Marvel Comics has been putting out stories from some of the most popular heroes for decades. The House of Ideas set the comic industry on fire in the Silver Age, creating hit after hit, and just kept that up ever since. Their characters have become some of the most popular heroes ever, with their A-list a who’s who of household names. Some characters are destined to be A-listers, but other aren’t. Over the years, numerous characters have been introduced who could have easily faded away. Instead, some of them have become superlatively popular, joining the ranks of the biggest names in fiction.
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These character often started out well enough, but no one expected them to hit as hard as they did. They were able to connect to the audience in a way that surprised everyone and have become superstars. These ten Marvel characters inexplicably became A-listers, surprising everyone.
10) Rogue
Rogue is one of the most popular X-Men nowadays, but it’s a shock she’s gotten here. She first appeared and was used to write Carol Danvers out of the Avengers comics, and then was shunted into the X-Men. The team was popular, and the former villain became a favorite of fans as the years went on, her popularity snowballing. The introduction of Gambit was just the ingredient she needed and suddenly she was one of the most popular women on the team. She was always a character fans liked, but her seemingly doomed love for Gambit helped her become the icon she is now.
9) Carol Danvers
Carol Danvers first appeared as a sidekick for the first Captain Marvel, and kept getting more and more popular until she was the star of her own book, Ms. Marvel. She’d eventually move over to the Avengers, and became a solid B-lister. Then Avengers #200 happened, Chris Claremont used Rogue to take her to the X-Men, and she became a Starjammer before fading away for years. She’d start showing up again in the late ’90s, and went back to being a solid B-lister. Making her into the new Captain Marvel was the push she needed, and now she’s one of the biggest characters the publisher has.
8) Spider-Woman
Much like Carol Danvers, Spider-Woman became a solid B-lister in the ’70s and then faded away over the ’80s. She was replaced by Jessica Carpenter as Spider-Woman and was relegated to being a supporting character in the Chris Claremont-written Wolverine (Chris loved two things: the X-Men and ’70s Marvel women). However, all of that would change in the ’00s, when writer Brian Michael Bendis, who loved her as a kid, made her a key part of the mid ’00s flagship book New Avengers (she was originally supposed to be the star of Alias, but Marvel did not want her… well if you read the first issue, you know). No one had thought of her in years, but she became mega-popular and was a mainstay of the Avengers and solo titles for a while after.
7) Luke Cage
Luke Cage has a lot in common with both Carol and Spider-Woman. He was a ’70s Marvel sensation that faded away as the years went on. The Hero for Hire popped back up in the early ’00s in the MAX series Cage, from Brian Azzarello and Richard Corben, reminding fans why he was once a star. Bendis was a fan of the character, and brought him into Alias as Jessica Jones’s boyfriend before putting him in New Avengers. Suddenly, he was one of the most beloved members of the book’s cast and became a major Marvel character for years.
6) Black Widow
Black Widow started out as a villain, was redeemed, joined the Champions and became Daredevil’s girlfriend, and then was put on the Avengers in the late ’70s. She stayed around the team and its members for years, even becoming chairwoman for a short time in the ’90s when the team was at its lowest ebb of popularity. She’d get a Marvel Knights miniseries in the late ’90s, and went back to being a solid B-lister. Then Iron Man 2 happened and she was pushed to the stars. She suddenly was played as some Avengers icon, even though that really wasn’t ever the case, and is still one of the publisher’s most well-known characters.
5) Hawkeye
Hawkeye started out as a villain, working with Black Widow, and then joined Cap’s Kooky Quartet. Since then, he’s risen more and more in popularity. He was always a beloved Marvel character, but other than a few miniseries, no one really saw him becoming an Avengers icon or solo star. The turning point for the character, in the comics at least, was his death in “Avengers Disassembled: Chaos”. Fans realized how much they missed him and he became more popular than ever, with his appearance in the MCU making him the icon he is today.
4) Storm
Storm is a character who has been steadily built into the icon she is, but it’s still surprising she got there. She was a key part of the X-Men, but she was never really a leading character until after Cyclops left. She was, however, a favorite of writer Chris Claremont, and he pushed her to the moon once he got a chance to. She was able to become the leader of the X-Men and fans loved it. She became the book’s second biggest star after Wolverine, getting numerous headlining spots in the most popular book in comics. She faded for a bit in the ’90s, but the last few years have seen pushed right back to the A-list, proving that you can’t keep her down.
3) Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch has become the Sorcerer Supreme, which wasn’t something anyone would have expected 30 years ago. She started as a villain, joined Cap’s Kooky Quartet, and became a key part of the Avengers. However, she wasn’t really an A-lister until the ’00s. “Avengers Disassembled: Chaos” and House of M made her into one of the most important characters in the Marvel Universe, but she went back to being a solid B-lister after a time. Then the MCU happened, and Marvel began the process of fixing the mistakes of her past, leading to the last few years, where she’s became an A-lister helming her own series.
2) Spider-Man
Spider-Man is Marvel’s most relatable hero and has become their most popular character. However, Spider-Man’s success wasn’t guaranteed. Bug characters didn’t always connect with readers, and teen heroes were fine as sidekicks but were rarely headlining characters back then. There was a huge change that the hero could have failed, even with the excellent work that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko did on the character, but instead he kept getting more and more popular until he became bigger than the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, Marvel’s previous headliners.
1) Wolverine
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is sell comics. However, there was a huge chance that never would have happened. He was introduced as the third wheel in a fight between the Hulk and Wendigo, and was honestly lucky that co-creator Len Wein got chosen to write the X-Men’s reboot later in 1974. Early Wolverine was the biggest jerk of a character you could imagine, and there was a big chance that he would never connect with fans because of his attitude. John Byrne once said that the character was on the chopping block and he fought to save him. This paid off, as the ol’Canucklehead became a character who has outsold Spider-Man at times and is a household name.
What are your favorite surprise Marvel A-listers? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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