From Reed and Sue Richards to Peter Parker and Mary Jane, Marvel has never shied away from portraying the highs and lows of a relationship. The company also boasts a long history of pairing different characters over time, resulting in some truly unique and strange couples. From abusive relationships to unsettling age gaps, Marvel has undoubtedly produced some uncomfortable and disturbing couples that it’s hard to imagine almost anyone viewing as romantic. Whenever such horrible couples appear on the scene, fans are quick to call out their sick and twisted nature. With so many of these, you have to stop and ask yourself, “What were they thinking?!”
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This list compiles the ten Marvel couples that sparked the most fan outcry and controversy.
10) Colossus and Shadowcat
The love story between Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus, and Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, is one of the longest-lasting in X-Men history. However, the onset of their attraction to each other was very creepy. When they first met, Kitty was 14, whereas Piotr was 19. For the next few years, as Kitty got older, they flirted quite a lot. Still, Kitty was a minor and Piotr was an adult. They started officially dating when Kitty was of legal age, even getting engaged. It’s not usually a good sign when a person must wait for their partner to be old enough to date. Thankfully, the two have since broken up and are now in much healthier relationships with other people.
9) Havok and Madelyne Pryor
During the early 1980s, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, and Jean Grey were happily married and had a child, Nathan. However, everything changed when the real Jean Grey escaped from her imprisonment at the hands of Mr. Sinister, revealing that the woman Scott married was actually a clone. The clone went insane because she wasn’t aware that Mr. Sinister had manufactured her life. Taking on the name Madelyne Pryor, Jean’s clone left Scott and began a relationship with his brother, Alex, aka Havok. Dating your ex’s sibling already raises questions, but things got worse when Alex began to have second thoughts about their relationship. Using her telepathic powers, Madelyne brainwashes Alex to force him to stay committed to her. Here, Madelyne crossed a line that should never be crossed, and in doing so, trapped Alex in a toxic and abusive relationship.
8) Mary Jane Watson and Paul
The introduction of Paul is one of the worst creative decisions in modern Spider-Man history. Ever since the controversial “One More Day” storyline retconned 20 years of Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage, fans have been begging for Marvel to let the two get back together. When it looked like Peter and MJ were finally starting to date again, Paul made his first appearance as MJ’s new husband. The new relationship had no buildup, and Paul was a completely flat character. As this new backstory goes, Paul and MJ met when they were stranded in another dimension. After weeks of work, Peter managed to rescue them but discovered that in this dimension, Paul and MJ had spent years together, having fallen in love and even adopting two kids. Paul is despised because he isn’t a real character – he only exists to serve as a prop and a roadblock to keep MJ and Peter from ever getting back together again, embodying Marvel’s continuing refusal to let Peter – and his fans – find happiness.
7) Aunt May and Richard Parker
After the deaths of Peter Parker’s parents, his Aunt May became a surrogate mother to him. However, for some unfathomable reason, in a prequel series, Marvel decided to make May Peter’s actual mother instead. In this raunchy limited prequel series Trouble, May is portrayed as a young and promiscuous woman who cheats on her boyfriend Ben Parker with his brother Richard Parker, also known as Richie. May gets pregnant, and Richie’s girlfriend, Mary, adopts the baby to save May from the reproach of her strict and religious parents. Richie and Mary name the baby, who would grow up to be Spider-Man, Peter. Fans hated the story for its unnecessary and nonsensical rewriting of Peter’s origin. Thankfully, the story has since been retconned.
6) Ant-Man and Wasp
When Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man, and Janet Van Dyne, aka Wasp, were first introduced, they were one of Marvel’s first superhero couples. They were founding members of the Avengers, and readers loved their relationship for around 20 years. That all changed when Hank went insane from guilt after he built Ultron. Taking on the new name of Yellowjacket, Hank became quick-tempered and prone to violent outbursts. Hank’s downward spiral culminated when he struck Janet. The single panel of Hank hitting his wife forever tainted his reputation in Marvel Comics. Janet quickly divorced Hank afterwards, with nothing indicating that they would ever be reunited. In one of the worst cases of character assassination in history, Marvel destroyed one of its most admirable superheroes and certainly one of its most long-time loving couples.
5) Wolverine and Jean Grey
The love triangle between Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine is the source of a great deal of romantic drama in X-Men comics. Still, it doesn’t make a man pining for a woman a century younger than him any less creepy. Logan is over a hundred years old and has been with numerous women over his lifetime. He became attracted to Jean because she saw his inner kindness when few others did. His infatuation led him to attempt to split up Scott and Jean on multiple occasions. Jean has sometimes reciprocated Logan’s love and cheated on Scott with him. Fans are pretty much split down the middle over whether they love or hate Logan and Jean as a couple. Still, the significant age gap and Logan’s obsessive behavior towards Jean certainly make it a toxic relationship.
4) Rogue and Magneto
Due to Rogue’s mutant ability, which causes her to drain the life from anyone she touches, her dating options are minimal. However, dating a man who is several decades older, and a supervillain, is still questionable at best. When Rogue found herself stranded in the Savage Lands, she encountered the X-Men’s nemesis, Magneto. They worked together to survive the prehistoric landscape and began to feel attracted to one another. The reason Rogue had such an intense infatuation with Magneto is that his magnetic powers negated her deadly touch, allowing her to be intimate in a way she rarely had before. Still, the age gap is impossible to ignore. Why X-Men ’97 decided to adapt this controversial relationship is anyone’s guess.
3) Green Goblin and Gwen Stacy
The death of Peter’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, at the hands of Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, is one of the most tragic moments in Spider-Man history. So naturally, Marvel writers ruined it by having Gwen, before her death, have a sexual affair with Norman behind Peter’s back. The affair resulted in the birth of twins Gabriel and Sarah Stacy. No explanation is given as to why Gwen even had the affair in the first place, and the story came off as a cheap attempt to add more weight to her death. Moreover, because Norman was over twice her age and her boss when they had their affair, fans were quick to criticize the story for being out of character for Gwen, not to mention a completely unnecessary and disturbing storyline. Sometimes a good story should be left as just that —a good story—and not changed for shock value.
2) Ultimate Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver
Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are one of the most popular superhero twins in Marvel Comics. So, when in the alternate Ultimate Universe they were depicted as an incestuous couple, fans were justifiably disgusted. At first, it was implied, with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments. However, over time, their relationship became clear and public knowledge, with most characters fully accepting it. To make things even worse, the writers seemed to have no problem with portraying the twins having incredibly explicit and intimate moments. There is no reason for this couple to exist, and disturbing creative decisions like this led to the downfall of the Ultimate Universe brand.
1) Ms. Marvel and Marcus Immortus
In one of the most infamous stories Marvel has ever told, Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel, dated her son/abuser, Marcus Immortus. One day, Carol woke up to find herself suddenly nine months pregnant. She quickly gives birth to a boy, and by the end of the day, he grows up into an adult man named Marcus. He then brainwashes Carol, forcing her to fall in love with him. The two then start dating. To make things even worse, it turns out that Marcus is a time traveler and goes back in time to impregnate her with himself in a disgusting time loop paradox. Throughout this entire traumatizing ordeal, Carol’s Avengers teammates are incomprehensibly supportive of this relationship. Each panel of this story is worse than the last one. It is easily one of the most repulsive relationships ever printed in comic book history.
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