for their predecessors, it’s the superhero movie.

What follows are the best of the best when it comes to superhero movie sequels. Prequels weren’t necessarily excluded from consideration, but none quite made the cut anyway, and X-Men: First Class is more of a start of something new than it is a direct prequel to the original X-Men trilogy. Furthermore, it had to truly be a sequel to a predecessor, so while Birds of Prey continues a few threads established in Suicide Squad, it was really only The Suicide Squad that was considered (even though James Gunn’s film is decidedly different from David Ayer’s panned 2016 box office hit).

10) X2

Both of Bryan Singer’s original X-Men trilogy movies were trendsetters for the subgenre. But while the first film had the burden of setting up all these characters (and there are a lot of them), X2 is allowed to really flesh them out.

There are a few things that hold X2 back (e.g. its sidelining of Cyclops), but there are far more checks in the win column than the loss column. For one, Brian Cox and Kelly Hu are fantastic in their antagonistic roles. But even better is the decision to focus on Wolverine’s backstory and tie that in with the antagonists (particularly Cox’s Colonel William Stryker).

9) Thor: Ragnarok

After the mediocrity of Thor and the failure of Thor: The Dark World, not many out there were expecting Thor: Ragnarok to be one of the MCU’s best sequels, but that’s exactly what it ended up being. It’s the perfect merger of sci-fi fantasy action and Taika Waititi’s distinctive humor.

The subsequent release of Waititi’s disappointing Thor: Love and Thunder has only further emphasized just how right he got it the first time out the gate. But Love and Thunder also illustrates how, if overdone, the elements that work about Ragnarok can become very grating very quickly.

8) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Many people consider Guardians of the Galaxy one of their favorite MCU movies, if not their very favorite. And fair enough, but there’s a pretty good argument that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is better.

Director James Gunn was given more creative control than usual for the MCU with his trilogy. He was allowed to really bring his personality into it. That’s a huge advantage of all three. But the second installment has by far the best villain of the trilogy in Ego the Living Planet, while the first installment has by far the most forgettable and bland villain of the trilogy in Ronan the Accuser.

7) Logan

A risky superhero film that paid off, Logan showed that an R-rated installment within a traditionally PG-13 franchise could pay off big time. Its success proved that the R-rated Deadpool (released the year prior) wasn’t a fluke.

Logan is the superhero subgenre’s definitive Western. Toss out a six-shooter for some claws and Logan is Shane. As it turned out, we weren’t done with Wolverine quite yet, but it’s hard to imagine a more fitting finale for the character than this one.

6) Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame

Yeah, we’re bundling Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but they are two halves of one movie, so it’s fitting. It’s also a factor that helps make the duo so impressive. More often than not, filming two movies back-to-back doesn’t pan out as well as intended.

It’s astonishing how many puzzle pieces the Russo brothers were able to juggle and fit comfortably into place with the two movies. Better yet, both halves of the story manage to stand apart from one another. While the final battle in Endgame is the MCU’s biggest set piece to date, the film as a whole feels more intimate and constrained than Infinity War, which starts with an action sequence and keeps them coming for two and a half hours until the credits roll. Not to mention, when it comes to MCU big bads, it’s going to be next to impossible to beat Thanos, even with Robert Downey Jr. coming back into the fold.

Read Next

Will Avengers: Doomsday Reunite the Original Avengers Stars?

5) Batman Returns

Like its predecessor, Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is a superhero film that has influenced any number of directors throughout the years since its release, even those who are helming a movie outside the subgenre. It just wasn’t the best movie to market to kids.

Batman Returns‘ darkness is what makes it so great, though. It is all the way Burton’s vision come to life. Batman felt like a movie he was making for a studio, because that’s what it was. Returns is him making a movie he wanted to make on the studio’s dime. It ended up meaning that we got to deeply inferior films in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin afterwards, but at least we’ll always have Returns. Of course, Burton isn’t the only asset in the sequel’s corner, as Michelle Pfeiffer delivers an unbeatable performance as Catwoman and Danny DeVito crafts a truly terrifying monster as the Penguin.

4) The Suicide Squad

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad was so good that it tanked at the box office yet its director was still handed the keys to the DC kingdom the next year. Of course, its financial failure had nothing to do with Gunn’s involvement, but rather everything to do with the fact that, one, people had severely soured on the DCEU as a whole and, two, 2016’s Suicide Squad was by far the worst installment of that now defunct cinematic universe. It was a box office smash, but also a broken film at its core with obvious signs of behind-the-scenes tampering.

The Suicide Squad, however, is blatantly the vision of one individual, and he was allowed to craft that vision from the ground up and carry it out as he saw fit. Even more than in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, The Suicide Squad feels distinctly Gunn, and it benefits immensely from that. It jumps around a little bit in its plot, but it’s all the more charming and rewatchable for that. Furthermore, while John Cena made for a terrific addition to the DC world, this is once more Margot Robbie’s film, and it would be a terrible shame if the DCU doesn’t keep her on as Harley Quinn.

3) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier announced Joe and Anthony Russo as two individuals with a shared directorial vision on just what could make an MCU installment work at full capacity. It also showed that an MCU movie could play in a genre outside itself and do it well.

As a political conspiracy thriller, The Winter Soldier is every bit as breezy and compelling as Three Days of the Condor. Speaking of that classic, Robert Redford was a major get for the MCU. But what helps the film flow so smoothly is the effective placement of action sequences (not too many, not too few) and the chemistry between leads Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson.

2) Spider-Man 2

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 is without a doubt the highpoint of the pre-MCU era of Marvel movie history. And to this day, there is a strong argument that it is still the best Marvel movie, even with the release of favorites such as Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Raimi’s first Spider-Man is certainly great, but it was in this first sequel that he was able to be comfortable as a director. The same goes for the performers, who seem fully in place in their roles, able to flesh them out into relatable and likable individuals. But at the end of the day, the ace in the hole for Spider-Man 2 is Doc Ock. On one hand, there’s Alfred Molina’s razor-sharp performance. He nails the intimidation factor just as well as he brings the character’s heart to life. On the other, there’s how the villain is written. Specifically, he’s not just a villain. He’s a man with an altruistic motive whose ambition gets the best of him and, by film’s end, is able to overcome the deceptive voices in his ear and do what’s best, even if what’s best isn’t what he initially intended.

1) The Dark Knight

Poignant, deeply quotable throughout, and sublimely acted, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight isn’t just the best superhero movie sequel, it’s the best superhero movie period. To many, it’s one of the best movies regardless of genre or subgenre.

This comes down to many factors. For one, it functions as a crime film to be taken seriously far more than it does an average superhero film. Two, it tells a lot of story in two and a half hours, yet never once feels overwhelming in its effort to do so. Third, and perhaps most importantly, there’s the late Heath Ledger. Plenty has been written about his work as Joker, and every word of it has been positive. His posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor win was fully deserved, and it shows bias on the Academy’s part that the film as a whole didn’t secure a Best Picture nomination. This is especially true since the selection of films that were nominated, namely Milk, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader, and winner Slumdog Millionaire, was arguably one of the least impressive Best Picture lineups in relatively recent memory.

The post 10 Best Superhero Movie Sequels Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Avengers: Doomsday is bringing a lot of Marvel Cinematic Universe alum back into the fold to face Doctor Doom. There’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, and Pedro. There’s Thunderbolts*‘s Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Florence Pugh, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, and Hannah John-Kamen. Doomsday is even bringing back a handful of X-Men legends from the classic 2000s movies, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Alan Cumming, amongst others. Missing from the line-up, however, are the cast members of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, including Howard the Duck himself, Family Guy‘s Seth Green.

And, while promoting his new film, The Floaters (also starring The Boys‘ Aya Cash and GLOW‘s Jackie Tohn), Green confirmed that Howard the Duck will net be a part of Doomsday. It seems, for now at least, we’ll just have to be content with Green’s appearances in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and What If…?

What Did Green Have to Say About Doomsday?

Green’s most recent appearances in the MCU were both in What If…? Season 3. First in “What If… Howard the Duck Got Hitched?” and then in “What If… The Watcher Disappeared?” And, when asked if there were any plans for him to once again voice a live-action version, as seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, he said “No, nothing of any substance.”

Read Next

Howard the Duck Gets Married to an MCU Favorite (and They Had a Kid)

Green then elaborated on what playing Howard has meant to him with “I love [playing the character]. It’s one of my greatest privileges. You don’t even know, man, how much this means to have done it in all the ways that I have. It’s awesome.”

The conversation then turned specifically to the chances of seeing Howard in Doomsday. In Green’s words, “I’m pretty sure I would have heard earlier that that was gonna happen. Nobody gave me a tip sheet or teed me up with talking points…So no, I have zero confidence that that’s ever going to happen.”

We shouldn’t think that there’s no chance of Green and Howard the Duck showing up ever again, though. After all, the first time we meet the MCU’s Howard, he’s in the Collector’s museum. Benicio del Toro, the actor who played the Collector, recently inspired hope about a return to the MCU.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ended with a new team built after the departure of Star-Lord, Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, and Drax. It consisted of Rocket (as the leader), Groot, Kraglin, Cosmo, Adam Warlock, Warlock’s pet, Blurp, and rescued child Phyla. Perhaps Howard could join the team in a fourth Guardians of the Galaxy film, albeit one directed by someone other than James Gunn.

It wouldn’t be unheard of that another Guardians of the Galaxy is made now that Gunn has left to build the DCU. Perhaps Star-Lord actor Chris Pratt could join, as he once said on Jimmy Kimmel Live that “For people who know the Marvel world, we did Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it was the last time you saw Star-Lord in there. There was a promise that Star-Lord would return. So, all I can say is we will make good on that promise.” We’ll have to wait to see what the future holds.

The post Marvel Actor Casts Doubt on Avengers: Doomsday Return (But We Want Them Back) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With Ironheart‘s arrival on Disney+, a very distinct era for Marvel Cinematic Universe television programming has come to an end. Ironheart is the last MCU show on Disney+ to eschew a showrunner. Shot back in 2022, Ironheart was executed well over a year before the late 2023 overhauling of Daredevil: Born Again that ensured that series, as well as all other MCU shows like Wonder Man and Vision Quest, would have showrunners. Originally, Marvel Studios proudly eschewed showrunners (a staple of television for decades) and instead placed the creative visions of its programs into various hands (head writers and directors, namely) over the course of their respective productions.

It was a decision reflecting the inexperience in television from Marvel Studios brass like Kevin Feige and Brad Winderbaum. It was also meant to show that the Disney+ series were “just like” the movies. Ironheart, though, is another reminder that this approach was foolhardy from the start. Like almost all of the Disney+ MCU shows, Ironheart would’ve been way better as a movie.

Typical MCU Shows Like Ironheart Are Structured Like Movies

Typical genre TV shows in the past had to work overtime to make sure they were palatable to audiences in a weekly format. Productions like The X-Files developed rich lore and overarching narratives over time, while other shows like Lost and Fringe certainly required pre-existing knowledge to enjoy episodes from their respective third seasons onward. However, typically, these productions employed “monster-of-the-week” or similar storytelling templates to make individual episodes digestible to the general public. The very structure of television storytelling informed creating standalone plots each week.

Even all-time great non-heightened TV dramas like Breaking Bad and The Sopranos defaulted to standalone episode storylines for episodes like “The Fly” and “Pine Barrens.” MCU shows like Ironheart, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Secret Invasion, and so many more, meanwhile, function like two-hour movies stretched out into six-hour shows. They all concern one gigantic plot occurring across multiple installments with little personality or specific plotlines to differentiate episodes. Compare these superhero shows to a masterpiece like the miniseries When They See Us, which used time jumps to imbue unforgettable personality into each episode.

Tragically, the majority of these MCU shows instead embraced storylines that would’ve been so much better served in tighter feature-length confines. Ironheart’s first season, for instance, struggles to create actual dramatic tension since it closes out most of the first four episodes with the same cliffhanger beat of “is Parker Robbins actually evil?” The various Ironheart heist scenes, meanwhile, are poorly paced since they’re being stretched out to fit six episodes of a miniseries.

Read Next

6 Years On, The MCU Still Can’t Escape Its Thanos Obsession

Worst of all, MCU shows like Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Moon Knight cap off their runs with CG-oriented finale episodes that “reward” the patience of viewers with a bunch of digitally constructed chaos. A 15-minute action-heavy finale in a movie is one thing. A 40-minute episode that’s nothing but noise and CG monsters fighting is an excruciating waste of TV’s potential.

The Tragedy of the Better, Episodic MCU Shows

Ironheart and most other MCU shows being movies crammed into the format of TV shows is especially apparent when looking at the handful of MCU Disney+ programs that actually work as TV shows. WandaVision, underwhelming finale aside, ingeniously structured its first eight episodes so that each installment evoked a different era of TV history. This gave each outing an incredibly unique look and leaned into the specifics of TV’s history and storytelling.

Loki’s two seasons (the first of which often took cues from investigative dramas like Hannibal) and quasi-WandaVision sequel Agatha All Along also drew praise for taking more storytelling cues from Xena: Warrior Princess than Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, those shows just highlighted what’s gone wrong with the majority of the MCU Disney+ programming. These rare acclaimed 2020s Marvel Studios television productions garnered acclaim for exploiting creative elements rooted in televised storytelling. Hawkeye, Secret Invasion, Ironheart, and others, meanwhile, kept reminding audiences how much better they’d be as movies.

In feature-length format, the bloat and awkward structuring that keep dragging these shows down could get condensed. There are good elements nestled within these shows, including Oscar Isaac’s deeply committed Moon Knight performance or Anji White’s endearing supporting turn in Ironheart. However, these and other artistic virtues are let down by shows that were designed and conceived so much like movies that they fail to properly work as small-screen programming. Now that Ironheart closes the book on Marvel Cinematic Universe shows ditching showrunners, let’s all cross our fingers that the age of MCU movies masquerading as tedious shows has also come to an end.

Ironheart’s first three episodes are now streaming on Disney+.

The post Ironheart Has Me Convinced That (Most of) Marvel’s Disney+ Shows Should’ve Been Movies appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With such a comedic and fun personality, it’s easy to forget that Spider-Man faces off against some truly evil and monstrous villains that would make even the bravest of heroes’ skin crawl. From horrific lab experiments to sadistic serial killers, Spider-Man has some of Marvel’s scariest villains as members of his rogue’s gallery. Some of these villains torture and maim indiscriminately. In contrast, others have all their hatred and cruelty targeted towards Peter and his loved ones. Many of them have left Spider-Man broken or forever changed by the nightmares he endured, but that still doesn’t stop him from getting back up to fight these monsters.

These are the villains Spider-Man has fought with the most chilling abilities, designs, and personalities.

10) Morlun

Morlun is a being feared not just by Peter Parker but by every Spider-person in the multiverse for his unending hunger. A member of a group of vampire-like creatures known as the inheritors, Morlun and his kind feed on the life forces of people with animal powers, with a particular taste for those with spider powers. With his incredible strength and immortality, Morlun has nearly killed Spider-Man on multiple occasions. And even when Morlun is defeated, it’s only a matter of time before he returns for another hunt.

9) Vermin

Edward Whelan was a genetic scientist who Baron Zemo used as a lab rat for his experiments. These experiments would turn Edward into a feral rat/human hybrid known as Vermin, who wanted nothing more than to eat human flesh. Now living in the sewers, Vermin grabs unsuspecting victims and drags them into the tunnels below to devour them. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, he can also telepathically command swarms of disease-ridden rats to do his bidding. 

8) Paperdoll

A lesser-known villain, Piper Dali, aka Paperdoll, is still utterly terrifying. As her name suggests, Paperdoll can flatten her body out to be as thin as paper, an ability she uses to slip through narrow spaces, blend in with her surroundings, and make her hands razor-sharp. She can also make other people similarly two-dimensional by draining them of all their organs. Furthermore, she is an obsessive fangirl who uses her powers to stalk her favorite actor and kill anyone who gets too close to him.

7) Demogoblin

When the Hobgoblin tried selling his soul to the demon N’astirh in exchange for power, N’astirh instead decided to have another demon take over the supervillain’s body. This demon was soon exorcised from Hobgoblin but remained in the mortal realm, taking on the name Demogoblin. Now wanting to redeem himself and get back into heaven, Demogoblin began killing sinners. Unfortunately, Demogoblin sees everyone as sinners and deserving of death no matter how tame their “sins” are.

6) Kindred

While Kindred’s origin as an undead clone/child of Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy is controversial, there’s still no doubt that he is a terrifying villain. After being raised from the dead by Mephisto, Kindred sought to ruin Spider-Man’s life through both physical and psychological torture. His most notable powers include controlling giant centipedes and resurrecting the dead. The latter ability Kindred used to repeatedly and viciously murder Spider-Man before reviving him to restart the torturous process.

Read Next

Ultimate Spider-Man’s Sinister Six Explained

5) The Lizard

While the Lizard is undoubtedly one of the most tragic villains in Marvel Comics, it doesn’t exclude him from also being one of the deadliest as well. Kurt Conners constantly tries to suppress his other half’s bloodlust, but the Lizard within can never be held back for long. Over the years, the Lizard side has become increasingly animalistic and vicious, evolving into something far more monstrous. To finally sever the last of his remaining humanity, the Lizard devoured his own wife and child.

4) Massacre

In a universe with all manner of demons and monsters, sometimes the scariest thing of all is just a man with a gun. After an explosion killed his wife and lodged shrapnel into his brain, Marcus Lyman lost the ability to feel empathy and became a ruthless killer. Taking on the name Massacre, Marcus would live up to his name. He would kill numerous people without hesitation or remorse. The only motivations he has shown for doing this are financial gain and cold indifference.

3) The Thousand

This guy is the ultimate nightmare for anyone with arachnophobia. Carl King was an old high school bully of Peter Parker and was present when the radioactive spider bit Peter, witnessing him use his powers for the first time. Driven by jealousy, he took the dead spider and ate it. But instead of getting the powers of a spider, Carl was turned into a sentient swarm of spiders. Now known as The Thousand, he could enter a person’s body and devour their insides. He would then use the now-empty body as a skin suit and walk around undetected before bursting out to attack.

2) Green Goblin

No villain has brought as much pain and suffering to the wall-crawler’s life as the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn became an insane supervillain when a chemical accident gave him increased strength and intelligence but also drove him mad. Since then, the Green Goblin has committed countless crimes with sadistic pleasure, most of which centered around making Spider-Man’s life a living nightmare. Some of his most heinous acts against Spider-Man include killing Ben Reilly, burying Aunt May alive, and, of course, murdering Gwen Stacy, the love of Peter’s life. 

1) Carnage

Few villains in all of Marvel Comics are as twisted and horrifying as Carnage. Even before bonding with the symbiote, Cletus Cassidy Kasady was a prolific serial killer who killed his grandmother when he was just a child. By the time he bonded with the carnage symbiote, Cassidy had already tortured and killed dozens of people, and his newfound partner only increased his bloodlust. Since becoming Carnage, he has slaughtered countless more people in both large-scale massacres and brutal individual killings with utter glee and sadism.

The post The 10 Most Spine-Chilling Spider-Man Villains appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Fantastic Four are in some serious trouble. After their worst enemy, Doctor Doom became Sorcerer Supreme, one of his first orders of business was to “cure” The Thing by stripping him of his powers. This was, of course, a lie and plot by Doom, as not only are Thing’s powers gone, but the rest of the Four’s are fading as well. The only way to stop Doom is to restore their abilities, and the only way to do that is to reexpose Ben to cosmic rays the same way they were the first time. Marvel’s First Family tried going to an alternate universe and going back in time to when they first got their powers, but so far nothing has worked. That was until Valeria Richards came up with the perfect solution. If they want to expose Thing to cosmic rays, their best option is to go straight to the source. The Fantastic Four need to go back to the Big Bang.

The Fantastic Jump Back to the Start Everything

The idea came to Valeria at the end of their last attempt to restore Ben’s powers. Now, traveling back to the explosion that kicked off everything sounds insane, and it is. After all, Reed points out that no ship could possibly survive even a single second there without being incinerated, and that’s why Valeria plans for them to only be there for a few nanoseconds. The plan is to go back in time just long enough to expose Thing to the cosmic rays, then immediately return to the present before they become the universe’s first toast. Sue can use the last of her powers to create a shield that will hopefully buy them enough extra protection, and Johnny can absorb enough heat to hold everything together. It’s a longshot, but it’s their only chance to get the power they need to stop Doom from ruling the world.

Of course, nanoseconds are way too short a timeframe for any human to react, so they’ll need a robotic pilot to bring them home. They nominate their longtime buddy and robo-assistant HERBIE, who is more than happy to help however he can. They upgrade HERBIE’s processors so he can think fast enough to handle everything, and the Four load up in their ship. Ben tells Reed that he doesn’t have to go, as Reed won’t be able to do anything like the others, so he’d only be risking his own life. Mr. Fantastic tells Ben that there’s no way he would ever let them take this kind of risk without him, and the family gets ready for their shortest adventure yet. Having said everything they need to, they launch themselves back to the start of it all.

Read Next

Marvel Announces New Fantastic Four Series

They land at one times ten to the negative thirty-two power seconds, right after our concept of physics has kicked in. Ben is exposed to the cosmic rays as planned, but as HERBIE tries to bring everyone back to the present, the time engine fails. In the slowest motion possible, HERBIE realizes that the Big Bang damaged their ship way beyond expectations, and they have nanoseconds before they are torn apart. Of course, HERBIE was modified for exactly this type of thing. He reconfigures the ship to transport just the five of them back to the present, but realizes that won’t work either, they’re too much matter. Without hesitation, he sends the Four back, and sacrifices himself so they can live. In his last moments, HERBIE realizes that with his enhanced brainpower, he can truly understand what love is for the first time. He’s always loved the Fantastic Four, and now as he sees that he is truly alive, he gives up that life to save the people he loves most. HERBIE swallowed up by the Big Bang, but the Four return to the present, all of their powers restored.

Everything’s Over, But There Are Still Questions

Later that night, Valeria and her dad talk about something that was bothering both of them: baryogenesis. Effectively, every currently accepted model of the Big Bang says that matter and antimatter should have been released evenly, thus destroying each other and leaving nothing left. However, for some as of yet unknown reason, matter won out and we have our universe. HERBIE and their time ship were extra matter that got added into the universe-making explosion, and Valeria is understandably freaking out, thinking they may be the very reason that the universe exists at all. Reed, however, calms her down, and points out that when they made a new HERBIE from his old save data, his new version stated that if he ever did sacrifice himself, he would want it to be out of love. Reed concludes that there’s no way to know if what they did accidentally led to the creation of everything, but if it was, then the universe was made on the foundation of love, and that’s not such a bad thought.

So there we have it, the Fantastic Four might be the reasons the Marvel Universe exists. Honestly, it’s a beautiful story that also symbolizes how they are the characters that put Marvel on the map. In a way, they did help create the Marvel Universe, and they are nothing if not the ultimate showing of love. 

Fantastic Four #33 is on sale now!

The post The Fantastic Four Just Redifined the Big Bang appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown into one of the most successful franchises of all time, and it wouldn’t have done so without the participation of many talented actors. From the franchise’s very first movie, the MCU has boasted a remarkable pool of talent, and has continued to attract celebrated actors and hugely respected performers in the years since. This has seen many brilliant actors play a part in the MCU’s adaptation of multiple Marvel Comics stories, whether as heroes, villains, or supporting characters of varying degrees of importance. However, not all of the MCU’s great actors were put to good use.

The movies and TV shows of the MCU feature many such examples of brilliant and talented actors whose roles didn’t reflect their potential. Whether their dramatic chops were never tested, their comedic prowess wasn’t given a chance to shine, or their character simply was written out of the franchise far too soon, not all great actors are treated well by the MCU. Sad though it may seem, the franchise has done nothing with some of its most promising actors.

1) Rebecca Hall 

Rebecca Hall might not be the best-known actor to grace the movies of the MCU, but she’s hugely talented. Having proven her ability in movies such as The Town, The Prestige, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Rebecca Hall boasts an impressive career peppered with numerous accolades and award nominations. Her ability to shine in a range of genres marks her as a versatile actor, although this isn’t something that was truly communicated by her role as Maya Hansen in the MCU’s Iron Man 3.

As Maya Hansen, Hall was effectively sidelined despite playing an important role in the film’s narrative. Playing a supporting role as a former love interest to Tony Stark, Hall was later revealed as a manipulative villain before being unceremoniously killed by Aldrich Killian. Despite her character’s status as a brilliant biologist and Hall’s own potential as an actor, the MCU did very little to make use of that potential to its advantage.

2) Natalie Dormer

When Natalie Dormer made her single appearance in the MCU, her career was on the rise. Having previously appeared as Anne Boleyn on The Tudors, Dormer was just beginning to achieve widespread renown when she featured in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 as Private Lorraine. Her character’s only major role within the MCU was to be the woman who impulsively kissed Steve Rogers, causing tension between him and Peggy Carter.

Dormer’s career continued to grow in the years that followed, including a role on Game of Thrones as Margaery Tyrell and in the Hunger Games franchise as Cressida. While these roles brought Dormer more recognition, this only served to highlight how badly she had been wasted by her brief MCU appearance. Sadly, with Captain America: The First Avenger set so far in the past, there was no good way for the franchise to remedy the issue, dooming the MCU to waste Natalie Dormer.

3) Eric André

One of the most exciting additions to the announced cast of Ironheart was Eric André. The comedian and actor, best known as the creator and star of The Eric André Show, indicated an interesting casting choice for the MCU series, with it later revealed that he would be playing the character Rampage, a character from the comics with ties to the Punisher. However, the three-episode premiere of Ironheart revealed just how little the franchise had set out to do with André’s character.

After being introduced as Stuart Clarke – AKA Rampage – a tech-savvy but unreliable member of the Hood’s crew, André’s character was swiftly replaced by Riri Williams. After departing the crew, it is later revealed that Stuart has been murdered offscreen, seemingly killing any chances of Eric André reprising the role. If that does indeed prove to be the case, the MCU will have brought in an incredibly talented comedic actor only to give him no chance at all to use his talents in the franchise.

4) Cate Blanchett

Thor: Ragnarok was one of the most popular solo movies of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, thanks in part to its high-stakes story and effective use of humor. It also marked the debut of several great actors in the MCU, including Cate Blanchett as Hela. An Oscar-winning actor who already boasted a staggering amount of success throughout her career, Blanchett’s arrival in the MCU seemed to indicate that the franchise would continue to attract some of Hollywood’s biggest names.

Sadly, Blanchett’s role as Hela was far more short-lived than it deserved. Thor: Ragnarok‘s ending saw Hela seemingly killed by Surtur when he consumes Asgard, killing the villain and serving as a definitive ending to her story. Great though her brief turn as Hela was, someone of Blanchett’s talent could have been put to much better use, and it’s hard to imagine that the MCU’s use of the actor actually lived up to the potential suggested by her casting.

5) Mads Mikkelsen

2016 saw the MCU introduce a whole new magical aspect to the continuity with Doctor Strange. Boasting a cast stacked with talent, one of the most exciting additions was that of Mads Mikkelsen, who many had clamored to see in the MCU for years prior to his casting. Mikkelsen played Kaecilius, a sorceror corrupted by dark power who served as Doctor Strange‘s main antagonist. Mikkelsen’s reputation as a versatile actor capable of bringing great depth to his performances made him an especially interesting inclusion.

Kaecilius was not at all the villain that many had hoped. Doctor Strange‘s script gave Mikkelsen very little to do, rendering his performance somewhat wooden and masked behind layers of mind-bending CGI which, while impressive, did nothing to help Mikkelsen’s ability to bring the villain to life. The movie’s ending also saw him trapped in the Dark Dimension, making his return unlikely and further highlighting how little Mikkelsen was given to do in the MCU.

6) Zachary Levi

Although Zachary Levi is known as the DCEU’s Shazam, he had prior experience in the superhero genre thanks to the MCU. After being unavailable to play the role in 2011’s Thor, he was featured as Fandral in sequels Thor: The Dark World in 2013 and Thor: Ragnarok in 2017. Fandral was killed by Hela in Ragnarok, ending his story in the MCU before he was ever really explored in any depth.

Zachary Levi’s ability as a comedic actor and his later status as one of the DCEU’s best heroes highlights just how little he was given to do in the MCU. Whenever he has been given a substantial or interesting role he has been able to steal the show, but in the MCU he was little more than a footnote. As a relatively minor supporting character in the MCU, the role of Fandral was ultimately a waste of Levi’s talent.

7) Michael Rosenbaum 

Michael Rosenbaum might not be the most famous actor to have appeared in the MCU, but it’s undeniable that the franchise did nothing with him. Rosenbaum appeared as Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which served more as a cameo than a real role. Martinex’s role in Marvel Comics stories dates all the way back to the 1960s, meaning that there was a wealth of source material to draw on in order to give him a substantial role in the MCU.

The franchise was unable to deliver on that potential, though, and Rosenbaum was given nothing to do. Though his inclusion proved a popular one, casting a fan-favorite actor with experience in superhero franchises – thanks to his celebrated role as Lex Luthor on Smallville – only to give him a minor cameo was a waste. There’s a chance that Michael Rosenbaum might yet be given more time as Martinex in the MCU, but so far the franchise has wasted an incredibly talented actor.

8) John Krasinski 

John Krasinski might be best known for his role as Jim Halpert on The Office, but his career has seen him earn acclaim both as an actor and a director. Krasinski’s directorial debut A Quiet Place proved how excellently he could play dramatic roles, and his long-time fan casting as the MCU’s Reed Richards seemed to have been paid off in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Unfortunately, the MCU did nothing at all with Krasinski, making his casting nothing more than momentary fan service.

Krasinski’s turn as Mr. Fantastic was brought to an abrupt end just minutes after his introduction, when the character was slaughtered by the Scarlet Witch. For an actor as beloved and championed for the role as Krasinski, it seemed an utter waste, as he was given only two real scenes in the role. It stands out not just as one of the MCU’s most shocking moments, but also as another example of a time when the franchise gave a great actor very little to work with.

9) Walton Goggins 

Walton Goggins’ career is one that is practically packed full of successes. His long-time status as a character actor saw him rack up roles on countless TV shows and in many movies, eventually leading him to become well-known in his own right and respected for his versatile acting talent. Having appeared in just about every genre that exists, Goggins is an actor who has come to be beloved by audiences around the world who recognize his remarkable acting talent.

His role in the MCU came in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, which saw him cast as secondary antagonist Sonny Burch, a relatively small-time criminal attempting to usurp Hank Pym’s technology for his own gain. Naturally, Sonny Burch ended up taking a back seat to Ghost, the movie’s main superpowered antagonist, and Goggins had little to do other than flee from heroes and villains alike. Though he was still excellent in the role, the MCU didn’t give Walton Goggins an awful lot to work with to make Sonny Burch a truly great character.

10) Robert Redford 

Perhaps the most respected and celebrated actor to appear in the MCU is Robert Redford, who made his debut in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Widely hailed as one of the MCU’s best movies, it would seem that an actor of Redford’s status would have been cast to play a major role. Redford played Alexander Pierce, the Secretary of the World Security Council and a secret high-ranking officer of Hydra, but the role was not as big as the actor deserved.

Redford was given surprisingly little screen time in The Winter Soldier, and is strangely one of its least memorable characters. Considering Redford’s legendary status, this was an odd choice, especially as the movie killed him off before he could ever play a larger role in the franchise. Casting an actor of Robert Redford’s ability only to give him a handful of scenes was more than just strange, it was an utter waste of a great actor.

The post 10 Great Actors the MCU Did Nothing With appeared first on ComicBook.com.

It’s hard to open a streaming service or visit a movie theater without running into Pedro Pascal’s work. In the last couple of years, he’s played Joel Miller in The Last of Us, Din Djarin in The Mandalorian, and General Acacius in Gladiator II. There are also smaller projects on his resume, including Materialists, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and Drive-Away Dolls, that fail to dominate the box office but allow Pascal to show off his incredible range. However, the actor owes at least some of his success to a popular genre he rarely gets associated with: superhero movies.

Of course, it’s no secret that Pascal is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. He will then reprise his role in Avengers: Doomsday, where his character, Reed Richards, will come face-to-face with his archenemy, Doctor Doom. Before he becomes one of the faces of the MCU, though, it’s important to look back at Pascal’s earlier work in superhero media, including one performance that never saw the light of day.

Pedro Pascal Was Nearly in Two Wonder Woman Projects

Pascal didn’t become a movie star overnight. He got his start by taking small roles in major TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, three different Law & Order series, and The Good Wife. All the hard work seemed to pay off in 2011, though, when Pascal landed a role in a pilot for a Wonder Woman show NBC was developing. Adrianne Palicki was going to play the lead role, while Pascal would portray Ed Indelicato, a liaison at the police department who had his ear to the ground in Los Angeles. It was far from a lead role, but Pascal probably appreciated the opportunity. However, NBC chose not to move forward with the project, which sent one of its stars back to the TV meat grinder.

Despite losing out on playing Indelicato, Pascal persevered and broke out on HBO’s Game of Thrones. His portrayal of Oberyn Martell helped him stand out in a tough crowd, and after the Mountain was done with the character, he moved on to bigger and better things. He even got another call from DC during the development of Wonder Woman 1984. Patty Jenkins and Co. wanted him to play eccentric businessman Maxwell Lord, who sought to control the Dreamstone and change the world. The 2020 sequel failed to live up to expectations, but Pascal really went for it and delivered a memorable performance. Still, DC failed to give Pascal a lead role in his second go-around, which was a mistake Marvel wasn’t about to make.

Read Next

Ryan Gosling’s Ghost Rider Ignites in the MCU on New Marvel Poster Fan Art

The MCU Will Never Be the Same After Pedro Pascal Arrives

Pascal’s third superhero role puts him right in the middle of the action. Reed Richards is one of the smartest characters in Marvel Comics, and his big brain appears to be making the jump to live-action in First Steps. The titular team will come up against Silver Surfer and her master Galactus, who wants nothing more than to make the Earth his next meal. Reed blames himself for the Devourer of Worlds’ appearance, and unfortunately, things may not get better for him and his family because they’re fleeing their universe at the end of Thunderbolts*. The Fantastic Four do the right thing by seeking out Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and everyone will try to get on the same page in Doomsday.

The cast of the next Avengers movie is no joke, though, which may be intimidating for Pascal, especially since Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are joining the fray. However, it’s hard to look at the full cast list and think there’s another name that has a better chance of going toe-to-toe with Doctor Doom actor Robert Downey Jr. After all, Pascal has come a long way since being part of a failed superhero pilot that would’ve forced him into the hero’s shadow for as long as it was on the air.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25, 2025.

Did you know that Pedro Pascal was part of a Wonder Woman TV show? Are you glad that he’s going to be a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Pedro Pascal Landed Two DC Roles Before He Ended Up With Marvel appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With the end of Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell approaching, the excitement remains high for this take on Matt Murdock in his elder years. This short-lived series has already been making waves as a popular “What If” scenario and has led to a lot of great reception both critically and with fans. While not an original concept by any means, Cold Day in Hell is a high octane thrill ride for the old Hornhead. With a lot of stories exploring older versions of superheroes and to bid time for the final issue here are five book to read if you like Cold Day in Hell.

Exploring older, more mature versions of characters is something that comics does surprisingly well. Be it Marvel, DC, or other publishers, stories that look at the futures of these characters are classics and if you find yourself wanting more after Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell, here’s what you should explore next.

1) Old Man Logan

Starting off out list we have Old Man Logan but not the one you’re thinking. The original by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven is a classic but there is another take on the concept: the often overlooked series of the same name by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. Taking place after the events of Secret Wars (2015), Logan or a very similar version of Logan from “Old Man Logan” is transported into the main 616 continuity and goes on adventures in place of the main Logan who was dead at the time. Taking Logan from the world where he lost everything and everyone he loved and moving him to a new world of possibilities was a bold but creative move from Lemire and Sorrentino.

As fun as Logan is in the normal continuity as a grumpy old man is, an even grumpier and older version of him takes the cake for a great lead. While the element of the war torn world is gone, the sentiment of preventing that future is the core of the book and even lead to a spinoff following Hawkeye in Old Man Hawkeye.

2) The Dark Knight Returns

What list of older versions of superheroes in alternate timelines would be complete without Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns? Taking place in the 1980’s, The Dark Knight Returns shows us what happens in Gotham City when Batman forces himself into retirement due to failing to save Jason Todd. In the span of ten years, Gotham becomes corrupt and run down as a city, with a gang known as the Mutants claiming the land for themselves Bruce Wayne dawns the suit for one more ride and what starts as a way of cleaning the city back up leads to him finding another Robin, the return of the Joker, and ends with the big debate between “Who would win, Batman or Superman.”

In four issues, Miller created the blueprint for dark dystopian Elseworlds stories for all of comics and to this day remains one of the best. What started as a huge fanbase for this universe has now become very divided with each new entry in the series. From The Dark Knight Strikes Back to the controversial prequel All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder all the way to DKIII: The Master Race, there are plenty of options if you are craving more of Miller’s take on the dystopian Dark Knight but your best bet is the original.

3) Spider-Man: Life Story

The most recent entry on our list is Spider-Man: Life Story. Written in 2019 by Chip Zdarsky and legendary Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley, life story tells the story of a Peter Parker who ages in real time as Spider-Man over the course of six decades. Bagley’s art add a familiar element to the story like being greeted by an old friends you’ve known for a long time and shows how being Spider-Man changes Peter’s life for both better and worse. With each issue taking place in a different decade, Zdarsky masterfully combines all the big elements from Peter’s life in 616 into a tight script showing him becoming more and more world weary.

Due to how the book is laid out, this may be one of the hardest books to put down once you start it and it is absolutely worth binge reading it. The series was followed up with an annual explaining what J. Jonah Jameson was up to after he disappeared in the second issue and is a devastating read.

4) Kingdom Come

Back with another classic with have the soul-crushing Kingdom Come written brilliant by Mark Waid with art by Alex Ross. Set in an Elseworld where the need for the Golden Age of heroes are becoming less and less prominent in a world of indistinguishable gun-toting heroes and villains Kingdom Come shows the world what happens when heroes return and the fallout from it. This is far and away the most emotional heavy story about regret and failure that explored the human psyche through preacher Norman McKay as he observes the future with The Spectre.

What was initially written as a critique of the 1990’s era of comics basing the looks of the “new” heroes off of designs you’d see by artists like Rob Liefeld Kingdom Come is one of the most beautiful stories about the power of superheroes. In a world that grows darker and darker, you need hope to get you through that darkness and Kingdom Come does exactly that with the return of an older Superman.

5) Jupiter’s Legacy Vol 1 & 2

Last but certainly not least we have Jupiter’s Legacy Vol 1 & 2 by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. Existing in a world long before the world’s superheroes were forgotten about, Jupiter’s Legacy follows the story of the burnt out adult children of this world’s lead superhero, The Utopian. After his brother sets him up for failure and tricks his son into defeating his father, it’s up to Chloe Sampson the daughter of The Utopian to stop her uncle and older brother from taking over the world. With the help of Hutch, the son of the superhero Skyfox, the two attempt to stop the tyranny created by the rest of the family of The Utopian in what’s regarded as Mark Millar’s grand epic.

Jupiter’s Legacy has now surpassed it’s original 12 issues with a total of six volumes that recently wrapped up over the span of three generations in the story. Following the Star Wars method of the middle story first, the prequel, and finally the sequels, Jupiter’s Legacy is a one of kind comic achievement that deserves it’s spot here. With more than enough legacy to keep you entertained for a good long time, Millar and Quitely created one of the best original takes on the superhero genre in a grounded reality.

That wraps it up for the list on books to check out if you’ve been enjoying Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell. Are you excited for the finale of Cold Day in Hell? What other stories would you recommend that are in the same vein, let us know in the comments.

The post 5 Comics to Read if You Like Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell appeared first on ComicBook.com.

From the start, Spider-Man: No Way Home was marketed as a multiverse movie. Villains from previous Spider-Man films, such as Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx’s Electro, appeared in trailers as Doctor Strange outright discussed the idea of alternate realities. It was a lot for Peter Parker to take in, as all he wanted to do was go to college without everyone knowing that he moonlighted as a superhero. Fortunately, he got some help in No Way Home in the form of variants of himself. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprised their roles, allowing all three live-action Spider-Men to fight together on the big screen.

While Maguire and Garfield’s entrances were spectacular, they weren’t all that surprising. Foxx posted images on social media featuring the different versions of the titular hero prior to the release of No Way Home. Meanwhile, a delivery driver thought they spotted Garfield near the film’s set in Atlanta, Georgia. It was hard to convince anyone that the movie would only feature one Spider-Man, but director Jon Watts and his collaborators still had to act like it was business as usual.

During a recent panel at the Mediterrane Film Festival, hosted by Collider, Watts was asked about the lengths the No Way Home production went to keep the cameos a secret. He explained that shooting during the pandemic helped, but there were still challenges on set.

“There had been rumors that Tobey and Andrew were going to be in the movie, and this is while we’re shooting,” Watts said. “It’s another example of how you can have a script that’s working, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. You can keep making it better. We were writing the script, and we were working on where we wanted to reveal the guys, and it always seemed like Peter’s going to be sad because Aunt May has just died, and that the portals are going to open, and the two Spider-Men are going to step out.”

Despite settling on the idea of having Peter’s new friends introduce themselves after Aunt May’s death, Watts revealed that social media forced him to change things up because people had the same idea he did.

“It’s probably a rooftop somewhere. It’s all sort of hazy. You’re still trying to figure it out,” he continued. “Then I was on Reddit, and I was looking at people who had already made fan art of, ‘This is probably what it’s going to be like when the two Spider-Men get revealed.’ It was on a rooftop. It was sad, two Doctor Strange portals were open and two Spider-Men are stepping out. I was like, ‘Well, we can’t do that. If that’s exactly what everyone thinks we’re going to do, we absolutely can’t do that.’

Of course, instead of having Maguire and Garfield’s characters walk out of portals in front of Holland’s hero, they appear in the Leeds household, where Ned and MJ are searching for a way to find their grieving friend. The moment works really well, and Watts has Reddit to thank for that.

Read Next

Spider-Man 4 May Have Just Spoiled Another Major MCU Heroes’ Return (With A Huge Twist)

Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s Big Moment Works Because It Lets the Heroes Be Themselves

As soon as Garfield’s Spider-Man exits the portal, No Way Home‘s tone shifts. Seeing Aunt May die is rough, but it’s easy not to dwell on the moment when MJ is throwing rolls at a man who claims to be a variant of her boyfriend, and Ned is making fun of Maguire’s character’s attire. The older Spider-Men get to show off their personalities before jumping right into the middle of the action and helping Peter come to terms with his loss. After seeing the final cut, it’s hard to imagine the sequence going any other way.

Are you glad that Jon Watts decided to change Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s entrances in Spider-Man: No Way Home? How do you feel about the movie all these years later? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Spider-Man: No Way Home Director Refused to Do This One Thing (And He Was Right) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While the multiverse concept has been experiencing mainstream popularity in the past decade, comic books have long embraced the boundless potential of alternate universes, offering creators a canvas to explore realities far stranger than our own. These parallel dimensions often twist familiar heroes and narratives into new and frequently bizarre configurations. While many alternate realities offer darker takes or “what if” scenarios, some dive headfirst into the truly outlandish, presenting worlds governed by peculiar rules or populated by characters that defy conventional explanation. These strange corners of the multiverse showcase the medium’s capacity for unrestrained imagination.

The allure of peculiar parallel comic book worlds lies in their creative audacity. They provide a unique lens through which to view established characters and tropes, often subverting expectations in delightful or disturbing ways. From dimensions where the laws of physics seem to have a sense of humor to realities that parody our own in surreal fashion, these universes highlight the innovative spirit that thrives when comic creators are allowed to explore the truly weird.

1) Earth-C-Minus (DC Comics)

DC Comics’ Earth-C is an alternate reality populated entirely by sentient, anthropomorphic animal versions of familiar superhero archetypes. Its premier super-team, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, comprises figures such as Roger Rodney Rabbit (Captain Carrot), who gains super-strength from cosmic carrots, Peter Porkchops (Pig-Iron), a pig transformed into living metal, and Felina Furr (Alley-Kat-Abra), a feline mistress of magic, embarking on lighthearted adventures filled with puns. Earth-C-Minus, an even more peculiar offshoot first glimpsed in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #14-15, is home to the “Just’a Lotta Animals,” a team featuring Super-Squirrel, Batmouse, and Wonder Wabbit.

The characters and environments within Earth-C-Minus are rendered in an intentionally crude art style reminiscent of a young child’s hurried doodles. The physical laws governing this secondary dimension are portrayed as even more exaggeratedly cartoonish and rudimentary than those of Earth-C. This commitment to an ultra-simplified aesthetic and an amplified level of absurdity makes Earth-C-Minus a standout example of comic book creators pushing the boundaries of silliness into a realm of strangeness, offering a brief but memorable glimpse into a universe built on the most basic elements of cartooning.

2) Earth-8311 (Marvel Comics)

Marvel Comics presents its own notable entry into anthropomorphic alternate realities with Earth-8311, the home dimension of the one and only Peter Porker, also known as the Spectacular Spider-Ham. In a clever inversion of the classic Spider-Man origin, Peter began life as an ordinary spider. He gained his porcine superhero form after being bitten by May Porker, an anthropomorphic pig scientist. In addition to Spider-Ham, Earth-8311 is brimming with animal-themed counterparts to mainstream Marvel heroes and villains, including well-known figures like Captain Americat, the mighty Hulk Bunny, the swift Deerdevil, and the nefarious Ducktor Doom, ensuring a constant stream of visual gags and pun-laden names.

The adventures within Earth-8311 are consistently characterized by their slapstick humor and a relentless barrage of animal-centric wordplay. Storylines frequently parody iconic Marvel tales but infuse them with a distinct barnyard sensibility, creating scenarios that are both recognizable and hilariously skewed. The visual of a cartoon pig web-swinging through a city populated by other talking animals is inherently comical, and Spider-Ham’s enduring popularity, especially after his cinematic appearances, underscores the broad appeal of this deliberately silly and creatively vibrant alternate universe.

3) The “Milk Wars” Universe (DC Comics/Young Animal)

The 2018 “Milk Wars” crossover event forged a temporary reality by merging the mainstream DC Universe with the more eccentric characters and themes of its Young Animal imprint. This bizarre transformation was orchestrated by the insidious corporation “RetCo,” which aimed to impose universal conformity through its range of mind-altering dairy products. The resulting universe saw iconic DC heroes drastically reimagined into retro-pastiche figures: Wonder Woman became “Wonder Wife,” an idealized 1950s homemaker embodying domestic subservience; Batman was recast as a brooding, authoritarian priest presiding over a “Holy City” version of Gotham; and Superman morphed into an unnervingly optimistic strongman devoted to promoting RetCo’s milk.

Read Next

10 Comics That I Think Ended Way Too Soon

This universe’s distinct atmosphere arose from its sharp satire of nostalgia, consumerism, and corporate control, all manifesting as a surreal distortion of beloved characters. The aesthetic deliberately blended wholesome 1950s advertising imagery with an underlying sense of dread and homogenized emptiness. The “Milk Wars” reality was less a stable alternate timeline and more a universe being bizarrely rewritten by an external force, offering a thought-provoking and visually jarring commentary on superhero archetypes and the pressures of societal conformity, with the unpredictable Doom Patrol playing a key role in resisting this enforced blandness.

4) The Mojoverse (Marvel Comics)

Originating from an entirely separate dimension, the Mojoverse is a chaotic society pathologically obsessed with television ratings and gladiatorial forms of entertainment. Its undisputed ruler is Mojo, a grotesque, spineless, multi-legged alien tyrant who maintains his power by broadcasting an endless stream of sensationalist content. He frequently abducts beings from other realities, most notably the X-Men, forcing them to participate as unwilling stars in his deadly televised spectacles for the amusement of his equally bizarre populace. Key characters such as the swashbuckling Longshot, the multi-armed assassin Spiral, and the warrior Shatterstar all have complex origins tied to this media-saturated dimension, often depicted as rebels fighting against its oppressive and vapid culture.

The Mojoverse functions as a biting satire of media consumption, the pursuit of celebrity, and the corrupting influence of entertainment driven solely by ratings. Mojo himself embodies the most venal aspects of a media executive, devoid of empathy and driven by an insatiable need for viewership and control. The entire concept of a society enslaved to the whims of a television producer, where life and death are merely programming choices and suffering is monetized, establishes the Mojoverse as an uncomfortably prescient corner of Marvel’s vast cosmology.

5) Earth-66½ (Marvel Comics’ Not Brand Echh)

During the late 1960s, Marvel Comics produced Not Brand Echh, a satirical series that lampooned its own characters, creators, and competitors, effectively creating the temporary reality of Earth-66½. This universe was populated by hilariously distorted versions of Marvel’s biggest stars: “Spidey-Man” was a klutz, “Ironed Man” (Stark Naked) had armor that constantly malfunctioned, “The Inedible Bulk” was a perpetually whining green giant, and “Dr. Deranged” bungled his spells. In addition, the Fantastic Four became “The Fantastical Four” with members like “Mr. Fantastical” and “The Human Scorch.” Every story was steeped in self-deprecating humor, fourth-wall breaks, and an anything-goes sensibility.

The artwork of Not Brand Echh often exaggerated features comically, and the narratives gleefully deconstructed superhero tropes with playful absurdity. This wasn’t a universe with its own internal dramatic logic, but rather a funhouse mirror reflecting the sillier aspects of the Marvel Universe itself. Its commitment to parody and its often surreal gags made Earth-66½ a unique space where Marvel could laugh at itself, presenting a world governed by comedic chaos rather than heroic convention, making it a truly bizarre and fondly remembered experiment in self-satire.

6) The Fifth Dimension (DC Comics)

Quite distinct from the concept of alternate Earths within a multiverse, the Fifth Dimension, often referred to by names like Zrfff, is an entirely different plane of existence with its own incomprehensible physical laws. It is famously home to beings of nigh-omnipotent reality-warping power, most notably Superman’s mischievous antagonist Mr. Mxyzptlk, and Batman’s self-proclaimed “number one fan,” Bat-Mite. For these powerful imps, our familiar three-dimensional reality is primarily a source of amusement and a playground for their whims. Because of that, their frequent visits to Earth typically involve the imposition of cartoon logic, surreal transformations, and widespread chaos.

These interventions are usually driven by their own desire for entertainment or a misguided attempt to “assist” their favorite heroes in baffling ways. The physical laws of the Fifth Dimension itself are portrayed as entirely fluid and malleable, completely subject to the will of its potent inhabitants and beyond the grasp of human understanding. This realm represents a wellspring from which pure strangeness can irrupt into the DC Universe, driven by entities who view our existence as little more than narratives to be played with.

7) Earth-2301 (Marvel Comics’ Mangaverse)

In the early 2000s, Marvel Comics embarked on an experimental publishing initiative known as “Mangaverse,” which aimed to reimagine its flagship characters through the narrative conventions of Japanese manga and anime. This project resulted in the creation of Earth-2301, a universe where familiar heroes and villains often possessed drastically altered origins, appearances, and power sets. For instance, in this reality, Spider-Man was depicted as a young ninja belonging to the clandestine “Spider-Clan.” Meanwhile, the Hulk manifested as a city-destroying rage monster akin to Godzilla and Iron Man was typically portrayed as the pilot of a sophisticated mecha suit.

Other character reinterpretations further embraced exaggerated anime tropes. Storm, for example, was depicted as a literal weather-controlling witch, and a version of Doctor Strange summoned oversized spirit creatures to do his bidding. The Mangaverse was characterized by its dynamic, hyper-stylized artwork and narratives that often prioritized high-octane action and melodramatic emotional beats. This fusion of established American superhero archetypes with overtly Japanese pop culture aesthetics resulted in a universe that was visually distinctive and often narratively outlandish, standing as a bold, if divisive, experiment in cross-cultural creative blending.

Which other truly bizarre alternate comic book universes make your head spin? Share your weirdest picks in the comments below!

The post 7 Weirdest Alternative Universes in Comics appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After the superhero team’s debut in Thunderbolts*, there are many more incredible team members from Marvel Comics we’d love to see appear in live-action in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2025’s Thunderbolts* featured Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier, John Walker’s US Agent, Ava Starr’s Ghost, and Alexei Shostakov’s Red Guardian as the team’s first line-up in the MCU. This group was then rebranded as the New Avengers, opening the door for an honest-to-goodness Thunderbolts team to appear in the MCU, which could include some brilliant team members from the comics.

The Thunderbolts first appeared in Marvel Comics back in 1997’s The Incredible Hulk #449. They were introduced as a group of flamboyant new heroes who replaced the Avengers following their presumed deaths, however, they were later outed as Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil. While they began as villains, masquerading as heroes actually convinced the Thunderbolts to carry out good deeds and seek redemption, which is exactly what occurred in the MCU’s Thunderbolts*. Marvel Studios’ line-up was brilliant, but it would be great to see some of these iconic Thunderbolts members from Marvel Comics also join the MCU.

7) Flash Thompson’s Agent Venom

Eugene “Flash” Thompson has been a part of the MCU since 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, played by Tony Revolori, but he is yet to assume his Agent Venom moniker. Flash became Agent Venom after bonding with the Venom Symbiote in 2011’s The Amazing Spider-Man #654. Soon after, he became a member of the Red Hulk’s strike team-like Thunderbolts alongside Deadpool, Elektra, and the Punisher, all of whom had conditions that are incurable. It would be great to see Flash Thompson finally become Agent Venom, giving Revolori a more dramatic role, and bringing the Symbiote officially into the MCU.

6) Donnie Gill’s Blizzard

Since Agents of SHIELD is not considered canon to the MCU’s official timeline, it’s possible that Donnie Gill’s Blizzard, who was played by Dylan Minnette in the Marvel Television series, could be reintroduced. Blizzard became a member of Abner Jenkins’ Thunderbolts team, the second iteration, in 2004. Jenkins had been a member of the original group, and decided to form a new team to follow in the first’s footsteps, redeeming villains such as Speed Demon, Radioactive Man, and Nighthawk, alongside Blizzard, into heroes, though Donnie Gill soon turned back to a life of crime.

5) Satana Hellstrom

Human and demon hybrid Satana Hellstrom joined Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts team during the Heroic Age in 2010. She was recruited by Cage and Doctor Strange and joined the team on a time traveling adventure. Since Sydney Lemmon’s debut as Ana in Marvel Television’s Helstrom series wasn’t positively-received, it would be great to see the daughter of Marduk Kurios, the demon who repeatedly poses as Satan, and her brother, Daimon, reinvented for the MCU. Both these magic-wielding antiheroes would be incredible additions to Thunderbolts teams, especially with the MCU focusing more on supernatural characters and stories.

4) Abner Jenkins’ Beetle

Before he formed his own Thunderbolts team, Abner Jenkins was recruited into Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil and became a founding member of the Thunderbolts. Originally known as the supervillain Beetle, who wore an armor-plated suit that made him strong enough to fight the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Jenkins rebranded himself as MACH-1 when he joined the Thunderbolts, and took on different monikers – MACH-2 through X – with each upgrade of his suit. Jenkins is one of the longest-running and most prominent Thunderbolts members, so he deserves a place in the live-action MCU.

3) Karla Sofen’s Meteorite

Alongside Abner Jenkins, Karla Sofen was also a founding member of the Thunderbolts in Marvel Comics. She started her villainous career as Moonstone, who gained her powers by fusing with a Kree-designed “gravity stone.” She became Meteorite in the Thunderbolts team, and then later took on the moniker of Ms. Marvel when she joined the Dark Avengers, so it would be fantastic to see Sofen debut in a possible Captain Marvel 3, teaming up with Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan. Meteorite was regularly the Thunderbolts’ field leader, so she could have a bright future in the MCU.

2) Melissa Gold’s Songbird

Prior to the release of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, rumors began circulating that Geraldine Viswanathan’s “Mel” could, in fact, be the MCU’s iteration of Melissa Gold, aka Songbird, an original member of Marvel Comics’ Thunderbolts team. She wears a bird pendant on a necklace in the 2025 movie, perhaps hinting at her superhero identity. Songbird is one of the most well-known and popular Thunderbolts members, so it would be brilliant to see Viswanathan fully embody this identity in the MCU’s future, showing off her supersonic abilities and becoming a prominent member of the Thunderbolts for years to come.

1) Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider

We’re all waiting for Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider to make his debut in the MCU, and Thunderbolts* opened the door. Although better known as part of teams such as the Midnight Sons, the Legion of Monsters, and the Defenders, Blaze teamed up with the Thunderbolts from 2014’s Thunderbolts (Vol. 2) #20 onwards, joining forces with the likes of Red Hulk, Deadpool, Elektra, and the Punisher, all of whom have already appeared in the MCU. With Mephisto’s MCU debut speculated to be imminent, it may not be long before Johnny Blaze cuts his deal with the demon and becomes Ghost Rider.

Which characters do you want to see join the MCU’s next Thunderbolts team? Let us know in the comments!

The post 7 Great Thunderbolts Members Still Not in the MCU appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Thor has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a hot minute. His first solo movie was released in 2011, almost exactly a year before The Avengers, and pitted him against his brother, Loki, who sought to take control of Asgard. Thor would fight his sibling again in The Avengers before wrestling with the Dark Elves in Thor: The Dark World. Despite being one of the worst-received MCU movies at the time, the sequel did well enough for a third Thor movie to be greenlit. Thor: Ragnarok featured Hela as the main villain and also included appearances from the Executioner, Surtur, and the Grandmaster. Of course, Ragnarok was a smash hit and paved the way for Thor: Love and Thunder, which swung for the fences by casting Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher.

With all that in mind, it’s hard to believe that the God of Thunder has many more foes to face in the MCU. However, the character’s comic history is much more expansive than his live-action one, meaning that, as long as he stays active in the MCU, there will be more intense battles in his future.

1) Jormungand

Thor already has experience with giant animals in the MCU, thanks to Hela’s friend Fenris Wolf. In the comics, the beast is Loki’s offspring, and he has a sibling, Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent. The snake-like creature calls the oceans of Earth his home after being banished from Asgard by Odin. He comes up for fun now and again, though, making life difficult for the God of Thunder with his enormous size and strength.

2) Ulik

When outside threats aren’t attacking it, Asgard seems like a pretty safe place in the MCU. The comics tell a different story, with the Rock Trolls posing a threat to the Asgardians whenever they leave their caves. Ulik is the strongest Rock Troll, and he has serious beef with Thor after trying to steal the hero’s hammer. While he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, Ulik never backs down from a fight.

3) Enchantress

Shockingly, Enchantress hasn’t made her way to the MCU yet, and it’s possible that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is to blame. The character’s sister, Lorelei, appears in the show and covers the same ground Enchantress would. However, it’s been many years since Lorelei showed up, and her sister’s the better sorceress anyway. She consistently uses her power to get under Thor’s skin, and he always has to come up with unique solutions to beat her because brawn alone isn’t enough.

4) Ragnarok

Tony Stark and Thor always butt heads, but they respect one another. Well, Iron Man goes too far during the Civil War event, creating a clone of Thor to give his side of the conflict a heavy hitter. Ragnarok doesn’t work as intended, though, killing Goliath by blasting a hole right through him. The clone returns a couple of other times, and Thor usually gets the better of him. However, when it comes to Ragnarok, the mental side of the battle is just as important as the physical one.

Read Next

A Scrapped MCU Cameo Could Change Avengers: Doomsday’s Conflict in a Major Way

5) Mangog

Odin’s past comes back to bite his sons when Hela returns in Ragnarok, and the comic version of the All-Father doesn’t do much better. He creates Mangog after wiping out an entire race, with the creature being a physical manifestation of their hate. Mangog wages war on Asgard and does plenty of damage. At one point, Jane Foster’s Thor even throws him into the sun, and he still comes back for more.

6) Serpent

Thor and Loki aren’t the only ones with an evil sibling, as Odin’s eldest brother, Cul Borson, aka Serpent, is just the worst. He wants to control the Nine Realms and doesn’t care who he has to kill to achieve his goal. Serpent also has a trick up his sleeve, being able to turn into a giant snake-like creature that packs a serious punch. Thor is able to kill his uncle in his strange form, but he succumbs to his wounds, proving that Serpent isn’t someone to mess with.

7) Ares

Thor is going to have a run-in with a Greek figure in the MCU sooner rather than later when Hercules catches up to him. However, Zeus has another son whom he can send after the God of Thunder, Ares. The God of War doesn’t get along with Asgardians, and the battles between him and Thor in the comics are legendary. The God of Thunder even has to team up with Hercules at one point to bring Ares down.

Which of the Thor villains on this list do you want to see show up in the MCU next? Are there any others that you hope make the jump to live-action? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 7 Strongest Thor Villains That Still Need an MCU Appearance appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ever since the gamma bomb gave a body to Bruce Banner’s repressed self, the Hulk and him have been at each other’s throats. The oldest Hulk stories all focus on Banner’s attempts to go into isolation and or cure himself, while all the Hulk wants is to be left alone. Over the years, they’ve learned to work together and have saved and endangered the world as a team many times, but that partnership is well past over. This volume of The Incredible Hulk has shown the Jade Giant’s attempts to trap Banner within his own mind and take over their body forever. After 25 issues, the Hulk has gotten his wish, but without Banner’s human heart, is the Hulk anything more than a monster of rage? That’s the question that his teenage sidekick Charlie Tidwell needs to answer for herself.

Hulk Is Finally in Control

After months of forced transformations, burying Banner deeper and deeper inside of their shared mind, the Hulkscape, each time the Hulk finally succeeded in trapping Banner and taking full control of their body. Now with no Banner to control him half of the time, Hulk and his friend Charlie are free to live however they want to live, which means away from everyone else. Still, Hulk’s life isn’t all peachy keen either. An ancient entity called the Mother of Horrors is trapped behind the Green Door that Hulk closed during the modern classic Immortal Hulk run, and her child, the Eldest, has chased Hulk all over the country to capture him and force him to reopen it. With the Strongest One There Is evading capture so far, the Eldest has turned to abducting other gamma mutates, such as Doc Samson and Hulk’s own son Skaar.

Read Next

7 Most Powerful Versions Of Hulk, Ranked

Hulk, for his part, is growing especially paranoid, hearing the Eldest’s voice in his head. When he notices someone near their camp, he assumes it’s another of her assassins and charges. It turns out to be none other than Bucky Barnes, the Winder Soldier, Captain America’s best friend and one of Charlie’s idols. Bucky isn’t here to fight, but came looking for Banner to see if he had answers about the missing mutates. Hulk just tells Bucky to leave because Banner is gone, and he’s never coming back. Bucky can’t exactly argue with a Hulk who refuses to listen, so he goes, but not before giving Charlie a piece of advice. He says that between the Eldest and the powers of Lycana, the first Skinwalker that Charlie has bonded with, the two of them are in serious danger. Except the Hulk never recognizes danger and will blindly charge ahead because Banner isn’t there to ground him. Bucky says that a Hulk without Banner is just a monster, and Charlie should get out while she still can.

Without Banner, Is Hulk a Man, Monster, Or Both?

That night, Charlie can’t get Bucky’s words out of her head. Hoping to prove him wrong, she uses her mystical powers as Lycana to enter the Hulkscape to find Banner. Instead of whatever she was expecting, Charlie finds a ruined, apocalyptic world with sinewy pillars of bone and massive skulls, and at its center is a massive, zombie-like Hulk head. Banner weakly calls for her to leave, but Charlie insists that she’ll help him and show everyone that Hulk and her aren’t monsters. Except when she sees what Hulk has done to Banner, her spirit drops. Tears roll down her face as she says that this can’t be true, that Hulk would never do something this evil, but Banner just begs her to leave before Hulk notices. We never see what Charlie does, but she is jettisoned from the Hulkscape, and she screams that the Hulk is a monster. Not wanting to be like him, she transforms into her winged-wolf form and flies away, giving the Hulk what he’s always wanted. To be alone.

The Hulk is the embodiment of Bruce Banner’s repressed rage. He is raw and powerful and unyielding, but now he has turned himself into something else: an uncaring entity. No matter how much he looked like a monster, Hulk always had an element of humanity that drove him to help people as much as he hurt them. He always had a kind, merciful heart, just like Banner. Except now he’s cast all parts of Banner away, including his humanity. The Hulk wants to be nothing more than a monster, but he’s going up against the Mother of Monsters. If he wants any chance of surviving or getting Charlie to trust him again, he’s going to have to embrace that human part of himself before he kills it for good. Banner has always needed the Hulk, and now the Hulk has to realize he needs Banner before it’s too late.

The Incredible Hulk #26 is on sale now!

The post The Hulk Finally Got Rid of Banner, But Is He Just a Monster Now? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The first few phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe spend a lot of time hyping up Thanos. Even before revealing himself in the post-credits scene of The Avengers, the Mad Titan makes moves to secure the Infinity Stones. He sends Loki to Earth to secure a planet that has ties to some of the gems and tasks his daughter, Gamora, with tracking down another. Everything blows up in his face, though, so he takes matters into his own hands. Thanos and his Black Order start collecting the Infinity Stones, destroying anyone who gets in their way. And after a lot of effort, the Mad Titan achieves his goal of wiping out half of existence.

The remaining heroes of the MCU don’t take kindly to losing so many friends, so they undo Thanos’ work and bring everyone back. They even take out a variant of the villain, ensuring that he never causes trouble again. However, despite his death, Thanos’ influence is still being felt in the MCU, as Ironheart features three villains with connections to the character.

The Blood Siblings Got Their Start Working Under Thanos

Parker Robbins (Anthony Ramos), aka The Hood, puts together a solid crew in Ironheart to pull off his heists. Each member has their own area of expertise, such as Slug (Shea Couleé) being a master hacker and Riri Williams tackling all the engineering tasks. The Blood Siblings, Jeri (Zoe Terakes) and Roz (Shakira Barrera), aren’t computer whizzes, but they do serve a purpose on the team, acting as Robbins’ muscle. They take out security guards without any trouble in Ironheart‘s first couple of episodes, which shouldn’t be surprising given their comic book roots.

In the comics, the Blood Siblings are the Blood Brothers, and they work for Thanos. When the Mad Titan sets up shop on Earth and captures Drax the Destroyer, the duo intercepts Iron Man, who is coming to help the alien hero. The Blood Brothers give the Avenger plenty of trouble, and it always takes him teaming up with another hero to take them down.

Read Next

The MCU Cut Tony Stark From Its New Series & Made It 10 Times Better

Drax eventually kills one of the brothers, R’Hos, leaving the other, Gh’Ree, without a purpose. The grieving villain joins The Hood’s crew and helps fight back the Skrulls when they invade Earth. The Blood Brothers have a unique journey in Marvel Comics, but funnily enough, they’re not the only characters to work for Thanos and The Hood.

Cousin John Is One of Thanos’ Favorites

Robbins does everything with his cousin, John King, as they have been close since childhood. King is a bit more aggressive than his relative, but he cares, checking in on Robbins anytime he thinks he’s going too far with his abilities. The MCU gives King a soft side that really isn’t present in the source material.

King gets his start working for his cousin, helping The Hood build his criminal empire. The good times don’t last forever, though, and once the gang splits up, King is in need of a gig. The Mad Titan reaches out because he’s looking to put together a team called Zodiac and wants King to be the leader under the codename Cancer. Thanos gives all of his new lackeys super-suits that give them incredible abilities, and they’re off to the races, attempting to steal all kinds of dangerous materials. However, the Avengers catch wind of Zodiac’s plans and capture Cancer, who sings like a canary. Being a snitch isn’t a great legacy for King, but it’s still better than his one in the MCU.

Ironheart is streaming on Disney+.

Did you know that Ironheart‘s Blood Siblings and John King have ties to Thanos? Does it change how you feel about them? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 3 New MCU Villains Have Major Links To Thanos appeared first on ComicBook.com.