10 Marvel Heroes That Desperately Need a Comeback

Marvel Comics started creating superheroes in the Golden Age, but lagged significantly behind their distinguished competition, even with future icons like Captain America, Bucky, and Namor. The Silver Age would see them have their greatest success, creating heroes that lived in the world outside of readers’ windows and set the comic world on fire. Over the years, some Marvel characters have become the most well-known fictional characters in the world, with Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and many more becoming household names. Under them, there are thousands of lesser characters, heroes who don’t get as much spotlight. They get some attention, gain fans, and then disappear.

However, this is unfair to these characters. They were able to connect with fans and forge their own place in the Marvel Universe, and it’s past time that they got another chance at stardom. These ten Marvel heroes desperately need a comeback, making triumphant returns on the road to superstardom.

10) The Inhumans

Marvel tried to push the Inhumans in the ’10s and failed miserably. They tried to make the slave-owning eugenicist monarchists into a new version of the X-Men and fans just didn’t want that. However, the Inhumans are honestly an amazing group of heroes and deserve a comeback. It looked like 2025’s Imperial was going to be that, but Marvel basically decided to not continue with that book’s plots after low sales and negative reader feedback. The Inhumans are a key part of the Marvel Universe and it’s time they got another chance to prove it.

9) Deathlok

Marvel is known for their dark futures, with Deathlok being an example of how bad things can get. There have been numerous Deathloks over the years, but all they follow the same basic story – they’re dead people from the future, enhanced with cybernetic technology and an onboard computer system, sent back to the present to ensure their future happens or, in less dark alternate futures, going on missions to stop terrible things happening in the future. It’s been a long time since readers have gotten so see any kind of Deathlok and it’s about time Marvel dusted off this awesome concept for another try.

8) Mr. Immortal

The Avengers are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, with numerous versions of the team popping up. However, they’re not all created equal, which brings us to the Great Lakes Avengers. This team of Z-list heroes does their best, but they’re known more for their hilarious hijinks than heroic happenings. The team is led by Mr. Immortal, a character who can’t die. Any injury he suffers is healed and we’ve seen him at the end of the universe, waiting to see if he will die. Mr. Immortal is a character with infinite potential and could make a huge splash as a more serious hero dealing with the power to live forever.

7) Impossible Man

Marvel is full of overpowered characters, but they are mostly played seriously. However, there’s one amazingly powerful “hero” who is all about the comedy: Impossible Man. He’s basically Marvel’s version of the Superman villain Mr. Mxyzptlk, a reality-altering trickster who likes to mess with superheroes and supervillains. He’s one of the coolest comedy characters that Marvel ever created, but most modern fans have no idea he exists. This is a travesty and it’s time for the House of Ideas to bring him back.

6) Hyperion of Earth-13034

Hyperion is one of the oldest Marvel Superman analogues, and has starred in many comics over the years. There have been numerous multiversal versions of the hero, but the best was introduced in the landmark Jonathan Hickman run on the Avengers: the Hyperion of Earth-13034. After his Earth was destroyed by an Incursion, AIM pulled him to Earth-616. He ended up joining the Avengers and became one of its main powerhouses, making best friend with Thor. The last time we saw him, he and the Odinson attacked the Beyonders. Thor’s come back; Hyperion hasn’t. This is the perfect version of the character and Marvel could make him into a superstar with the barest of effort.

5) Madrox

Jamie Madrox is the Multiple Man, a hero who seemed like he was destined to always be a C-lister. His powers to create duplicates was useful and Madrox was a funny character, so fans enjoyed him. He got his biggest break as a member of X-Factor and would become the main character of X-Factor (Vol. 3), where the team became mutant detectives. This series built him into one of the compelling mutants ever, but he’s been almost entirely pushed out of the spotlight. His last appearance was in the abysmal X-Corp and he deserves another chance to show new fans why us older fans love him.

4) Death’s Head

Marvel UK took the greatest creators of the British Isles and gave them their own comic imprint, one that created numerous new characters. In the ’90s, Marvel tried to bring some of these characters to the United States, including Death’s Head. Created to be a new body for a powerful sorcerer, he was taken away and activated, becoming an intergalactic mercenary running from what was supposed to be his destiny. Death’s Head is a fantastic-looking character, which is honestly half the battle for making a successful hero. American fans know little about him, so he’s basically a blank slate, giving him infinite potential.

3) Sleepwalker

Sleepwalker is one of many ’90s characters who Marvel tried to make a thing and never really caught on. Sleepwalker is part of a dream police force, traveling the minds of sleeping humans and stopping whatever threats pop up in dreams. It feels like Marvel was trying to copy The Sandman with the book, but instead of trying to do something unique with the idea, they just made a standard Marvel superhero book. However, it’s an idea that still has loads of potential. The House of Ideas has a paucity of good horror characters or comics (don’t make me laugh Marvel Midnight) and Sleepwalker could be that for them.

2) Star-Lord

Star-Lord was a D-list character that became a superstar because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The comic side of the company did their best to take advantage of this, changing Peter Quill to be more like the movie versions. However, the Guardians of the Galaxy never got as popular in the comics and Star-Lord is basically just a D-list character in A-list clothing whenever he shows up. He was given a major new status quo in Imperial and it looks like we’re not going to get anything more from that. That’s a shame because he’s a character that fans want to love.

1) Darkhawk

Darkhawk, like Sleepwalker, was meant to be the next big Marvel superstar in the ’90s. He had everything that made Marvel heroes popular – a normal life, trying to make his time as a hero and a civilian work, and learning to deal with his new powers – but he wasn’t extreme enough for ’90s audiences. The House of Ideas has been trying to make him a star for years now, always just falling short. Darkhawk has been a work in progress for years and it’s time for another crack at it.

What Marvel hero do you think needs a comeback? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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