7 Marvel Characters Who Need a Reboot ASAP (And It’s Insane #1 Hasn’t Gotten One Yet)

Reboots and refreshes are a key component of comics. With most comics having long histories, it’s not uncommon and in some cases entirely necessary for there to be times where publishers make major changes to teams and characters. Sometimes, it’s a matter of significant refreshes, like a new costume or an updated codename. Others, it can be an entire new backstory or a jaw-dropping alteration of everything readers thought they knew about a beloved favorite.

But while change is regular and necessary, there are some characters that get attention in comics more than others. In Marvel, that often means we’ll see a lot of changes and updates to major characters like Jean Grey, but other characters go underutilized or left with a need for a little bit of revamping. And, in some cases, there are just characters that don’t much in the way of major changes at all; they just need to be used more. Here are seven Marvel heroes that could use a reboot, be it major changes or just a big return to the page.

7) Dazzler

Alison Blaire, aka Dazzler, may be one of the most unique X-Men. First envisioned as multi-media creation between Casablanca Records and Marvel Comics in the late 1970s until the tie-ins were dropped and the character went on entirely in comics, Dazzler is a mutant who can convert sound into light and energy, which is pretty useful considering she is also a popstar. It was a pretty cool concept that worked well in the disco era — the hero had her own series that lasted for 42 issues, but there honestly hasn’t been that much done with her since.

With her unique powerset, her interesting career beyond being a superhero and given the rise of celebrity culture and the social media era, Dazzler is a character that is perfect for a reboot. She certainly deserves something a little more modern — and maybe even a fresh origin story.

6) Blade

Blade is one of those characters that everyone wants more of, but the reality is that we haven’t actually seen much in the way of for quite some time. With the character in theory eventually supposed to be getting their own Marvel Cinematic Universe installment, it seems only right that the character get a little bit of a refresh or a full-on redo in the comics.

What might work best for Blade is to take the character back to his darker and more violent roots. Born part-vampire and thus, immune to a vampire’s bite because of the circumstances of his birth, Blade has a deep hatred of vampires and has devoted his life to being the perfect vampire hunter. While Blade’s stories would eventually move into more mystic territory and even see him as an ally of Doctor Strange, it could be refreshing to see the character much more focused on the street level elements of simply hunting vampires, taking on the darkness in Marvel by night.

5) Night Thrasher

The founder and leader of the New Warriors, Dwayne Taylor has no superpowers. Instead, he uses his family’s billions (which he inherited after seeing his parents murdered in front of him) to fund the team and fights bad guys using his extensive martial arts skills, advanced body armor, and even a skateboard. Yes, he sounds like Batman. But he’s a very cool character and that’s exactly why he needs a reboot.

Stripping away the more Batman-like elements of Night Thrasher’s origin — and maybe taking away the skateboard gimmick — could actually be an interesting angle to explore with the hero. There aren’t that many figures in Marvel that don’t have some sort of superpowers so it would be interesting to have a character operating in the space that has to do things without.

4) Longshot

Longshot is one of those cool 1980s Marvel characters that just doesn’t get enough love and a refresh or a reboot could fix that. A humanoid life form from Mojoworld, Longshot has “good luck” powers and is honestly all kinds of interesting with a complex origin story that involves amnesia that prevents him from being able to remember his real name.

There is just so much untapped potential with Longshot. Redoing his origin and refining his powers could be really interesting. It’s also worth noting that Longshot canonically has a relationship with Dazzler, so he would be a great character to bring in if Dazzler were to get a reboot as well.

3) The Inhumans

Less a single character that needs a reboot and more a whole group of characters, the Inhumans can really use a refresh. A superhuman race of superbeings, Marvel typically focuses on the Inhuman Royal Family when it comes to the stories it tells, but there are more than Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, and the others.

Technically, Marvel has started doing more with the Inhumans as of late. Imperial has seen the characters take a more prominent role, but while the group is arguably one of Marvel’s best “teams”, they’re one that just is woefully underutilized and feels a little dated. Giving them a refresh, focusing on maybe a different set of Inhumans, and bringing the stories down to something a bit more grounded might be exactly what these classic heroes need.

2) Pixie

This is less a case of a character who needs a reboot and more of a reintroduction. Megan Gwynn is probably one of the most interesting X-Men. A human mutant/fairy hybrid from Wales, Pixie has one of the most creative character designs that features insectoid wings that let her fly and bright pink hair. She has hallucinogenic “pixie dust” that she can use to cause visual and auditory hallucinations as well, and she is a magic user, complete with a magical weapon called the Souldagger.

Despite having a really cool concept and interesting character design, Pixie is actually a relatively new character (first introduced in 2004) and hasn’t really been utilized that much, at least not in a significant way. It would be an interesting idea for Marvel to take the time to revisit Pixie, as well as some of the other, less prominent X-Men rather than continue to use the same cast over and over — and given her unique hybrid nature, there’s a lot that could be explored.

1) Multiple Man

Jamie Madrox, aka Multiple Man, is another X-Men character that is really fascinating but is also very underutilized. With the ability to create duplicates, there’s a lot of potential for rich and complex stories for Multiple Man. He’s had a few series in the past and they’ve generally been well-regarded — including 2018’s Multiple Man by Matthew Rosenberg. But the character has been pretty much relegated to the c-list for a long time and as the X-Men head into a new storytelling phase with the Shadows of Tomorrow initiative in 2026, it feels like a perfect time to give Multiple Man a fresh go. There’s just so much potential there. It’s wild that we haven’t gotten more from this character.

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