7 Overrated Marvel Heroes and How to Fix Them

Marvel Comics has been giving readers the coolest heroes in comics for decades. They entered the superhero game came after the success of Superman, but didn’t really become the House of Ideas until the ’60s. They did this by taking their heroes in directions that their distinguished competition didn’t at the time and it’s made all the difference. Over the years, Marvel characters have become massively popular – if I’m being honest more because of media outside of comics than the comics – with some of them becoming iconic. However, as the years have gone on, some of these iconic characters have fallen into the trap of being overrated.

Sometimes, the things that make a character popular get played out and boring after a while. Some of the most beloved residents of the House of Ideas haven’t reached the level they should be at for years, but there are ways to fix them. These seven Marvel heroes are overrated, but there are ways to make them as cool as they once were.

7) Drax the Destroyer

The modern Guardians of the Galaxy are superstars, mostly because of the MCU. Marvel has tried to make the comic versions of the character more like the movie ones, especially Drax the Destroyer. In the comics, he’s the father of Moondragon who has sworn revenge on Thanos for destroying his family and has been pretty important to cosmic Marvel history. This one is honestly an easy fix; just stop making him the MCU version. The comic Drax was more hard-edged, even when he was recovering from a mindwipe (which is the genesis of his mental weirdness in the movies; he wasn’t an autistic alien, but a cosmic-powered human who was mindwiped). Drax needs to get back to that instead of being funny.

6) War Machine

War Machine is one of the most important characters in the Iron Man mythos, but hasn’t been a big deal in years. He replaced Iron Man and did such a good job that he earned his own armor. He was at the height of his popularity in the ’90s and the main reason for that is because Marvel was actually trying to push him. He had his own book and was a part of team books. Fans love James Rhodes, they just need to see him more. The key to making him popular again isn’t to have him as a supporting character. Put him front and center again and the character will find an audience, just as he has in the past. Fans are being told he’s a great hero nowadays, they need to actually see it.

5) Mister Fantastic

Mister Fantastic is the smartest hero around, despite whatever Tony Stark says. At one time, Reed Richards was one of the most important characters in the Marvel Universe. He was the ultimate dad and that’s been one of the problems with him over the years. Reed is basically just coasting along on the character that has been established for him over the years. He needs some kind of shake-up and he needs to be the big hero of an event series. Modern Reed is a fine, but he’s mostly just talk. He hasn’t done anything huge in years and that’s what he needs. Make him the big hero, creating world-changing tech and saving the day in a way that only he could. Super-scientists are a dime a dozen in the Marvel Universe, so he needs to grab attention.

4) Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer has been an icon since he first showed up, a character with the perfect synthesis of look and personality. There have been times when he was the most important cosmic Marvel character, especially after Infinity Gauntlet. The early to mid ’90s for Surfer were amazing and it was for a simple reason: he was allowed to be the main cosmic Marvel character. This is the key to making him popular again. Let Norrin Radd be the main cosmic hero; he plays well off all of the best of cosmic Marvel and is superlatively powerful. He was tailor-made to be the main cosmic hero, so just let him. The character doesn’t have to fixed at any huge level, just allowed to shine.

3) Namor

Namor is Marvel’s most antagonistic hero, and this has become something of a problem. Namor stories all follow the same basic guidelines and it’s time that changed. We don’t really need slightly villainous Namor anymore and we don’t need him fighting the Avengers then joining them again. The last time he was interesting was during the late ’00s to mid ’10s, while he was a member of the X-Men and the Illuminati. These were a different kinds of Namor stories and it showed what could be done with the character if you don’t just want him sassing the Avengers. This might seem like a no brainer, but taking the character in new directions is the key; we don’t need him constantly being a problematic ally of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. They need to do something with the character that we don’t expect or at least not just copy his older stories idea for idea.

2) Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is Marvel’s most storied sorcerer, but he hasn’t actually had a great series in years. In fact, an argument can be made that he never had a legitimately great series. Strange is a hard character to get right, because he has to be overpowered to work and yet there needs to be stakes to his stories. Lately, it seems like the main idea with the character is to take the Sorcerer Supreme mantle away from him. This is a huge mistake; instead, they need to lean into how powerful he is. Strange stories should be him fighting against the greatest magical threats in the Marvel Universe. Don’t be ashamed of how powerful he is, make it the entire point of his comics. Power-scaling books can get boring, but Strange would actually do perfectly in that kind of comic. It would get fans’ attention and keep them glued to the book.

1) Daredevil

I have always felt that Daredevil is overrated. The character has starred in some amazing stories, but it feels like they often tread the same ground. One of the biggest problems with ol’Hornhead is the fact that he’s ridiculously OP. He’s defeated Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hercules, Beast, Ultron, Mr. Hyde, and numerous others heroes and villains that he shouldn’t have. Matt needs to start losing more, but that’s only halfway there. Too many creators keep trying to walk the same road as Frank Miller and it’s gotten boring. Mark Waid showed that Daredevil can work in stories that aren’t just hard-boiled crime narratives. It’s time to take the character out of his comfort zone; not every creator can pull a DD story off and it’s about time that creators tried something completely new the hero.

How would you fix Marvel’s most overrated characters? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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