7 Great Female Marvel Heroes Nobody Talks About

Marvel Comics has created many of the coolest superheroines ever. Characters like Invisible Woman, Storm, Jean Grey, Carol Danvers, Psylocke, Scarlet Witch, and many others have made a huge splash over the years. The publisher doesn’t always have the best track record with women – the House of Ideas have done some terrible stories starring their female heroes starting with Stan Lee’s misogynistic writing of women – but they’ve created some iconic female heroes who have become icons. The biggest names get all of the ink (digital or otherwise); they star in the big books, they play key roles in the greatest teams, and have the most interesting plot lines. However, they’re just the beginning.

Over the decades, Marvel has created loads of superheroines. Some of them made a splash and faded away, some were passed by the tides of comic fan appreciation, and some of them were icons that stopped getting the attention that they once did. These seven great Marvel women don’t get the spotlight they should, and could easily ascend to the level of the greats.

7) Monica Rambeau

Captain Marvel is a venerable mantle in Marvel Universe, but most people never think about the second one anymore. Monica Rambeau gained energy-controlling powers, and eventually made her way to the Avengers, even becoming the leader of the group. She’s changed her superhero name numerous times, using monikers like Photon and Spectrum (her current code name), and has been a member of several teams. She’s made her MCU debut, but Marvel has barely pushed her, which is a shame since she’s one of the coolest superheroines.

6) Sharon Ventura

Sharon Ventura is a minor Fantastic Four character that is way better than she gets credit for. She’s been through a couple of code names, like She-Thing and Ms. Marvel (she was actually the second person to hold that mantle, not Kamala Khan), and is one of the Thing’s ex-girlfriends. She’s a character who is an example of Marvel being extremely insensitive – she was sexually assaulted and became a man-hater because of it – but there’s a lot of room to improve the character. She’s not exactly iconic, but she could definitely be a big time player if given the right stories.

5) Brunnhilde

Right now, Valkyrie is Jane Foster, having joined the women warriors who bring the dead to Valhalla after her own demise from cancer. She’s not the first Valkyrie, though, as readers were introduced to Brunnhilde in Thor #133. She was a warrior woman of Asgard, but would get her biggest break in Defenders. She was a key member of that group, but since then has barely done anything of note, mostly appearing as a background character in other people’s stories. She’s currently playing second fiddle to Jane, but it’s long past time she got a berth on the Avengers or some other big name Marvel team.

4) Boom Boom

Boom Boom first appeared in the ’80s, joining the growing ecosystem of teen mutant heroes in books like X-Factor, New Mutants, and X-Terminators. She would eventually became a member of the New Mutants, which lead to her X-Force, where she became more popular than ever. Her mutant power to create timed plasma explosives made her clutch in combat, and she was always fun to read about. She’s had basically every personality you can imagine over the years; at her heart, she’s just a girl who wants to have fun and live her life. She’s not a particularly deep character, but there’s enough to her that any creator could make her a star with minimal work.

3) Songbird

The Thunderbolts are one of Marvel’s most underrated groups. The idea to have members of the Masters of Evil pretend to be heroes was awesome, and made several characters into contenders. Songbird is easily the best of them. The former Screaming Mimi used her sonic powers for good, and she was one of the first members of the ‘Bolts to prefer heroism to villainy. She was a character on the cusp of stardom in the late ’90s – it was even teased that she was a future Avenger in Avengers Forever (Vol. 1) – but the ‘Bolts became the Marvel Suicide Squad and most of the interesting things about them were ignored. Songbird is an amazing hero, and hopefully one day she’ll get the love she’s deserved for years.

2) Domino

X-Force combined the deadliest mutants for the most dangerous missions, and Domino has long been one of the team’s most important ingredients. The mutant mercenary with the power of good luck has often played second fiddle to Cable, but she’s also had her own solo series and was one of the best parts of the Krakoa Era X-Force (Vol. 6). She’s a character with a rich history, and a lot of past to explore. The Krakoa Era made her into the most interesting version of herself, and it’s a shame that all of that has been forgotten in the present.

1) The Wasp

The Wasp is the first major Marvel superheroine, but she’s often treated like a second-class citizen. Janet Van Dyne was given her shrinking powers, wings, and wasp stings by her on-again, off-again boyfriend/husband Hank Pym, leaving behind the life of wealthy socialite so that she could fight evil. She helped found the Avengers and even led the team more than once over the years. She’s a character who should be an icon, but Marvel has barely ever actually put the work in to make her popular since the ’80s. Janet is an amazing character, and the fact that she gets overshadowed by characters like Carol Danvers and Scarlet Witch instead of getting the credit she deserves is maddening.

Who’s your favorite underrated Marvel woman? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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