The Marvel Universe is awash with enchanted weapons, alien technologies, and arcane implements that can be formidable in the hands of heroes and perilous in the hands of villains or the unwary. While Stark-tech is employed to advance humankind, evildoers often use science and engineering for criminal purposes as is the case with M.O.D.O.K.’s weaponized hover-chair, Klaw’s Sonic Disruptor, and Doctor Octopus’ steely tentacles. Others channel the Power Cosmic or sorcery to wield supernatural armaments like Magik’s Soulsword and Ghost Rider’s searing chains. Even mundane weaponry like Daredevil’s versatile billy club, Elektra’s iconic sais and Spidey’s handy web-shooters can turn the tables on foes if harnessed properly. What are the best weapons in the Marvel Comics? It depends on how they are wielded and by whom.
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We’ve come up with a list of the 10 best weapons in Marvel comics and ranked them and while all of these weapons are great in their own ways, just wait until you get number one. Onto the list!
10) Cosmic Axe of Terrax the Tamer
A new star in the Marvel Universe was set ablaze in Fantastic Four #211 (1979), “If This Be Terrax,” scripted by Marv Wolfman with John Byrne and Joe Sinnott sharing artistic duties. And that star would end up with his own incredible weapon.
Tyros the Terrible, decadent and harsh warlord, became the Herald of Galactus when the Fantastic Four were sent by Galactus to find a new harbinger from his sorrow, in exchange for vow to never attack Earth. Following in the steps of the Silver Surfer, Gabriel the Air-Walker, and Firelord, Tyros was transformed by the Devourer of Worlds into Terrax the Tamer and sent forth to seek out sustenance for Galactus. Granted elemental control over earth and stone by the Power Cosmic, the herald Terrax was likewise armed with scythe-like axe that “can cleave the cosmic stratum itself.” Galactus contends that “with his Cosmic Axe in his hand, Terrax is invincible” and when he arrives on Earth in Fantastic Four #242 (1982) he tears the top floors off of the Baxter Building with one fell swoop. Coupled with Terrax’s staggering elemental powers, the axe-bearing Herald of Galactus brings terror to those whose planets he alights upon as his appearance portends disaster. Simple, elegant, and imbued with the Power Cosmic, it’s the axe made for a villain.
9) Doctor Doom’s Power Armor
Doctor Doom’s armor has undergone many upgrades through Marvel history but the plating and its hidden threat beneath the monarch’s olive-green raiment is unmistakable. At its core, Doom’s power armor remains an amalgam of sorcery and science, fusing together arcane power and advanced technologies. With an array of internal sensors for communication, analysis, and surveillance and a miniature nuclear reactor housed beneath titanium shielding, the armor is complemented by awesome firepower in the form of gauntlet blasters, shock generators, and jets enabling supersonic flight. While providing unparalleled offensive and defensive systems, the armor enhances Doom physical abilities as well, making Lord of Latveria a venerable foe—while aptly dressed for the Renaissance faire.
8) Pumpkin Bombs
Crafted by the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man #17 (1963), pumpkin bombs resemble delightful little jack-o-lanterns and are handheld orange incendiary devices. Easy to hurl at a meddlesome spider or toss in the window of the Daily Bugle, pumpkin bombs make everyday like Halloween—just twist the stem and toss at will. And they come in a variety of styles and intensity ranging from smoldering smoke bombs that confuse and conceal to sense-shattering explosive grenades that can level a building.
When the Green Goblin is out smashing pumpkins on his Goblin Glider, he carries a satchel full of firepower in case the Webhead is on his trail. Other villains such as his successor, Hobgoblin tinkered with the original design, creating far-more lethal bombs but the leering jack-o-lantern motif remains the enduring hallmark of the Goblin’s signature weapon.
7) Stormbreaker and Mjolnir
The Asgardian Thor has long held the Uru hammer, Mjolnir—and lost it several times as well. Whether unworthy to wield it or incredibly careless, the mystical hammer has always returned to Thor’s hand. Except that first time that it didn’t.
Fashioned by the Dwarves of Nidavellir, the mighty weapons was graven with the ensorcelled covenant, “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” Hence named, Mjolnir became the property of the Odinson and the dread of all Jotunheim. In The Mighty Thor #339, written and illustrated by the legendary Walt Simonson, the hammer suddenly took on a new bearer, the equine-featured Korbinite named Beta Ray Bill. Fleeing from space demons in his starcruiser, Scuttlebutt, Beta Ray Bill encounters Thor in space as he approaches Earth. In shocking battle, Bill is able to separate Thor from his hammer and, as Scuttlebutt falls into Earth’s gravity well the Asgardian is transformed into his human guise, the frail Dr. Donald Blake. Mjolnir likewise reverts to an unassuming wooden stick.
Seizing the hammer and his destiny, Beta Ray Bill is deemed worthy and assumes the mantle of Thor. Until Odin, as a matter of personal dignity, sorts it all out and bequeaths a new hammer to Beta Ray Bill, the weapon known as Stormbreaker. And so begins inevitable unwinding of “whosoever” is worthy, a number that seems to increase with every story-arc.
6) Sentinels
The Mutant Menace was headline news way back in Uncanny X-Men #14 (1965) and Professor Charles Xavier, leader and mentor of the X-Men, recognizes what he “has always feared—a witch-hunt for mutants.” The feature article in the Daily Globe that startles Xavier concerns an eminent anthropologist named Dr. Bolivar Trask and his assertion that “the superior abilities and supernatural powers of the hidden mutants will enable them to enslave the human race, replacing our civilization with their own.” With public sentiment soon turning on mutants, a debate between Xavier and Trask is preempted by the appearance of immense crimson and cobalt-blue armored mechanoids, Trask’s new army of Sentinels. While stilted in their movements and robotic behaviors, these monstrosities of mindless obedience would soon evolve into mechanical terrors capable of unspeakable atrocities with one mission, hunt down and exterminate mutants. Mastermold, the Prime Sentinel achieves total sentience and the technological horrors begin to replicate and further evolve, harrying mutants across the Marvel Age.
In the Days of Future Past storyline, the world of the future is a dystopian nightmare ruled over by advanced Sentinels with what mutants that remain after deadly purges kept in concentration camps. This theme would be explored in countless mutant magazines across the decades, for the fear that humankind’s own creations might someday lead to its extinction is one that persists as technology advances with harrowing speed.
Weapons of mass destruction, towering Sentinels of every generation could fly and blast their quarry with punishing firepower, often incapacitating their targets and ascending with them in their clutching grasp. As stalkers of mutants and indefatigable sentries incapable of defying commands, the might of Sentinels cannot be understated.
5) Casket of Ancient Winters
Eldritch artifacts are often unearthed in the pages of Marvel Comics and equally as often are their long-interred curses and maladies disgorged to wreak havoc on the world. Like Pandora’s Box, some things are best left undisturbed. Such is it with the Casket of Ancient Winters. As accounted in Asgardian lore, the Casket of Ancient Winters bears within it the Fimbulwinter of the Ice Giant Ymir, a brutal winter of apocalyptic proportion that precedes Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods. Do not open!
Of course, Surtur the Fire Giant desires the onset of Ragnarok and unleashes the power contained within the Casket of Ancient Winters on Earth to devastating effect. Though Thor triumphs over Surtur, the artifact is next acquired by the Dark Elf, Malekith who sets his sights on Asgard. The Eternal Realm is glaciated by the Fimbulwinter with its frigid fingers reaching along the World Tree to pummel even Jotunheim. Once again, the Odinson prevails and secrets the Casket of Ancient Winters away in another dimension. As an environmental hazard or eco-weapon, the Casket of Ancient Winters is unsurpassable.
4) Widow’s Bite
Secret agents live a life of deception, a deadly game of cloak and dagger. Undercover operatives do their business in close quarters, frequently face-to-face, and brandishing a shimmering Soulsword is bound to raise a few eyebrows. Concealed weapons are best for clandestine affairs, a knife in the dark or even a Widow’s Bite.
Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, Russian spy, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Avenger and Red Room graduate is the rare superhero that lacks augmented abilities, mutations, or cybernetic implants. She’s deadly, nonetheless and armed with more than just her wits, athleticism, and formidable training in spycraft. Black Widow equips herself with streamlined gauntlets capable of emitting electrical shocks reaching upwards of 30,000 volts, enough to cause severe burns, cardiac arrest, or even death.
Natasha’s Widow’s Bites can be delivered with the utmost discretion or the most overt of gestures, blasting unsuspecting adversaries with agonizing surges of electricity. The most effective weapon is the one you never see coming, and the Widow Bite is shockingly effective.
3) ROM’s Neutralizer
Sometimes, in the arming of the hero, specialization is called for. The Roman gladius carried by Roman legionaries is a double-edge blade curving to a pointed tip for the close combat they would engage in and the shurikens and darts used by ninja such as those in The Hand are ideal for stealthier operations.
ROM the Space Knight was, like the Micronauts and Shogun Warriors, a toy that achieved a second life as a Marvel Comics title. The Parker Brothers “advanced electronic toy” was a chromatic cyborg with limited articulation typical of late ‘70s actions figures and came equipped with plastic accessories like an omnilingual translator, energy analyzer, and a Neutralizer with lights and sounds. It was when Marvel Comics acquired the rights to produce a monthly title that things really got interesting.
Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema took the bizarre beeping toy to new heights with the story of a Space Knight in Plandanium armor at war with Dire Wraiths and their dark magic. ROM frightened Earthlings when he arrived on Earth hunting the vile Wraiths who could use illusion to hide their true nature from humanity. The Space Knight commenced what seemed to be arbitrary attacks on innocents as the Wraiths he pursued across the star were disguised to mortal eyes. The weapon he used was the Neutralizer and it cut through Dire Wraith magic, exposing their hideous forms and banishing them to Limbo. In his struggle to liberate Earth from alien infiltration, ROM teamed up with X-Men, Shang-Chi, Doctor Strange, and Alpha Flight but ultimately lost his battle to copyright and has been relegated to the realm of alt covers, banished like a wraith. The Neutralizer is a very niche weapon but such tools are essential in a war against cosmic horrors that hide in plain sight.
2) Mech Strike
Most fans agree, Iron Man’s armor is amazing but it’s not as if he’s going to outfit the entire Avengers roster with power suits—until he did in Marvel’s Mech Strike. After the Avengers tussled with a giant “biomechanoid, a rampaging autonomous weapon that consumes and converts matter,” Iron Man thought the notion of equipping his teammates with similar tech might aid them in their future conflicts with other such mechanical monsters.
T’Challa, Bruce Banner, and Tony Stark combine their talents to create Avengers-themed “biomechaniod response units” customized with specialized power sets (to reflect the attributes individual hero though, candidly, this is a distinction without a difference) and shielded in Vibranium plating. The King of Wakanda proclaims that ”new problems call for new solutions, new tools” and unveiling the new gear Spider-Man, Black Panther, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Iron Man (like a Stark-tech nesting doll) settle into the BMRs to take the fight to the bad guys.
If you think you’re watching a toy commercial, you’re probably right. Sometimes the best weapon is an action figure tie-in and 8” Mech Strike figures are still available through most quality toy distributors and there’s Nerf, too!
1) The Ultimate Nullifier
When dreaded Galactus, a cosmic wanderer arrived on Earth in Fantastic Four #50 (1966), he was accompanied by his herald, Silver Surfer and a voracious need to feed on planetary bodies. To satiate his intolerable hunger, the Devourer of Worlds selects the human homeworld and begins to syphon terrestrial energy with his otherworldly technologies, draining the Earth of life. With the help of The Watcher, the Fantastic Four acquire the Ultimate Nullifier, an alien weapon of unimaginable power with the capacity to destroy entire solar systems. Confronted by Reed Richards armed with the Ultimate Nullifier, Galactus reluctantly agrees to abandon his scheme to devour Earth and departs with the weapon just for good measure.
What makes the Ultimate Nullifier the best weapon in Marvel Comics is its very existence. It is an unrivaled deterrent that threat of which is enough to discourage even the most ambitious villain. And used prudently, the Ultimate Nullifier is your best bluff.
When Galactus triumphs over the Sphinx, his eyes turn once again on the fruitful Earth and casts aside his promise to the Fantastic Four. However, the clever Mr. Fantastic retrieves the Ultimate Nullifier from Galactus’ starship and once again banishes the Devourer. Only when Galactus has fled does Reed Richards reveal the truth to his astonished teammates. Richards was bluffing and the device was merely a credible replica. Casting the facsimile away, Reed confesses that the “Nullifier is a sham, an empty steel shell and nothing more.” And so subterfuge proved itself to be the greatest weapon in the arsenal of Marvel Comics.
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