Marvel Comics has been creating villains for decades. Some of these villains rise to the top, becoming the A-list antagonists we all know and love like Thanos, Green Goblin, Red Skull, Doctor Doom, and the like. Under them are the B-list villains, enemies whose name you know but aren’t the big ones. These are the workhorses, the one who would appear in the old school one and done stories that made up superhero comics all the time and fill out team rosters. We got to see them a lot and this allowed creators to build them into bad guys that fans loved to read about, allowing them to become more and more popular. In fact, some of these antagonists became so popular with readers that they got redeemed, becoming heroes.
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Sometimes, these redemptive stories never feel right and the villain goes back to their old life when a new creative team comes aboard that wants to use them. However, there are some villains where once you redeem them, it just feels right, and they keep growing and growing, becoming more popular than ever. These five B-list Marvel villains got the redemption they deserved, reaching all new heights as heroes.
5) Emma Frost
So, it might be a stretch to call Emma a B-list villain for some fans, but if you look back at her history, you’ll know it’s true. You just liked the blonde woman in lingerie a lot. However, she’s definitely become an A-lister since her redemption in 1994. She was “killed” in Uncanny X-Men #281, put her mind in Iceman (helping him gain more control over his powers), before getting a new body (it might have been her old one kept in stasis; I don’t think I read the exact issue she came back in but I can picture the cover) and becoming the headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy and co-leading Generation X. Her return to the X-Men in New X-Men made her into one of the most important mutants and her relationship with Cyclops was amazing. She always had the potential for something better (which is also why you probably thought she was an A-list villain; she really was an excellent character) and becoming a hero allowed her to reach the heights she should have.
4) Kaine Parker
Spider-Man’s Clone Saga has been maligned for decades, but speaking as someone who was there way back when, there were definitely some cool parts of the story. Kaine Parker was one of those. Kaine was one of the first clones created by the Jackal, with the villain trying to make a superior version of Peter. His powers were all greater, leading to his spider sense becoming precognitive visions, and he gained a killing touch from his wall-crawling abilities. He was a mysterious figure, watching the lives of Peter and Ben Reilly, the latter of whom he had a years-long grudge with (go out and read Spider-Man: The Lost Years; it’s amazing), but there was something tragic about him that made him a favorite of many fans. He ended up dying before the end of the Saga, but would return later as a new Scarlet Spider. Kaine was able to overcome the pain and rage that had been a part of his everyday life to become the kind of hero he always had the potential to be. It’s a shame Marvel hates Ben and Kaine, because there’s so much more that can be done with him.
3) Moonstone
One of the hardest things about being a comic fan is watching characters you love regressed because creators read less comics than you and Moonstone is a perfect example of this in action. Moonstone was introduced as a villain in the mid ’70s and she found her ceiling pretty quickly. She was solidly B-list, ending up as a key member of the Masters of Evil, but there was always something to Karla Sofen that kept her coming back when other members of the Masters would disappear at times. She got her big break in Thunderbolts, where she soon learned that being a hero was honestly a lot of fun. She led the rebellion against Zemo, helping save the world from his plans, and kept becoming a better and better hero. Of course, Marvel ignored all of her character development when she was brought back to Thunderbolts post-Civil War, but she was still excellent in that book and Dark Avengers. It’s a shame that the publisher couldn’t keep her late ’90s development going, but becoming a more heroic character allowed her to become better than she was.
2) Daken
Wolverine has had many successors, with his son Daken succeeding him in the Avengers during “Dark Reign”. However, he didn’t succeed his father because he loved him; it was because he wanted to kill him. Akihiro is Logan’s son from his marriage to Itsu, a Japanese woman who was killed by the Winter Soldier. He was cut from his mother’s dead body by Romulus and then was trained to hate his father. The two had some brutal clashes, with Daken giving as good as he got. Eventually, the hatred between the two would come to a fatal head, when Wolvie drowned the son that he never raised. He’d get resurrected by the Apocalypse Twins, but after his father’s death he’d end up making peace with what happened to him, realizing his hatred of his dad never had anything to do with the older mutant’s actual actions. In the Krakoa Era, he went full-on good guy and it’s been awesome. His relationship with Aurora in X-Factor (Vol. 4) was excellent and his death and return as Hellverine has been a lot of fun as well. He’s finally become the hero that everyone knew he could be and the sky’s limit for everyone’s fiery clawed bi-menace.
1) Deadpool
Much like Emma Frost, I’m sure a lot of you will quibble with me saying that Deadpool was a B-list villain, but he honestly was back then. As a bad guy, he was a henchman type; he wasn’t going to helm multi-part stories, he was the muscle. However, writer Fabian Nicieza was able to give him the kind of personality that fans wanted more of and we eventually got his first tentative steps to solo stardom. It wouldn’t be until the late ’00s that he finally became the Hot Topic darling that has led to him becoming one of the most popular superheroes of the modern day. Deadpool is a rather complicated character and the only reason he reached that level is because of his redemption. The building blocks were there from the beginning though, and it’s been fun watching the character reach his potential as a hero, showing everyone the kind of character he could become. Without his redemption, he’d still be just a henchman.
What’s your favorite redeemed Marvel villain? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
