If there is one thing Marvel Comics likes to do, it is have heroes fight each other. This was happening long before the Civil War storyline forced everyone in Marvel to take a side. From the very start of Marvel Comics, the company loved to have strife and distrust between different heroes, and nothing seemed to attract attention better than when two heroes could never get on the same page. This is true for antiheroes and heroes, as Punisher made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man, where he and Spidey fought. However, what makes a rivalry even better is when one hero betrays the other, and that turns it into something even darker.
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From the most recent admission 0of a betrayal in the mutant event series Age of Revelation to the heel turn that saw the death of an iconic hero, here are the biggest betrayals in Marvel Comics history.
7) Revelation Betrays Warlock
In the most recent issue of Age of Revelation, Douglas Ramsay made a sad admission. The exact method of his betraying the world has remained shrouded in mystery, as he serves as a godlike figure for those who follow him. However, before Douglass became Revoltion, he was a young mutant hero, and his best friend was an alien named Warlock.
In the recent issue, he finally revealed what happened to Warlock. When Revelation was trying to get everyone onboard to follow him and set the destruction of humanity in motion, he said that he had to power up. Douglas said that he had to consume all of Warlock in his entirety, and claimed that his friend believed the same as he did. However, the idea that Douglas murdered his closest friend to become a god seems like the ultimate betrayal.
6) Black Bolt Betrays Everyone
2025 didn’t just see Age of Revelation present a great betrayal with Douglas Ramsay trying to change the entire world into his vision. The year also saw the cosmic crossover event Imperial change everything about the far reaches of space in Marvel Comics. When Imperial ended, it changed everything about the Skrulls, Kree, Shi’ar, Inhumans, Wakandans, and more. However, the entire event was set into motion by a betrayal.
Black Bolt betrayed everyone when he used his brother, Maximus, to start the all-out war between alien races, which led to the murder of several people, including Star-Lord’s father and Hulk’s son. This was revealed at the end as Black Bolt’s plan to force a new governing alliance and push him closer to finally conquering the Kree race, and he didn’t care who he had to kill to do it.
5) Sharon Carter Betrays Captain America
Some might claim that there was a great betrayal when Iron Man decided he was going to force all superheroes to register as government employees or be locked away in a Negative Zone prison. However, the sides of that debate are still split, with many people taking Captain America’s side and others siding with Iron Man’s idea for a new world order of heroes. What happened after the Civil War is where the real betrayal occurred.
Cap surrendered and was willing to go on trial so he could fight for the hero’s rights in court. However, when he was on his way to the courtroom, an assassin shot him. That was Crossnbones. However, that bullet didn’t kill him. Instead, it was Cap’s close friend Sharon Carter who took out her gun and killed Captain America. She was under Red Skull’s control, but it was still the ultimate betrayal.
4) The Illuminati Betrays Hulk
The Illuminati betrayed a lot of people over their time together. They caused the Secret Invasion to happen by threatening the Skrull homeworld. They betrayed Captain America when they wiped his mind to erase the knowledge of the Incursions. These might be the greatest heroes from each corner of the Marvel Universe, but they were almost all deceptive and dishonest in their view of the greater good.
However, the worst thing that they did was to betray the Hulk. They made it seem like they needed his help, but then they put him on a spacecraft and shot him into space, off Earth. Their goal was to shoot him onto an empty planet where he could rampage all he wanted and be left alone. However, they overshot, and he ended up a gladiator on Sakaar. He fell in love and watched everyone he loved murdered. Hull finally returned in World War Hulk and got revenge, and the Illuminati deserved every bit of the beating they received.
3) Cyclops Betrays Professor X
Similar to Sharon Carter, Cyclops might not deserve all the blame for this, but he was more in control than Sharon was when she killed Captain America. In Avengers Vs. X-Men, the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, possibly seeking to merge with Hope Summers as a new host. The X-Men wanted to protect her, and the Avengers tried to lock her away to keep the Phoenix from getting to her. After their battles, the Phoenix arrived and chose five other mutants to split its power between.
In the end, Cyclops was the last man standing, and he had the full power of the Phoenix. It seemed no one could stop him, so Professor X showed up to try to talk Scott into giving up this power. Instead, Cylcops used the Phoenix Force power to kill his mentor and father figure. Cyclops ended up giving up the Phoenix Force and went to prison as a martyr after this ultimate betrayal.
2) Mister Sinister Betrays All Mutants in Krakoa
It seemed the mutants of the world finally found peace after years of hate and persecution from humans who hated them simply because they were born as mutants. They lived on Krakoa, and no non-mutant could go there without being invited, and they had their own government that allowed them to live free of the tyranny they faced when trying to survive at home. However, not every mutant was happy about it.
Mister Sinister is someone who has never allowed anyone to live a happy life when he is around. He faked being part of the new government and was part of the inner circle. However, behind everyone’s backs, he was working on a way to betray the entire mutant nation. Sinister is a big reason Krakoa ended, and the mutants ended up losing their home and running for their lives again.
1) Scarlet Witch Betrays The Avengers
The Scarlet Witch has always struggled to remain good, as she deals with mental health struggles. There have been a few times where she has been possessed and turned bad, but in one case, it wasn’t a possession, but grief and trauma that caused her to completely lose control of herself. This was Avengers Disassembled, and it all began when Wanda killed her mentor Agatha Harkness in cold blood.
Wanda was sitting by the pool with The Wasp at Avengers mansion when Jan accidentally mentioned Wanda’s kids. The problem is that Wanda’s kids were never real; she invented them with her magic, and then they were taken away. Wanda remembered everything and lost control. After killing Agatha, she betrayed the Avengers and conjured the illusion of a Kree attack, which led to the death of Jack of Hearts, Scott Lang’s Ant-Man, and Hawkeye. By the end, she was captured, and this led to House of M and eventually “No More Mutants.”
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